[Leica] IMG Sunday Flower

[bjq1 at mac.com (Barney Quinn)]

I saw this Hydrangea coming back from my cello lesson Saturday  
morning. It is growing in my teacher Matt's back yard, next to his  
studio. I didn't have a camera with me and I was carrying my cello so  
there wasn't anything I could do at the moment. Later that day I  
called Matt and asked if I could come over and photograph it. Here is  
the result. Hydrangea always reminds me of my Grandfather's house  on  
Harrison Ave. in Mineola, NY. He had a huge Hydrangea tree in the  
front yard and in the back he had a Rose Garden, a Grape Arbor, and a  
real Apple tree. It was serene. I was happy there as a child.

Hydrangea has the power to bring back memories for me, and to make me  
sad. My Grandfather's house and garden were sold and turned into  
pandominiums long, long ago. I use the flowers which I photograph as  
a clock to mark the passing of the year and of the seasons. By the  
time you get to Hydrangeas it's very late in the season and the end  
of high summer, although not here yet, is clearly in sight. My sister  
Evelyn died long years ago. One Easter she gave me a Hydrangea as a  
gift. She loved flowers. She was always pressing them in books and  
trying to preserve them in one way or another. Hydrangea always  
reminds me of her.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Barney/Hydrangea.jpg.html

Comments and criticisms welcome