San Diego Botanical Garden (formerly known as Quail Gardens)

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Went on a little jaunt April 1st. to the San Diego Botanical Garden, located in Encinitas, California.

The last time I was there was when my kids were still very young. Sarah was in middle school or possibly high school, Eric recently graduated from being a crumb cruncher to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, whilst Anna was still escorted around in a baby stroller. We (actually dad) flew a kite out in the parking lot. Now my children are old enough to bring their own kids when they eventually have them.

 

Quail Gardens, as it will always be lovingly known to me, is one of those small little islands of local respite that one stumbles upon all too infrequently as one travels life's journey. After such a long hiatus, I returned with one of the photo clubs I belong to.

Requisite group photo. Me, upper left; group photographer Dianne, lower right.

This little honeybee was very patient with this photographer as he stuck a metal tube filled with glass into her face in order to capture this shot. After the photo session, I thanked her profusely.

It rained very hard that morning. By the time we all arrived and started shooting, the skies were blue as blue can be. Raindrops stubbornly held on to flowers and stems, making for some wonderful photo ops. For you photography technoweenies reading this, I created the star bursts in the droplets by putting the sun behind and off to the side of the subject, and then setting the lenticular sphincter to f32.

 Female blue-bellied lizard.

Many of the small animals inhabiting the gardens have become very used to having humans around them. The only reason I was able to capture this lizard so closely with a macro lens was due to her lack of fear. I think she was more entertained by my grunting and huffing and puffing as I tried to position myself into a contorted half crouching, half kneeling, cantilevered stance in order to get a better angle than she was concerned about my close presence. Upon leaving her, she cocked her head sideways as she watched me continue up the path, content with the knowledge that she can resume soaking rays unhindered and possibly catch a morsel or two flitting by.