I pass this barn every day on my commute. Something about it stirs my soul; it just seems so forlorn sitting there among the weeds and dilapidated old farm equipment.
It’s a landmark for me because it means I’ve nearly reached my destination, that safety and friends are just a few more miles down the road. It’s strange how such a sad old building can convey such comfort.
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Connection in a digital world. It’s an interesting concept, isn’t it? All the social networks urge you to connect with others, though how deep that connection really is really varies. For me, connection is about emotion, how those “friends” on Facebook and Twitter and Google+ and all those other places make me feel on a visceral level. I’m happy to say that those friends most often make me feel a wonderful sense of community, that I’m part of something larger than myself. So many of those friends help celebrate highs and sympathize with lows, and it’s hard to imagine life without them.
I almost posted this image last week…
It’s been almost a week since the elections here in the U.S. and I’m still upset. I’m not upset that my candidate lost (even though he did), or that two more years of Congressional gridlock are likely in store. What has me so upset is political action, believe it or not, action like this:
This is a flyer I received somewhere around the first of the month. I actually received it twice, presumably because I have more than one child, but that’s no the point. It looks legit, right? I didn’t notice the return address till after I’d opened it and started reading.
This flyer didn’t come from my local county health agency.
Alas, poor pencil, you’ve served me well:
I’ve had this pencil for at least a decade (perhaps slightly longer). I’ve written more stories with it than I can count, and a fair few books, too. Sadly, it cannot be replaced – while they still make this particular model, the grip is no longer smooth, but patterned, and it irritates my fingers after a while. Luckily, I’ve got a backup, but one day it, too, will go the way of its brother, and then I’ll be forced to replace it with the patterned grip pencil that I don’t like.
Of course, the patterned grip is still better than the dozens of other mechanical pencil styles available.
Rest in peace, oh pencil mine. You’ve earned it.
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Living in the country can be a lonely thing, which is why I was initially worried about living out in the middle of nowhere again (okay, I had other concerns, too, but isolation was a biggie). This fence post (and the barbed wire wrapped around it) marks the end of our yard and the beginning of the field next door.
It’s a solitary place, our little farm, but I find it relaxing, and peaceful. Sometimes a little solitude is all you really need to soothe your inner demons and gain perspective on things.
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Happy farm boy is happy. 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Seymour as happy as he was when we moved to our farm in the spring. He’s been looking for an acreage since we got married and now, five years later, he’s finally got one.
I was less interested in moving to the country than he was, but it’s been a lot different than my last experience of country life. I feel much more relaxed than I did in town, even though things like getting the kids to piano lessons were much easier when we lived in town.
Still, he gave town a try for me, so now I’m giving the country a try for him. Because that’s what you do. And no matter where you go or what you do, it’s who is beside you that counts. 🙂
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Water. It’s everywhere, both around us and within us, in one form or another. For today’s Photography 101 challenge, I’m once again relying on older pictures, but they’re two of my favorites, and they’ve been in my mind quite a bit lately.
Both photos are from one of our many camping trips last summer. We haven’t been able to go camping this year at all, aside from the kids camping out in the yard a time or two when it was still warm. We did, however, find some adorable camping-themed picture frames this summer on our trip up north, so Seymour asked me to get a couple of our camping pictures printed off to put in them. Perfectly enough for this challenge, one frame was horizontal and one frame was vertical.
Lovely horizontal picture, featuring a pretty smile from Miss Tadpole. 🙂
Last summer we camped at Pine Lake several times and on our first trip…
A few months ago, I hosted a Pampered Chef party (I wanted an apple peeler/corer/slicer and figured this was a smart way to get one for a reasonable price). When the orders arrived, I was able to deliver most of them in one stop, but one of the orders required a drive to Holland (a nearby town, not the country). Because it was the middle of road construction season and the road into town was closed for bridge repair, I had to go north of town, then west, and come in from the northwest corner.
The sun was setting as I made my delivery and it was so beautiful that I pulled over to catch it before it was gone. When I shoot the sunset, I love to get it alone, with just the horizon or maybe a tree or two for company. I love the wild places where humanity’s fingerprint on the land is a light one. But I got the road with it in this shot, and the power lines running into town, and the more I look at this picture, the more I like it.
What do you like in a landscape shot?
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Today is the first day of the Photography 101 course on WordPress, and I’m really looking forward to participating. There are supposed to be a bunch of tips and tricks, and frankly, I can use all the photography tips and tricks I can get. There are also different themes, and today’s theme is all about home.
For me, home is more than just a place to rest your rump. Home is where your story begins, and stories are all about people. I can’t imagine home, whether in town or in the country or even on the moon, without these crazies with whom I share space:
These guys have given me more stories than I know what to do with, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. What does home mean to you?
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
I love lazy Sundays. And since I’m feeling a bit lazy today, I don’t know what to write here other than I can’t believe it’s November already.
Enjoy the pretty, pretty pictures! Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have more to say. 🙂
(c) 2014. All rights reserved.
Suddenly they all died. The end. 