The Wood's Secret Garden

  (Background:  In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, we had a Budgie land in our yard.  I took numerous pictures and wrote a short little story based upon those photos.  I updated the story in 2023, adding much to it,  as a way to express what had been going on in my own life.  I hope you all enjoy it).  It is a draft; so, feel free to comment if you find typo's etc.)  A Strange Bird in a Strange World Written by: Dianna Wood Photography and Photo Art Illustrations by: Dianna Wood August 25, 2020 All Beauregard remembers when he woke up on the ground that day, is that a Hawk had snatched him up earlier from the railing of the outdoor balcony where Timmy had set him in order to clean his cage.   Not only did he have no idea where he was, when he looked down, he also noticed that his tail feathers were missing.  Perhaps that was why the Hawk had lost its grip on him when he fell to the ground.  He never thought loosing tail feathe...

Just to clarify, the man pictured above is not Jewish.  The "Wandering Jew" in this story is a plant. A plant that survived a 3,000 mile journey.  The Story of a Wandering Jew A Precious Little Gift  It was late July 2009, when he stepped off the plane.  She had arrived at the airport 2 hours before his plane would land and spent the time pacing the many corridors of the different terminals, trying to keep from checking the time to often, as she knew that would only make the time go by even slower.  She decided to get a cup of coffee and read 2 Corinthians even though she knew that her ability to concentrate on the text would be limited if not a complete impossibility.   As she opened the bible, her eyes fell upon 2 Corinthians 4:6 and she read, “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  Although she had read this passage many ti...

At 62 years old, I am finding that the more I learn the more I realize just how little I actually know.  At 62, I am also observing that young people, who may have learned a little, seem to think they have nothing to learn from others and that they need not even question themselves about anything they think or do. So I wrote this little poem. If we can't laugh at ourselves, the problem is much bigger than we can even imagine.

  Why was Saturday so FABULOUS? The answer might surprise you. It did me. Back in September of 2021, a young woman from Virginia reached out to me via Facebook (initially) to network regarding art and online sales and marketing. Thinking that I was highly successful because of my 10,000+ followers and my sales on etsy, she thought that I might have valuable information to share regarding how to make a go at it in the online art world. After having to break the news to her that I was the perfect poster child for “The Starving Artist” the conversation turned to her upcoming potential marriage to a young man called into the pastoral ministry and her fear of not being qualified to be “a pastor’s wife”. She had read that my husband had been an ordained pastor years ago and that during my marriage to him had been in full time ministry in differing capacities and hoped that I might be able to provide some insight into what it was like to be the wife of a man called to fulltime ministr...

So blessed to have had my Nephew, Jared Duba, not only do the voice over for this wonderful story; but also, post it on his YouTube channel.  I hope you will take the time to watch. 

 The Adventures of Crump - the squirrel with no tail, is finally coming along. As I work on the book, I will be posting drafts here.  Please feel free to leave your reactions in the comment section.  Thanks! "Crump Meets LT Ombre"  or "How Crump Lost His Tail" By: Dianna Lynne Wood - Draft o8/31/2022 Crump was born in Dark Cedar Village and grew up with a crumpled right ear and no tail.   He had been told by his parents that a Hawk had come in at night when he was just a baby and somehow got frightened away before he could do anymore harm but tear his right ear and take his tail. Once Crump was old enough to go outside, the other squirrels, nick-named him Crump which was short for “crumpled.” The Governor of Dark Cedar Village was very mean and there seemed to be a dark cloud that hung over the Village most of the time.   No one was sure why.   But, Crump knew he did not belong there and told his parents that as soon as he was old enough to leave, ...

I am an artist and an illustrator—not a photographer. I spent most of my adult life in an office behind a computer during the day and doing something creative at night or on the weekends.   I was never fortunate enough to devote myself fully to my art.   Over the years, I probably have experimented in just about every aspect of the creative arts—both visual and performing arts.   However, I have never dabbled in photography until my husband’s daughter gave him (what I called) a “real camera” as a gift for Father’s Day back in 2016.   He graciously let me "try it out” and, poor guy, he never had it in his possession since then.   After retiring and moving to North Carolina in 2017, I really had (for the first time in my life) an opportunity to devote my daytimes to pursuing my creative gifts; and, like most things that I do, I gave it my all.   Over the past five years, I have taken and catalogued over 200K nature shots from our backyard alone.  It is f...