Our Backyard

In an effort to find new ways to open up the outside world to The Littlest Buddy, and to hold off his bug crushing instincts a little longer-- I thought it would be fun to hit the backyard today, spend the morning exploring around our property armed with a macro lens and grab some shots of all of the inhabitants that keep our chunk of dirt in balance. The thought being that when LB gets home from school today we can go thru the pictures and make the connections that all of these things exist right in our own backyard, and perhaps he will want to take a deeper look now that he can see their little buggy faces. The grasshopper last week was a great first step. He stood back and took it in, and watched intently anticipating every hop. Each hop he would look over at me kind of like: "seriously?! That's how these things get around?" I can appreciate that television is a wealth of info for kids, and that there are in fact amazing educational shows that teach and expand their noggins. BUT... I start to get pissed when the only time LB has ever seen a turtle is some cartoon version of one that Diego is saving, or jackass Franklin walking around being witless and irritating. I want the kids to look deeper and appreciate what exists in their own backyards so they will want to move out past them and find more. So these are our first steps together, because I am taking on a new appreciation of the little things. Waking up the kid inside me that grew up in Florida. And not to get all hippie dippie on you, but I feel myself trying to make the reconnect with nature. As a kid I spent all of my days outside in the dirt, I helped my mother grow huge vegetable gardens on our property, our family would have harvest parties, we grew tons of citrus, we planted 2 acres of saplings that I watched grow into giant trees, I would fish, I caught blue crab, and crawfish, I ate wild black berries and citrus off trees, I knew how to grow food in the dirt when I was young. Then somehow I grew up, and started eating king sized value meals and I stay in the AC, and I am pissed I can't afford HBO. That isn't who I am.

So for your enjoyment, here is a little of what I found out there in our backyard. I got so nerdy excited this morning when I could see the sun rising into the horizon thru the reflection on a dew drop. It was like my own little mini version of the Magic Bean exhibit in Chicago. Laying out in the wet grass trying to take this picture for LB, I kept thinking about all of the things that we walk past on a daily basis and have stopped seeing. This little experiment for LB turned into a big life moment for me. A reminder of who I am, and where I came from, and it gave me an even bigger appreciation for my Mom and Dad and their choices on where, and how they raised me.

So anyway...

All the Love in the Universe ~ Me

*Update- because I have been getting some emails, and tweets, and comments asking to know the setup that I used to take these backyard pics I wanted to go ahead and let you know. (Although I don't like to advertise for Nikon because they never write me back when I ask them to sponsor me and send me new toys to play with) I shot these on a Nikon D300 mounted with the Nikkor 60mm 2.8 macro lens. They were all handheld and just a few inches away from the subject and then zoomed in once they were imported to show even more detail. Hope that helps :)

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