Boats by olivetreeann

Boats

Where Do the Boats Go?

Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand.
It flows along forever,
With trees on either hand.

Green leaves a-floating,
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-boating--
Where will all come home?

On goes the river
And out past the mill,
Away down the valley,
Away down the hill.

Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring the boats ashore.

Robert Louis Stevenson
A Child's Garden of Verses

The car is on a limited use only basis this week, so it meant that today's Try 4 July word had to be found within the four walls of my house. Earlier when I first saw this word I thought I'd be using a substitute today, but I accidentally posted my bonus shot yesterday! However, last night as I was brushing my teeth, I remember my little miniature "ships in a bottle" sitting on the shelf behind me and today's shot was redeemed! So here are my boats and their pretty early morning shadows.
I love this poem! I copied and pasted it in my school files to use next year! So thanks! I love beautiful poems (literature) but ones the kids can relate to/understand. Glad you found your little boats in bottle for today!
July 16th, 2013  
Thats fun. Love the light through the bottle.
July 16th, 2013  
Lovely composition with that unique little boat in a bottle! The poem sounded English even before I saw it was written by Stevenson! Very sweet and apt!
July 16th, 2013  
very cool
July 16th, 2013  
@espyetta So glad to be of help! Actually you would find quite a few in that book that could be used- so see if you can track it down. It was one of my favorites as a child. My mom would read it to me and I LOVED the illustrations.
@netkonnexion Thanks Damon. I think that shadows often make a so-so picture into something much better. That's why I included them in this shot.
@maggiemae Thanks Maggie! He's always been a favorite.
July 16th, 2013  
@olivetreeann I will look into that one!
July 16th, 2013  
@maggiemae Just did a little reading on RLS and he's not British- he's Scottish!! Not only that there is a sculpture of him near Edinburgh Castle done by one Ian (figures I'd forget the first and last name!) Hamilton (??)! Maybe he's one of our distant relatives!!
July 16th, 2013  
Great shot
July 16th, 2013  
@kerristephens Thanks Kerri!

