Photography by Naomi Drew
These are some of the first daffodils in the botanical garden. I don’t know if I will be able to see too many more as there is rain predicted over the next two weeks. When this happens, the gardens close down to keep erosion on the hilltop and trails to a minimum.
I felt like a tourist when I headed out to the botanical garden a few weeks ago. I had my Olympus XA4, my Kodak Retina IIIc for its maiden voyage, and the Perkeo II loaded with Fuji Neopan 400. I am so impressed with this film – the blacks are black, and the whites are white. I didn’t have an orange or red filter with me, so some pictures were not what I would have liked to see; still, the detail and beauty of the film is seen here (and the Perkeo is no slouch, either). Sadly, Neopan in this form is no longer made – the C-41 form – although Acros is available.
Nothing says Spring like a field of brilliant daffodils against a grey and stormy sky!
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And, while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
–Robert Herrick
Spring is daffodil season, and whenever they appear in the market, I buy them. I watch them bloom, fade, and die.
The Glass Aerie 