For this month’s color challenge, we’re exploring various pastel colors found in nature. Some common pastel colors include pink, light blue, mint green, pale yellow, peach, periwinkle, and lavender, as suggested in this image.
Pastel colors are a combination of primary or secondary colors with a certain amount of white.
“A pastel can be defined as any color with just enough white to make it soft and pale looking while maintaining the original integrity of the base color.” Source
Last week, I introduced the theme “June is Great Outdoors Month.” We’ll continue this subtheme all month. I suggested the following list of easy ways to enjoy the outdoors. We checked off the first two last week.
- ✔️ Plant Veggies or Flowers, or simply taste or smell them!
- ✔️ Enjoy Backyard (or Local) Birding
- Explore a trail
- Visit a local park, state park, or national park
- Paddle in a local waterway
Here is a link to this article about the significance of Great Outdoors Month.
In this post, I’ll share some examples of what you might see on a trail and in your local, state, or national park. Nature and the Great Outdoors love being adorned in pastel colors.
Night Sky Pastels
Lest we forget about last month’s amazing Northern Lights show…
…Look up one night, and you might be surrounded by the pastel colors of the northern lights in the shape of this corona. One can only see this in the Great Outdoors!
While experiencing the aurora above our heads, I connected with a new neighbor who came outside to see the display. I showed her how to see the northern lights with her phone camera, and we had a great time.
“Light in Nature creates the movement of colors.” ~ Robert Delaunay
Easy to Find Pastel Flowers
Flowers of all colors can easily be found on a walking trail or in your local park. These pastel purple beauties of carpet phlox and grass widows grow wild along the trails in spring.
We discovered these pastel beauties in April on our visit to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm south of Portland, Oregon.
Who doesn’t love azaleas and hydrangeas?
“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Rocks Cry Out in Pastels
I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and hiking in countless state parks and national parks in the US. In a thwarted attempt to visit the Southwest (Arizona, Utah) in 2019 due to snow and freezing temperatures, we managed to discover The Valley of Fire State Park near Las Vegas, Nevada. The light pink and white colors of the rocks were inviting.
“The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
The following year, on our return trip, we walked with my brother and his partner, connecting among the amazing rock formations in this park.
Limestone rock comes in a variety of colors, from peach and pink pastels to fiery reds and oranges. We found this to be true in April 2023 when we visited Bryce Canyon National Park. The snow helped with the pastel looks of many of the rock formations.
Birds Adorned in Pastels
I must include more bird images of the amazing birds found on our property and surrounding fields and forests. Last week, the Say’s Phoebe’s fledged out of the nest. They picked a lousy, rainy day to do so and stayed huddled together most of the day while crying for food.
In between Monday’s rain showers, they all suddenly disappeared! I was a little sad, but I knew this was nature’s way. I continued to hear their signature calls and surmised they made their home in an area next to our property line in a burm covered with pines and brush.
I was about to let our dog outside early Tuesday morning, but hubby cautioned me to stop. Here is why…
The whole family (all six of them) came back, intermittently being fed by mom and pop! These two cuties balanced on the solar light right next to our deck.
I closely cropped the image and replaced the background in this image (no AI) with pastels. All this week, the fledglings visited various areas of our property while continuing to learn how to feed themselves. I can barely distinguish the babies from their parents now.
“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” – Aristotle
We also are hosting nesting violet-green swallows.
They love my pastel blue birdhouse. Every morning, these swallows flit about all over the yard and beyond.
I have never felt more connected to nature than I have been in my backyard this year!
Of course, the Western Bluebirds and Goldfinches love the bird baths and feeders. We never get tired of watching the show!
Like the birds, we were also adorned in pastels at a wedding we attended a few years ago, being the lovebirds we are!
AI or Your Own Eye?
Last week, many of us went down the AI rabbit hole for the Lens-Artists weekly photo challenge.
Using WordPress’ AI generation, I played with the ideas for my site’s title, “Second Wind Leisure Perspectives.” From behind, she looks something like me walking through pastel lupines.
Sharing for Hammad’s Weekend Sky, Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday, and Lens-Artists: Connections.
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
- I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
Celebrate with me the entire month of June as we explore the great outdoors. Upcoming Sunday Stills themes will focus on the outdoors with the subthemes as listed here:
- This week: June 9 Monthly Color Challenge: Pastels Found in the Great Outdoors
- June 16 Sunrises and Sunsets
- June 23 Plant Life in the Great Outdoors
- June 30 Landscapes
I can’t wait to see how you interpret the various shades of pastels this week! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your photographs, poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Join me next week as we explore sunrises and sunsets to bring in the summer solstice (or winter solstice).
© 2024 Copyright — secondwindleisure.com — All Rights Reserved
Second Wind Leisure Perspectives 
What is YOUR perspective? Please include your name if WP identifies you as “anonymous.