On the first Monday of Great Lent, called "Clean Monday" in Greece, it's a tradition to fly kites. The weather last Monday was perfect, so @slomo and I took a walk.

#Photography #NaturePhotography #CleanMonday #Thessaloniki #Greece #Kites #Spring #Butterfly #Butterflies #Bee #HoneyBee #BloomScrolling #FlowerPhotography #Flower #Flowers #AlmondBlossoms

Some photos from today's walk in the neighbourhood with @vivia. The almond trees are flowering already and the bees are all busy.

#BloomScrolling #Flower #Flowers #FlowerPhotography #NaturePhotography #AlmondTree #AlmondBlossoms #Bee #Bees #CarpenterBee #Photography #Thessaloniki #Greece

Took a walk with @slomo today. Almond trees have started blossoming and the bees are very happy.

#BloomScrolling #Flower #Flowers #FlowerPhotography #NaturePhotography #AlmondTree #AlmondBlossoms #Bee #Bees #HoneyBee #Photography #Thessaloniki #Greece

CW: Mental illness, suicide.

"Almond Blossom," Vincent van Gogh, February, 1890.

We all know van Gogh (1853-1890). This is a lovely early-spring scene, with blossoms on the branches of an almond tree against a blue sky. I like the perspective, as if one is standing under the tree and looking up through the branches. It's also very much in the style of the Japanese art that Impressionists loved so much.

This was painted while Vincent was suffering a major relapse in his mental health, while at the asylum in Saint-Remy. It was done as a present for his newborn nephew, also named Vincent, although perhaps one can also sense a soul yearning for the light. Vincent died by suicide in November of that year; it's speculated he had bipolar disorder, although porphyria and epilepsy have also been proposed.

From the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, started by the nephew this painting was gifted to.

#Art #PostImpressionism #VincentVanGogh #AlmondBlossoms #SadStory

Some photos from today's spring walk in the neighbourhood with @vivia.

Featuring: A sparkling starling singing on a telephone cable, a thoughtful sparrow in a pine tree, a black-headed gull paddling with its small feet in the sea, and a blossoming almond tree.

#Starling #Sparrow #Seagull #Birdwatching #Birds #AlmondBlossoms #Photography #NaturePhotography #Flowers #FlowerPhotography #Florespondence #BloomScrolling #Thessaloniki #Greece