{place} ROSS BARNETT RESERVOIR /JACKSON MS

Beautiful days call for a road trip with a camera.  And just look what I found!  Lily pads.  Everywhere.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in one body of water before today.  And I was able to get up close to a lot of them.  They were so pretty floating in the water and bobbing up and down with the waves as boats cruised past.

 

I was amazed at all the differing colors of green.  I don’t know much about lily pads, but I’m assuming that was due to differing stages of life of the lily pads.

 

It was a very windy day and the edges of the lily pads would get flipped up frequently.  It almost looked as if they were waving at us.

 

As I was taking this photo, a wave tossed a puddle of water onto this lily pad.

 

The flowers are the softest shades of white, cream, yellow and green.  Being from the South, they remind me of little magnolias.  I wonder what they smell like?  Lily pads are so pretty and fascinating, I wonder if their flowers have an equally delightful smell?  Maybe next time I’ll get close enough to find that answer!

 

I took this shot just because I thought it would make for a pretty image.  I like the way it turned out.

 

And red-winged black birds were everywhere.  Well, that’s what I call them!!  Not sure the exact name.  But they are black birds with patches of red on their wings.  What I learned about them is that they are very fussy.  They were so noisy!  They did not like us at the water’s edge, so they flew above us just a fussin’ at us.  Finally this one landed and I could take his picture.  I love the way the lily pads off in the distance look in this photo – like little green and yellow polka dots.

 

Besides the color variations, I was also amazed at the sheer size of some of the lily pads!!

 

I love when I upload photos and then find a surprise in it that I didn’t know was there.  Do you see the surprise in this one?  There’s a dragon fly in there somewhere.  Not gonna tell where!

 

I’ve never seen a lily pad seed pod, but I’m assuming that’s what this is.  Anyone know?  It looks like it’s been all tied up with a bow.

 

I love the way the water puddles up and rolls around on the top of the lily pad, much like mercury would do!  I remember when I was a child that our thermometer accidentally fell on the floor and busted open.  Little puddles of mercury danced all over the floor.  It was great fun to watch and we could make one little puddle scoot over and join up with the next little puddle to form one bigger puddle!  Mom wasn’t too happy about the situation, but it really was great entertainment for me and my brother!

 

Another waving lily pad.  And look, their undersides are pretty, too!

 

If you didn’t find the dragonfly in the previous photo, perhaps you can find this one!  I love dragonflies and was tickled to discover this one just hanging out nearby, but it was a little too far off for my zoom lens.  Oh, well, I sat there and enjoyed that little beauty for a few minutes before calling it a day.

 

It is a blessed day, indeed, when I can enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and have fun taking pictures of it, too!  Now I need to go learn a little about lily pads so I can marvel at the  brilliant wisdom of the Creator God.  Next time you take a road trip, don’t forget to grab your camera!