I am very blessed to have a life that includes water without restrictions and is very plentiful in Colombia. Whether in a town square like the cover photo, or the rivers that surround me, there is plenty of water where I live. We don’t pay for this water, just the maintenance of it. The cost is around 2.00$ per month. It is crystal clear, and very safe. I tell my tourist guests at Villa Migelita they have no need to worry if they drink water from the tap or brush their teeth…we don’t have any problems with contamination where I live.
Edges are found everywhere in my nature photos. I focus on nature and animals. I have a Villa that frames my photos with edges in all my pictures. The cover photo is an example of Colombian life.The line of the walls, the roof, the beam and the walls frame the backdrop of the mountains and banana trees. Even the line of the coat rack that holds the hats exemplify life in Colombia
My ducks Poco and Corazon when just babies with my goats
The edge in the photo above is the bamboo fence which is part of Colombian life. We use a lot of bamboo…you also can see the piece of metal with a frayed edge. We had a hole and we fixed it temporarily with a piece of sheet metal.
The edges of a painting, a doorway and the flowers with a stem used as decor in an arrangement
The stairway to the upper floors of Villa Migelita
I love the photo above because it shows so many edges, again the fence is in the background, along with my stairs that go to my upper floors. the backdrop of nature shows what I see every single day when the sun rises. A perfect life.
My Collie Colleen a few months before she passed
The line of the swing in this photo of my old dog Colleen adds a bit of sweetness to a sad photo of my dog who had not long to live. This photo captures all that is good about her and her life with me. She could not walk well by this time, the angle of her front legs show this. Her eyes show all the kindness of her soul.
The edges of the tile with the tiny bit of a chair showing in this picture of two wonderful friends
This photo encompasses a lifetime friendship of two animals that grew up together. They are both deceased now. I brought them with me to Colombia. They enjoyed their last years in Paradise.
The bumpy edge of the mountains of Cali with clouds
A view from my Villa in the morning with cloud formations.
My rescue hummingbird has passed. It happened suddenly and without warning. Just a couple of days ago he was escaping through the slats of his little cage. He was so active. I had to put a mesh net around his cage so he couldn’t breakout and be killed by a predator. I am not sure why he died, but I knew he wasn’t well anymore. It happened so fast and I wasn’t prepared for it.
I have a cage coming from the USA and some additional food supply that hummingbird rehabilitation experts use. The wonderful thing that has resulted from his care is I will have a nice cage and products anytime I rescue any bird at Villa Migelita from this day forward. All of these products sent from loving friends in the United States and will be in remembrance of Grigio. When I put another bird in this new cage I will have his spirit guiding me. I know this with my heart and soul.
To say I am sad today is an understatement. I awoke to a table without his cage that I have looked at for over a month. The joy of removing the towels I put on his enclosure every night to find him moving and drinking his nectar of smashed insects and sugar in the morning is a wonderful and loving experience in my lifetime. The hope I felt that maybe, just maybe he would be my miracle.
I am sad, frustrated and of course I am blaming myself. If only I had added even more insects to his water. If only I had more resources available to me here in Colombia . If only, if only. I became very attached.
He was fighting to live to the end. His last breaths were in the palm of my hand. He was still charging his wings, which gave me unrealistic hope. I felt he could pull through this with my loving care. I watched as one eye closed but the other eye was wide open and staring at me. That eye kept contact with me until it closed with his final breath inside my palm. So tiny, so precious, so magical. I will never be able to describe adequately the joy he brought to me by being able to care for him.
I am surrounded by nature. I never know what is going to show up around me. It is a delightful way to live. I come from South Florida. I remember growing up in a middle class neighborhood with a lot of empty lots that all of us neighborhood kids would explore. Many a time we would come home with scrapes, bites or bloody knees. I love to reminisce about my times in the Smoky Mountains with my children every summer. I am a nature gal. I started young and I have never lost the wonder I feel when I see some new insect, bird, flower, views of the mountains, anything related to nature.
There is so much to be seen when you are looking for good photos. I am no longer the person who finds spiders creepy, bees scary, and insects gross. I find them all to be a much-needed part of our ecosystem. I respect all life. I wrote about my new rescue here at Villa Migelita in my last blog; a hummingbird who has a hurt wing. He is still with me after three weeks and that in of itself is rare. Hummingbirds need protein, which I hopefully am supplying by crushing insects into his sugar-water. It must be working because he is still alive. His wing is still unhealthy as you can see. But he is a fighter.
Grigio on a rare Jade Orchid
This spider is a common Cross Garden species..but I love this photo. He looks so intimidating.
Normal Garden Spider
What about the birds I see daily? Sometimes I am lucky enough to get a good shot. The wonder I feel when I see a rare Toucan still keeps me captivated. I never have my camera when I need it, but I get to enjoy rare sightings of many birds every single day.
Vermilion Fly Catcher
Colombia has the most species of birds in the world and is the second most bio-diverse country in the world. I have settled in the perfect place to satisfy my nature needs.
Rare in nature can be completely defined by this one butterfly: Diaethria neglecta, a very rare phenomenon of nature.
The #89 butterfly on my screen
When you visit Colombia, you never know what will show up. A Preying Mantis, an insect I have no idea what the name is but it is a flying leaf!
