Today seemed a turning point in my art photography; I got some new flowers to replace the ones damaged by the storms and rain (more to come.) My good friend Ron Dotston, a pastor, Viet name vet, and friend of the elderly, has come to Vermont on vacation. Ron is also a member of my Blog Zoom Group, a successful effort to connect the human dots between me and some people who read the blog.

It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. I’ve known Ron for some years, he came here during one of our open houses, and we became fast friends, although we rarely see one another. Ron was a medic in Vietnam and was shot and wounded; all of the doctors in his unit were killed.

He has a great deal of faith and decided to devote his life to good, and he has been as good as his word. We both work with older people, and although we are different on the surface, I’m not sure I felt closer to any man I can remember. I’m having breakfast with him on Tuesday, and he’s coming to dinner on Thursday.

Monday morning, I go to Saratoga Springs to try out my new brace, one I have been waiting for for some years.

The struggle to keep the flower bed intact has stirred me up and got my creative juices flowing.

Sometimes it just works. My ideas about color and environment for my photos all came into play today; the camera just seemed to find powerful and evocative images that capture the feeling of flowers and not just the flowers themselves.

There was no sun today; sometimes that is better light for the Leica. Today was one of those days.

I was inspired by the new flowers I got today from Judy at the Moses Flower and Vegetable Stand down the road. She is a passionate gardener and is happy for her plants to end up in my garden bed; she says she knows they will be cared for. They will be. I was honored.

The Lisianthus get my creative juices flowing; I love photographing them. Something about them gets to me, they have great character.

This pink Lisianthus sits gracefully beyond a wall of buds, shooting up to the sky. It is inspiring to me.

This is an environmental flower photo; it captures a scene and a small flower and puts it into context. My flowers have taken a beating. They are fighting back, and I am fighting back with them.

I like pictures that capture the farm as wand flowers, another environmental photograph. This is a new idea for me, one enhances the other and brings it to life.

The donkeys always seem to be there when I want them; they may have figured out a new way to get attention.