It's Monday

Did you have an appointment?

Because I'm overwhelmed by all this paperwork.











You have to love Jake. He always provides me with material for an image when I haven't had a moment to create one on my own.

The Chest

My friend, Sue, participates in a thing called Saturday Centus --- from what I gather, participants are given a short story theme each week and must write something brilliant (of course) in 100 words or less, incorporating said theme.

Now, I'm no writer, but the idea intrigued me and several weeks ago I started thinking that I might borrow the weekly theme and try to work my Saturday image around it. Ironically, this week's theme, but more particularly Sue's entry, was perfect to get me started.

The theme...She lifted the stack of letters from the ancient chest... 

This small wooden chest was given to me as a gift. It sits on a shelf in my office and contains letters and notes written to me by special friends and loved ones. It has images of old envelopes and letters on the outside of it. In one corner is a letter with the name of the city in Germany where my father was born, the addressee's name being the same as my father's family and the postmark being around the time when my great great grandfather lived. The person who gave it to me neither knew that nor would they have cared, as the giver turned out to be something other than a friend in the end. Nonetheless, I've held onto the box because I've always been a bit intrigued by the "coincidence" of it. I don't know the names of my ancestors beyond my great grandfather, but I'm certain that one day I will. Meanwhile, the box remains a connection to an unknown past or at least a reminder of it.

Saturday's Serenity

All is right with the world ... well, at least with my world. I know that this will not last indefinitely...surely there are storms to come and snowbanks and other obstacles. But for now, life is sunny and bright. The ground is white, the trees frosted with delicate crystals. 

The wanderings of small creatures can be seen. 

The trees and the snow are magical. Life is glorious. My heart is filled with gratitude and delight.

I know to cherish these days, for they, too, are magical...and like the snow and the sun, we don't know what tomorrow will bring.

Close to Home

It was a beautiful sunny day today. Cold, but sunny. So we went skiing. Funny. We've had our season passes for several months, but today was the first day we found time to actually use them.

By the time we got home, it was too late and I was too tired to go in search of an image. But I felt committed to create something. Robb said he was impressed with my dedication. I think it's code for "you really CAN skip a day, you know", but he's much too kind to say so. And I'm much too obsessed. So, here's my daily take... close to home.

Mysteries

 It's a mystery to me that it can be 60 outside and it feels like it's freezing or it can be 15 outside and it feels like it's 60.

It's a mystery to me that a reflection can be more beautiful than the thing being reflected.

It's a mystery to me that there is sooo much beauty around us all the time. It's truly a mystery to me that so few people are able to see it.

A Walk in the Trees

It was sunny today. We're newlyweds. I imagine it could have been stormy and grey and we'd have thought it was sunny.

We went for a walk with the dogs. They and we needed to get out and feel the sun. No camera today. Just my cell phone. Life is good.

Snowbanks

Yesterday was my wedding day. Not two minutes into the drive to the ceremony, we slid into the snow bank coming down our steep icy driveway. Crazy as it may seem, we backed out, had a good laugh and hit the road.

The road was foggy. It made me think about how we really were launching into the unknown in what we were getting ready to do.  We've known each other for 18 months and we've spent a lot of time together, even building a house together. Nonetheless, I think that getting married takes a huge leap of faith.

The ceremony was brief but filled with meaning. Afterward we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that had been around since 1914. It was quaint and had an air of permanency, something we want in our marriage. I snapped a quick photo with my cell phone. Only later when I looked at it more closely did I see that even spirits seem to linger there.

After lunch we drove home to settle in. In the exact same spot that we slid into the snowbank earlier in the day, the car slipped on the last sharp incline and slid right back into it, this time tail end first. As we did before, we laughed and carried on.

I'm sure that our marriage will have its snowbank encounters. As long as we can laugh and carry on, I know we'll find that permanency.

Shoe and Thief

It was a busy day, an unusual day, a good day filled with promise for tomorrow and forever. I barely had a moment, though, to work on creating my daily photo. Sometimes you just have to grab what you can. Today was one of those days. Thank you, Jake, for stealing Robb's shoe...

Prayers Ascending to Heaven and Icicles Hanging Down

It's Sunday, the day I try to focus my mind on more spiritual thoughts. I was sitting at my desk staring out the window at the icicles hanging down. I do that a lot these days. They change regularly as it snows, warms, melts, freezes and on and on. Last night I was looking at them backlit by the nearly full moon, wishing I could get the right angle on them to make a good photo...I didn't think I could, so I didn't try. Maybe another evening.

Back to sitting at my desk, my mind adrift. My thoughts turned to the idea of prayer. What would prayer look like in a photograph? Soft whispers of spirit matter drifting upward? Quite the opposite of the cold hard icicles pointing down, perhaps.

The One That Matters

While we were away lots of mail accumulated, but only one piece really matters. 

The Last 100 Miles

With all due respect (OK, let's be real...that generally means you have NO respect), but with all due respect, I think Wendover is one of the armpits of the world. There's almost nothing there, and what is there feels rank and tawdry to me, like dirty ashtrays. But, having said that, I have a love hate relationship with that seemingly endless stretch of road between Wendover and Salt Lake City. Yes, the mighty salt flats.

Sure, I hate it when it's the last bit of road on the way from California to Salt Lake and it's dark and I'm dead tired and I just want to arrive WITHOUT pulling over on the side of the road and going to sleep. On the other hand, it's a fascinating stretch of countryside with some of the most unique views one can imagine. The flatness of it. The reflections - are they water or are they mirages? The textures. The colors when driving east just as the sun is beginning to set. And of course the sheer mystery and vastness of the desert.


Some day I'm going to drive out there with the sole purpose of photographing it. But for today, I'm happy it's behind me and I'm home.

Not Every Day Requires a Theme

My day started off with this cherubic little Kewpie which was left, lost or otherwise abandoned to float on the SF Bay until we came along.

We spent the day on the road. I shot solely with my cell phone since my camera and lenses were packed away in the back of the car and too much hassle to pull out. While the cell phone is limiting, in a way it's liberating too, since I know that the images are never about technical perfection. It left me freer to shoot loosely rather than precisely.  So, no theme to the images, just things that caught my eye. 

Things like peeling plaster on an old historic building... 

Even my own shadow... my shadow might be fleeting, but not me. While my body may wither and die, my spirit is eternal and I'm planning to be around for a very very long time.

The shadow in a window... the light has come and gone, come and gone time and time again... the pattern will repeat itself likewise.

A lone tree clinging to granite cliffs, nourished only by the snow.

Part II: Shades of Winter

While I've been surrounded by white for the past few months, not everyone's winter is devoid of color.

Childlike Wonder

I was looking at what I had shot today and not totally loving any of it, when my 21 month old grandson pointed out the window at the biggest brightest full moon I had seen in a long time. It was just making its appearance over the hills to the east. "Moon moon," he said. All I had on hand at the moment was my cell phone.

True Love

I went for a walk with my daughter and her two beautiful little boys this afternoon. On our walk, we spotted a number of mushrooms sprouting boldly from the rich moist ground. I couldn't resist photographing them, rising from their own little world. 

The best part of my day, though, was to watch these two busy little boys and to know that they are sprouting boldly from the rich ground of their home, ground that is nourished with an abundance of true love. Could anything possibly be better than this?

The Light of Night

It was a long day. 

A soulful day. 

A day filled with hugs, tears, sorrow, pain. 

A day of memories, reflections, kindness. 

A day of love, support, lasting connections. 

Just a day. 

And even as the day comes to a close and darkness settles in, the light remains. 

I'm thankful for the light.

Road Trip

Watching the desert roll by....

 ...mile after mile after mile...