a weekend of beauty

ahhh… i needed that. so many beautiful bits this last weekend. first, this weekend was the annual local festival that culminates in an aerial dance performance suspended from the trees by a troupe called cycropia. i’ve blogged about them before and they’re probably my favorite local entertainers. their act is just so unique! a friend of mine last night brought his camera and took some cool, long exposure shots that give you a bit of a feel for their ethereal performance:

this first one is a bit fuzzy, but i think you can see the “s” shaped metal bar that two women are hanging on, acrobatically.

and here they are, spinning on that metal bar:

the red orb behind this guy is a large floating balloon, lit from the inside. there were three and sometimes they were white and looked like moons, other times they were a moody red.

this was three women, each sitting on a ring suspended from bars like a mobile, spinning around.

there were also some fantastically costumed stiltswalkers walking around as praying mantises, entertaining the crowd.

the next beautiful bit of my weekend was a mini canoe trip this afternoon to see the lotus! here’s my favorite shots:

i love the way the water beads up on these rubbery suede-like giant leaves:

and the lion’s mane around the center of the flower:

then, i whipped up a scrumptious batch of sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast sunday morning. i’ve tried this before, but i think this was my favorite recipe so far (from cook’s country magazine):