Wordless Wednesday
Tag: summer
Fandango’s Friday Flashback: September 4
Inspired by Fandango’s Friday Flashback: September 4
Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year…How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year?
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This post was originally published on September 4, 2018
Last Friday’s flashback had also been an entry for Frank’s Tuesday Photo Challenge. Still wondering if/when he’ll be back. Hoping he will be!
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Tuesday Photo Challenge – Backyard
Here is my entry for this week’s challenge hosted by “Dutch goes the Photo”
https://dutchgoesthephoto.net/2018/09/04/tuesday-photo-challenge-backyard/
The theme this week is “Backyard”
Backyards are often places where families gather. Children run, jump, play, swim and learn about their outdoor world. For many, a backyard is where bare feet first touch blades of grass – or – where a squirrel is first spotted racing up a tree…
And in these vintage 35mm photos…
A backyard is for reading library books in a hammock with daddy.
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And a backyard is where little brother and big sister cool off and share a sprinkler on a hot summer day.
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Lens Artists Challenge: Summer
Lens Artists Challenge #104: Summer
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“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” – Cynthia Ozick
Up until 2020, summer was a fairly predictable time of year. I could plan trips and get togethers with friends and family…without a second thought. Including return visits to favorite summer festivals and fairs.
I painfully realize now how much I took all of that for granted…thinking oh we can come back next summer…when the 2019 schedule got crowded. This summer…it’s all cancelled.
I actually look forward to the seasonal chore of storing away sweaters, hats and mittens. And then dragging out the “summer clothes” from a high closet shelf. Pulling out shorts, T-shirts and sandals. Ready For Summer.
Well, I can still switch the clothes around…but that’s about it.
However…thinking back on life “before”…
During my earlier days of parenthood, summer always included extra family time together with my children. Camera always in hand.
Nothing fancy. Sometimes just day trips…
For over 20 years we established a family tradition. A week away…to connect and just enjoy each other. Most vacations were only a 90 minute drive to a special place on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. The last 2 were cross country on the California coast.
Fast forward about 17 years…and summer included the next generation…
During the 36+ years we lived in a house with a yard, we delighted in beds of flowers that exploded into life every summer.
One of our favorites: black eyed susans…
We have continued one summertime activity through the years, despite moving to a condo and emptying the nest. Picking fresh blueberries! They are amazing when eaten within hours (or days) of being picked.
One of our neighbors, where we used to live, let us pick from his carefully tended bushes. Now we visit a local farm that has a “pick your own” field of blueberry bushes. Fortunately you can still do this during a pandemic by following the posted rules: Wear a Mask and Social Distance.
No Problem.
Here is this week’s harvest…
They taste just like summer.
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!
Framing the Shot
Inspired by Lens-Artists Challenge #60: Framing the Shot
This week, we will explore different ways of framing images. Many photographers agree on one thing about framing – that it can help direct the viewers‘ eyes to where you want them to look.
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It’s hard to believe the summer of 2019 is – for the most part – in the rear view. I don’t know what it is about summer, but it always seems to “go by” faster than winter with its endless cold dark days.
This summer, we traveled more than usual. Not very far…Vermont in June and Washington DC in June and August. No trips overseas or cross-country. Which is okay…longer distance travel is probably not going to happen anymore. Also okay.
As always – no matter how far I travel – I document. My ongoing attempts to freeze time.
For this challenge, these 2 shots came to mind.
The first one is from our three day June visit with friends on Lake Champlain in North Ferrisburgh, Vermont. We witnessed spectacular sunsets over dinner from their back porch.
At one point venturing closer to lake’s edge for unobstructed views…
During our second visit to Washington DC we spent a few hours babysitting for our 3 year old grandson. A few blocks away his parents started painting his new bedroom a pale shade of pink…in preparation for their move a few days later.
I think he sensed that big changes were in the air. After an hour of making multiple garages with magnetic tiles for his miniature construction trucks with Grandma & Grampa, he became restless and began looking for Mama.
That is, until we heard a Home Depot flatbed delivery truck across the street. The front porch offered the best view…as we watched one man unload a large pallet of lumber and building materials. By himself! With an attached forklift! Fascinating stuff for a lover of all things construction.
Several minutes of respite for a 3 year old…and for Grampa too.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: In or On Water
This post inspired by Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge: The topic: In or On Water
It didn’t take much for a group of 6 year old boys (and one little brother) to make excellent use of water.
In the backyard swimming pool…
Enjoying their own brand of fun…
One hot July afternoon…
While their parents partied nearby.
Tuesday Photo Challenge – Bank
Here is my entry for this week’s challenge hosted by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo
The prompt this week is: Bank
The day-after scene from one of many memorable snowstorms.
Before the white turns gray…
…then black…as it morphs into slush.
Snow banks everywhere.
Courtesy of city plows and resident snow blowing and shoveling.
Whew.
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River banks.
Same river. Different spots.
Tuesday Photo Challenge – Backyard
Here is my entry for this week’s challenge hosted by “Dutch goes the Photo”
https://dutchgoesthephoto.net/2018/09/04/tuesday-photo-challenge-backyard/
The theme this week is “Backyard”
Backyards are often places where families gather. Children run, jump, play, swim and learn about their outdoor world. For many, a backyard is where bare feet first touch blades of grass – or – where a squirrel is first spotted racing up a tree…
And in these vintage 35mm photos…
A backyard is for reading library books in a hammock with daddy.
~~~
And a backyard is where little brother and big sister cool off and share a sprinkler on a hot summer day.
~~~
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 