Sunset and Snow

I was sitting inside, reading a book
this evening. I had just read that in order
for spring to come we have to
let go of fall.

The light changed in the room, and I looked up.
This sunset was happening. Camera in hand,
I walked outside.

I watched for a few minutes and captured several
breathtaking images of this fire in the sky.

Everything was suddenly bathed in
such lovely light. 

Even the daffodils, covered in snow, yet splendid
in this moment. The synchronicity of it all came to me, that I
needed to be in that chair at that time, reading exactly that passage.
Prior to this I would have written how depressing it is
to see snow on daffodils, but not now, not after witnessing this.

I needed to see that all of this is perfect, all of it is as it should be.
How blessed I am to be witness to it,
and to be able to share it with you here.

Have you had moments like this? I'd love for you to
share them here.


~Blessings!~

A Gift from Italy

This lovely set of note cards came to me from Kat Sloma in Italy. This photo really does not do them justice and I wish you could all see them in person.  


How did they come to me? I posted a comment on Kat's blog and became the winner of her give away earlier this month. 


You will enjoy her recent post about art, creativity, and photography. Click this to read it.

A Family Portrait

This is my favorite photo from the weekend. A new kind

of family portrait. Sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor,

Garrett playing with the dog, Solo, and all of us just 

watching and enjoying the moment.  A very happy baby

surrounded by lots of love from everywhere; from Mommy 

and Daddy, all the Grandparent Paparazzi, Uncle Ryan

and Aunt Chesli, Rocky, and Dora, and the list

goes on and on... 

I had a great time using my camera and capturing several

special moments.  If you would like to see more photos please

click here to view the online web album.  Enjoy!

Polaroid Daffodils, Please...

March 19th

Last week it was so exciting to see the new bulbs coming up in the yard, witnessing the promise of Spring again.  As mentioned in my previous post I have more images of those little lovelies here.

The ritual of checking the flowers each day, using my lens and recording it, has been filled with more insight, more surprises. As I review the images it appears that they are all about the same; green leaves and some greenish yellow buds that will soon break open.  


Ho hum, same thing day after day....


Patience is not one of my better virtues.  Add to this a dusting of snow on Thursday, maybe a half inch, and it just seemed like Winter was going to freeze the flowers, that Spring would not get here....at least not as fast as I think it should.  


I want Polaroid Daffodils, please. Instant, overnight blossoms, filling my yard, complete with a rainbow, and butterflies, and a balmy 72 degrees....


Isn't this what we want in our spiritual lives? Rapid results. Read that self help book and be instantly changed and never ever go back to those habits we didn't like.  Listen to a speaker giving great instructions on being a better person, and just like a New Year's Resolution, make a promise to do this new thing, this new way of being.  

March 24th

Then Winter happens, or makes an extended visit. Life happens; we get discourage, we get angry, we feel lonely, we just can't sustain the energy to make that Big Change. It feels like we are on a plateau. So often we give up at this stage, and 'settle' for what has always been.  


But there is a lesson in this week of waiting for flowers to bloom. Deep down in the bulb there is a flower, there is nourishment for that flower and those leaves, and there is the life giving water that keeps it going. From above there is the glorious sunlight, even on rainy days, that causes the plant to come up from the rich fertile soil almost like magic before our eyes. And it the perfect timing of the Creator, not our time, blossoms do come. 


Flowers need time. So do we.  


In perfect timing, the teacher appears when we, as students, are ready to learn. A familiar passage, once misunderstood, one day comes to us with deeper, clearer meaning. One day we look back on our lives and see for ourselves that we are changed, we think differently now, we relate to others in a new way.  And we learn that, just like a humble daffodil, we are beautiful inside and out, placed on this earth for a purpose.

Photos Around Lima, Ohio

Buildings in Downtown Lima

On Sunday afternoon I was able to walk around downtown Lima just to take photos. Mark and I enjoy looking at buildings and houses, noting special architectural features.  This was also a time to learn about bracketing, using the camera to take several versions of the same photo but with different exposures.  Click here to view the photos in an online album in Picasa.

Barn Roof, Allen Co. Farm Park

We enjoyed a walk around the Allen County Farm Park Sunday afternoon, too.  Click here to go to the online album for these photos.


It is so common for us to just take photos of family events, but I want to encourage you to just take your camera, no matter what kind or how big or fancy - even your camera on your phone, and just take photos of places or things that are in your life. Take a walk, get out and enjoy the warmer air and enjoy the beauty all around you.  


Not only is the exercise good, the whole experience of capturing the moment, the common scenes of your life, will be entertaining.  