@espyetta I have a really old version ('cause I'm really old!! lol) but I'm sure there are reprints or updated versions available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
July 16th, 2013  
The poem is great Ann, and it sounds like you are having some problems with your car. Wow, what a bummer.
July 16th, 2013  
@olivetreeann The sculptor was Ian Hamilton Finlay so perhaps his mother was a Hamilton! Very interesting!
July 16th, 2013  
What a nice shadow to play with.
July 16th, 2013  
Nice picture and lovely poem.
July 16th, 2013  
Gorgeous shot. Love the light...and the poem.
July 16th, 2013  
A wonderful shot!! And now I'm conflicted as I hadn't checked on today's word and I actually have a boat shot from today...but it was third on my list of choices. Mmmm.... The shot and the poem are lovely together.
July 16th, 2013  
I have always been intrigued by ships in a bottle and how they are built
July 16th, 2013  
Love the light, and love the poem
July 16th, 2013  
Lovely shot. Great reflections and poem.
July 16th, 2013  
Cute little boats, and lovely light :) Good thinking to find your challenge pic too!
July 16th, 2013  
Wow! I really like the shadow and this is just nicely composed.
July 16th, 2013  
Love the shadow...this is just so fun a FaV
July 16th, 2013  
Love the lighting and the shadows. Always been fascinated by these boats in a bottle!
July 16th, 2013  
I love the perspective you used and the poem so I had to fav this. Very sweet.
July 16th, 2013  
Love the boats in the bottles.
July 16th, 2013  
Good shot -- especially like the shadows cast on the table.
July 16th, 2013  
Beautiful shot. Great light and shadow. I fondly remember this poem from a book I had when I was a child.
July 17th, 2013  
Wonderful composition. Love the light and shadow of the the bottle.
July 17th, 2013  
Meg
Love the boats especially since they are in glass...great poem.
July 17th, 2013  
@digitalrn Thanks Rick! Yes- had a major flat on the way to MI and ended up with not one, but two new tires. Then the speedometer broke. After that the battery died! It can be driven as all is fixed except for the speedometer, but since there is one other minor repair that needs some attention, I am staying put as much as I can until we get it to the shop. In some ways, I'm enjoying the fact that I can't run around willy-nilly. It's too hot anyway!
@maggiemae That's the one! I've got to get a hold of my cousin and see what she can send me about the Hamiltons in Scotland.
@yaorenliu Thank you Yao! I really love shadows since with 365 I see them more and more.
@daisyjuds Thank you Judith! And thank you so much for the fav!!
@edie Thank you Edie! Morning light around here is really soft and lovely.
@taffy Thank you Taffy! I was all set to forego it until I remembered these little trinkets.
@bkbinthecity Thanks Brian! Me too!
@filsie65 Thank you Phil!
@sangwann Thank you Dione!
@alia_801 Thanks Alia!
@mrssmith203 Thank you Carla! I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what I was up to now- playing with little bottles on the back porch railing!
@httpgeffed Thank you Colleen! And thanks for the fav! Glad you liked it!
@salza Thanks Sally! Me too and these are even more fascinating since they are really tiny!
@pandorasecho Thank you Dixie! And thank you for the fav! This poem is probably perfect for your area with the woods and the sea so close to one another.
@la_photographic Thanks Laura! They are really intriguing to me- and these are really small!
@dakotaburns Thank you Donald! Played around with several "poses" on the railing of my back deck. Did b/w too but this one showed off the shadow best.
@daisy Thank you Kathryn! It was probably the same book I got this from- A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was a favorite of mine too.
@pflaume Thank you Lisa! I first saw the shadows when I took a shot of them on the kitchen counter- but the wood back drop was better so I took this out on my back deck- pjs and all!
July 17th, 2013  
@megmills Thanks Meg! And they're tiny!
July 17th, 2013  
Great shot and poem. I wonder how they made that bottle.
July 17th, 2013  
@anazad511 Thanks Ana! I have no idea because they are really tiny!
July 17th, 2013  
beautiful shadows the bottles made especially on that wooden texture. excellent! this brings back memories of my father bent on our little dining table carefully assembling a tall ship in a flat bottle that used to contain rhum. we, as young children, were his 'audience' and sat on the floor with our backs against the wall of our one-room house. when he finished it, some of his friends and relatives were so impressed and he went on to make more for them. there was a rich jewish family a few blocks down and the jewish man brought this giant bottle together with a book with photos of a galleon ship and asked my father if he could make it to be brought to the states. he worked on it for months and once i got beaten up for making a noise whilst he was working on it. i would suppose he got paid handsomely for it. when the jewish family migrated to the states, they asked my father to wrap it so it would hold during shipping. you know, if i could go back in time with my camera, i would and take a pic and maybe post it on the internet to find it. my old man and i never got along well but when i remember all those beautiful things he created, i get to wonder how i did not inherit that artistry and creativity.
July 18th, 2013  
the poem brings back memories, too. i always recited it to 'my little boy' a long time ago at bedtime. we used to have that old book. good old days.
July 18th, 2013  
Bev
Nice shot, Ann! Love the ships in the bottles. The reflections the glass makes on the table is very cool... and the poem is great as well! Nice job! :)
July 18th, 2013  
@summerfield Thank you Vikki! Oh, but you did get some of that artistry! But instead of building tiny ships in bottles that sail across the sea, you build stories which sail across a page. Instead of looking at the picture and building the boat, you look at life and take the picture. Art is not passed down from parent to child in a carbon copy fashion. But the heart for it is passed on through the way a parent sees. Maybe they see beauty in music, maybe in painting, maybe in caring for the home- it shows in a myriad of ways- but it never repeats itself exactly. Believe me, you have that artistry and creativity. I see it in each and every shot, and each and every commentary.

@prttblues Thank you Bev! I started out in the kitchen but even though the shadows were nice, the counter just didn't look right with the ships. It's not the first time my weathered deck has come to the rescue.
July 19th, 2013  
I love everything about this shot, it is sublime.
July 19th, 2013  
@nicolecampbell Thank you Nicole! I really didn't expect to get the response about it that I did. But they are some fun little mementos that bring back memories of happy vacations!
July 20th, 2013  
Beautiful photo, love the colors and shadows! Very summery!
July 20th, 2013  
@lunaksi Thank you Lunaksi!
July 21st, 2013  
The lighting and composition are perfect in this shot and I love the poem.
July 24th, 2013  
@tara11 Thank you Tara! I am really finding it amusing as to how much everyone likes this shot. I really did not think it was all that great except for the shadow!
July 24th, 2013  
@olivetreeann I know it's funny how different the responses are on our shots. Some I spend hours editing sure that it's a masterpiece ;) (ha ha), hardly get noticed and then some that I feel like I just slap up here get rave reviews. Eye of the beholder, right? Anyway, it's a very nice shot.
July 24th, 2013  
@tara11 Absolutely! Thanks Tara!
July 24th, 2013  
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