Thursday, January 14, 2016

Flowering Trees and What We Learned Today

Plum Blossom Report #2

 

 

Wintertime depression was sneaking up on me because, I need sunshine.

Unfortunately, it's been cold and raining every day this week.

Stuck in the office, all day, I wasn't in any mood for blogging last night.  So, I didn't.

It was raining this morning but, Map It Okinawa came by and, off to the hills, we went.


country road,trees, plum blossoms, guardrails, mountains
  
The plan:  Go back to  Oshittai (オーシッタイ) and see how the plum blossoms were doing.

These images were taken, to give flower lovers an idea, what to expect.

That narrow road, wasn't really made for high speed, two way traffic.

branches, trees, flowers

On weekdays, there isn't hardly any traffic so, it's fairly safe for flower viewing.

But, on weekends, it can get crowded with nature nuts and photographers.

flower, stem, buds, raindrop, plum blossom

The slight drizzle of rain, would come and go so, I didn't mind it, too much.

As long as it's not windy, you can shoot some interesting photos. 

If no water drops get on the lens, you may catch some drops on the flowers and stems.

ferns, trees, flowers, plum blossoms, branches

Wet vegetation can yield some interesting colors and compositions.

The bees seemed to be hiding somewhere dry and, didn't bother me much today.

white flowers, tree branches, blossoms and buds


With no wind, shaking everything, I used slow shutter speeds to capture the flower colors.

And, it was easy to move around, without worrying about traffic, coming down the road.

branches, buds, plum flowers


Just imagine, somebody spraying some sort of honey mist in the outdoor air,

Then maybe, you'll have an idea, what the place smells like.

Anybody, who has seen my profile picture, can probably tell, I ain't no flower dude !

Plum terr, branches, blossoms

There'll more than likely, be more women than, bees up there this weekend.

They should wait another week if, they want to see those trees in full bloom.

tree branch, ferns, thorns, bark

Today was the first time, I took a close look at the bark on those plum trees.

And, I noticed these spikes, sticking out of the branches and tree trunks.

thorns, branch, plum tree

It would be a good idea, not to climb on of those trees, to try and snatch some flowers.

Those thorns or, whatever you call them, look like roofing nails, to me !

pine tree, plum blossoms, branch, flowers

If you are one of those folks, who snitch other people's flowers, find a low branch.

Or, bring along a step ladder so, you can reach up high. Just don't climb the tree.

Luckily, nobody heard me, when I discovered, a plum tree bit me !

Taking a wild guess, the plum blossoms are only about 20% of the way into full bloom.

My prediction:  The next two weekends -- You will find traffic jams in those hills.


SEE MORE IN PLUM BLOSSOM REPORT #1

FOR DIRECTIONS: VISIT THE MAP IT LINK ABOVE


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