Enjoy!

All Stacked Up

This week I have been inspired by the women participating in Picture Inspiration as we have explored the idea of things that are stacked up.  We were encouraged to find images that fit that idea, or create a vignette on our own.  


This stack of old cookbooks is above my kitchen sink.  Vintage cookbooks fascinate me, the old recipes, the spatters of food or grease on the pages, the occasional handwritten note on a page,  even the way the books are written.  They speak to a different way of life, and time with fewer restaurants, no internet recipe sites, and totally different ideas on nutrition.  The book at the bottom of the stack was my grandmother's, printed in 1941.

Stacks of dishes.
Stacks of pretty dishes, especially these, a gift from a dear friend. These have been used and show some wear around the edges, which makes them even more special to me.  I try to imagine what was served and what kind of conversation happened around those meals.

Do you ever stack things up somewhere, intending to do something with them some day?  (Please nod and say yes... you'll make me feel so much better!) These music CD's are going to be donated to the public library because we just don't use them.  


The sun was shining through the window, reflecting in the plastic cases, which really caught my eye. Some post processing (using Picasa to saturate the colors) gave the image some extra color.  

This sculpture is in downtown Lima.  A closer look reveals that it is a stack of big pieces of concrete, carefully crafted and put together to commemorate Lima.  


Stacks can have a really good purpose then, besides just putting things aside.  The brick wall along the sidewalk downtown is more than just a border to protect a parking area, it is a work of art in itself. 

Log cabins are so fascinating. Once I started thinking about things being all stacked up I began to notice stacks everywhere.  Stacks of logs, cut by hand, carefully fitted together, creating a shelter, a home, or a barn. 


Think about stacks. Where do you see them in your life? Is it at work, in your home, or somewhere surprising? What does it say to you? Do you, like me, have stacks of things waiting for your attention? Proverbial stacks of tasks that you must complete, or literal stacks of Stuff that need to go to a new "home"?

One of the last images here is of a stack gone awry; bricks in a construction zone that were once all lined up but now some are leaning precariously and about to fall off. I found a message in that image.


Sometimes I attempt to neatly arrange life my way, as though I am really in charge. Then something will come along and knock it all down, or maybe just mess with a part of life, enough that I need to stop and pay attention. Seldom do the parts of my life go back the way they were. 


And that is a good thing.

Sharing a Favorite or Two

Here are some links I want to share with you along with a photo......


Recently I read a post on a favorite blog called The Kat Eye View of the World.  Kat was giving away some beautiful Florentine papers, and all you had to do to be 'entered' was comment on her post.


Yesterday, to my great surprise, I was notified that my name was randomly drawn to win these papers!  (Okay, this is where you say "ooohhh, aahhhh",etc, etc.) What fun!


If you, like me, are interested in photography and creativity, you will want to look at Kat's blog. She is an excellent photographer and shares her passion and what she has learned along the way. 


And Julia has written a very touching, moving post about a prayer for Japan. Please take time to read her post. 


This article on The Three H's of Talent sort of stepped on my toes.  Quite true, and very eye opening.  


And this, especially for Mark, is a very cute comment by a little boy about 4 leaf clovers. I now know what happens to that 4th leaf. 


A few days ago, in the Picture Inspiration Class, I shared this image of an antique pitcher that belonged to my grandparents.  The prompt was about looking for a motif, a pattern.  The motif in this lovely old pitcher really stands out to me.  I love the pattern with it irregularities, and the creamy colored background with these rich blues.  It's a favorite treasure.


Have a fabulous Saturday!

Daffodil Report Part 1

This week, amid deadlines at work, the rush of getting a project finished for my boss, and the hectic pace that full time hours bring, I have been deliberate about one thing; watching the daffodils come up in our yard.  

This is by no means the first year I have watched them come up, because I have always lived where there are daffodils. Illinois, West Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee... the only difference has been how soon they come up. (Never soon enough for me!) The difference this year is that I'm watching them through my camera lens, capturing each day the same little group of bulbs in the flower bed, at the same time of day.  The image from today compared with that of four days ago really shows a difference, as if all at once the leaves are reaching higher toward the sky.

Almost fifteen years ago, when Mark and I were married, a wonderful group of friends helped with the reception at our wedding.  A couple of the gals went out somewhere that April and found a field of daffodils, plucked several dozen of them, and put them in vases on the tables at the reception. Maybe that is part of the reason why these flowers mean so much to me.  I'll never forget that simple act, how beautiful the flowers were, how it added to the day of a new beginning for us.

Sigh......

