Early Morning Darkness

 Great fun getting these photos before sunrise.  Text will follow this evening.
There, it's now 8:10 and I'm fading fast, like a certain Amanita I've been posting lately.
This morning I set out before sunrise to search for photos of dew or frost, whichever Mother Nature provided.  It was too warm for frost, but there was lots of dew.  When I approached my target spot, just outside Midtown Coffee, I could barely see the bright flowers blooming, but it occurred to me that with flash I could bring out the colors and the dew and get the background to disappear in blackness as if I were in a studio setting.  I usually don't do that sort of thing because I prefer flowers in their natural setting.  In this case, the natural setting wasn't very attractive, so why not black?  I don't know what the above flower is, but it is definitely impressive.  What's hiding in the blackness is an ugly sidewalk punctuated by a few cigarette butts.

In the above photo, the wilted flower above the middle of the frame is the remains of the one I posted here a week ago.  The most prominent flower now was a bud then.  Click on the photo for a better look at the dew drops.

I like the dew on these white roses even better.  This one was hanging downward, possibly from the weight of dew.  I'll check tomorrow afternoon when it's dry to see if they perk up.

Finally, the dew I was looking for.  The way it lines up along the blades of grass is very appealing.  Ironically, when I visited the coffee shop, before downloading my photos, I spent a little time reading a little booklet titled "Thoreau on Man and Nature" and found this:
"We are rained and snowed on with gems.  What a world we live in!  Where are the jewelers' shops?  There is nothing handsomer than a snowflake and a dewdrop ... in truth they are a product of enthusiasm, the children of an ecstasy, finished with the artist's utmost skill."

The Tansy always impresses, especially from a close-up view.  First, from a short distance, a cluster of flower heads impresses.  Then, upon closer inspection, ...

... the spiral arrangement of disk flowers impresses even more.  Then when they are visited by an interesting bug or two, that's even better.  But this early in the morning the bugs are playing it safe somewhere else.

As of wake-up time this morning, we were in the 273rd day of 2013, and I had made 273 posts to this blog during the year.  I hope I haven't upset the symmetry of it all by posting this one extra making it 274 posts in 273 days.  But I couldn't resist.  I should add that I had several very interesting experiences during the day AFTER taking the above photos, but I don't want to push it.  I'll report on today's other adventures tomorrow.