Photography Challenge

Take one photo each week for a year.  Sounds easy enough or so it seemed when my friend Becky of Rub Some Dirt On It blog fame told me about the My Four Hens Project 52. "You should do it, Laurel".  Each week, Sarah puts out a theme and members (like me) post a fresh image taken that week that relates to the theme. The kicker is that it's supposed to be a new photo, not one of the cool ones you took on your French vacation last year.

I might add that there are over 2500 members, many of them professional photographers.  So there are a lot of stunning photos posted each week, many of them of people. I don't have any cute kids hanging around everyday to capture in mega pixels, so my photos tend to be more about translating what's going on in my life into a single image.

Trust me, it's harder than your think.  Especially when you get the bright idea that you will chronicle your life in photos and publish a coffee table book in December. So I can't just go out and snap any old photo, it has to be relevant to what's happening in my life.

I'm twelve weeks into the challenge and I thought I'd share what I have so far:

Fresh: Last of the oranges off our tree

Storytelling: Sewing this week

Light: Church on Sunday

A Part of Me: My feet (I always photograph them)

Small: I had been playing my piano this week

Happy: Happiness is making a cake for a friend.

Pastel: No relation to my life, but I was desperate for an image. 

And this one was chosen for M4H's weekly "Eye Candy"

Perspective: Eggs were declared good for you and not bad for cholesterol??? I love eggs.

 

Shapes: My mini-me Colette got a new friend this week - Zanikan.

Nature: Another UTI this week, so lots of fresh, pure water!

Reality: I dreamed of red 6" heels one night, but the reality is that I can't even wear my wedding heels

Shiny: Dave was a little over-zealous while washing my windows - that be a shiny crack!

 

Not to make too great a point of it, but it's tough trying to be witty and artsy all the time...I considered scrapping the whole thing, but it's a challenge, Laurel!  Oh, did I mention that I'm taking most of my photos with my iPhone, just to make it harder, cuz that's way I roll! 

What would you have photographed for each of these themes?

Laurel.

Oh Water, where for art thou?

It's warm outside for February and we are wondering if we are ever going to get some rain in the valley. With the ever present threat of DROUGHT ( I'm so sick of hearing about it), I find myself yearning for the evenings on the lake that used to be.  So I thought I'd remind myself of better days...floating around in our boat when the lakes were full...sipping wine and watching the sunsets.

I sure wish Mother Nature would start cooperating!!

Laurel. Nature Girl Wanna-Be.

1980 something...

In the process of putting away our Christmas decorations, Dave uncovered an envelope on the garage floor behind a storage box.  In it were a series of photographs of my going-away party at Kelly Services, where I was an Account Rep for two years back in the 80's. There was a old letter from the Detroit office, thanking me for my service and a card holder with one of my old business cards denoting me as an "Ex-Account Representative."

I had to laugh at the silliness of it all, as my boss's significant other had hired a "Policeman" to come to arrest me at the party. You know the rest of the story...the guy had a beautiful tan!! But what cracked me up more was the horrid kinky permed hair I was sporting at the time. And I mean horrid! My daughter, who is my hairdresser today told me once that she would NEVER give me a perm, and now I remember why....so NO pictures of that fright on this post!

But I also uncovered another photo of myself that brought on a wave of nostalgia. I remembered the evening well. I was volunteering on a phone bank, evidently some time after the perm job grew out.  I was a single Mom, as Dave and I weren't even married yet, making the photo over 30 years old. I remember wearing that gold Coke bottle cap charm around my neck every day, along with a giant cubic zirconium. The silk blouse was a staple of my professional wardrobe. I still have that huge gold chain necklace which I bought at I. Magnins back in 1969. Not so much into gold chains these days, but the quality of gold-filled jewelry today can never compare to it, so I kept it.

The photo made me smile...not because I looked "hot", but because I looked so young. Shortly thereafter, Dave and I got married and settled into the whole chaotic "step-family" life. It was gritty and sweet at the same time - I've always said that it was our ability to laugh at ourselves that saved us...this August we will celebrate 30 years of marriage. 

He told me over breakfast yesterday, New Year's Day, that I was his "longest running success"...or something like that:) I think it's the red nails...

Laurel. It's gonna be a great year!!

I think that I shall never see...

