PhotoBySam - May Flowers - YouTube Screenshots in SAHARA DESERT - Other Stuff - MyShadowProductions #225

HOWDY !! Hope your Spring is Blooming along !!

I shared my “camera/phone” with a guest photographer the other day on a walk in Downtown Aurora.

See what you think. I told him as we started walking, “just let me know if you want to take a picture”.

Surprisingly he was pretty selective :)

Here they are: (I added the notations PhotoBySam)

I took this one :)

Here are a couple of pictures I took that need to be shared :)

No more Skeletons in that closet?? :)

Is there a politically correct term for a “man overboard dummy” ??

It turns out that this past April’s rainfall was quite a bit above average here in Aurora and even more so in Chicago. The reason I mention that is because I have a Video to share that I am calling “May Flowers”, you know, “April showers bring May flowers”. And despite the ridiculous number of pictures I take I did not take a picture or short video during a rain shower, just a couple that show some small puddles :) I realize now that a “rainy” photo/short video would be nice to start off a “May Flowers” video, but instead I have a few “puddle” photos and a very full Fox River :)

I hope you enjoy my “May Flowers” Video created from my photos during, you guessed it, the month of May. I have tried to be accurate with the flower/tree names but sorry to say, no guarantees. It is a good idea to pay attention as you watch it, could be parts of the Final Exam sprinkled (pun intended) throughout :)

CLICK HERE for MAY FLOWERS !!

Next up is another “Screenshot Video” created by MyShadow, this time from the YouTube channel “Amazing Places On Our Planet”, in the Sahara Desert (remember I did a screenshot video in Post #219 about Corsica hiking). Definitely not how I pictured the Sahara to look like, and this is just a small section, the overall variety is most likely “endless” ?!?!

Click Here for my Sahara Desert Screenshot Video.

Moving on, does it mean I am getting old when I use a word in conversation that a 45+ yr old person hasn’t heard of?? Remember Post #220, we only use several thousands of words out of a much larger selection and evidently my vocabulary has at least “one” rare word :)?? Raise your hand if you know/use the word “nomenclature”, not everyday but maybe once or twice?? :) At least I was “heard”, it even generated some laughter :).

By the way, if you need an excuse for anything right now, there is a Full Moon (unless you are reading this after May 31 :)

Oh, check this out………

Ciao for now !!

People Taking Pictures - Early Spring at GPC - Showers of Flowers - Art Institute of Chicago - MyShadowProductions #224

Happy CINCO de MAYO !! I love how it always seems to fall on May 5th :)

It is also after the day when you might hear the phrase “May the Fourth (Force) Be With You” - aren’t humans so creative??

My “brain” seems a little scattered lately for a variety of reasons so luckily I have been busy getting out and taking pictures. I think you know what that means, right? Eventually (now) I will make Videos to share.

This Post I have 4 Videos and hopefully you can find some time to enjoy them and maybe even notice a few “new tricks” I have been learning with the iMovie app.

Video 1 - Garfield Park Conservatory and Gardens Early Spring 2026

Video 2 - GPC Spring Show - SHOWERS of FLOWERS - an ever evolving process that started mid January and continues through Mother’s Day. 95% of the flowering plants were started months earlier in the Conservatory’s greenhouses. The hundreds of plants are set/sunk in their pots and lightly covered with mulch for their time in the Show, with daily shuffling and replacement as needed including new varieties as they are Bloom ready. This year the center “island” was not constructed to allow for the “shower” of hanging plants.

Video 3 - Day Trip to The Art Institute of Chicago with Sights Before and After

Video 4 - People Taking Pictures (created from photos I have accumulated in an album over the past couple of years)

I haven’t done a HAIKU poem in a while so no better time than the present !!

They asked a Question 

What is your most liked Season?

the “PRESENT” SEASON !!

Let’s Keep on BLOOMING !!

Hunting Daffodils - Ikebana Show - GPC & Gardens SPRING 2026 - MyShadowProductions #223

Happy Spring all you Bloomers :) !!

Inside GPC at the Spring Flower Show

Let’s start with this, I need to correct something from my last Post so I can sleep again :) lol

In the last Post I wrote about kneeling on the ground and pruning faded growth on Hibiscus plants, WRONG ! They were Penstemon digitalis (Perennial known for its tall spikes of white, tubular flowers that attract pollinators like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds), perfect plant for a garden named “Pollinator Beds”.

You may not have noticed, but I take a lot of pictures :) Sometimes it is cool to see things in the picture that I had no idea were there. Here is one example:

There has been plenty of rain in the Chicago area over the last month and Spring has been Springing. The last 5 days though, the “growth” and “blooms” have been almost “visible” and “audible” if that makes sense?

For this Post I have been waiting for some words of “wisdom” and “humor” and “interest” to bloom in my head but no luck so far :)

I do have some Videos to share though, letting the pictures do the “talking”.

Video 1 : Hunting Daffodils Spring 2026 This video even includes another “Hunter” crossing my path :) Includes Daffodils at Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago Botanic Garden, Grant Park in Chicago, Morton Arboretum and Mt St Mary park in St Charles, IL and Central Park NYC (from a Follower, THANKS !).

Also, can you spot the picture in the Video of just “Wild tulips”?, I thought they looked like a daffodil :)

Video 2 : lkebana Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden. What is Ikebana? CLICK HERE to find out and then see what you think of the arrangements in the Video.

Video 3 : Garfield Park Conservatory & Gardens Spring 2026. 

The Conservatory’s “Backyard” - under appreciated in my opinion.

Due to the many recent rains the Fox River is flowing pretty fast and full. In Aurora at least, the fast flow and deep banks seem to accommodate the volume of water without flooding.

Here are a few photos from my walk today.

Until next time, happy living, planting, blooming and weeding wherever you are !!

(dandelions, creeping Charlie and bind weed are loving the rain here :)

FULL BLOOM AHEAD !!