The things you see along the way…

I mentioned yesterday that I took a daycation on Friday out to see my daughter Carrie who lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.  Our intention was to view an art exhibit at the Smith College Art Museum.  But when we got down to Smith, we saw that it was not a good idea because it was Alumnae Weekend and there were many, many Smithies around and no parking spaces.  

It was a pretty crappy day weatherwise, but we decided to take a nice leisurely drive in the country anyway and to end up at Whole Foods in Hadley – a real treat for me.   After all Whole Foods is sort of like a food museum, isn’t it?  So it wasn't too far off our original intention.

Well, here are a few things we saw along the way…

We ended up on a road that lead to a wildlife sanctuary, the name of which we never caught.  We were  alone out there on the dirt road when Carrie said, “What’s that in that tree?”  At first I thought it was a bird nest, but as we got closer, we saw that it was this grumpy looking being that didn’t look too happy that we woke him up:

That part of Massachusetts is full of beautiful old barns.  Here’s one of them.

Before we stopped at Whole Foods, we stopped for a dish of asparagus ice cream at Flayvors of Cook Farm in Hadley, Massachusetts.  I wish I lived closer to this place as they sell organic vegetables and humanely raised meats and raw milk.  I am not sure that I would drink raw milk but I have a good friend who swears by it.  The regulations on raw milk are pretty strict in Massachusetts but it is not illegal as it is in some states.  It is controversial to be sure.

After I dropped Carrie off and said good-bye, I was sitting in traffic when I spied this bumper sticker.  It made me chuckle out loud and I, of course, got my camera out.  Around here, you see a lot of “Ilovermont” bumper stickers, but this is the first variation of the bumper sticker I’ve ever seen, I think.

Then I headed for home.  By the way, I love Vermont!

Having to make hard choices…

Last night was my night to host the Massasoit Art Guild Photography Section.  I volunteered for this quite a while ago but as of the February meeting, I hadn’t come up with an idea for the meeting.  So it was suggested that I ask people to bring in their best ten photos for us to review.  That sounded good to me….at least until I had to pick out MY best ten photos.  Do you know how hard that is???  If you have a digital camera, I’m sure you do.  Of course, it doesn’t mean that I have thousands of really good photos to choose from but I do have thousands of photos to choose from and each of them has a pull on me.  Sort of like my kids…  Good thing I only have two of those.

Well, long story short, we had a very interesting night looking at photos.  There was everything from a photo taken with a Brownie camera in 1949 of a train yard near Boston that is the Riverside T-stop these days to an old doll found in an attic to abstract studies of gourd skins.  All of the photos were good because they spoke about the people who took them.  And when I really think about it, that’s what I love about photography.

Well, I thought I would post the ten faves (I hesitate to call them my best) that I picked (5 today and 5 tomorrow) and why I like them in particular.  Many of these have been on my blog before but I think a couple of them are new.

 

This is a photo of Walker Pond taken in the early fall.  This is located a short distance from our house.  I like this picture of it because of the mist coming off of the water caused by warm water and cooler air and because of the nice reflections.  I am a real sucker for reflection pics.  But, it tugs at me because I know how truly lucky I have been to have lived near this beautiful place for  so many years.  Season’s End…

This is a tobacco barn located in Hadley, Massachusetts.  I had admired this barn for a long time but this particular day when we drove by, the barn was full, the slats were open and the light was perfect.  The photography planets were aligned.  Don’t you love it when that happens?

And here is another tobacco barn located in another part of Hadley.  Even though it is really nothing like it, the photo reminds me of a painting of a Canadian barn by Georgia O’Keefe that I have long admired.   I love the horizontal lines of the barn in O’Keefe’s painting and I love the horizontal lines of this barn.

This is a scene from the Unitarian Universalist Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.  If you are a cemetery wanderer and are ever in Charleston, this is a must see place.  It has a wild beauty about it that is just perfect in my book.

Here is a photo I call “Half Baked.”  It is a simple oak leaf that I came on while I was walking one day.  There is so much beauty in the world and much of it is so commonplace that we seldom even see it.  This reminds me to pay attention.

Until tomorrow…

Hadley barn…

The other day when the kids and I were trying to go to Skinner Mountain, we ended up having an ice cream at an ice cream stand instead.  Across the street from the ice cream stand was this nice tobacco barn.  So the trip wasn’t a complete waste after all.

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