Ice Chandelier

When I was growing up, we had a crystal chandelier in the living room. Every couple of years, we would get up on a ladder with vinegar water and rags and clean every facet of every crystal. The whole thing would sparkle and the little rainbows on the walls would seem brighter, more vibrant, grateful for the cleansing.
This morning Mother Winter stepped out in ice crystals so beautiful they stopped traffic and turned heads. Time slowed down in wonder. As the sun glistened off the ice drops on the treetops, tiny rainbows winked on and off.
This photo mandala celebrates memories of chandeliers and rainbows from childhood and chandeliers more magical and mystical in treetops.

How to make a photo mandala

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Wintry Day

A gray, drizzly winter day. All the leaves had not yet fallen from the tree outside my breakfast window. Tiny reflecting water drops lined the branches. It had stopped dripping - I can't really call it rain - so I grabbed my camera and went outside. I saw a mandala in the making.

I shot various angles from many different perspectives. One emphasized the leaves, another the shiny droplets, another focused on the uppermost branches bare against the gray sky. So many viewpoints.

But none of the photographs captured the serene mysterious mood. While one came close, it wasn't until I created the mandala that I felt again what I had felt that moment.

The last lingering leaves. The diamond droplets. This mandala draws me in much like the peaceful reverie of looking out my breakfast window on that gray, drizzly winter day.

Croc on the Beach

To some it was trash on the beach. A single shoe, washed up, left behind. To me it was a child's adventure. Shells, seaweed, little critters, sand and discovery.

It's all in where you focus.