Photo 365 #104: Moment

November 19, 20148 Comments

Life is but a series of moments. Each day I find myself recording moments for posterity, though sometimes my recordings are strictly internal (which means they usually disappear within 24 hours, as my memory is terrible). Still, those little moments are what make life worth living, are they not?

“Peek-a-boo!”

“Raaaaaar!”

These two images are from the first night we spent in our new house. We had no furniture, other than a collapsible picnic table and an air mattress. What we did have were great friends and happy kids, and we made a boatload of memories that night. We’ve made more memories in our new house in the year since these pictures were taken, and the thought of all the memories we’ve yet to make thrills me to pieces.

Photo 365 #103: Architecture

November 18, 20142 Comments

I’m lucky to work in a town full of wonderful old Victorian houses. There are two of them within a couple of blocks of my office, and they’re just gorgeous (there might actually be a couple others), despite the massive hailstorm that hit the area five years ago. But I’m not at work today, so I can’t take a picture of either of them decked out in their snowy glory.

I have a few pictures of a beautiful church I saw this summer, but I was shooting on the fly and most of the pictures came out either blurry or crooked. Then I thought of all the pictures I have of our house, both our old one and our new one, but they’re really nothing special (the pictures, that is, not the houses). Straight-on shots of one, a few different angles on the other as we were painting it this summer, but nothing great. Still, they got me thinking…

Photo 365 #102: A pop of color

November 17, 201412 Comments

Over the summer, we had a potted impatien out in front of our office. It was a lovely thing, and when the temps turned colder, we brought it inside. But sitting just inside the door as it was proved detrimental to its health, and it withered.

One of my coworkers brought it inside and set it near the window in our coat room. She’s got a much greener thumb than I have, and decided to try nursing it back to health.

winterbloom

Last week, we noticed a bloom. A couple days later, there was another one. This morning, I counted four or five, and those are just on the side of the plant I can see – the side facing the window appears to have a few more blooms on it.

Now that we’ve got a bit of snow on the ground, it’s a treat to see something so bright and different amid the white.

Photo 365 #99: Mystery

November 14, 2014Leave a comment

Tiny Bubbles was nothing if not curious.

tinybubbles

These days, it’s Cricket and especially Thumper who like to go exploring in places they shouldn’t.

Photo 365 #98: Warmth

November 13, 2014November 14, 20142 Comments

I used to go to a lot of horseshoe tournaments. My ex-husband played in as many tournaments as he could get to (still does), which meant I spent the summer baking in the heat at tournaments all over the state. It was a lot of fun, if you don’t mind the heat and the humidity, and sometimes I miss going. It was fun sitting around chatting with the other horseshoe wives (the ones who didn’t also pitch), and sometimes I’d go exploring whichever town we happened to be in.

The tournaments that were probably the most fun were at the state fair. They hosted tournaments everyday, with the state championships on the weekends. The horseshoe courts there used to be in a high-traffic area right across from the nicest bathrooms on the fairgrounds and close to food, so it was about as perfect a location as you can get.

One Last Conversation on the Courts

But eventually, the fair board decided something else should occupy the space next to Little Hands on the Farm, something more farm-related than an old farmers’ game, and the horseshoe courts were relocated, making way for an animal nursery. It’s a very nice nursery, but I do miss the courts being centrally located.

As we were leaving the fairgrounds after the last tournament at the old courts, I snapped this picture of the scoreboards. The way they were all out there in the middle, I had the feeling they were a bunch of old friends, standing around discussing all they’d seen in the past ten days: all the ringers, the near-misses, the celebrations and heartbreaks. Despite its bittersweet quality, this is one of my favorite pictures ever; it just feels so dynamic, as if the scoreboards had really come to life.

Photo 365 #97: The natural world

November 12, 20149 Comments

Living in a rural area is nothing if not fantastic for capturing wonderful moments in the life cycle of nature. As evidenced by my deep and abiding love for skyscapes, I’ve got no shortage of inspiration for nature-based images. And since it’s hard for me to choose just one, here are several!

Beautiful…and treacherous.

Our yard is littered with pine cones.

“Come into my chamber,” said the spider to the fly.

Just another beautiful summer day.

Tasty harvest. 🙂

This is completely unacceptable at this point in the year.

These are only a handful of the nearly two thousand pictures I’ve taken of the world around me this year alone. I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place.

Photo 365 #96: Landmark

November 11, 20146 Comments

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.

Photo 365 #95: Connect

November 10, 201415 Comments

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.

connection

I almost posted this image last week…

Photo 365 #92: Solitude

November 7, 20142 Comments

solitary 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.

Photo 365 #91: Bliss

November 6, 2014November 7, 20143 Comments

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. 🙂