Friday, February 3, 2012

Miss Ruby's Irises

Today was so rainy and gloomy ~ really dismal ~ that I decided to at least "think Spring" and go through some photos I took last year for future watercolor references. I'm so glad I did! ...I had forgotten just how wonderful Miss Ruby's irises were! (Mrs. Ruby Oliver, actually, but here we say Miss or Aunt before the first name if we're not being "formal"; it's just polite).

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We had a very rainy spring last year, and I had been watching the weather forecast for days, worried that the rain and wind would ruin the irises. Sadly, Miss Ruby had recently passed away, and I asked permission from her family to take photos of her beautiful flowers (she was known for her gorgeous irises)...I had taken to driving by daily ~ sometimes stopping ~ checking on them (to the concern of some of the neighbors)!

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Slowly but surely, some of the earliest bloomers began their show...and still it rained. Finally, most of Miss Ruby's vast iris beds were in full bloom, and I wanted to try and get photos while they were at their best...I took photos between rain showers, although it was still gray and drizzly. The photos were okay, and I figured it was as good as it was going to get; there was absolutely no sunshine in the forecast for the week ahead, and after that, it didn't matter...they would be withered by then.

I was getting ready to leave...(from just how many angles could I take photos of each color of iris?...I always seemed to need "just one more" shot)~ when the sun broke through the clouds...brilliant, glorious sunshine, the likes of which Southeast Missouri hadn't seen for weeks, it seemed! Though I had already photographed each color of iris, now with the sun shining through the translucent blooms as through stained glass, the first photos paled in comparison. I spent the next hour re-photographing the irises; pretty before, but now exquisite in the sun. I like to think Miss Ruby had something to do with that. :)

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