The Beauty of January

Winter makes me happy. There's something about it's cold crisp air that makes me smile. The first day of January was a beautiful day with a gorgeous sunset. Just look at all that golden color! 

Even grey misty days brought magic. I only have to look for it.

This year we've had our share of freezing days. In central Arkansas our average January daytime temperature is in the low 50's. As you can tell by the ice on this small lake, it's been well below that. It's not easy going out when it's bitterly cold, but I go out everyday looking to see what's new. 

Today I found water dripping off the corner of the house, creating tiny ice sculptures around blades of grass. Yes, I know it's very weird, but the grass is still green in spots!

I went to check the small creek in the woods behind the house. It's swift moving water has kept it from freezing solid, but there is a thin layer of ice on top that makes fascinating patterns.

January has brought pretty days with blue skies, grey days with drizzle, cold days with sleet and ice, but the best day arrived on Tuesday! It snowed! It finally snowed! I didn't get to stand at the window with a mug of hot chocolate and watch the falling snow because it began about 9 p.m. and quit before morning, but there it was when I woke up and rushed to the window. It was a fine, powdery snow and the wind was gusting, so it didn't stick to many of the trees. 

There was no way I was straying inside even if it was only 13 degrees and the wind was really blowing. I put on plenty of layers, snow boots, and a toboggan and was ready to endure the elements! I wasn't the only one wearing a cap, so was this rock in the creek, only my cap was warmer than his.

There's so much to love about winter in Arkansas. I hope wherever you are, you're enjoying your winter whether your inside or out!

An hour of winter day might seem too short.

~ Robert Frost

I'm Stuck

I was all ready for this new year to begin. I'd truly had enough of 2016! I had plans for 2017. I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish and projects I wanted to work on. I was ready for the new beginning. Well, here it is February and I've just been stuck. Stuck at doing very little. Just like this little feather, I'm getting nowhere!

I don't know what really when wrong with my plans. It could be the upheaval our world is in. It's so discouraging. Or, it could be the awful virus that Jerry and I have had since Christmas. No matter what we do, we can't seem to shake it. We've both been to the doctor, taken steroids and antibiotics for sinus infections, and we're still under the weather. My attention span is short and my "want to" is gone!

I decided to really look hard at January and at least find a few things I've accomplished.

• I've kept up my daily Bible reading. I read the New Testament last year and now I'm reading the Old Testament which is much harder. I can't pronounce all those names!
• I've posted four times on this blog and twice on Focus On Life. Here's a link to the two posts I wrote over at Focus On Life, if you'd like to read them. More Good Than Bad and The Beauty Of Winter.
• I've gone on four photography outings and that's a very good accomplishment!
• I've read a lot. There's nothing wrong with that.
• I've worked seven jigsaw puzzles. Yes, seven, with a head that's pounding that's about all I can do when I can't focus on reading!

Looking at the whole picture, maybe it hasn't been too bad. I am doing something, but I just seem to be muddling through with no direction or real focus; just wasting time. As I begin this month, I'm hoping for more purpose and more direction. I'm hoping a mighty wind will come by, blow out the cobwebs (and the virus), and blow me back on course!!

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I'm linking today with Scene & Story hosted by Lee and Sarah.

Drop by Sarah's blog and check it out!

Join us each month as we choose a photo and tell a story.

What Does The Word Mean - Part IV

I'm still working through David Wythe's book, Consolations, with a group of photographers. The challenge is to photograph "the solace, nourishment and underlying meaning of everyday words."  I'm a little behind in posting my photos and thoughts. December was quiet busy, but hopefully I'll catch up in the next couple of weeks. You can read this post for a little more information on the challenge.

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GENIUS

Genius: the quality of a given place; air, land, water,

trees, and smells combined with it's history

Civil War Site: Bayou Meto, Arkansas

At this location Confederate forces stopped the Federal Calvary from crossing the Bayou Meto in route to capture the capital of Arkansas. As I stood on the banks of the bayou I closed my eyes, felt the slight breeze, heard the rippling water, and smelled the woodsy odor of the rich black soil and the cypress trees. I felt this place. A deep sadness filled me for those who were lost and wounded in this battle.

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GIVING

The giving of gifts has always been hard for me. I never seem to find just the perfect gift for someone. Maybe it's because I have never spent "a long time sitting in [my] armchair in silent contemplation of those [I] want to gift looking for the imaginative doorway that says I know you and see you and this is how I give thanks for you . . ."  ~David Whyte

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GRATEFUL

I am grateful for the delightful surprises that await when I open my eyes and really see.

"It is not joy that makes us grateful,

it's gratitude that makes us joyful.

~ Brother Davied Steindl-Rast

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GROUNDED

It's the simple things in life that bring me pleasure and keep me focused. It's the ground I walk on, the plants, the creatures, and the clouds. These calming gifts of nature help keep me from being overwhelmed as life brings many changes.

