World Photos by Paola: Think Nature, Love Nature, Be With Nature

The title of this post comes from a sign I saw on the road leading to Semegoh Orangutan Reserve in Borneo. I deeply relate to the sign because I love nature, I love being with nature and I find most of my inspiration in nature.

The reason why I’m including the photo of this sign on this post is because this past weekend had a lot of natural components that inspired me, despite the fact that the weekend was quite active.

Overall, we had a pretty busy weekend. My show was on Friday and I’m happy to report that it was a big success! My pieces looked amazing and I received many compliments about my photography, which is always nice! Perhaps, the best part of the evening was the incredible support I received from friends! Thanks again to all of you who came to the show!

Even though it was pretty busy, we still managed to get out and play. I think that’s one of the best benefits of having a dog: having to exercise him! Yes, because we had to be gone for most of the day on Saturday, we took Bomber for a 2-hour walk to tire him down a bit.

Early on Saturday, we started heading to the Ferry Building to check out the Farmers’ Market. Once at the Embarcadero, the scene was lively and fun, there was a young kid playing the trumpet and dancing to the beat of his own songs (he also plays the trumpet around Union Square on busy weekend evenings).

Outside the Ferry Building were many vendors selling fruits, vegetables, flowers, just to mention a few of nature’s finest that were being sold there. One stand was selling tulips, tons of tulips. In Minnesota I used to see tulips grow after the snow had melted and the temperatures had warmed up. I haven’t seen tulips in their natural environment since leaving MN about 3 years ago and, I have to say, I miss seeing those pretty flowers!

As I stood in front of buckets and buckets of flowers, I started snapping photo after photo of these colorful flowers!

The rest of Saturday was spent with a new friend in Calistoga. I didn’t carry my camera while walking around because I knew the visit would turn very very long if I started stopping for photos along the way, and we had to come back home at a reasonable time to let our dog out. The only photos I took where of some mustard flowers growing in the middle of wine orchards on our way out of Napa.

On Sunday we helped friends with their move in Oakland. Before we headed across the Bay Bridge, we took Bomber to Crissy Fields so he could run, play and enjoy the sun. Once again, we were trying to tire him down before leaving him alone for a couple of hours.

We walked on the beach, the Golden Gate Bridge in front of us, glowing the morning sun, while our dog ran freely. Nothing like a morning walk on the beach to get your day started the right way.

Before heading out to Oakland, we made a stop at the Palace of Fine Arts in SF. Here I took some great photos of birds, especially of swan. Seeing the swan reminded us of Portugal, Sintra, where we saw our first (and my only one) black swan. I also took a few shots of the awesome architecture of the Palace.

Over in Oakland, I regretted not having brought my camera with me as I saw magnolia tree after magnolia tree, covered in flowers and new blooms. I was especially disappointed when I saw a tree that had flowers low enough for me to touch. Oh, the photos I could have taken!