Day 66 : Think Spices!

Happy New Year 2011 to all my readers!! Thank you for your support and encouragement over the past few months. I hope you will continue to visit my blog and leave your feedback on my blog posts. I have certainly learned a lot in photography over the past few months.

Coming to today's post, this wreath was made out of papers from an old book and various spices. This wreath was most creative of all the wreaths that were hung on the walls of Chicago Botanical Gardens. I must thank them for providing me with so many subjects for my pictures :). The contrast of the red wall to the old creamy colored book pages and the spices made it very delicious for this picture of the day:

Day 65 : Christmas Tree at Night

One of the best things about December snow is the unexpected beauty of Christmas lighting reflecting in the snow. This Christmas tree standing at the edge of a lake, was decorated in multicolored lights and aesthetically decorated with electric balls of lights around it and on the other side of lake behind it. I love the way the lake reflects the light balls behind the tree. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in Chicago. Here is the picture of the day:

'Christmas Tree at Night'

Day 64 : Hanging Neoregalia

This beautiful ball of Neoregelia Tangerine is an exquisite piece of art. This plant belongs to the family of Bromeliads, which are a whole groups of extreme survivors. They can survive almost anywhere and are famous for surviving on tree tops with the help of their hairy roots that can absorb water from the atmosphere. They are even known to grow in tight groups so that they can form a cup to hold rain water. As I was doing research for this plant, I also found out that they can literally grow on electrical wires, check this Wikipedia picture for proof! Talk about a delicately beautiful plant just as strong! Here is the picture of the day:

Day 63 : Cat Crossed the Road

This picture was just pure luck! I was walking aimlessly on the road when I saw this cat crossing the road and clicked the Canon button. This picture is not a brilliant shot, but this picture spoke to me like one of those rare moments that shows you the truth of life. The vast road has cars on both sides of it and numerous tire tracks running through it, but the cat crossed the road carefully, yet confidently. The cat was surrounded so many dangers, but he put his best step forward. Life is unpredictable, one denies it a lot, but it is. Here is the picture of the day:

Cat Crossed the Road

Day 62 : Green Armadillo

Armadillo is a very peculiar animal with its armor in which it can roll into a ball, its slick tongue that can slurp up a tonne of ants, yet it is so gentle in nature. I guess someone in Chicago Botanical Gardens loved Armadillos to have put a grass structure with green plants all over it making it look alive. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 61 : A Walk in the Snow

The good amount of snow coupled with Holiday season had encouraged Chicagoans to venture out to sleigh and skate. There were quite a few parks that were good for sleighing and we stopped by Schiller's park to take some pictures. The park was filled with colorful sleighs, beautiful coat colors, and kid's laughter sleighing down the slope. There were family gatherings, parents pulling the sleighs with children on them, even dogs that were jumping through thick snow. Snow is new to me, but I guess snow brings families together and makes beautiful memories. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 60 : Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to you!! It has been a surprisingly beautiful snowy Christmas today. For the first time, I saw snow that fell like little snow balls rather than snow flakes. I had celebrated Christmas with my Husband in Schiller's Forest Preserve taking a walk through the woods that was covered in snow.

Today is the last day of the Flower theme. Plants generally attract bees through colorful flowers to spread their pollen. Some plants are smarter than others, they make beautiful flowers in tantalizing colors and tie them in a bunch like bouquets!! When you see such beautiful bunches of flowers, you realize how plants have evolved over the millions of years. These flowers make me realize that strength can lie even in delicate beauty. I photographed pictures of all the flowers in this week's theme in Chicago Botanical Gardens. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 59 : Desert White

I saw these miniature white flowers in the Arid Greenhouse of the Chicago Botanical Gardens. There is something about the flowers in the dessert that makes you wonder how delicately beautiful and strong willed they are even in the extreme hostility of a desert. These white flowers are also desert flowers with succulent petals and their wild beauty awed me. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 58 : Red Velvet

Red is like the queen of colors when it comes to flowers. No matter how small the flower, red flowers always attract the attention of the targeted bees and human casualties. Red flowers are my personal favorite and here is the picture of the day:

Day 57 : Pink Flames

Flames are the last thing on your mind when you see these lovely Cyclamen flowers. Each flower has its nose bent down to 180 degrees with its petals bent up and twisted, resembling flames. All the flowers I am posting in this week's theme are from Chicago Botanical Gardens. I can hardly wait for the spring and summer to take pictures of the hundreds of aquatic plants, bonsai, and other plants. Here is the Canon picture of the day:

Day 56 : More Orchids

I do not know much about these orchids, but I promise you, I will find more information and update it. But these orchids are so beautiful with their rubbery texture and contrasting yellow and reddish brown shades that I did not want to put down any other picture. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 55 : Dancing Doll Orchid

Orchids are the most exquisite flowers in this world. Though the basic flower pattern remains the same, the shape, size, position of the petals vary so much that each orchid is completely unique in its own away. Orchids have always fascinated me and I know that I will have a Green Room full of exotic orchids. Today I am posting the picture of the yellow Oncidium flexuosum or the "Dancing Doll Orchid." You can see in the picture why the orchid gets Dancing Doll name :). Here is the picture of the day:

Day 54 : Perfect Blend

Today I visited the Chicago Botanical Gardens, and I must say it was heaven. The snow was clearly visible from the glass doors where there were tropical and semi-tropical plants and trees grown inside the glass house. The view from the lake was amazing too. I have decided that I was going to set a theme for this week - Flowers. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 53 : Christmas Bell Heather

My friends and I had a great Christmas Party today. It felt like a classic Christmas Party with a cute little Christmas tree, candy canes, red stockings, and great friends to share it with. I was tired, but too excited to sleep and here I am at 1 am, posting my picture of the day. Yesterday, as I was shopping for the party, I saw these very beautiful little flowers called Christmas Bell Heathers. Generally, the bell flowers are shaped like bells, but these flowers resembled more like bells because they even had clappers in them. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 52 : A Bit of Color

With all the white snow and freezing winds outside, while the spring is so far away, I am delighted to add a bit of color to my blog. As I was shopping for our Christmas Party, I saw these beautiful bouquets all put in a big vase. These flowers soaked up every color in the rainbow and they surely give away a bit of sunshine to any frost bitten passerby. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 51 : Golden Branches

The word Sunset now has a whole new meaning to me after I started this 365-day picture challenge. The shades of a Sunset cast a beautiful glow even on regular things. With the Sun setting down in the west, the moon slowly gaining its glory into the night, the shades of gold and silver mix up to show something magical. I took this picture during the sunset with a baby eagle perched on the branches. I love this picture for the sun cast a golden light on the branches and the moon, floating in the purple skies, looks innocently at the baby eagle. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 50 : Battle of the Toy Rides

I was having a pleasant afternoon with my friends today, when I saw these two Toy Rides standing head to head in the snow. The two toys looked like they were two fighting bulls pitting against each other. The contrast of these colorful toys against the snow was awesome. Here is the picture of the day:

Day 49 : Snow Globe

As a person who had never seen snow till age 30, I have always loved snow globes. I feel these snow globes capture the best part of a snowfall, like that first greeting card that says 'I Love You.' With over a week of real snow pictures, I thought it was time for the snow 'inside' the home to be part of the December pictures. Here is the picture of the day:

'My Star'

Day 48 : Warm Muffin

When it is snowing outside, you feel like eating something hot. I decided to give a try and prepare a classic muffin. They came out so good that I wanted to take a picture. Here is the picture of the warm muffin:

'Warm Muffin'

Day 47 : Grass under Snow

In accordance with the snow storm forecast, the wind today was so strong that given a chance, it could have hurled me to the state next to Illinois. But like all things that bind our ankles together, this too will pass away; we just have to wait till the storm turns to a cloud; like the grass that I found underneath the snow, like the water underneath the ice. Here is the picture that represents that:

'Grass under Snow'

Day 46 : Frozen in Time

I saw this old model car half buried in snow, while the icicles were rooting it to the ground. The car hasn't been moved for quite some time, and thought that this car was literally frozen in time. Here is the picture of the day:

'Frozen in Time'

Day 45 : Roof Tops

The best thing about Chicago is the slightest change in the season shows you a completely different side to the view outside your window. I took a few pictures of the same roof tops at different times and the effect of the season on the pictures was amazing. I took the following pictures before, during, and after snow fall:

Day 44 : Winter Guest

Day 43 : Melting Snow

Day 42 : Sunset

Day 41 : Snow Jungle

Day 40 : Pine Frosting

Day 39 : First Snow 2010

Today it snowed in Chicago for the first time. There were flurries the other day, but today was the official snow day. Here is the picture of the day:

'First Snow'

Day 38 : Soaring High

Birds...everyone at least once in their lifetime wish to fly and be free like a bird. Apart from all birds, Sea birds have a longer wing span and seeing sea birds fly, I feel peace building up in my heart. As I stood in my patio today, I saw this Sea Gull fly around in circles and I took a picture. I guess I am in love with Black and White pictures this week. Here is the picture of the day:

'Soaring High'

Day 37 : Symmetry

There is something about Electric Towers that attracts us like magnets, but also feels dangerous. The massive towers with hanging wires look so innocent, but you know that high-voltage electricity passes through it, every millisecond. Sometimes when you are traveling on long-stretched plain fields, you see these massive towers, standing silently next to each other like military men in a marching parade and you want to just stop traveling to you destination and take pictures. Finally I did stop, here is the picture of the day:

'Symmetry'

Day 36 : St. Peter's Church

We were coming back home from Skokie, when this street lighted with Christmas decorations ended into a beautiful-lit church that took my breath away. I later discovered it to be St. Peter's Church. I loved the way the church was lit in the night and I knew this was the right job for my new Canon EOS Rebel T2i. I loved the way the street lamps, cars, and modern technology surrounded this serene and beautiful church. I am still learning how to make this camera work, but here is the picture of the day:

'St. Peter's Church'