Here is a look back at our year’s worth of monthly photo submissions. It was tough to choose which pictures to highlight for each month! Please continue to observe the natural world around you and keep taking pictures!
Please note that the title of each month is a hypertext link to the original post in all its glory and should open in a new tab. Thank you again, to each and every person who made these posts possible!
And there we go! I hope you enjoyed this decadent display of photo collages made possible by a group of us nature-loving peeps located around the world!
In no particular order…
Melanie Reynolds, Inexplicible DeVice (IDV), Ms Scarlet, Lisa Troute, Dinah Mow, Kerfe Roig, Tracy Abell, Mary Reynolds, Kelli Filka, Cathy Litchfield, Mary King, Patricia Lezama, Mistress Maddie Borghese, Ashley, Jude Itakali, Amy Law.
Whew! I hope I remembered everyone! Even if you only shared one picture, I still want to acknowledge your contribution. If I missed your name or made an error, please let me know by comment or email and I’ll fix it.
It’s true, your eyes do not deceive you! I am in fact a day late and a dollar short on posting July’s photo submissions. I shall accept all castigations now. I’m relieved to put this July behind me. August brings us one month closer to my favorite time of year, Fall. Nothing like a nice walk in the morning with a cool breeze and a symphony of colors in reds, golds and greens. I also love the smell of Fall. Unlike Spring, when U.S. Farmers spread “a land application of sewer sludge” which smells as pleasant as it sounds. I’m grateful I don’t live so close to any such fields anymore.
Today we celebrate grasses and fields!
The beautifully stunning picture above by Ms Scarlet reminds me of what I learned about the Ukrainian flag early in the war. It represents the blue sky over golden fields as a representation of being Europe’s breadbasket. (Ukraine – Flag Institute) It’s unfortunate that I and so many other people around the world should learn about Ukrainian culture and history due to an unprovoked act of war against them.
Ms Scarlet steals the show for this post with her time lapse photography of a wheat field near her home in Devon, England.
As I compiled all the photo submissions Tracey Abell’s images had me thinking, “What’s the difference between fields and prairies?” Intrinsically I know the difference, but it’s always nice to look things up in a dictionary for verification.
Field; 1. A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; open country. 2. A wide, open space that is usually used to grow crops or to hold farm animals.
Prairie; An extensive area of relatively flat grassland with few, if any, trees, especially in North America.
“These two photos were taken July 8, 2023, in the valley just outside Camp Hale Memorial Campground/White River National Forest near Minturn, CO. Elevation 9,200 feet. It was a windy afternoon and I took many equally not-great photos in an attempt to capture the rippling effect as the wind passed through the tall grass.”
Here is a great example of a field cultivated for human use, much to the joy of the birds too, I imagine.
Field of Sunflowers in France cultivated for oil. By Lisa Troute from South Florida.
And here I imagine IDV stopping in a comical Buster Keaton fashion to take his picture on a downhill slope.
Buster Keaton (Photo still from ‘Go West’)
“In the words of Ms Scarlet, this photo taken across Skylark field from Madam’s Lane has a ‘difficult horizon to cope with!!’” ~ 16th July 2023 – North Norfolk, England – IDV.
Rounding up our field exploration is Dinah from down under with a vacant lot near her home:
Escaped Pampas Grass By Lisa Troute South Florida USA
I hope you enjoyed this final and 12th installment of the Monthly Photo Submissions Request! Yes, that’s right! We did all twelve months of the year!
Below is a reminder of what we did together. I can’t thank my regular contributors enough for helping to make these posts possible! My next post, which you won’t have to wait a month for, will include some of my favorite contributions from each month as a final compilation.
Photos Submissions Monthly List:
January: Moss & Lichen
February: Ferns & Unexpected Blooms
March: Skies & Moon
April: Rocks & Fossils
May: Native plant Appreciation
June: Water
July: Grasses & Fields
August: Unknown Paths
September: A Tree
October: Leaves
November: Mushrooms & Fungi
December: Nature At Rest
While we will be taking a break from monthly submissions for the current future, never fear that I’m dreaming up new ideas to keep our community alive and interactive! I’ll continue to provide interesting and insightful posts related to nature and the struggles we share as human beings on this planet; I just can’t promise to do it with any specific timeline right now.
I hope you all are staying comfortable and healthy despite the heatwave in many areas of the world and increasing cost of living expenses including rents, insurances, food and other commodities. I’m reminded of the time I walked into the living room of my childhood friend’s house as her mom was watching The Wheel of Fortune. There were a few letters visible in each word and I said, “You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. What the heck is that supposed to mean?”
She slapped her knee and said, “That’s it!” I learned it means you can’t get something from someone or something that doesn’t have any to give. As we enter the true climate change era where heatwaves and severe storms increase with frequency, we’ll also start to reach a critical mass in global and local economies. A healthy economy is circular. To put it in a very oversimplified statement: You put into the economy by way of doing work so that you can pay for goods and services which in turn spurs new businesses and services, one that you may or may not work for directly. In short, if too many people get trimmed from the payrolls, there won’t be enough customers to pay for anything. I also feel increasing harassed by technology via automatic messages and push notifications (which I turn off immediately for any new service.). My doctor’s office sent me five, FIVE automated text messages to remind me of an appointment I had. I’m not brain dead, Doc! Geez!
I imagine a lot of people are feeling like turnips lately. We can’t give what we haven’t got and I’m running out of patience with some of these tech bro fools.
What’s still free is my love and appreciation for you dear reader and all who stop by to say “Hello” with an extra dollop of gratitude for those willingly to providing pictures for the monthly photo submissions request. Your participation keeps me going! AI could never replace you!
Reminder:
The Farming Community ofWaverly WA USA By Melanie Reynolds
July Submissions – Fields and Grasses
Show me your Elysian Fields or ornamental grasses (includes bamboo and palm trees.)
Due: July 31st
To be posted on August 1st.
TheFine Print: Photo Submissions Guidelines
Email to: natureledlife@gmail.com, Subject line: Photo Submission for [month] (Multiple months of photos in one email is fine.) Image: Attached as a .JPEG or .PNG file preferred. Captions each picture: Subject in the photo (if known), State/Providence & Country, Date (optional). Your name as you want it to appear, Your blog link (if you have one.)
Feel free to add any interesting notes about a picture. I love interesting stories behind things! Let me know if it’s just for ‘my eyes only’ or if I can share any part of it with your photo. Pictures must be your own or you have permission from the Photographer to share it. All copyrights belong to their respective owners. This is a free, fun, community site about nature. Non-commercial and ad free.
The Nature-led Life 