Glory in the Flower: Daisy After Rain

There is so much glory to be found after a good soaking rain, and I'd have to say the story of the morning was raindrops on daisies. This was one of the tiniest daisies I found, and it was so covered in raindrops that it could hardly hold them all! A true moment of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower!

I also made the acquaintance of a beautiful red eft, which is the terrestrial land-walking form of the eastern spotted newt. The little fellow was on walkabout, and I removed it from the trail to a safer spot. Photo of me fondling the red eft in the extras! By the way, if I had a spirit animal, the red eft would be it!

Now, I have received some lovely remarks on several of my photos lately, and I'd like to take a moment to say thanks. Here are some things I hope to do with my photos:
*show you something small, and let you see how beautiful and magical it is,
*give you a different perspective on something you may have seen and never noticed,
*give you one moment of happiness,
*bring a woods scene or wild adventure to those who don't get that much,
*remind you that there is true love and light in the world, and faith, and hope (and to remind you, again, that the greatest of these is always LOVE!),
*make you feel strong, and able (whether you are or not),
*remind you of how important the love of family is, and
*make you want to visit beautiful Pennsylvania, which is home to me!

And now, on to our soundtrack songs. My little pink music box was playing THIS song as I was taking the daisy picture above, and it's a song I adore from an album that's one of the very best I've ever heard, which is to say, Emmylou Harris, with Wrecking Ball. If you like Emmylou at all, you will LOVE this album. The tune I've picked is a cover of Bob Dylan's Every Grain of Sand. Here: by Emmylou. Here: by that guy Bob who wrote it.

My second soundtrack song is for my friend Sijal, who admitted to me that she fears lizards. But she saw my pictures of the red eft and was interested enough to comment. I told her that this is a very teeny-tiny adorable, gentle salamander, and she'd be charmed to meet it.

She says if I hold it in my hand, maybe she won't be afraid. So the picture shows me holding the critter. Doesn't it look like . . . it might be smiling? :-) I was trying to think of a soundtrack song that had the words "Don't be afraid" in it. And here is a great big favorite: Cyndi Lauper, with True Colors. Come, my friend, don't be afraid, for the newt's true colors . . . are beautiful!

Oh, and P.S. On this day, I ordered a brand new camera bag!!!! Oh my gosh