...A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 

Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,  

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

by Joyce Kilmer

When I get old, I'm going to be a tree hugger.  I can already feel the draw. One morning while I was walking down the street in our neighborhood, I happened upon an elderly woman who had her arms wrapped around the trunk of a huge heritage oak on the roadside. I snickered to myself at the time, thinking the poor soul had lost her marbles.  As I approached her, she caught a glance of me, and quickly released the tree and walked off, not saying a word. A week later, the giant oak was brutally dismembered and chopped to the ground to make way for a power line.  I had to admit, it was tragic.

The hacienda is surrounded by giant redwoods. Though most of them are in my neighbors' adjoining yards, I nevertheless get to enjoy their great beauty. They make me smile and I am humbly reminded of their noble purpose here on our tiny piece of the universe. The air on this crisp November morning is magnificent, and I am thankful.

Good morning, sunshine...

Laurel. Feeling the quiet.

Life's Simple Pleasures...

It's Sunday morning...a beautiful crisp Fall day about to awake...looking back on my week, I am reminded that it is the simple things that give me pleasure...I see them through the lens of my ubiquitous iphone...

Shopping... for tart pans in Sur La Table...

For a Ruby port to go with a Marscarpone and Berry tart...

Afternoon baking of aforementioned Tart...

Sharing a meal with friends...

Driving to Tahoe, enjoying the aspen...

Celebrating a friend's special anniversary with dinner at Jake's...

Finishing a sweater...finally...

 Staying home with my hubby watching the Boys of Fall...

And just enjoying the changes in my yard...

The last roses of Fall...

Laurel. Enjoying the Simple Things.

On a Clear Day...

You know when you travel you try to catch the key historical sites and famous points of interest of a region while you're there, but sometimes you get too busy or too tired to cram everything into your visit? Often times, we miss some of the most important treasures because we think we'll be back some day and time just runs out on us. It's rather like traveling to Arizona and not driving the extra 60 miles off the freeway to see the Grand Canyon...or visiting the Louvre and not fighting the crowds to see the Mona Lisa...or driving near the city of Pisa and skipping the Leaning Tower because you've already seen a million pictures of it...or like going to the Smithsonian and not seeing the Hope Diamond.

I have been to Palm Springs three times. I have shopped, eaten at great restaurants and taken in the beauty of the desert. Every year after the trip I was asked by people who had been there "did you ride up the Tram?" Naturally I hadn't - didn't even know what it was. Every year we would settle into our desert vacation routine and not take the time to get back on the freeway and travel a few miles down the road to see it.

Well, this year, I did. And I can tell you it's not something you should miss. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was just a dream back in 1935 which finally came to fruition in 1963.  Traversing the rugged Chino Canyon on the north edge of Palm Springs, the old tram cars have since been replaced by large state of the art round cars with a rotating floor.  Holding up to 80 people, it takes 12 minutes to climb to the top of the mountain at 8,500 feet.

And on a clear day, you can see forever.

There are hiking trails all through the San Jacinto National Park, which evidently wasn't "shut down", as dozens of hikers and campers came out of the woods to ride the tram back down the hill. We walked down a short paved, but very steep "sidewalk" to the the trail head to see this mountain meadow. Just lovely!!

 Easy going down, but coming back up was a drag...my friend is waiting for me on the bench behind her to stop wheezing...

 Laurel. Never be too busy to see the best an area has to offer.

Good Morning...no words...

Wordless Wednesday 

Laurel.

Waiting for Inspiration...

While I'm waiting for inspiration to strike, I am loving all the signs of Fall.  In the clear absence of some brilliant words of wisdom and/or wit, I'll just post some photos of life around the Quill this week:

We went wine tasting with friends in the foothills...love the way the grape vineyards look in the Fall...

In the Amador wine region, you get the best of the vineyards and rural living...

My first siting of the turning of the leaves here in the valley...

in a parking lot at the Outlet stores!

I made my first pear tart of the season...baking makes me happy, 

even though the sugar thing is not my best choice...

Great Aunt Pinky's Vanilla Custard  Pear Pie...she wasn't my aunt, 

but wouldn't we all want one like her???

I am thinking that I should have cleaned out the fireplace on this rainy morning...spent hours messing with my iPhone and the new IOS7 and Instagram...

I eventually got dressed...

If you know anything about "Biorhythms", I will tell you that four of my life cycle rhythms are at the bottom of the charts this week....Not sure I even believe in their validity, but let's just say, I hope that inspiration strikes soon and I get back on track!!! Whatever that means!!  LOL! 

I haven't done a thing today!!!

Laurel. So glad Fall is finally here!!!