Pictures for Pam, Day 176: SSC: Rust (+11 insets!)

(+11 insets!)

Today is Saturday and that means only one thing…SATURDAY SELF-CHALLENGE!! HOORAY! :D Today's challenge is a favorite topic of mine (heh, I have zillions of favorites! :D), RUST!

I definitely wanted to take pictures of three specific things and when I went out to capture them, I was on a mission! :D

The first place I went is to the enormous old, fallen-down oak tree with the rotted tree house, all of which are slowly disintegrating into dirt. (I have an inset showing the tree) It looks like nothing at all at a normal distance. But as a MACRO subject, this poor old relic is brimming with photographic treasures! I spent a while taking pictures of the countless rusty nails I found on the tree and rotting wood, knowing from past experience that I was sure to get some super images. It's just really hard to miss when it comes to rusty nails and the sort! :) As I hoped, I got lots of winners and my main picture today shows old nails sticking out of wood so soft now that you can break it with fingernails. Decay is working overtime with this dilapidated tree house! There are many insets that explore other nails and nail heads, all gloriously rusty and such fun at macro size!

My second stop was a pile of remaining barbed and straight strands of wire in our large meadow. I have removed all but this last pile and so I made a beeline for these remnants that I knew had plenty of colorful rust to capture. You'll find insets of both a clump of knotted-up barbed wire and also an artsy razor-thin dof image of straight wire with a pair of Seablush flowers in bokeh to add some fun color.

Finally, I went to a spot that I walk over every single day on my walks up and down our road. Above the driveway is a path that leads up to the top of a small hill where the septic leech field is located. At one point across the path are four links of a rusty chain deeply embedded in the cement-like clay soil. I had hoped to share pictures of this when it was bristling with frost during the winter. To my dismay, even on the coldest day when everything else was coated with a thick layer of frost, the links refused any frosty adornment. Probably because it's right at dirt level and thus cannot get as cold because of heat dispersion. I say BOO. However, it makes a cool picture for our topic today and so finally I get to share it with all of you! :) (You'll find this picture as an inset as well.)

By the way, this colorful rusty chain has become a wonderful landmark on my walks, something I enjoy seeing every time I walk over it (the chain lies directly across the path!). I showed Steve my picture and he told me that he's tried to pull it out of the ground on his walks, to no avail. I was aghast! "MY PET CHAIN?! NO!!! You cannot harm my pretty chain!" We had no idea that each of us had taken a specific interest in that chain. He said he had been thinking of backing our tractor up so he could hook a chain to it and pull it out of the ground. ACK!! It's all too funny…I didn't know I had a sentimental attachment to that silly piece of chain but I guess I did! LOL!

Anyway, I hope you all like the presentation! I look forward to seeing all of the other contributions this week!

Pam, I looked up "rust" on your stream and found a fun picture of a Prairie Lizard sitting on a rusty something or other! :D So cute. That little fellow looks a lot like our Fence Lizards! I hope your day went well, Pam! Thanks for your comments about my Red-Winged Blackbird, I thought you might have them too, as they are pretty wide-spread. Such fun to see them! *BIG HUGS* from southern Oregon!

Explored on 5/5/19, highest placement, #1.