Orchids

Most of the fun things I do are either my wife's idea or my children's ideas. Thus it was this past Saturday when we all went to the Cape and Islands Orchid Show. We all brought our cameras. The pictures I took are not necessarily the best examples on display and may not have won any awards. These are just pictures of orchids that I found interesting. I didn't keep track of the names of the orchids or the names of the people who cultivated them. I was hoping to go back later and find them in the program for the show. But there were no names and no pictures in the program. I'll know the next time we go.

The first picture (top - right) was the first thing we saw when we entered the show so I started snapping pictures. I was very impressed when I stopped to admire it but I was even more impressed when I found out that it was hand-made of cornstarch and then painted. I've never seen anything so realistic and lovely. When I saw how delicate it was, I was even more amazed that they would display it in such an exposed place. Anyone could have bumped into it and broken off a piece. But it did allow us to see it in its full splendor.

The next picture, on the left, looks like a bunch of smiling faces to me. They actually looked more like smiling faces when we saw them live. My inept framing and camera settings don't show them up very well. I have always liked pansies because they look like smiling faces to me, too, but these smiling orchids were just incredible. I found myself smiling broadly just looking at these happy orchids. Talk about flowers brightening someone's day.

For the next picture (on the right again), I wanted to practice a technique we learned on another fun expedition my wife found for us (see this link for our "Photo tour") called Shooting Through. There were yellow orchids in the foreground (out of focus) that add their tint to the lovely burgundy and gold orchid in focus in the background. I was so intent on getting the effect that I didn't notice what appears to be a little figure in the center of the flower until I looked at these pictures at home. Click on the picture to see it larger and I think you'll see what appears to be a little figure with its arms crossed!

This next orchid (back to the left again) is so flamboyant and expansive. It can't just be sitting there. It has to be doing something. To me, it seems like it has its arms spread wide and is belting out a song. It has some sort of fancy hat on its "head", too. Can't you just see Ethyl Merman singing, "There's No Business Like Show Business" dressed in a flowing gown singing that song? Not a Merman fan? OK, maybe you can imagine Bette Midler singing, "Rochelle Rochelle"!

My final picture is another orchid with what appears to be a small figure in the middle. For this picture, we go back to the right. Are you starting to feel like a cocker spaniel chasing after the pictures? This one looks like someone in a cowboy hat - with a cape. I'd say it's Zorro but he always wore black. Maybe it's a sign I've gone too long with this post. As with all my pictures, click on this one to see it larger and tell me if you don't see someone with a cowboy hat - and a cape!