The Familiar and the New

Dear Diary,

I was in the garden gathering flowers to make bouquets, enjoying the familiar "faces" of my flowers, when I came across a new visitor to the flower bed.  Well, at least he was new to me.  I'm sure he had been around before and I just hadn't noticed him.  He was an Orange Belted Bumble Bee and I've added his photograph as an extra today.

A friend had sent me an excellent article on native bees and I was amazed to learn that there are over 200 species of bee in Maine!  They described many of them and when I went out to the flower garden my eyes were primed for bee watching.  I saw him because bees were on my radar so to speak along with the flowers.

Now, that got me thinking about all the things I might be missing every day because I'm focused on something else; distracted by other concerns.  Staying profoundly aware of the world around you is so important.  Being open and present to what is in front of you will reward you in so many ways.  We all know the dangers of "distracted driving", I'm adding "distracted photography" to the list of things to avoid!