Color, Light and 'Highlight' - 曇花開了

A gorgeous Sunday. Extremely quiet and peaceful in Crescent Lake. Water is blue and calm, slight ripples, no waves. But when the boat steams up, white waves churn and roar.  It is only white and blue, but action-packed. Sunlight has dramatized it all.

Excited and misted by the boat ride, it is nice to ease into an afternoon recess on the deck among the lofty firs and occasional visits from Hummingbirds and Stella Jays.  

The little ones began to put out their toys while the big ones are cooling off with beers and lemonades. Don't know since when the deck has gradually (hypothetically) become a studio of our little artist and she looks quite serious, too. It is unpredictable what little ones are capable of these days.  It is my fun and my job to capture the moment.

Wish every day is a weekend day but we have to leave. Summer is almost over. I want to hold on August a bit longer. Back home, we have our dinner on the patio. A light supper with healthy ingredient plus a glass of wine make us a pleasant evening. It is 82 degree outside, but the light breeze and patio umbrella have made us an enjoyable dinner retreat. 
A white linen has Bordeaux wine bleached through... imagine. A small forest was shown through the utensils, oh, light. And the colors, source of the ambiance.

A cup of authentic Chinese tea made from fresh tea leaves to wash down the after taste of red wine refreshes and adds relaxing effect.

colored tea time

I love these colorful hand-made tea cups. Drinking tea in a real tea cup makes me ponder on tradition and cultural value. Coffee cup is meant for coffee or drink tea out of tea bags.  In the past, freshly dehydrated tea leaves were usually higher quality than the content of a tea bag. Nowadays tea bag quality is improved and enhanced with hydrated fruits and flower pieces which may add a hint of flavor, but mostly serve marketing purpose. 

A nice cup of Chinese tea is brewed from whole tea leaves (not from individual tea bags) and there are serving rules. There is no doubt in my mind that bag tea has no comparison with the tea brewed in traditional method.

I did not plan to talk about flowers again, but....  Epiphyllum 曇花 is originated from South Africa. It would only bloom in the evening between 8-12 o’clock and the bloom lasts only 4-5 hours before it starts to fade.  Chinese literature uses Epiphyllum to symbolize short-lived occurrence (曇花一現). The flower is also named 'Moonlight Beauty' because of its blooming in the night. For the fact that it blooms once a year and lasts only a few hours. Unless you are mindfully watching its growth, you may not see the flowers for years.  My sister gave me couple of leave cuttings when I was there in June.  In California, blooming season for this flower was over then. I was not sure if it will grow in Oregon and if it does, I thought, it will be next year or years to come. 

6:45pm, 1st day

Completely caught me by surprise, I saw reddish something popped up on the edge of the leave about three weeks ago. I emailed my sister and she said, that is a flower bud! The 'bud' grows bigger every day.   While sipping my tea and enjoying the blueberry silk cake, I discovered the size of the bud looks bigger than ever and and it seems to me that the flower can pop anytime. Still not totally convinced that I am going to see a flower,  I however had my camera ready. Maybe they would bloom tomorrow night, I thought. 

11:00pm, 1st day

It was all dark outside and a TV show was on inside. House was warm and I decided to go to the patio for some fresh air.  Instinctively I turned my head, and I saw the bloom!!!  It was close to 10:00pm.

My heart was racing and I rushed to grab my camera. This was my first experience trying to use macro lens in the evening and I am not quite used to it. I had hard time viewing the details. On the other hand, I was not sure then how long the bloom would sustain, so I took as many pictures as I can for about an hour. The shot on right was taken at 11:00pm.

This flower is more a creamy white color. I tried not to use flash, but it appeared to be mission impossible without a flash to get the color right. Flash also took away some details. I have to be more prepared next time.

1:40pm, 2nd day

7:00am, 2nd day

I downloaded all my pictures to  assure that I have them before I went to bed. I am not sure how much longer before the flower began to fade, but this is what I saw when I checked it again at 7:00am, the next morning. 

The blossom seemed to close completely when I took the image on right at 1:40pm and the look remains till now.

I think Epiphyllum is simply magnificently gorgeous and utterly exquisite. I wish she was not so hurried to conceal her peerless splendor. I was surely lucky to capture the moment.

A few more images for your enjoyment:

9:45pm

       

                            

           

Lotus Flower vs Water Lily

Lotus Flower

Getting good grades and preparing to go to good schools are all what I did in my youth. I have studied hard and supposedly learned and seen everything from the textbooks. As the years went by and my memories started to fade, I feel that I am back to a be a student again. But this time I want to make sure that I actually see it or touch it. It cannot be just the text or the drawings.

I wonder how these old textbooks were put together with the pictures (some of them have only drawings) that I later can not identify with what I see physically. Even with the digital technology, we still rely a lot on post processing not mentioning the photos taken more than six decades ago.

Water lily is very common in water ponds, but I don’t recall that I ever saw actual Lotus flower till I went to Lan Su Garden (Portland) in 2007. I took a picture with my point and shoot camera when I had no clue then what composition was about. Good or bad, that picture is always in my mind. At Northwest, Lotus Flower usually blooms in August. Ever since I started to use DSLR, I have been wanting to go back and believe or not, it took me seven years to finally go back there right in blooming season.

