Monday, January 30, 2012

Monarch time on the Central Coast

MONARCH CLUSTER

We are so fortunate to have beautiful Monarch Butterflies overwinter here on the Central Coast. I recently discovered another cluster of them very high up in some pine trees near San Simeon Creek. They bunch close together at night for warmth and only begin to fly if the temperature rises above 55 degrees. With their wings folded they are hard to see and just look like a group of brownish leaves. But with the warmth of the day the butterflies begin to open their wings revealing their distinctive orange and black colors. Then one by one they take flight. It is glorious to see them flying against the blue of the sky. I never grow tired of this spectacle. It always makes my heart lift and soon my spirit  is flying with the butterflies. Let your spirit fly too.




Thursday, January 12, 2012

Beautiful beginning to 2012

SWEET SURRENDER
At last I was in the right place at the right time to capture one of our glorious Central Coast sunsets. The evening started out cloudy and gray, but I'm glad I waited to see if there would be enough of a break on the Western horizon to let the sun shine through and light up the sky. About twenty minutes after the sun set a lovely glow illuminated the clouds. It was a joy to experience.

I have so much to be thankful for already this year. Getty Images saw my photography on my Flickr site and approached me to submit some of my photos to their stock agency. I did and now I have 11 images for sale with them. Woo Hoo!