If I try to look back to one, two, ten, or twenty years ago to see how I have grown, that is a different story. Have you ever thought of that? Where were you just ten years ago today? 

Were you working at the same job, or were you in the same relationship?  

Do you have the same hobbies you had then or have you moved on to something else? 

What habits or patterns of life have you kept, and why?  What was being formed in you that you recognize now?

One of the more important lessons I have learned is that each part of life has a purpose, plays a vital role in our being. And how we come to view our history (or herstory!) can make or break us. Accepting it for what it was and moving on is how I choose to view mine.  For what really matters today is today, now, this very moment, and how I choose to live in it.

Just as these lovely little bulbs will bloom and then die down, life will come and go.  We have our "seasons" of blooming, harvesting, wintering, and rebirth, too. I'm thankful that you come here and share this time of rebirth with me!  


Look for another Daffodil Report next Friday!

Lift Up Hope

                                                             

watercolor - light

Oh brothers, 
sisters,
sons and daughters,
strangers, 
friends,
co-workers, even enemies...
Come together
and weep for such loss, 
such terrible pain and agony.

watercolor - fish

Then
Turn
to your brothers, sisters,

sons and daughters,

strangers, friends,

co-workers, even your enemies...

watercolor - roots

And 

Lift up hope.

Share the love 

that lives in you.

Live peacefully as much

as is in your power.

Be a blessing to your world.

Deb

3/13/11

Living

lost heart - rediscovered

Live deliberately,
   not reactively.


Live on Purpose,
   not accidentally.


Live decisively,
   not tossed by the wind.


Live right now,
   not in yesterday or tomorrow.


Live with love,
   not with fear.


Live your life,
   not the life of someone else.




Deborah L. Tisch
March 7, 2011

Rhythms of Life

Saturday. Sleeping in. Being rather lazy. Intentionally lazy.


More rain today, but the snow is almost all melted away. Lots of standing water everywhere, and rivers are swollen beyond their banks. In our yard there are one inch tall sprouts of daffodils and tulips, little bits of green in an otherwise brown, gray, and very muddy little world.  


It's so good to have a day of rest after working all week. Mark wanted to go to a bookstore in Fort Wayne this morning, so away we went. Turned on NPR to listen to Car Talk and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me as we made the drive on this blustery winter day.


This combination of getting in the car on a Saturday, driving somewhere, and listening to the radio...all this has become part of the rhythm of our life.  What sort of rhythms are present in yours? Do you have special rituals that you look forward to? Things you can do that balance out the busy parts of your life?


This week in Picture Inspiration I have been learning about rhythm in photography. The photo here of the wet road and telephone lines is one of my interpretations of the subject.  The even spacing of the poles, the draping of the wire, the reflection of the poles in the wet pavement, all present a kind of rhythm to me.  


The photo of the bridge taken last fall is, to me, another example of photographic rhythm in the contrast of lights and darks, contrasting colors, and the zig zag of the construction itself. Both images were taken with my 'point and shoot' Cannon PowerShot. 


Michael Freeman writes about this in his book "The Photographer's Eye". He states, "When there are several similar elements in a scene, their arrangement may, under special conditions, set up a rhythmic visual structure. Repetition is a necessary ingredient, but this alone does not guarantee a sense of rhythm."  
(This book called out to me at the bookstore and had to come home with me.  Very well written, by the way.)


Drumbeat. Cadence. Cycles. Patterns. Seasons. Rain or no rain. Hot or cold. It all comes together to form the fabric of our lives.


On the way back to Lima, Mark and I discovered that we were both thinking the same thing; that we needed to make sure that one of our favorite places was actually open.  This would certainly prove that the winter season is ending and spring is coming soon, even if we see the flowers beginning to come up.  With the heater running and rain coming down, we sat in line at The Creamery in Delphos, Ohio, so that we could celebrate it's opening with a treat of ice cream.


Just another way to notice the rhythms of life.
  

Grandson photos

Chubby legs and cute toes!

It is time to show off the grandson, and these photos will take care of that. Naturally I think he is the most beautiful boy in the world - because he's our grandson.  


Recently I ordered a book from Shutterfly.com that includes many photos from these first few months of his life.  I will be sending it to my Dad, who usually does not see the photos that are posted online. No doubt he will enjoy it immensely.


After I ordered the book, Shutterfly gave me the option of linking to it here.  Click here to view the photo book of Garrett. 


Many of the photos are taken by my daughter and some are from my camera, too.  It's not all the photos we have...and we have Many...but due to the handsome subject you can be assured that they are all wonderful.  


Of course, that is my totally unbiased opinion on the subject.....