Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Bumblebee And Blue Lobelia” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
Tonight I just have a single thought to share.
Take time to appreciate the daily blessings of life. It’s that simple. The busy bee is busy but doing what she loves. Each flower she visits is to her a wonderful gift from God. There’s no burden in that kind of busyness.
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
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Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer
Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Night Sounds” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
A cool mist flows over Little Elk Mountain and the moon is the only light for miles. In late Summer and Early fall the singing of frogs is replaced by sound of katydids.
It occurs to me that some of my international friends may not know what a katydid looks like.
Of in the distance the screech owls are holding congress squabbling over who gets the territory. For a while their cries of “who” echo through the forest and fade into the night. Several hound dogs begin to bay at the Moon as it rises into the sky and peeks through the trees. I begin to miss the voice of the whip-poor-will from my childhood. In the distance the whistle of a train running along the river breaks pattern of natural sounds.
I gaze at moon myself as the night sounds surround me. My eyes grow heavy while watching the silvery light filter through my bedroom window. My final thought is “Moon beams bring sweet dreams”. No longer able to hold my eyes open, I drift off to sleep with nature singing my lullaby.
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is
Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled simply “Sassafras Leaves”. The image was produced specifically for this article and is not really as a “sales piece”. However, if you see an image on my blog that you would like to purchase just follow the instructions at the bottom of the article .
The warm humid air carries a sweet spicy aroma as I approach the small trees growing along the road. Because I live in rattlesnake country I use the hook on the end of my walking stick to pull the branches to me instead of wading through the weeds. Taking a bit of the fresh leaf and rubbing it between my thumb and forefinger releases even more of the aromatic oils. Sassafras has one of the most pleasant fragrances found in nature. To me it’s the strongest identifying quality of this very useful tree.
I suppose that my first experience with Sassafras is the preschool memory of my dad coming home from work with the root bark. I remember that he held it out for me to smell. Then he put it a pot of water that was simmering on the stove and the whole house smelled like warm root beer. That was late Fall and the memory of that experience is just as strong as it ever was. But today I have a different purpose for the sweet oils of the Sassafras tree. I plucked a few more leaves and began to crush them up in my hands. I rub the resulting liquid on exposed skin and tuck the bruised leaves under the brim of my hat. The fragrance helps hide me from the mosquitoes that lurk in the shade. Thanks to my grandfather for teaching me this trick while out caring for the cattle.
Sassafras is leaf was formally used for the flavoring in gumbo! Now, I have not been able to enjoy this one personally and gumbo from a commercial source must not contain Sassafras by law. In fact it’s banned from all commercial production due the risk of cancer from the essential oil. ( And yet Philip Morris can still sell cigarettes on every street corner. ) We haven’t been able to use it commercially since 1979. Before that root beer and root beer candy was made with natural extracts and real sugar.
These days this wonderful tree is still sold as an ornamental plant. The large purplish blue berries are a favorite of songbirds. I have to say that I’ve noticed that the drop in the bobwhite and drop in popularity of natural Sassafras flavored products seems to coincide. It’s worth propagating the tree just for the wildlife value alone.
The one commercial use that the FDA allows us to have is the exotic lumber value. Sassafras hartwood is considered to be very durable and is absolutely beautiful. As a forest owner you could probably do pretty well by producing a handful of timber sized Sassafras trees per year. A quick Google search turned up asking prices around ten dollars per board foot. So a rough value estimate of an average Sassafras wood 24 inches thick, 8 inches wide and 30 feet tall came out to around $6K per tree. ( This was a very quick and very rough estimate and it’s been 30 years since I actually had to estimate the value of timber so I am not positive about that estimate. ) Purists may not consider the commercial use of lumber to be foraging. To those good folks, I need to point out that foraging is using the resources of the land to feed yourself and others. Since $6k will buy a lot groceries it counts in my book. And if done right it will open up resources for renewal of the lower canopy to thrive and mature. And that estimate doesn’t really include the possibility of novelties made from pieces that a mill might reject such as lathe turned jewelry and bespoke canes.
Overall, it turns out that Sassafras has a lot to offer and we haven’t even considered the medical uses. ( Mainly because of the FDA ban ) I may revisit this one in the fall when I’m in the mood for a homemade root beer!
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is
Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Buttercups 51218″and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
Like living smiley faces little pops of living sunshine make their appearance in mid May. I remember kids holding the yellow flowers under their chins as test to see who likes butter.
The phrase toughen up buttercup has become a popular way to infer that one is weak but whoever came up with had obviously never attempted to contol buttercups in the yard. No matter how many times I cut them or pull them out they seem to come back stronger. I don’t really mind. There’s a certain amount of innocent joy I get from them growing on the edge of forest. I’m always taken back to my childhood memories of kids holding little yellow flowers under their chins and giggling at who has the yellow reflection.
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is
Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Thunder Ridge” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
I stepped out of the big blue truck and walked just beyond the gate. The scent of the impending rain hangs heavy in the air. The local songbirds are all huddled under the bushes for shelter as thunder rolls across the ridge. The empty roads beckons me to come & explore but the Darkening sky forbids me to walk too far. As I gaze down the road I allow my imagination to wander beneath the approaching thunderheads. My thoughts are interrupted by a different thunder. Its the sound of four large engines turning propellers on the tarmac in the distance. It has the be the 130th Airlift Wing warming up a C-130. The massive aircraft is often seen floating above the Kanawha Valley. It’s truly an awesome sight to see them emerge from the thick clouds on days like today.
When I was 11 years old my Civil Air Patrol group was transported to the Patuxent River Naval Air Test Station by the 130th AW ( the aircraft is a C-130 & the Air National Guard Group that is stationed her happens to also be the 130th group. ) My impression of the C-130 was that it’s the aeronautical version of a four wheel drive SUV. The seating for troop transport in the late 70s & early 80s was an adventure all of it’s own for a farm-boy of my age. Imagine that you’re locked into a tube with woven web lawn chairs hanging from the interior of the tube. They strap you in and taxi to the runway. The 130 is an STOL aircraft. That stands for Short Take Off & Landing which means that its angle on take off is really steep. The woven basket that you’re seated in swings like a pendulum as the plane jumps into the air. The sky on that day was really cloudy like you see in the feature image and it was turbulent. I suppose the resulting ride reminded me of sliding around on a muddy jeep trail which is what makes me think of them in the frame of a four wheel drive. Or, maybe the pilot was just adding a little extra adventure for a cargo load of wide eyed kids but it was like an amusement ride. Once we had reached a certain altitude we were allowed to get up and walk around a bit. everyone rushed towards the windows. For may of us it was first time off the ground. land was also an experience because they reverse the engines to land and its not like a passenger jet. There’s little or no soundproofing in the big green birds and when the propellers start the other direction its quite a racket.
I relive that trip several times a day now when they fly over the office at my day job. They fly really close to this road & if I can ever time it right I should be able to get some good shots of them. Today however, the combination of rain & limited time forced me to climb back into the truck before the C-130 made its appearance. As I rolled the big blue truck back onto the hardtop the large drops of water made contact with the windshield and I knew that today wasn’t the day. That’s okay. It’s an event that occurs on this road every day and I’ll get the shot eventually. It’s just a matter of timing. I do have a decent shot from an earlier flyover to share but I’ll continue to watch the sky for that perfect shot.
C-130 Hurcules flyover on April 24th 2019
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is
Click the web to go tohttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC 