Turquoise House & Garden | Watermelons at Snead’s Farm

I always fall in love with a turquoise house. My house is green and it’s as far as I dare lean toward turquoise, but still . . .

I have taken a photo of the watermelons for sale at Snead’s Farm every summer for the last 5 years! The photo looks about the same each summer, give or take a degree of green or yellow. And yet, I can’t stop myself. I really think watermelons are the most photogenic fruit. And that’s before you even cut them open.

Summer bright sun can wash color out, but when colors pop bold and glorious, it feels like flashes of childhood. Blue pool water and lime popsicles and sunburned cheeks.

Natural Wreath | Bird Diorama

The hanging vines made the perfect wreath, only visible for a few minutes during the early morning, just as the sun streamed in like the beam from a flashlight.

I found the bird diorama in a local Thrift Store for 50 cents and could not leave it behind. The little birds reminded me of the book, Bird Watching by Paula McCartney. The scene seemed handcrafted and I studied the design and piecing carefully. Are they warblers? Or some made-up bird?

I tried lots of approaches to photograph the vignette. In the end, I decided to place the diorama in nature, the ground covered with needles from the towering pine tree in my next-door-neighbor’s yard. They are used to me traipsing into their yard to take pictures.

It’s July hot, and the air is so thick every breath requires effort. I stand on the sidewalk, and I can feel the sweat sliding down my back in the curved spaces. What am I doing out here with this camera? I think I find the answer in these words from Margaret Renkl —

Every day the world is teaching me what I need to know to be in the world.

In the stir of too much motion:
Hold still.
Be quiet.
Listen.