Mar 17/10 Echeveria

Mar 17/10 Echeveria, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Daily Shoot: Grab your camera and walk 2 minutes in any direction. Stop. Find a photo worth making from where you stopped and post it.

I think what happens when you start taking photographs is that it opens your eyes. Many years ago, when I forgot to bring my camera to an end of year event in which my daughter participated, she said that it was OK - I could take pictures in my mind. I have never forgotten that. Now that I go everywhere with my camera, I find myself taking many photographs with my mind - sometimes when I am driving and can't stop for the photo op and sometimes when I am walking. I notice more; I see more. Two minutes from my house or two hours from my house, I see things that are worth stopping to appreciate.

As the snow is almost gone here, I am amazed at what survives the winter and immediately gets back to growing. I came upon a patch of "hens and chickens" (echeveria). These succulents look as if they should not grow in our climate and yet they thrive - tenacious and persistent, spreading their offspring all around them. I guess people, too, find ways of survival in so many climates and terrain, living in places that seem hostile and yet we adapt.