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Friday, May 3, 2013

Pond reflections with floating baby leaves



The color of the pond changes fantastically from second to second.  It is the color of the surface-covering aqua plants, reflected nature of the season, and the sky.  On a sunny day, sunlight sparkles on the pond. 

At the end of April, the water of the Hase-ike Pond at Kobe Municipal Arboretum looked lavendar to pink color.


There were numerous soft purple lily pads in the pond.

The tiny red things on the branch are maple flowers.
 Then, I spotted glinting pink things in the water which looked like fallen cherry blossoms, but I knew there were no cherry trees around the pond. 


When I saw them through my telephoto lens, I found they were tiny delicate floating leaves.





I was captivated by the magical world of the glinting baby pads.




According to the staff of the forest, newly born floating leaves of the aqua plants of the pond are tinted with red or purple color and becomes green till June. 

Baby pads of these colors are so special to this season. So was the clarinet live I happened to enjoy.  The tune mingled with the breeze over the pond....


... and maybe soaked into the pond?
There are so many things I love and want to share with you at the Rokko Mountains but I wouldn't like to make the post very long, so I’ll add one more special to this season – flowers of maple trees.  Maple trees flower in early spring with or just after the appearance of the leaves.


Though maple flowers are small individually, the effect of an entire tree in flower can be striking in several species.   See the photos below. 


オオモミジ, Acer palmatum var. amoenum

Wish you a wonderful May!
Enjoy beauty and wonder that is all around.

My daughter and her baby boy born on May 1st are leaving hospital
and staying with us for a while.  I'll visit you slowly. 

39 comments:

  1. Oh those baby pads are so lovely and serene floating in the water. Mostly we notice the bigger things in life but I enjoy how you also focus on the smaller wonders in our world. Sometimes the quiet things are the more remarkable when discovered. The gentle music playing in the background must have been the icing on the cake of a wonderful day!

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  2. A real beauty ! Better than Monet...
    Have a peaceful weekend.
    Hug
    Anna

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  3. Happy May too! Gorgeous photographs as always!

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  4. The red baby lily pads are as if they are in a nursery creche cared for by the big green mother lily pads, and how very appropriate when you are just about to receive your own new born grandson into your families fold.
    Congratulations Yoko - lots of happiness to you all, now and in the future.

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  5. How beautiful! The baby lily pads are exquisite.
    And your new grandson is beautiful too, I hope we will see his picture, and you will tell us his name.

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  6. Yoko san, these are strikingly stunning photos, with the sun glittering on the leaves, the soft breezes rippling the water a bit, and all the beautiful pastel colors! I can even hear the jubilant clarinet, yes, it must have been jubilant on such a wonderful day! Don't worry abut making your posts too long - we always enjoy them so much!

    It is six o.clock in the morning, Shabatt, and we prepare to leave at seven for a trip to the North, to "enjoy beauty and wonder that is all around"! See you next time! :-)

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  7. Thanks for sharing such beauty.
    Greetings from Spain

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  8. The lily pads do feel magical with the reflections of the sky and trees. Everything seems so peaceful. And all this enhanced by music! Sounds wonderful.

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  9. I didn't know these water plants' new leaves were pink!

    I can never decide what's the most beautiful: fresh green maple leaves or fiery red maple leaves. Ah, never mind, we'll just enjoy them all. ^^

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  10. もみじの葉の下にぶらさがってる赤い物体は花だったんですか。いつも何かなと眺めていたのですが。あの後に実がぶらさがってるのは知ってたのですが。
    池の面にうまれたての葉がつややかで、池のリフレクションとでいい効果をそえてます。
    Enjoy nice holiday!

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  11. Yokoさん こんにちは。
     蓮の葉の赤ちゃん。実に可愛いですね。クラリネットの音色を聴きながら、すくすく育つ事でしょう!(*´∇`*)  水面に映る美しい光、咲き誇る花々、ハイキングを楽しむ人達。四季折々の植物の飾らない姿を愛される洋子さん。その愛情溢れるまなざしが何時も感じられます。
     

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  12. Wonderful shots with such nice reflections.

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  13. So many small gifts make such a huge impression! The colors and shapes that you've shared bring springtime to my heart. I enjoy seeing the beauty of the season through your compositions.

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  14. 水面に溢れるように生まれる小さな浮葉、愛しいですね。ベイビーと重なります。ミツバツツジでしょうか、その紅紫色が水面にアクセントとなって、とても美しいですね。
    我が家のオオモミジも今、花と実の両方が付いています。枝の先端に小さな赤い葉が出ていて、まさにこれも「赤ちゃん」誕生のようです。

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  15. Konnichi-wa Yoko-san,
    your photos of lily pads are really charming. They look like little red pearls swimming on the pond surface. Now springtime really has enforced in Japan and your nature seems to explode.
    I had more than enough of spring south of the Alps for approx. 14 days, too. Therefore I went without TV, internet, email, WiFi, even newspaper. I was not surprised at all the read my first newspaper after 10 days and to see nothing really important happend during this period of time.
    Step by step I`ll try to rework some of my 3500 photos and impressions I brought with me from ...
    ...Italy ;-)
    But it certainly will take some time before I'm going to post my first pictures about the "MMM" (try to google) and many more new impressions collected in a wonderful nature! ;-))
    So there's time enough for some morning walks with your granddaughters, Yoko! I hope, everything is alright with you and your family.
    Have a great week, we here in Germany have currently more than 20 degree centigrade, a mixture out of blue sky, clouds and periods of sunshine, it feels already like summer behind the window panes of my office...
    Uwe.