Asian culture is deeply influenced by Buddhism which calls Lotus a symbol of purity and spontaneous generation and therefore, it represents 'divine birth'. It is unique due to its pure and spotless character. Growing in the mud, Lotus flower is untainted and unpoluted. That is the reason why the Buddha images we see often show him sitting on a full bloomed Lotus flower.

There is another Buddhism theory about Lotus to be calm and peaceful. It grows in hot summer and heat is the symbol of worry. But it grows in water and water brings coolness and calmness.   
Therefore, Lotus becomes a calming factor for people to stay cool in summer heat, i.e. to be relieved of worry and gradually step into the state of ultimate peace and freedom. Undoubtedly, Lotus has its respectable place in Asian culture and philosophy.

According to my research, lotus flower and water lily are different botanically.  Water lily have pads that float on surface of water, more round shaped. Lotus leaves are larger more folded upwards and grow above water. Lotus flower is larger and has more multi fold petals growing above the leaves while water lily grow low almost attached to the leaves. 

The most distinctive difference between lotus and water lily is the female part (carpel-pistil) of the two. Lotus shows barrel shaped carpel that is embedded in an expanded receptacle and ring like stamen is at the base while water lily has its pistil sits at the center of the base and surrounded by its stamen.

Water Lily

Lotus Root is used in Asian food, either in a soup with  chicken or porto stock or as a cold dish with soy sauce, sesame oil and so on spices. It has an acquired taste and texture. It is not my personal favorite, but it has high fiber and rich in vitamin C. Lotus seedpod has a distinctive look and is a popular item for flower arrangement.

When I traveled in Europe, I was not particularly interested in the churches and castles. Same in China, I have seen enough traditional gardens, and I don’t need to plow through the big list from the tourist guides.  However, when Chinese gardens are not readily available here, I am contrarily drawn to them.

I don’t necessarily enjoy authentic Asian elements, but something has not changed, I love Asian style of windows. Either it is framed by white stone, constructed by bricks or wood-carved panels. I love to peek through the windows and expect the unexpected.

I particularly like the idea how Chinese used the shapes of flowers and fruits to architect a window. A few specific fruits and flowers are chosen to be the designs because they either symbolize richess, fertility, tranquility or anything in that aspect. So here comes a cluster of grapes. It is a multitude of grapes, not just one. Inside the stone window, there is another modern framed window with a piece of petrified wood and an overgrown plant. It says, Aged.

It is exciting to be on a steam boat cutting through the white water and watching the wave churned. It is even more interesting for me to be on a sail boat and let the wind (the nature) runs its course. It is meant to be exciting to ride a motorized fishing boat, but it is so much more peaceful and joyful to be on a bamboo raft or a wood boat and let it drift...


While drifting on water is not something can be  done on a daily base or randomly available, I think a boat image with long trailing greens and restful creek water will serve the purpose.

This is the calm and tranquility energy source that we busy people are in need, but not always in pursuit.

It may have something to do with my cultural background or my personality, I can certainly better enjoy the quietness than the noise. Party will eventually come to an end, but internal peace and calmness remains as long as you want them to.

I have hard time controlling myself not to paint or to texture the gorgeous Lotus flower. However, as pure as it is, my respect for it overcomes my desire.

from TV shows to Waterfalls

Never been much of a TV watcher, I am actually addicted to a Spanish TV show, ‘Grand Hotel’, for three weeks.  Well, I should say ‘we', because my husband is included. There are total three seasons, 70 episodes and we only watched them in the evenings. Started out from 2 episodes per night, we advanced to 3-4 episodes and last week we did 5-6 episodes every night .   In less than three weeks, we gobbled down all the episodes.  Believe or not, we watched the last 28 episodes through You-Tube without English subtitles. Even we have no clue what the conversations are about, the ‘silent' movies still grabbed our heart and kept us interested. It is surely Agatha Christy comes alive.

I love mystery and suspense stories. I don’t usually read through a fiction, but I almost always do with John Grashan’s books. The twisted plots and the last big surprise are thrilling. And we love to analyze the characters and predict the next development. Entertaining factor is definitely there. Addiction is not what I expected, but I do learn something from watching this classic TV show. 

The setting of 'Grand Hotel' is inside the former Palace of Magdelena which was a gift given by City of Santander to royal family King Alfeonso XIII as a summer palace (according to Wikipedia). In 1982, the palace was declared as a historical monument and now becomes a conference and meeting hall. It is supposedly the most visiting place in Santander, Spain. The location is in an idyllic countryside, sitting high above gorgeous rolling green hills and being surrounded by blue waters. The architecture is tastefully colorful and decoration splendidly classy. 

