Sara, my mother, a retired teacher nearing her 80th birthday, has the same "superpower" her mother (my beloved grandmother "Olimpia") used to have: the ability to make her plants grow and bloom majestically even in the midst of a drought. And when I say this, I mean it. We're experiencing intense midday sun and a heat index that can reach 35掳C, if not higher. On top of that, water for irrigation is quite scarce. However, today when I went to bring my mother breakfast (we live in adjacent houses, and our patios and gardens are connected), I found her watering and "conversing" with a handful of beautiful lilies that looked like they had just sprouted from a pot... They looked like flowers from another time of year, good heavens! So I couldn't help but express my amazement at seeing them, and my mother immediately told me, "Don't shout, or they'll close!" 馃し鈥嶁檪... That was exactly what my grandmother used to tell me when I played in her flower-filled garden! 馃槀... Anyway, after having breakfast with my mother, I went back home, grabbed my camera, and returned to my mother's garden to take some pictures of these lovely flowers and share them here with you, along with this short story...
Sara, mi madre, una profesora jubilada pr贸xima a cumplir sus 80 a帽os, tiene el mismo "super poder" que sol铆a tener su madre (mi querida abuela "Olimpia") el cual consiste en "hacer que sus plantas crezcan y brinden flores de manera majestuosa a煤n en plena 茅poca de sequ铆a" y cuento digo esto lo digo en serio, pues aqu铆 estamos teniendo mediod铆as de gran radiaci贸n solar y una sensaci贸n t茅rmica que puede llegar a los 35掳C sino m谩s. Y adem谩s, el agua disponible para riego es bastante escasa. Sin embargo, hoy cuando fui a llevarle el desayuno a mi madre (vivimos en casas contiguas y nuestros patios y jardines se comunican), la encontr茅 regando y "conversando" con un pu帽ado hermosos lirios que parec铆an reci茅n emergidos de una maceta... 隆Parec铆an flores sacadas de otra 茅poca del a帽o, santos cielos!. As铆 que no pude m谩s que expresar mi asombro a verlos y mi madre de inmediato me dijo: "No grites, porque se van a cerrar" 馃し鈥嶁檪... 隆Eso era justamente lo mismo que me dec铆a mi abuela cuando yo jugaba en su jard铆n repleto de flores! 馃槀... Y bien, lo cierto es que despu茅s de acompa帽ar a mi madre a desayunar, regres茅 a mi casa, tom茅 mi c谩mara y volv铆 al jard铆n de mi madre para hacer algunas fotos de estas lindas flores y compartirlas aqu铆 con ustedes junto con esta breve historia...
These are flowers of Habranthus brachyandrus, a common plant to see bloom here (but during the rainy season, not in April!) and people simply call them "Rain Lilies." My mother, with so many years of experience knowing her garden better than anyone, usually knows which pots and planters have the bulbs of these plants buried in them. Then, in the middle of the dry season, she suddenly waters them abundantly鈥攊t's like "simulating a downpour"鈥攁nd then, a few days later, this beautiful spectacle of flowering occurs... (That's how my mother explained it to me once again, as she does every year, every time I'm surprised to see these flowers) 馃槀
Estas son flores de Habranthus brachyandrus, una planta com煤n de ver florecer aqu铆 (隆pero en 茅poca de lluvias, no en Abril!) y las personas le llaman simplemente "Lirios de Lluvia" y mi madre, con tantos a帽os conociendo su jard铆n como nadie, suele saber en cuales macetas y jardineras permanecen los bulbos de estas plantas enterrados y entonces, en plena temporada seca, las riega repentinamente de manera abundante, eso es como "simular un aguacero" y entonces, a los pocos d铆as, ocurre este bonito espect谩culo de floraci贸n... (As铆 me lo explic贸 mi madre una vez m谩s, como a帽o a a帽o, cada vex que me sorprendo por ver estas flores) 馃槀
Thank you very much for your visit and appreciation!
隆Muchas gracias por pasar y apreciar!
ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL NOTE: Photographs captured with my Nikon D7000 DSLR camera in RAW format, then processed in Adobe Camera RAW for adjustments regarding light, sharpening, contrast and depth... They were then exported to JGP format on which minor modifications such as straightening and adding watermarks were carried out using PhotoScape v3.7
NOTA T脡CNICA ADICIONAL: Fotografias capturadas con mi c谩mara DSLR Nikon D7000 en formato RAW, procesadas posteriormente en Adobe Camera RAW para ajustes relativos a luz, afilado, contraste y profundidad... Luego fueron exportadas a formato JGP sobre el cual se llevaron a cabo modificaciones menores como enderezado y agregado de marcas de agua usando PhotoScape v3.7
"We make photographs to understand what our lives mean to ourselves." - Ralph Hattersley.
"Hacemos fotograf铆as para comprender lo que nuestras vidas significan para nosotros mismos." - Ralph Hattersley.
Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 II DC OS HSM
Lens: Tokina ATX-PRO 100mm f/2.8 d MACRO
Lens: AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
Lens: AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
Lens: Nikon AF Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8d FX
Lens:AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G
C谩mara: Nikon D7000
Lente: Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 II DC OS HSM
Lente: Tokina ATX-PRO 100mm f/2.8 d MACRO
Lente: AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
Lente: AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
Lente: Nikon AF Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8d FX
Lente: AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G
Montalb谩n, Carabobo, Venezuela.