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HAUNTED

Often we are so disturbed and obsessed by on emotion, a memory, or even an idea that we feel haunted by it. Being haunted doesn't always have to be dark and dreary. Sometimes what is haunting us can give us courage to take the next step in our lives.

"When we make a friend of what we previously could not face, what once haunted us now becomes an invisible, parallel ally, a beckoning hand to our future."

~ David Whyte

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HEARTBREAK

"But heartbreak may be the very essence of being human, of being on the journey from here to there, and of coming to care deeply for what we find along the way."

~ David Whyte

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I think why I've enjoyed this challenge so much is that it makes me think of the lesser used meaning of some words like genius and haunted. Whyte has such a unique way of interpreting words that sometimes I find if very hard to even understand his definitions. I have to read the chapter several times to absorb what he's saying. This project has been challenging for me, but definitely good. 

"I like good strong words that mean something . . ."

~ Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

June Delights

It seems other than Sunday Sundries, I've abandoned this little corner. Life has changed once again. My mother came home from rehab ten days ago. The transition was not easy for her or us. There were things to buy, medications to have refilled, remodeling to allow for her wheelchair, groceries to buy, meals to cook, and schedules to set up. She has some brain damage from the stroke, short-term memory loss especially, so I was going to her house four times a day to give her medications and take her vital signs. Thankfully, it's in walking distance. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, this was a very rough week. There was very little time to even thing about picking up my camera and I missed it. I missed the time outside just wandering.

Knowing that this month of June would be hard and because it's my birth month, I challenged myself to find something delightful each day. I didn't always take pictures, but I wrote them in my journal each night.

I wanted to share the first fifteen days with you. It is a wonderful reminder that even in tough times, there's joy to be found.

Day 1 - strawberry, vanilla, and caramel colored mushrooms

Day 2 - seeing an old barn when traveling with my dad

Day 3 - highways lined with Queen Anne's Lace

Day 4 - a video my daughter posted on Facebook

Day 5 - new grocery carts at Walmart (it doesn't take much to make me happy)

Day 6 - cool refreshing snow cone

Day 7 - leaf with perfect bands of color: brown, tan, and green

Day 8 - dainty white hosta blooms

Day 9  - four delights today . . . eating my first wild blackberry of the season . . . Aaron and Isaac bringing me a delicious birthday cupcake . . . dinner with Mr. H . . . the Dickinsons singing Happy Birthday to me on the phone 

Day 10 - making a wrong turn and seing a small yard crammed with summer flowers

Day 11 - finding three feathers

Day 12 - a mimosa tree full of pink blooms

Day 13 - eating breakfast outside . . . cool and breezy

Day 14 - the coolest shopping cart ever!

Day 15 - a deer in our pasture . . . as long as I've lived here we've never seen a deer in our pasture

These little daily delights have kept me positive and smiling. I'm looking forward to what the next fifteen days brings!

"If you smile when no one else is around,

you really mean it."

~ Andy Rooney

Renewing The Journey - Part 1

It doesn't take much in nature to make my heart sing.

The tiniest little things, the surprises, and the treasures fascinate me.  I photograph these things.

As I wrote this a murder of crows were in the trees outside my window. Their silhouettes against the sky decorated the bare branches. They were never still. They were diving and soaring from tree to tree. Finally I could stand it no longer. I had to grab my camera and capture the antics of these loud, rambunctious creatures. As I ventured closer to the trees, their hoarse caws became instantly silent. It reminded me of an orchestra conductor whose baton silences the orchestra at the end note of a performance.  I wonder who is the conductor of the crows. I photograph things I wonder about.

I have always been drawn to nature; the beautiful, the not so beautiful, the quiet, the loud, the landscapes, the skies, and even the weather. If you take the time to look, really look, you can see something new in nature every day. Every sunrise and sunset is different. Every leaf, rock, or flower is different. The need to discover these unique differences is what motivates me; what keeps me outside exploring no matter the weather. I photograph these differences.

I am most happy with the tiny treasures that I discover when I don't rush, when I look closely. I've been know to walk around and around a tree looking for that special something like the small feather adorned with ice crystals above. There is always something magical to discover. I sometimes have to remind myself to step back and also look at the treasures to be found in the big picture. I photograph the tiny and the landscape.

I've found that my camera helps me to forget my anxieties, be braver, and more confidant. Nature and my camera are calming. When I first began taking pictures, other than the normal family/vacation/holiday pictures, I would take a small camera and wait until no one was looking to take a picture. Now, I rarely notice anyone is around and I carry my big girl camera. Now, I even stop and talk to people about what I'm photographing. I've been amazed at the kindness of people who want to share information about the places I visit or other paces to explore. I photograph my discoveries.

Some days and even weeks I loose my desire for photography. That's when photo trips, photo projects, classes, prompt groups, visiting flickr, and reading blogs, keep me inspired and motivated. Oh, I must not forget to mention the inspiration I get from reading two of my favorite magazines, Artful Blogging and Bella Grace. 

Photography has led me to a calmer and more peaceful life. Just the daily pleasure of being outside and observing nature has brought joy and gratitude to my life. 

I mentioned above that taking photography classes inspires and keeps me motivated. In these classes you sometimes find a small group of special ladies that share the same interests and a relationship develops. The connection remains long after the class is over through blogs, flickr, and emails. There is a small group of us that took a class several years ago that decided we'd like to review the class material again. We are interested in seeing if our thoughts about photography and our photography has changed over the years. We're calling this review "Renewing The Journey." In the first lesson we are answering these questions. Why do we take pictures? What draws us to photography?  What motivates us?  What keeps us excited and interested in photography? After I answered these questions I went back and read my responses from when I took the original class. I wasn't too surprised many of my answers are similar. One thing is for sure, I'm still in complete awe of nature!

Inspired By Paintings

Inspiration can come from many sources including still life paintings. Our assignment this week for Be Still 52 was to create a still life photo that was inspired by a painting. I looked at many paintings before I decided to do the two below. As I've worked on the assignments for this class, I've tried to used nature whenever possible.

I wanted to use my large swan feather so I used a dark cutting board for the background. I've been enjoying the richness of darker tones in my photography lately.

I went with a lighter background, osnaburg fabric, for this second one.

If you'd like to see the paintings that sparked my creativity you can use the links below.

top photo

bottom photo

Finding Stillness

I had things I needed to be doing. I was supposed to be dropping books off at the library and going to the post office and picking up Halloween cards for the grandsons and buying groceries, but instead I skipped all the chores and went to Wildwood Park. I blame it on the car, it just wouldn't go where it should. It somehow knew what I needed: peace, quiet, stillness, alone time. It also knew I needed some comfort food to take along and pulled right into a bakery where I found this delicious Italian Cream cupcake.

This is the one place I know I can always find quiet. Usually I'm alone at the park, but this time there were gardeners working in the rock garden, an older couple strolling by the lake, and a lady walking her black Cocker Spaniel.  We nodded, we smiled, we spoke a greeting as we passed, but mostly we were all just enjoying the cool morning and the quiet. 

I enjoyed the walk along the leaf strewn pathways where I found treasures from nature.  I enjoyed sitting in the rock garden watching the dragonflies and writing in my journal. I enjoyed the breezes blowing through the trees. I enjoyed watching the sun sparkling on the rippling water of the lake, but most of all I enjoyed the swans. As I walked alone the pathway near the lake they swam right beside me. One time when I was taking pictures of a heron across the lake I looked down and one of the swans had walked right up the bank and stood beside me. I'm a little leery of them, as I know they can be aggressive and they are really big when they stand up and reach out their neck.  These two just seemed to want some company. Maybe they were lonely or maybe it was near their feeding time. I don't know, I'm just thankful that they were near and didn't mind me taking their picture.

I spent most of the the day there. I even left, bought some lunch, and came back for a picnic. The company was nice and the time was enjoyable. So what did I find besides the cupcake? Peace, stillness, quietness, and a couple of new friends.

Linking with Kim Klassen's Friday Finds.

Friday Finds

In the summertime when the heat is bearing down and the humidity is high I find myself frequenting the flea markets more. I even went there for a photography class I was taking. The exercise was to take a photo walk somewhere you've never been before and look for the unusual. I was not about to wander around in the heat, so I went to the next town over and found a flea market to stroll through. I'll be honest it was very hard to concentrate on photography when you had all the goodies to look at. 

My heart skipped a couple of beats when I found my treasure of the day. An old school book, First Lessons In Nature Study, written by Edith M. Patch. It was written in 1926 and this copy has a 1940 copyright. This fascinating book is full of amazing facts, nature poems, and beautiful drawings by Robert J. Sim.

Curiosity always sends me go Google. I just had to know a little about Edith M. Patch. She was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1876 and died in 1954. She was an American entomologist and writer. In 1930 she was elected president of the American Nature Study Society and became the first female president of the Entomological Society of America at a time when the society admitted few women. Fascinating woman!

Her descriptive writing flows easily and her love of nature is evident. I certainly wish my elementary science books were written so enthusiastically and by someone who loves nature!

She encourages students to not only study science, but go out and do some hands-on studying. "Perhaps, then you will know the use of this book. It is partly to tell you interesting facts about plants and animals of different kinds, and it is even more to ask you to look and find out all you can for yourself." 

You know when you have the question that asks, "if you could meet anyone from any time period, who would you like to meet?"  I think I would love to meet Edith Patch. I would love to sit with her and listen to her share her knowledge and love of nature. 

Of course, with my new/old book, I had to include some of my found nature items.  I used them to create this series of images for Kim's Be Still 52. 

Blue

"Be like the bluebird who never is blue,

For he knows from his upbringing what singing can do."

~ Cole Porter