The Fiery Heart

Myself, I long for love and light,
But must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?

It was one of those experimental things, I have to tell you. A few weeks ago, a friend who bought the same camera that I have mentioned that she was trying to learn how to use the macro setting. The setting is available on both the Canon SX40 that I used before this, and the SX50 that I use now. I think I had discovered the setting before, but never really used it. Which is silly, right? All those little mini shots I take with the Crittergators and all . . . no, none of those are macros, just close-ups.

And so I searched a little and found the function, and I directed my friend to it and started playing with it myself. I also found a few tutorials online about various functions my camera has that I never really knew much about before. I admit that while I read the SX40 manual cover to cover, my resolution to read the full SX50 manual over my holiday break in December never really materialized. It all boils down to this about macro, though. Now I'm hooked! Better late than never!

On this day, I was visiting the Arboretum with my camera. The tulip beds are long done, and they are planting the new summer plantings already. The lily pond was showing off its very first water lily blooms, and I was enchanted, as always. And then I walked through the fragrance garden and over to the peonies, which were colorful and fragrant in the morning sun. I noticed that the centers of the flowers were very interesting, and I started taking some snapshots, a few on auto, a few using the macro function.

I saw so many things that made me smile on this day: shapely water lilies in shades of yellow and white, purple irises reflected on the lily pond, red and yellow columbine blooms looking like little fool's caps, purple allium standing tall and round like alien visitors. I saw and heard birds of all kinds. The birds love the Arboretum as much as I do. Maybe even more, if that's possible.

And of course, I saw this, my friends: amid the peony bushes, one tiny, perfect bug contemplating the fiery heart of the flower. It may have been there for a tasty pollen breakfast, bugs being pragmatists first of all. Or perhaps 'twas simply beauty that gave the wee beast pause . . . as it did me.

The song to accompany this photo . . . I was searching online for a song whose lyrics talk about a fiery heart, and this very interesting selection came up in my search results. The song is Leonard Cohen's beautiful and haunting Joan of Arc, performed by Jennifer Warnes and Leonard Cohen. The lyrics include the two lines in italics quoted at the start of this Blip. (I've also added a link to a second version, of Leonard Cohen performing the same song on Austin City Limits.)