Death and Taxes… and Flowers

Tax season is upon us, and as usual, I procrastinated getting them done until almost the last minute. Every year, I buy a copy of TurboTax in January and say triumphantly “As soon as I get all my tax documents in Feburary, I’m going to get them done!” In February, I say  “I am so busy and I still have plenty of time; I’ll do them the first week of March!” Then the first week of March passes. Then the second. Then the third.

And here we are.

TurboTax does make the process much smoother, but I always stress that some tax law changed and we’re going to owe some exponential amount instead of getting a refund or at least breaking even. Of course, it never happens, but I always think it might.

Anyway, I did our taxes and we’re getting a nice refund. Whew! But I still felt all pent-up with the needless anxiety I had over it. So I grabbed my camera and went out into the garden to take some pics.

We’ve been enjoying an early spring here in Nor Cal. Since most flower varieties like temperate climates, spring is, IMO, the best time for flowers in this zone (14 for Sunset Magazine, 9 for USDA). There are some nice varieties that love the summer heat, and of course there are the mums in the fall, but for the most variety of flowers, spring is the thing here!

You know, I love taking pictures, but I am far from an expert photographer. I worked in the industry years ago as a photo retoucher, when there was only film cameras and Photoshop was unheard of (am I dating myself here?). I bought my current camera in December 2011, and only a couple of weeks ago I realized there is a macro setting on it. In my defense, when I bought it I was working a lot and I didn’t really use it until recently, but still…

Let’s just say since I’ve discovered it, I’ve enjoyed taking close-up shots a whole lot more. 🙂 Here are some of the results:

As the old saying goes, there are two things you can be certain of in this life: death and taxes. But there is a third thing you can be certain of: every spring, there are flowers.

At least after you get your taxes done. 🙂

-Mi