A leaf insect
I no longer am afraid, I just wish I knew what they all did to help our planet. Because they are all part of a very intricate ecosystem called our world. We need to protect and defend each one in any way that we can.
Life isn’t a narrow path upon which we walk in a certain direction. Life is curves and loops, a winding road to a quest which is impossible to predict. We can try our hardest to obtain our desires, but then something changes and so do we. We have to adapt to what is given to us.
We can take any direction, thinking it is the right one. But along comes a bump and that deviation changes everything forever. What we get is often not what we expect nor what we have planned for. We need to adapt. We need to think broadly in terms of our future. We can’t be limited in our observations of life and the world. We must be open to all possibilities.
There are lines we should not cross, immoral ones. Those are the exceptions. We have to stay true to our own moral compass and find our own truths. But we cannot follow a thin line. To follow that line without an ability to change is to become stuck without experiencing everything you need to see in a life that can be way too short.
If we look at life in such a way that we know it is fleeting, then we can expand and grow. We can find ourselves even when we feel everything is falling apart. Because we are
Having fun driving in the mountains!
the future, we have free will.
That is how I have adapted to the death of my daughter. I know she had free will. I was not responsible for her choices as she matured. I did my best, but I am still haunted. I always will be. I will never know if I could have changed the outcome. I will always think about the thin line.
This photo is not perfect but I love the hummingbird coming in from the topLook at the hummingbird coming up to take over!When looking up while laying on my back taking photos the perspective is differentMango striped hummingbird
Looking up can bring you many images of beauty. Especially in my little pueblo in Colombia. I look up all the time because of all the bird calls. I always try to have my camera nearby to catch a video or photo of the many birds I see. Colombia has the most species of birds in the world. I see so many but I can’t always get them on film. The series above was taken while lying on the ground below the feeders…the images are not perfect but I like the way they show the spirit and spunk of hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are fierce little fighters!
Then there are the animals I always see on my hikes around my Villa. I am always photographing cows, goats, chickens and horses. They wander the mountains and streets grazing in complete freedom. It is truly delightful to see this when you visit Colombia.
Taken from belowLooking up while he looks downGoats checking us out as we ride by
Flowers and plants are always abundant here in Colombia. We have over 50,000 different varieties of plants and flowers. The colors are wonderful, and I don’t have to put any effort into any plant or flower to have them grow as the climate and soil allow flowers to thrive.
Heliconia plantsRoses on my balconyThen the sun started to fall
Most importantly I like the two words ‘looking up’, because that phrase brings good images to mind. In this world that is so full of suffering and random violence, looking up to see the sky, clouds, a sunset, nature and beauty can relieve us of anxiety; if only for a moment. So tonight when you read this take a moment to look up and see your sunset, or your stars overlooking the world and think positively. We must always save a little hope inside of us for humanity. Even when all we see is rampage and unresolved anger everywhere. Just look up and find the beauty around you, and let yourself feel the peace in that moment in time.
I have come to realize that spending time alone is my idea of perfection. Time doing what I want when I want to. Realizing I am comfortable without anyone talking, just listening to the sounds of nature that surround me. Reading, writing, studying, and accepting the simple life I have chosen as a very different alternative to my past life as a flight attendant, when I would be surrounded by over a thousand people a day when I worked domestic flights. Perfection to me is being alone and in harmony with myself.
Perfection is this photo of a simple home along a walk . A cat resting, a dog sleeping, and everything is so simple. The bamboo trees, the color of the house, the simple stables. The curtained window with the flower baskets hanging. Perfection.
Perfection is the beauty of the country with a river flowing, listening to the sounds of water rushing with my dogs next to my side. The rainforest sounds of birds and insects. Perfection.
Perfection is sharing part of my day with any of the horses or cows that greet me on my hikes. The life of a true minimalist. Perfection.
Perfection is quiet solitude when I study Spanish in the evening, or read a book that grips me immediately and I can’t put it down. While looking at the sunset, the mountains, and the home I have created here in Colombia. Perfection.
Perfection is seeing many flowers blooming at once. Something I never enjoyed in Florida. Exotic flowers, flowers that I would see for sale in the store but never live on a real plant. Perfection.
Perfection is a hummingbird sitting on a branch while I do Yoga looking out at the mountains and watching them flit right next to me. Perfection.
Perfection is a perfect sunset as a rainstorm approaches. Perfection.
Perfection is a butterfly on a branch as I walk by. Perfection.
Perfection is living my life as I see fit, not caring if others approve or disapprove, living my adventure one day at a time. In peace and happiness with my animals on my beautiful farm in the mountains of Colombia. Perfection.
Here in Colombia we have dinnertime at 1 pm. We have a light meal in the evening, and all of nature is continuously grazing. So why not us humans? I am a grazer, I admit that. I have never been one to sit down and eat all that is on my plate. So I relate to the cattle or horses I see wandering the roads here in the mountains of Colombia. I never finish a meal, never … something is always left on my plate! So I relate to grazing animals, and wish I could graze forever. Thank goodness I have someone who finishes my meals for me. LOL! I leave whatever I don’t want to eat, always. I am not a person to say ‘finish your meal’ never ever! Grazing is my dinnertime.
