…In Bed

Last night Greg, Evan and I went out for dinner at Dynasty, our favorite Chinese restaurant in Southbridge.  Before we got there I decided I would challenge myself and use whatever fortune I got as a theme for this blog today.

 

 Well, here’s my fortune: 

You are a practical person with your feet on the ground.

 Brother!  See I was expecting something like “You will live long and prosper” or “You never know the weight of water till the well is dry” or even “Plan for many pleasures ahead.”  But instead, I am a practical person with my feet on the ground.  Oh, well…

But actually, that works pretty well for me because I like to walk my dog with my feet on the ground and being a practical person, when I walk her I take my camera along just in case there is something I don’t want to miss.  So it makes sense to post pictures I took while walking pug Olive. 

 

Happy New Year!

Greg and I like to go on road trips.  Ninety-nine percent of the time he drives.  Greg loves to drive even more than he loves to criticize my driving so it all works out, because while he is driving, I am able to have my camera ready in the front seat.  You never know what kind of cool things you might see as you are tooling along the road. 

Photos of roads make a good symbol for going into the New Year, I think.  They look forward to where we are headed into the unknown and leave everything behind us as memories. 

I hope all your roads are smooth and scenic as we travel together into 2011.  But if they aren’t, I hope all your frost heaves and potholes are quickly repaired and paved over. 

Happy New Year!

Reflecting back...

It seems to be human nature to reflect back on the year as it draws to a close.  All the media outlets do their part, all the newspapers and news shows and magazines.  There are lists that run down the celebs that have passed, the bits of human tragedy that happened, the few accomplishments we managed to achieve in the past year.  Of course, I read them and make my same ol’ remarks that I hadn’t realized that so and so had died, what a shame this happened…you know the drill.  But down deep inside, I have to question why we always seem to emphasize the negative side. It often leaves me feeling restless, empty and wondering. 

There is a poem by Wendell Berry that I often think about when I’m in this kind of mood.  I think that it is a good year-end poem for me.  It’s called 

“The Peace of Wild Things.”

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Some peaceful thoughts as this year comes to an end...

 

 

Timing is Everything…

In photography, as in life, timing is everything.  My timing was a bit off these last few days as some bug came and got me on Christmas night and sent me to bed with an upset stomach and the shivers.  Fortunately, it only lasted the typical 24 hours or so and I am back up and around.  But I was very disappointed.  Christmas night has traditionally been our family game night when everyone takes great delight in watching me lose. This year the game was “Guesstimation.”  As nice as it is to see the family happy, this year I was unable to participate.

Well, I’m “a day late and a dollar short” and “better late than never” more times than not.  My timing is often off when it comes to photography as it is in life.  That’s why most of my better photos are of things that stand still and are willing to wait for me.  But I’ve gotten lucky a few times and here are some of those…

The Peanut Thief

Bronson Arroyo

“Let me cover you…”

Very early this morning on the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, there was a total lunar eclipse of the full moon making it the darkest night in some 400 years.  I didn’t intend to get up to witness this piece of lunar history but something pulled my pagan soul awake around 3:00 this morning.  Maybe it was the knowledge of this happening that lay in the back of my head, but most likely it was the taillight of Greg’s truck as he headed down the driveway to get to a more open area so he could actually see the full sky. 

He needn’t have bothered since there was a cloud curtain that kept the moon shrouded.  But there was something about just being awake while it was happening that seemed to strengthen my acceptance that winter is finally here.

Unlike many people that I know, I’m not one who complains about winter.  I try to accept it as part of the ebb and flow of the year even as I admit to not being quite so stoic about the heat of summer.  Now plants and animals that need it are getting a long rest as the days begin to lengthen…a much-needed rest.

When I finally forced myself out of bed this morning, I saw that there was a light snow falling – our first of the season.  Welcome, Winter!

"On the first day of winter,
the earth awakens to the cold touch of itself.
Snow knows no other recourse except
this falling, this sudden letting go
over the small gnomed bushes, all the emptying trees.
Snow puts beauty back into the withered and malnourished,
into the death-wish of nature and the deliberate way
winter insists on nothing less than deference.
waiting all its life, snow says, "Let me cover you."
-   Laura Lush, The First Day of Winter

Discovery…

Last week, my husband Greg and I took a short trip up north to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where we spent a couple of nights.  I can’t even imagine how many times we have passed Portsmouth on the highway often remarking that we need to stop there one of these days.  So when we discovered that we had a free night’s stay in a hotel chain that we frequent, after searching around for places within easy driving distance, we settled on Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 

Portsmouth sits near the mouth of the Piscataqua River that divides New Hampshire and Maine.  A small city of about 21,000, it has a thriving commercial district with many interesting stores and restaurants.  We decided that we waited too long to discover this beautiful town and are hoping to return…soon. 

So here is a little of our trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire…

The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion

Christmas Shopping on Congress Street

Along Congress Street, Portsmouth

C

Every Green Tree…

Martin Luther said, “For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.” 

We had a closing on the refinancing for our house today.  That’s a good thing.  We will save a fair bit of money.  But as we were signing the three-inch plus stack of papers, I found myself wanting to apologize to the trees that sacrificed themselves for our finances. 

We, as a species, use too much paper and so too many trees.  We all know that.  In this household, we have tried to be conscious about the amount of paper we use and to recycle and reuse as much as possible, but we still use too much.  I want to take a moment and pause in particular at this time of year when holiday cards and Christmas wrap start to become so important in my (our) world to renew my commitment to be better and to praise the glory of every green tree…