For this week’s Photo Challenge, Egídio asks us to select 5 shots from photographs which are taken within 10-15 steps in any direction of where we choose to be “stuck in place.” Since my deck limits my range of movement already, I chose to be stuck here. I often come out on the deck to enjoy a glass of wine, and to wind down from the days activities. This is the view from the sliding glass door. I sometimes think of the deck as my tree-house. There are no stairs down to the yard, so I am stuck 10 feet (3.4 meters) in the air!

From here I can look down, all around the back yard. While I was snapping shots, my dear Daisy came into view. She loves to sniff-out all the wild smells around the grounds, and often paddles at the surface of the pond, “fishing”.

The 8 old growth Douglas Fir in the back yard are sacred to me. They anchor everything in the gardens, and provide lovely shade in the summer. This group of four I have named the Mother Tree and Three Sisters. Yes, I’m a tree-hugger. Just look up at them though!

Egídio suggests we look closely for compositions we usually walk past. This wall of sun faces is just such a place. The way the filtered sunlight highlighted them provided a moment to see them freshly.

I’ll finish with a fun visitor. My suet feeder has been knocked to the ground so often that it no longer is able to hang from its holder. I put it in the center of the deck table, and moved all the chairs far enough away that dogs and squirrels can’t jump up to eat the suet. Pretty soon my regular visitors found it, and were not a bit bothered by me sitting there snapping shots!

Thank you to Egidio for this intriguing challenge!

On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