Brooklyn Blossoms!

“What a strange thing! to be alive beneath cherry blossoms.”

— Kobayashi Issa

Ah, spring! Cherry blossoms entice us, tons of tony tulips thunder their brilliant colors, daffodils bedazzle, lilacs send out a scent so strong that all cares dissolve in fragrant splendor. I'm describing the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on April 21, when I filmed my latest Contemplate This! video.

Lilac blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, April 21, 2017

This series of videos aims to relax the viewer with lovely images set to glorious music. In this case, the music is by Gustav Mahler, his First Symphony (1st and 2nd movements), performed by the DuPage Symphony Orchestra.

I took so many photos! Here are some, and you can find more on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden page.

Blooming Arizona

Arizona has a lot of very dry landscape and very hot desert. It also has some exquisitely beautiful flowers, both on the ubiquitous cactuses and in the spritely gardens and near the mountain streams in Scottsdale, Camp Verde, Sedona and Jerome.

I've put together a video photo album of some of my favorite shots of the flora I saw in Arizona (I visited from April 28 through May 4), and added some fun music, called Carry On Bach, by Paul Arden Taylor, performed by the Academy Wind Trio.

Below are four of my favorite still shots from the video. To see all of the shots, visit the Blooming Arizona page.