Day 320 – Golden Hour

Golden Hour

Day 315 – The Grass Has Riz

The Grass has Riz

So, I have been taking a photo each day, forcing myself to do so.  With so little of this project to finish, I think that it is time to get time posted.  I do not think that I will be starting a new photo odyssey when I finish this, instead giving myself the pleasure of taking a photo for the photo’s sake instead of because I have to.

And that said, I will be posting the past month’s photos with no words.  We’ll get back to those later….

Day 303 – Not Pink

Not Pink

Day 303

Pink Azalea by Kim Unsong

Early on an April day
In the land of morning calm
Azaleas bloom pink
At sunrise with a bright salaam They bloom alone
Around a quiet place
Where men, animals and insects
make little havoc of rat-race Azaleas are no Cosmos flower
Standing by the roadside
Flirting, giggling and cheek-rubbing
Against passersby, so dignified
They only bloom pink
Like maidens’ heart, so purified
Breathing free fresh air
In the morning glow, misty-eyed
They drift upon the river
Getting neither wet nor dried Azaleas refuse to be tainted
By evening glow on the west-side
Mellowing into a pink shade
Beneath the sun at eventide

But it does have pink undertones....

Day 253 – Because I Like It.

Because I Like It.

Day 253

Loo-Wit
by Wendy Rose

The way they do
this old woman
no longer cares
what we think
but spits
her black tobacco
any which way
stretching
full length
From her bumpy bed.
Finally up
she sprinkles
ash on the snow,
cold buttes
promise nothing
but the walk
of winter.
Centuries of cedar
have bound her
to earth,
huckleberry ropes
lay prickly
on her neck.
Around her
machinery growls,
snarls and ploughs
great patches of her skin.
She crouches
in the north,
her trembling
the source
of dawn.

Light appears
with the shudder
of her slopes,
the movement
of her arm.
Blackberries unravel,
stones dislodge;
it’s not as if
they were not warned.
She was sleeping
but she heard the boot scrape,
the creaking floor,
felt the pull of the blanket
from her shoulder.
With one hand free
she finds her weapons
and raises them high;
clearing the twigs from her throat
she sings, she sings, shaking the sky
like a blanket about her
Loo-wit sings and sings and sings!

People collect things.  They collect thimbles, spoons, rocks, teacups, sports memorabilia, cameras, baseball cards, Snow Babies, Avon bottles, angels, eggs.  They collect any manner of things.  I knew a woman once who collected her own fingernail clippings.  Eek!  Once upon a time as a high school senior, I made the mistake of telling people I liked bells.  Soon I had a bell collection.  I had crystal bells, silver bells, porcelain bells, glass bells, copper bells and even a cow bell.  Some were pretty, but most had the look of an item that had been picked up for a quarter at a garage sale (and I suspect that is how they were procured) and the collection sat, collected dust and grew into a bit of a monster.  Back then, I was a very nice person and so I kept accepting them and stacking them on shelves and tables all over my bedroom.  Thank God, I went to college and moved in with a friend because it gave me an excuse to unload the bells, every single one of them.

I like Mt. St. Helen’s ash glass.  I can tell everyone this with no fear and no worry about a monster growing.  It can not be found at a garage sale, at the local Salvation Army or Goodwill, and it can’t be found at Walmart.  The smallest piece is costs a bit more than most people want to spend on a small bit of glass.   I get one piece a year from my mother who picks it up at Bronner’s (who have adjusted the price for inflation).  The fact that they are a special gift from my mother to me makes them all the more valuable to me.

(The poem is about Loo-wit, an Indian maiden, who was transformed into Mt. St. Helen)

On a side note – my sister needs to hire a photographer in the Dayton, Ohio area to shoot my niece’s wedding.  It is going to be a small wedding and since it is going to be so small, the photos are the one thing that they want to really stand out.  If any of you is in the Dayton area or knows someone in that area, can you please leave contact info in the comment section?  Thank you!

Day 246 – Inspiration from a Friend

Inspiration from a Friend

Day 246

Souls And Rain-Drops by Sidney Lanier

Light rain-drops fall and wrinkle the sea,
Then vanish, and die utterly.
One would not know that rain-drops fell
If the round sea-wrinkles did not tell.So souls come down and wrinkle life
And vanish in the flesh-sea strife.
One might not know that souls had place
Were’t not for the wrinkles in life’s face.

Tonight’s photo is brought to you by someone who gave me the impetus to finally give this a try.  Pablo Buitrago gave this a try, though his is much better.  I see so many incredible shots of that perfect splash and I just sink down into my chair hoping that the teacher won’t call on me to do this particular trick.

I didn’t get a great water crown tonight because it is too late, I am too tired and still achy and let’s face it, I am not as patient as Pablo is!  I only gave this 163 shots and called it a night.  And out of those 163?  This was the only decent shot to play with.  Obviously, the water does not play well with others – it couldn’t POSSIBLY be the photographer at fault.  Could it?!

Day 228 – After Mom Called

After Mom Called

Day 228

After Sunset by William Allingham

The vast and solemn company of clouds
Around the Sun’s death, lit, incarnadined,
Cool into ashy wan; as Night enshrouds
The level pasture, creeping up behind
Through voiceless vales, o’er lawn and purpled hill
And hazéd mead, her mystery to fulfil.
Cows low from far-off farms; the loitering wind
Sighs in the hedge, you hear it if you will,–
Tho’ all the wood, alive atop with wings
Lifting and sinking through the leafy nooks,
Seethes with the clamour of a thousand rooks.
Now every sound at length is hush’d away.
These few are sacred moments. One more Day
Drops in the shadowy gulf of bygone things.

••••••••••••••••••••

I drove today.  I drove and drove and drove.  For hours.  My camera rode in the seat beside me.  In in all of those miles I drove,  I saw many things.

I saw… horses, cows,

barns, buggies,

trees, streams,

a Coke bottle on the side of the road,

silos, fences,

traffic lights, intersections,

overpasses, restaurants,

banks, car dealerships,

dirty piles of snow, factories,

trash cans,

the sun sparkling on lakes and ponds,

the Bristol Playhouse, flags waving in the breeze,

a Christmas tree farm, old abandoned homes…..

But I did not find one single thing that wanted me to photograph it.  Not even one.   After that long drive I needed to meditate and consider what the backs of my eyelids look like for a few minutes.  Then my mom called, “Cyndi, I want you to go outside with your camera and look at the sky.  It looks like one of your Mt. St. Helen ash ornaments.”

And so it did.

Day 223 – Umbrellas in the Snow

Umbrellas in the Snow

Day 223

The Snow-Storm by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o’er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hill and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden’s end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier’s feet
Delated, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.
Come see the north wind’s masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every windward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hiddden thorn;
Fills up the famer’s lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer’s sighs; and at the gate
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind’s night-work,
The frolic architecture of the snow.

It is snowing and blowing and oh so cold here in Michigan tonight with lake effect snow bands causing the view outside my bay window to change from the sight of Mr. and Mrs. Fennell’s house to a sheet of swirling white.  At the moment, the view is pretty clear – give it five minutes!  I am not the biggest fan of cold weather, but I do enjoy a good snow storm, especially when I don’t have to work the next day!

I waited all day long to take my photo, knowing that the snow was going to start in the late afternoon and as soon as we had a bit of accumulation, I borrowed Samantha’s pink plastic umbrella (to protect the camera, of course!) and headed out to the back yard.  I had originally just planned on using flash and stopping the snow in its tracks but moments after stepping outside, Bob came out to tell me that my mom was on the phone and she was wanting to hear my voice.  I will admit to a bit of frustration at the timing and I did sigh a big sigh.  So I lifted my clear pink plastic umbrella and jockeyed for position at the door with the dog who INSISTED on coming out with me.  I looked up at the umbrella and at the snow lightly coating the outer side and at the light shining through it.  And thanked Mom for calling when she did as I snapped 5 quick shots of what I was seeing.

Tomorrow’s forecast?  Wind coming in from the north west and more lake effect snow bands with a total of 6 to 8 inches of snow.  Bring it on!!!!

Day 220 – It Sparkles Like Glass

It Sparkles Like Glass

Day 220 –

Fire and Ice by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Samantha and I took in a ice sculpture festival in nearby Shipshewana this evening.  Actually, we took in the dregs of the festival as the ice melted from crumbling sculptures and ran in little streams along the darkened sidewalks and streets.  It was hard to tell what some of the sculptures were after the relative warmth of the day got to them, but what was left of each was so sparkly and pretty.  I really couldn’t decide which photo I liked the best tonight and as a result, I am posting five of them.  Unheard of!!!!  And now I am off to look at the backs of my eyelids for a few hours and maybe a sweet dream or two.  Have a lovely Friday, dear friends; I will try to visit you all throughout the day.  Muah!

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. ~William Blake

O, wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination. ~Terri Guillemets

One kind word can warm three winter months. ~Japanese Proverb

Day 212 – And Let it Begin With Me.

And Let it Begin With Me

Day 212

Let There Be Peace on Earth by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller

Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our father
We are family.
Let us walk with each other
In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With every step I take
Let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment
And live each moment
With peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.

Yup!  I am sitting here next to my sweet baboo, and I am pretty darn content.  And that is all I have to say tonight!  Kisses and hugs to all.

Day 171 – The Look of Things to Come

The Look of Things to Come

Day 171

The Frost-King – Song 1 by Louisa May Alcott

We are sending you, dear flowers
Forth alone to die,
Where your gentle sisters may not weep
O’er the cold graves where you lie;
But you go to bring them fadeless life
In the bright homes where they dwell,
And you softly smile that’t is so,
As we sadly sing farewell.
O plead with gentle words for us,
And whisper tenderly
Of generous love to that cold heart,
And it will answer ye;
And though you fade in a dreary home,
Yet loving hearts will tell
Of the joy and peace that you have given:
Flowers, dear flowers, farewell!