While enjoying the beautiful backdrops, we noticed that almost every single clip of the video is a nice piece of photograph.  It is the combination of a good composition, a preset lighting, a directed expression, a bevy of colors or (of course) a focal point. The photograph (the clip) is so mindfully spliced that our enjoyment is not just the story itself, we were going through large collection of great photos, one after the other, with our familiar and favorite characters as subjects. How cool is that!  Chinese has an old saying, '隔行如隔山'. One profession can be very different from the other. I had no idea how movie clips are so sophisticated composed and how I adore the talents and expertise behind the scene!

It is surely a good change without nightly TV shows. I am back to my normal schedule and start to organize my photo library again. With my head so cluttered with weeks of treacherous plots, intense moments and perpetual suspense, I feel waterfall images have soothing and cleansing effect.

Below are some waterfall pictures that I took in our hike to Falls Creek and Copal Creek. Going through waterfall pictures is like having Popsicle in the hot summer day. White water just has that magic power. I used to Think Snow to cool myself down and now Think Waterfall to cleanse and refresh.

Oregon is not lacking waterfalls, but I have not taken much interest in shooting waterfalls. Somehow I felt the creamy look is not natural.  But when the water color is transparent, it looks quite boring.  There is a reason why most of the photographers produced creamy looking waterfalls.  I decided to test it out and I have to admit that I like them better.

  

Biking for a Good Cause

This is the second time that I joined the photo shot for a MS fund raise event. MS Bike is organized by National MS Society, Oregon Chapter. Registration fee is $95 (I believe, is for a team or an individual) and fund raise minimum is $250 per participant. It is a meaningful, fun and enjoyable event that I have experienced.

Multiple sclerosis is considered to be an immune-mediated disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the central nervous system and causes the patients to lose the control of their muscles. 

From what I understand, it is a genetic disease attacking people age 20-50, the prime period of our lifetime. Cure mostly relies on persistent physical therapy and miracles. Progress and improvement can be made, but there is no permanent solution. 

I feel blessed to be able to take a walk or ride a bike whenever I feel like to. And, I am feeling for the person who is ridden by the disease and the family who loves, tenders, and be available to the needy.

Bike is one of the major export items from Taiwan since 70's.  I however could not comprehend why Americans need so many bikes till I live here. Motor vehicles are the essential transportation and yet only bike can serve exercise needs. People's awareness for fitness and the rapidly growing traffic have made bike popular than ever.  Easy strides and harmonious rhythm are appealing. Besides only bikes can access narrow roads and secluded areas where wonders and surprises are often hidden and awaiting to be discovered.

This event is not a race. Participants can pace themselves to start any time between 6:30am to 9:00am.  There are choices of 33 to 100 mile routes which go through scenic Willamette Valley farmland, state parks and rivers.  We took a drive on the route hoping to catch some bikers on the road. The scenery is so beautiful that on several occasions, I could not help myself but to snap a few landscape shots. 

I was told that the first group of riders can arrive at the finish line at 11'ish.  I made sure that I was at finish line to shot the first arrivals.  Surely enough, I took this picture at 11:03am. They are absolutely the first team who reaches the finish line! They looked excited and victorious. I felt as excited as they
were and proud of them.
This guy in the recumbent bike was also among the early arrivals.  Regular upright bike and recumbent bike are different in aspect of technology and performance. I have never ridden in a recumbent bike, but I think seating in a recumbent bike is more comfortable than the saddle on a regular bike. 

When we sit lower to the ground, the legs are bit in the air.  I doubt that it runs as fast as a regular upright bike. However, he is among the first arrivals. I guess bike is eventually just a tool, difference is made by the person who controls it.

I also learned that this is the kind of bikes that MS patients use since they cannot erect their back and sit in an upright position. In the past when I saw this kind of bike running on the street

I thought it was meant to show off. I did not know that it is an alternative exercise bike for people who living with MS.

I like what I see here.  Biker is the Mom. While she was on route biking, the Dad and two preschool boys were hanging out and patiently waiting by the finish line. The moment when she passed through the finish line, Dad took over the bike and Mom grabbed younger boy's hand walking out of the scene. Isn't it a beautiful picture of a supportive young family?  (Too bad that the husband was falling behind and I could not have him included in the picture.) 

Mom has a goal and she goes for it.  Dad supports. Kids learn from their parents.  A giving act.  A  supportive  family.  A  nice  memory  for

them (and impression for me) to take away.

 

This is in fact a very organized event. There are rest stops with abundant water supply and the necessities.  They also provided free bottle water and beer for the event workers and photographers like me. At finish line, there was a misty blind for the riders to cool down. 
My eyes were drawn to this girl who was performing a ribbon dance in the mist. The bright colors of her dress and ribbons stand out in front of the translucent mist and under the bright sun, her cascaded hair is charming...

When the bikers launched their ride at Start Line, I saw smiles. After they paddled several hours in the heat, the smiles remained on their faces.

The cheerleaders stationed at Start and Finish line from early in the morning till the last biker reached the Finish line. A few school kids were waiting in the Finish line to hand out the medals to the bikers. And, many other volunteers were holding their fort to the last... 

American spirit is again at work!!! This is when I really feel proud to be an American.

For MS bike event details, visit following link:
http://bikeorc.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BIKE_ORC_ROUTEDETAILS

A few more pictures to share below: