Tag: Photography

Sunset at the lake

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Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo: Sunset

…please share your favorite sunset moments, whether they are at the beach, at the city or over the mountains.

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Since I love watching sunsets…and therefore taking photographs of sunsets, it was a bit of a challenge to decide which photo to use for this challenge.

sunset vermont
Sunset over Lake Champlain

So I settled on my most recent sunset experience. I took this photo in June when visiting friends at their summer cottage on Lake Champlain in Vermont. This is the view from their back porch…looking out across the lake…New York state in the distance.

I sure could get used to that view!

 

Shreds

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Inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #69: kindle

How do you ignite motivation when stalled? Or perhaps, you perceive need for a kickstart elsewhere.

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To write or not to write?
That is the question.

Well, not the entire question.

To procrastinate or not to procrastinate?
That is the real question.

How to get past that pile of crap sometimes planted squarely in the way…

How to ignite a dormant fraction of an idea that briefly appears – and perhaps even feels momentarily brilliant…before it evaporates in a mist of uncertainty? Ghostly voices echoing unimportant not good enough who cares…before sinking it into the muck of inertia.

So I plod on, searching for the proper mix of kindling.
To ignite…to spark.
To silence the ghosts.

To harness the energy in such short supply.

My current mantra…
Hold on.
Begin.
One sentence at a time.
The purpose will make itself known…

…When I was in college I wrote every day. Didn’t think twice about it. Not just research papers. Or chemistry lab reports. But a personal journal with a jet black cover given to me by a girlfriend – a full size sketch book.

Fresh kindling tumbled forth without fail…plenty of sparks back then…filling pages…line by line.

Questioning. Worrying. Wondering. Planning.
What if? Why not? Why now? How will I? Should I? Oh no.

Careful script or hurried scrawl. Grand calligraphy moments of introspection.
Unfiltered and often painful, it was all there…

This past summer, I revisited – and read – what I had written decades ago.

Pages of words to heal.

Their purpose…fulfilled.

shreds long

Time to let them go.

Layered life

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Lens-Artists Challenge #68: Layered

…we invite you to explore Layers. You can include images of buildings, landscapes, seascapes, clouds, etc.

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I am always fascinated to get a glimpse of what goes on in the hidden places. The mysteries of plant life navigating from seed to stem to flower. Or whatever its destiny may be.

The intricate dance of soil, water and nutrients essential for success…seems miraculous.  Tender shoots of life making their way to the sun. Surviving despite obstacles…both nature and human caused.

A cross section of one hidden place was on display recently…when a recent rainstorm dislodged a support wall alongside a brook near the town park.

layers of plants

My first thought was to crop the image to highlight the layers of exposed roots and stones in the center. Then I realized…no, it is all part of a larger and equally complex layered landscape. In a scene that literally stopped me in my tracks during a late afternoon walk.

This brook also travels south and eventually empties into a tidal river that flows behind old brick buildings in the downtown area.

A site for more layers.

There I discovered plant life…layered in glorious fall colors…crawling up, down and across a brick and stone canvas.

layered walls

Stopped in my tracks once again.

 

 

Photo a Week: Signs

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Nancy Merrill’s Photo a Week Challenge: Signs

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO (OR TWO OR THREE) THAT FEATURES SIGNS OF ANY KIND.

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Joan Baez and her band rocking it out in Newport – August 2, 2009


Surprise!
Happy Birthday!
We are going to the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Folk Festival!
Pete will be there! Arlo! Joan! Judy! Gillian! Guy!
…and a bunch of other people I haven’t heard of but you love them!!!

That was basically the presentation of my best-wife-ever birthday present to my folk singer husband, who is also a guitarist…a teacher…a songwriter.

He practically worships at the feet of – and knows the music and life stories of – many “old” & legendary folk singers. An opportunity to see some of his idols perform live…a once in a lifetime opportunity.

So off we went to the festival for both days – August 1 & 2, 2009 – located at picturesque Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island.

I am happy to report he was in folk singer heaven the entire weekend. I enjoyed myself as well, but also included strolls around the park taking photos as part of my experience.

 

 

My highlights?
Watching Joan Baez and Judy Collins on stage…just as professional and enthusiastic and at ease as their younger counterparts. If not more so.

Perhaps their voices had changed over the years, but their music was still transportive. Entertaining. Beautiful.

It made me smile and sing along.
A very good sign.

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Judy Collins at Newport August 2, 2009

 

Puzzle lines

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Puzzle lines

 

Who ever heard of puzzle piece stairs?

I never did…until I toured the Ticonderoga steamship at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont this past summer. The stairway between the upper and lower decks is covered with rubber tiles…each stair its own puzzle.

A remarkable sight.

 

BeckyB: lines&squares

Corner Forsythia

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Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo: Back Catalogue

My challenge to you is to find an image in your back catalog that still grabs your attention and share it…if you want to re-interpret the image with what you have gained over the years, feel free to do so.

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corner forsythia 2010

There is just something about this bright yellow flowering bush that I am drawn to.

Is it because one flourished in the corner of the front yard where I grew up? Or, more specifically, where I lived when I was 4 to 11 years old. Where the vast majority of my happy moments were spent outdoors. That particular forsythia was actually situated in the next door neighbor’s yard…right on the lot line. I always thought it was ours.

Is it because the happiest of my childhood family photos were taken in front of it? On special days when I wore a dress-up dress with my stick straight hair fancied up and curled for the occasion. Which was usually Mother’s Day or Easter or my birthday. My grandparents were often there. Or dear family friends. Gathered around. Smiling.

 

1960-4
corner forsythia 1960

Whatever the reason…

When I was all grown up, a homeowner and married with 2 children of my own, I mentioned how much I’d like to have a forsythia in the front corner of the front yard.

So on Mother’s Day 1990, I got one. And then another one for the other front corner a year later.

There were many places where happy family photos were taken while my children were growing up. Both indoors and outdoors.

 

forsythia 1991
corner forsythia 1991

But there was always something extra special about the front corner of the front yard and that bright yellow flowering forsythia…

For a brief few weeks every Spring.