an unusual grouping of various flowers

a grouping of vibrant hot-pink oriental day-lilies

appearing as a beautiful iridescent wing from a magical creature, this is actually a small portion of a single grain of black sand. we were exploring a small clump of sand for a good shot, and noticed a tiny colourful spot sparkling out from one of the grains of lava rock. zooming in much more, we discovered this 'wing' shape measuring 0.0058 inches long (equivalent to the thickness of a sheet of paper). the entire grain of sand at this level of magnification, would fill 20 of these photos.

My friend and master gardener was showing me the sites and we came across her favorite of all trees, the chionanthus virginicus, or fringe tree. In late spring it blooms with drooping clusters of white flowers. I now understand her passion for the tree as is had a very soft friendly appearance with a lovely scent from it's quantity of blooms.

Arizona wilderness

This is the main center area of MachuPicchu. The "D" shaped structure near center is the Temple of the Sun. For some reason it was worthy of a complex curved wall, unlike all other surrounding structures.

foliage on the tropical island of Guam

northern shore of Guam