Photo/Poetry Poll--Cast Your Vote, Reader's Choice

I want to share a few photos that I took in the last week or two, but I'd like to ask a favor of my readers.  Take a look at these pictures and then in the comment section, please let me know which one is your favorite and that you'd like to read a poem about.  I was going to write a poem about one of these photos, but couldn't decide which one to write about, so I thought I'd let you decide for me.  Whichever picture gets the most votes, I'll write a poem about it and post it here.

1.  Max, who rules our house, made me laugh this week as he often does.  He pulled and tugged on these two pillows on the couch until he got them just where he wanted them.  Then he climbed up to lay on top of them with his head resting on the arm of the couch.  I think he wore himself out with the effort because he slept like that there for quite a while.

2. I don't know what these are called, but I liked these spiky looking flowers I saw at the park.

3.  This is the flower bed where the spiky flower above was growing.

4.  I like this flowerbed planted around a large rock.

5.   This cactus is an unusual one to be seen growing outside in our area, and I was surprised to see it in the flower bed with the large rock above.  It is on the far side of the rock, and you can't see it in the photo I took.  It caught my eye because it seemed out of place.  It was the only one like it in the flowerbed, and it almost seemed as if someone had just come along and planted it there randomly, that it hadn't been put there by the original landscaper.

6.  This pale yellow lily with a few drops of the most recent rain clinging to it seemed to me to be extra delicate because it was growing next to a rough-hewn wooden fence.  I liked the contrast between the two.

7.  This photo and the next several count together as one vote as they are all of the same subject--the buzzards at the park.  Sometimes I walk through the park early in the morning, and sometimes I walk in the early evening, and sometimes I do both.  Both in the morning and in the evening, I see the buzzards roosting in the very tops of the tallest trees in the park.  Sometimes there are as many as a hundred at a time.  I counted about 60 in just one tree in one of these photos.  There are three or four trees that seem to be their favorites where I can usually find them.

This one was off all by himself for some reason,

but usually I see them in large groups roosting together like this.

This photo isn't as clear as I would have liked, but I was glad I caught him spreading his wings.

8.  My neighbor's sunflowers and tomatoes growing in her garden.

9.  The makeshift "lost and found" at our city swimming pool.

10.  A bunny I spotted hiding in some weeds, and just a few feet away...

another one.  They were obviously together.  I watched them for a while playing and jumping.

11.  You have to watch your step walking on the bike/walking path through the park this time of year because it is covered with hickory nuts that are falling from the trees.  They look like large green marbles and can make for slippery footing!  The green is the outside hull.  Inside is the hard tan or beige colored shell, and inside of that is the sweet nut meat.  You can see some of the tan shells here left behind by some feasting squirrel.

12.  Speaking of what is underfoot, I nearly stepped on this fellow who was sitting on the path.  These cicadas are all through the trees right now making what seems like a constant buzzing, humming, singing noise. If you've never heard them, there is an interesting and amusing video about them here where you can listen to their sounds.  Although some find them annoying, I have always found the sound they make to be a pleasant one.  It's peaceful for me to listen to them.  Here's a cropped, closer view of the photo above.

So, there you have it.  These are glimpses into my world, just some things that caught my eye, that I found interesting or pleasing.  If you have a particular favorite here that you'd like me to write a poem about, tell me which one (or ones) you like, and I'll write about whichever one gets the most votes.  


Hope you all have a pleasant Sunday!