« March 2004 | Main | May 2004 »
Spring in these Appalachians is often fleeting so I am compelled to hold on to every hopeful moment as it appears itself to me. I was visiting a friend of mine today and through the pouring rain and fog shot this scene of the front yard from the comfort of my car.
Oh yes, I did originally shoot this in color but since it was mostly a black/white scene I decided to add a touch of nostalgia via Photoshop sepia to the photograph.
Last Easter, I was saddened when my youngest daughter announced that she no longer wanted to participate in the search for eggs. My mind went back to a previous Easter many years ago when my girls returned from church, decked out in beautiful dresses crafted by my mother-in-law. With delight and anticipation, they head out to the yard with baskets in tow looking for all the hidden eggs.This morning, the girls rolled out of bed, tickled about finding that the "Easter Bunny" had not forgotten them despite their advanced years. There is just something special about Peeps and a chocolate bunny that bring out the children in all of us.
I took this photo years ago when my girls were about 5 or 6. I shot mainly in black and white and was just dabbling in sepia toning prints and then hand coloring photos with Marshall's oils. This is one of my favorite photos of my children together.
I was disappointed with my Bloodroot photos but found these Spring Beauties in the woods next to my house. I tried my trick of using a shallow depth of field and placing a green and brown leaf close to the front of the lens to make a motion/blur effect. I have not perfected this yet, but feel that each time I try it out, I learn more. To all of ya'll who wished me well on my birthday...I really am touched by the personal sweet outpourings. Except for my immediate family of four, I sometimes feel closer to ya'll then to people I see everyday. Yep, in fact, if you read my posts regularly, then I think you probably do understand me better. The older I get, the less complex I am. I like it that way. I have a cool retro Easter photo that I'm gonna post tomorrow.
This little feller just stole my heart when I first laid eyes on him. However, I resisted the urge to tuck him into my pocket and bring him home mainly because I feared my cat and dog would regard him with the same blood lusting thirst that the have for wild bunnies in our woods. I hope this photo makes you smile. We need to smile more often.
I was on top of Howard's Knob today and revisited this backside view. There were vestiges of snow and I tried to capture the 'before spring' essence, but the photos did not survive my digital light table. I like this shot of the old discarded fence posts simply just laying upon the ground. I had to shoot through barbed wired to capture this image. Happily, I remain unscathed.
Unscathed is how I would like my good friend Rob to return from Iraq a year from now. Our office received today our first long letter from Rob. He is one of our graphic artists serving in the National Guard's 1450th Transportation Unit which arrived in Kuwait last week. Next week, he and the others in his platoon will be making 2 week long trips into Iraq. In his letter he says:
"I haven't seen any critters yet but I was told there's creatures like camel spiders (nasty & big), lizards, scorpions & vipers (deadly). We may never see them but we are assured that we will see our enemies at times. This kind of sucks."
Additionally, he says that the temps there are currently about 95 degrees F and by the end of the month are expected to reach about 130 degrees F. He states that hot ticket items in the supply stores are Gatorade and insect spray w/DEET. He did not go into any details but also reports that he is worried that poor decisions are being and that he is not the only one feeling this way and says they are "basically scared of the results and have no faith." Like I said, he did not elaborate.
The mood in the office today was rather glum after reading his letter. We made copies and passed it around. Some folks were irrate, others just praying that he and the rest of the men and woman would return safely. It is my first real war...and for Rob's sake, I hope some fences get mended soon.
I'm a sittin' here halfway watching the GA Tech v. UConn game and at halftime, I'm not impressed. Being from North Carolina and all, well, it is just a ho-hum game. I first fell in love with basketball in the '70's after watching (all by myself) the NC STATE v. Marquette NCAA finals. Yep, good ol Tommy Burleson hails from Avery County...less than 5 miles away. He is now the county's building inspector. Monte Towel was my favorite, being short and spunky. I cried when David Thompson was injured in a previous game that season, but rallied to make the finals.
Several years later when I was in college, I watched the UNC v Georgetown game...Michael Jordan's final basket was most definitely memorable...plus my best friend was a student at G'town at the time and I was able to rub the win in her face, but generally speaking I have always been an ABC fan (Anyone But Carolina).
Now tonight I have to root for Ga Tech--only because 1) My husband got his undergraduate degree from the Ramblin' Wreck university(but he hails from Soddy-Daisy, Tenn. and also has a degree from UT-so he bleeds bright orange) and 2) Because it the classic South v. North match-up. I gotta stay with my peeps. But other than that...I don't really care. I'd rather watch the Braves play anytime.
The photo is a cluster of azaleas in the yard of the Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis. They are blooming a wee bit early but no complaints here folks. To those of you who are photographically saavy. I know that there are several 'problems' with this photo, however, I don't care. I needed to take a photo of something spring-like.
or...that is what I have been hoping for the last several days and that is the optimism I have repeated to my eldest daughter over the course of the weekend. The first photo is a shot taken from the Hillbilly stand on Hwy 321 past Blowing Rock near Lenoir on Friday. It was snowing in Boone at the time, but the further I descended the mountains, the better the visibility got. This morning, the sun was up but so was the wind. It was "Oh my goodness windy" and I had a difficult time standing on my deck just to take the second photo. How depressing...
My poor 15 year old daughter is finding out that life is hard, that it is often unjust and that a couple of influential adults in her life are complete DONKEYS (substitute appropriate noun here). I know that all of you have learned these life lessons by now, but as parents, my husband and I scramble to allow her to learn such lessons yet watch helplessly-only giving her soft arms in which to fall. She'll be fine but it is no picnic to watch your child fall off the bike and scrape knees, so to speak. It is all I can do to muster up the speech " Get back on that bike and ride it again, and again, and again." She's being a trooper and despite moments of self-doubt and outright anger, she hasn't given up on her quest....the sun will come out eventually.
| www.flickr.com |
Recent Comments