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  16. 近くの池では菱の葉が増える季節です。水面にも初夏がやってきて、愛らしい葉が徐々に大きくなるんですね。色が印象的です。

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  17. There is beauty all around us; there's no need to travel to faraway exotic places to see beautiful things. We just have to OPEN our eyes.

    Great photos!

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  18. These pictures are so scenic and gorgeous. Initially I thought those were flowers too. If I were there I would be totally immersed in this magical place with the clarinet notes for the entire day and still not have enough.

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  19. Very nice pictures.I like your blog very well
    Greetings
    Nordis

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  20. just gorgeous little leaves! beautiful color and light in these!

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  21. What a beautiful serene atmosphere the lily pads created....the little pink baby ones look like bubbles on the pond.

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  22. Wonderful! I just planted this spring's first flowers and hope that they do not freeze one night. A few pictures in my blog today.

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  23. Oh my - what utterly magical shots! You live in a heavenly place.

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  24. まあ!沢山の美しい池の表情が映し出されていますね。池に浮かぶ蓮の赤ちゃん葉っぱはまるで宝石のようです。クラリネットの音色はどの様に響いたのでしょう。でもStardustさん池に落ちなくて良かった!カメラ持ってる人よくあるそうです。遅い訪問になりました。思いっきり5月の香り楽しみましょう。
    Tomoko

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the reminder. 森林植物園は自然のままの六甲の森を利用しているので、池、山道、崖のどこにも柵がありません。小さいお子さんとご一緒の家族連れの方達も「気をつけて!」とよく声をかけておられるので、その声に私も我に返ることが多いです。お互い、気をつけましょうね。

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  25. Dear Yoko! My heartfelt congratulations! I hope your daughter and the new born baby are feeling good. I'm a bit envious as we haven't been blessed with grandchildren yet. My son is getting married this August.
    The pictures are a bliss as ever - something irreally beautiful! I've never seen maple flowers though there're maples in our area. Are they different or am I blind - that is what I try to understand...
    Have an enjoyable time! Tiring but absolutely great!

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  26. The pond looks magical Yoko, captured in different moods and a kaleidoscope of colors… like a splash of colors thrown on a canvas by an artist engrossed in his painting. The capture of the lily pads through the telephoto lens is superb! All your posts make me miss Nara SO much :(

    PS: Hearty congratulations to you and your entire family on the arrival of the little baby. No worries about slow visiting of blogs, He rightfully deserves all your attention right now. Wish you all a lovely time together :)

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  27. Absolutely beautiful......15 is perfect,so many layers of colour and pattern.
    This is such a magical time of year.

    Wishing you a lovely May too Yoko!
    Ruby

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  28. Thank you Yoko for the sunflower link, it is beautiful and I added it to my post! :-)

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  29. Another elegant post filled with muted color and graceful branches and luxurious light! Your work reminds me of the French painter, Monet, and any of these photos could rightly be framed and hung in a gallery. Have you ever thought of putting together a collection of your photographs? I'll bet you could get a gallery showing somewhere in Japan!

    I'm sending my best wishes to you and thank you for your kind comments on our poetry blog!

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  30. A paisagem é linda! O céu, a lagoa, as folhas, as flores!...
    Tanta harmonia e tanta paz!...

    ¸╭•⊰✿¸.

    Bom domingo!
    Feliz Dia das Mães!
    Beijinhos.♡ღ

    •*✿⊱╮ღ

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  31. ¡¡FELICIDADES!! PAZ Y PROSPERIDAD PARA TU FAMILIA y para la recién nacida. Bellas fotografías de MONET. Bss

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  32. These are wonderful! I can see why you were captivated by the lily pads, they are like art nouveau paintings you have created of them, beautiful : )

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  33. I am green with envy. Why are all views in Japan as beautiful as paintings?
    Why can’t we do the same?
    The simplicity of the arrangements, the delicate colours, the movement and shimmer of the surface of water - all of it is sheer beauty.

    I am sure if I had the good fortune of being in a Japanese garden I would forget to breathe.

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  34.  こんばんは。目を凝らすと自然は美しいものを静かに提供してくれますね。Haseikeの写真はとてもうっとりとさせて呉れます。
     モミジの花も美しいです。 モミジは枝に対して葉柄が左右対称に出て来ます。 縁起が良い木かも知れません。

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  35. こんにちわ。

    新緑がまぶしい季節になりました。
    色があるのに光が当たると透明に感じられます。

    心の中を洗い流してくれるような色彩です。

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  36. My favorite friend Yoko
    Congratulations warmly for the birth of your grandchildren!!!
    I wish the best for them!
    I apologize for the delay. Fifth day of May we had Easter in Greece and my kids were here for eight days.
    The winter is over and the garden needs great care.
    So the house.
    Therefore, do not have much time for the Internet.
    Your photographs are magical!
    What beautiful reflection and great color!
    Spring is the most beautiful season!
    From next month will begin with heat in Greece. Do not like this: (
    I'm sending you a big hug and lots of kisses

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  37. Tudo tudo aqui me encanta.
    Gosto muito de vir aqui.

    Bjs.

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  38. コメントさせてもらってましたね。
    見る時期が違うとこんなにもフイ―リングが違うのかと思います。早春の池の世界を美しく表現していると思います。
    ピンクの若い葉っパまるで生き物の様。説明文章も流石です!

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