Snow in the park

On this snowy day in Blowing Rock, a park bench sits empty, waiting for the warm weather still in the distant future.

Snow

There may be a lot of "snow" photos this weekend.  As you can see, the snow is falling heavily outside our window tonight and beautifully icing the trees in the lights.

Speeding down a mountain road

Tonight I decided to post two photos that I shot out the window of the car on our way up to Blowing Rock, NC.  I had the camera on a slow shutter speed and it was very low light.  I just held the camera to the window and shot some images.  I liked both of these.  Clearly they are both abstract, but I liked the composition.  The first one is a quick stop and the second is a church.  I was just trying to shoot car trails, but got these instead.

Foyer light

I read something recently on doing a 365 day photo project and one of the hints is that when you can't think of anything to photograph, look up.  So, I went around my house looking up.  Not too much to see, but lying on the floor beneath the light in our foyer was a little interesting.  I liked the shadows on the ceiling and the way the crystals catch the light.

Wild Geese Project

For our composition class this week we were asked to choose a piece of writing (poem, excerpt from a book, song lyrics, etc.) and provide images that were an interpretation of our response to that writing (not an illustration).  The intent was to convey emotional response, not a literal interpretation.  My poem is Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
   love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

This poem was given to me by my good friend Ken when I was starting to decide about leaving my career.  I was feeling very constrained at work and feeling that the corporate world was taking away my spirit.  I didn't finally leave for 5 years, but I kept this poem under the blotter on my desk and it acted as a motivator to keep me moving toward a different path for my life.  The images I'm posting are my interpretation of my feelings during this process.

Kitchen utensils

I've been gone all day to Blowing Rock for a meeting  and just got home.  I have a meeting in 5 mins., so not much time to snap a photo.  The cats are running and George is hiding, so I'm searching the house for inanimate objects.  Here are some kitchen utensils hanging over the stove.  Not great....but done!  I promise to do better when I have more time!

George with mimosa

I spent several hours today working on a photography project that I'll show later this week when it's finished.  After all that, George and I stopped by 300 East for a nice brunch and a few mimosas.  Here's an image of George enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon.  I liked the natural light coming in through the window and the warm brown wood of the booth providing the backdrop.  The pretty orange mimosa didn't hurt and George is looking happy and relaxed.  We love our Sundays at 300 East!

George lookin' so fine

I only have to take one picture a day, right?  Well, I snapped a couple off before George and I went with our friends Patsy and Bernie to a fundraiser for the Allegro Foundation.  We don't deck out very often, so I wanted one of my sweetie looking good.  We just got in, it's late, but it's posted!