The Changing Seasons – June 2018

 

It´s time again for the wonderful challenge The Changing Seasons, invented by Max from Cardinal Guzman and now hosted by my dear friend Su from Zimmerbitch.

 

The month of June started with admiring beautiful Irises in a little park nearby. Unfortunately I forgot to reload the battery of my camera and after only one single shot it gave up on me!

 

Iris – the last shot my camera allowed me to take before the battery ran out (June 2018)

 

In a city like Berlin there´s always much to see but I love those moments the best when you happen to stumble upon something beautifully unexpected on a walk, like I did this time in another near-by park where a group of musicians met to give an impromptu concert.

Is it needless to say that I quickly let my camera down after this shot and was happily dancing with a group of equally delighted spectators? I think it is. 😉

 

Beating the drums (June 2018)

 

And after that I discovered that our little animal shelter in the same park had something irresistibly cute in store for me:

 

Two little cashmere goat kids (June 2018)

 

And inspired by all this new life and greenery I thought I might give it a try and paint something green myself: a single leaf of a water lily or Nymphaea

The ancient Egyptians revered the Nile water lilies, which were known as lotuses. The lotus, rising from the bottom mud to unfold its petals to the sun, suggested the glory of the sun’s own emergence from the primaeval slime. It was a metaphor of creation. It was a symbol of the fertility gods and goddesses as well as a symbol of the upper Nile as the giver of life.

This leaf however is from the Nmphaea pubescens, the hairy water lily. This plant can be found in tropical Asia, as well as in northeastern Australia and Papua New Guinea.

The leaves of this plant have fuzzy or hairy undersides and the stems are covered by the same hairs as well, hence the name “pubescens” or “hairy” of the species. This is not a characteristic that is apparent when looking at the plant from above the water though.

 

A single leaf of the Nympaea pubescens, the hairy water lily (water color on paper; June 2018)

 

 

 

And here are the guidelines for The Changing Season if you’re interested in participating:

The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):

• Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
  
• Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
• Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):

• Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
• Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
• Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.

If you do a ping-back to Su´s original monthly post, she can update it with links to yours.