BeckyB: lines&squares
During a summer visit to Vermont, a wooden cart holding a variety of flowering plants caught my eye.
Colors faded to a new look.
Weathered surfaces showing their age.
As we all do.
Author: oneletterup
Tuneful Tourism
Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo Challenge: Tourism
So share some of your favorite spots from among your travels and tell us a bit about why you enjoyed it!
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I decided to take a break from posting photos from my favorite destination in California, and go with a tourist spot more local for this challenge. Perhaps others have the same experience in that we take for granted what is practically in our backyard.
Although I don’t live in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, it is within driving distance from my home. Despite the eclectic restaurants and shops lining the streets, I tend to avoid it because of the parking hassles. And seemingly supersonic growth of hotels and high end condos.
What happened to what was once a quaint little city?
Tourism.
Vacationers travel from all over the world to visit Portsmouth – especially in the summer. And for good reason. It’s also the time of year when I may brave the crowds…and the parking challenges. To pull up my lawn chair at the Prescott Park Arts Festival. This festival began on a much smaller scale in 1974…and is still going strong. A beautiful spot of land right next to the harbor.
I keep an eye on the schedule when it comes out each June. If I’m lucky, I can sit under the stars and watch a favorite musician or two perform. Many attendees bring a picnic dinner. Since the stage is also used for the summer musical, you never know what decorative sets will serve as the backdrop for that evening’s concert.
Two memorable nights:
Remember Peter, Paul and Mary?
Peter Yarrow gave a magical performance one night in 2012 – charming everyone there when he invited children up on stage at the end of the concert.
One of my all time favorite Prescott Park concerts was in 2013.
Mary Chapin Carpenter and Marc Cohn shared the stage for another amazing night in the park.
Perhaps I’m a tourist after all.
Grateful for the opportunity right down the highway!
Paths of color round the bend
designed by Sol LeWitt
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
BeckyB: lines&squares
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Circles, Curves and Arches
our sky
Inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #67: Sky
We all live under the same sky.
Sharing the planet…the air…the water.
Handing it down one generation to the next.
The sky’s the limit…we hope to tell our children.
At least I did.
Many parents can’t share that hope.
Their children look up…confused.
They don’t understand.
I told my children anything was possible.
Work hard. Persevere. Love. Share. Support.
Be grateful for the help that comes your way.
To make it possible.
We all live under the same sky.
We need to learn how to share it.
The sky’s the limit.
Frame it
Lens-Artists Challenge #66: Filling the Frame
You can include images of buildings, people, objects, and/or elements from nature. Feel free to include shots of the same subject before you filled the frame and after you filled the frame.
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This past summer I had a butterfly experience.
In fact…a massive butterfly experience. As a photographer, I had never been this up close and personal with so many butterflies. As I was to find out, butterfly bushes are instrumental in attracting these beautiful – and elusive – quick-to-fly-away insects.
At first I was drawn to the bushes themselves.
But, after filling the frame, I got the scene I wanted.
A butterfly resting at (almost) center stage, highlighted against its signature flowers.
More recently, I found a patch of ferns in varying degrees of Autumn decay tucked behind a wire fence.
But on closer inspection…I uncovered an entirely different perspective.
A dance of textures and shades of green plus brown.
Decay?
Not so much.
Tree lines
Helping hands
Nancy Merrill’s Photo a Week Challenge: Hands
IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO (OR TWO OR THREE) THAT FEATURES HANDS.
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Little hands on deck helping Grampa make pancakes.
The day before Christmas 2017.
Stair lines at sea
Exploration…
Discovery…
A day at sea on an anniversary cruise.
BeckyB: #lines&squares
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Rectangles & Squares
Grandma Friendly Groceries
Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo: Groceries
If you need to buy groceries that are gluten free (GF) or, as my 3 year old grandson says, “Grandma Friendly,” there are more choices then ever before. Ten years ago, when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease, “Gluten Free” supermarket aisles didn’t exist. You either made your own version of bread/muffins/cake or ordered from a catalogue or online. Crackers, pasta and snacks were hard to find.
Gluten free used to be synonymous with cardboard – both texture and flavor-wise. Since manufacturers jumped on the GF bandwagon (for better or worse) in the last decade, the situation has improved. GF versions of staples such as bread, crackers and cereal almost taste like the gluten filled real thing. If you close your eyes…and have a short memory. Some are tastier than others.
Labeling accuracy is still sometimes iffy, but for the most part a bit of research is all that’s necessary before venturing down the grocery aisle.
Unless, of course, you want to skip some of the label reading and head to an outside aisle.
Also Grandma Friendly.
The pull of the story
Inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #66: Savour
This week, let’s consider what we savour.
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A good story. A good book. I’ve always savored those moments – from the days of a flashlight under the covers late at night…to now…when my eyes close despite the glow of the bedside lamp.
Page corners folded. Neon post-it flags stuck in places to return to. Aha! sentences marked in pencil.
My favorites? The ones with characters who mirror my hopes…fears…life challenges. Or my possibilities…the “what ifs”…
From an early age, I looked forward to stories. An alternate universe of adventure I could only dream about as a young girl. It was unheard of to strive for independence as a boy would…well, except for Nancy Drew. She had remarkable success. It was exhilarating.
Years later, my chosen books lengthened. The topics expanded.
Elizabeth Berg emerged as one of my favorite authors. I met her at several book signings when she lived in the northeast. Her stories are treasures to savor, but one in particular – The Pull of the Moon – struck a chord like no other. It is one of the few books I have read multiple times. The main character – Nan – writes letters to her husband while she’s on a solo road trip…as she explores what it means to age. Looking forward and looking back. As she turns 50. The book is a journal of sorts.
A powerful story.
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 