for the color of it

It was with singular delight that I carted my camera along on a brilliantly spring-like day here in the Pacific Northwest. After a winter of ice and snow, and frigid temperatures, it was indescribably soothing to feel such newness in the air. I can't remember ever quite appreciating spring so much. But then again, I have had a habit of running away in the wintertime, accepting conveniently timed work opportunities in more tropic climes than those encountered stateside. And so today I soaked in this one afternoon of mildness with intense gratitude.
"Is it silly of me," I asked Erin, "to be so giddy about photographing flowers today, solely because of the thrill of encountering color again?" She thought for a moment, then said simply, "Nah--I don't think so."
So I'm taking her word for it, and posting this simple shot for you of today's color :-)

starched?

When I first passed this line, I noticed how beautiful it was against the white of the snow. And then it occurred to me that it was a rather odd sight to see, all things considered, here in our wintery wonderland. But being without my camera, all I could do at the time was bemoan the lack of my other limb . . . so it was with delight that I discovered the clothes still out "drying" when I returned, camera-ready :-)

teacher knows best?

It never ceases to amaze me how much of an adventure it is to work with little ones. And one of the reasons I keep gravitating towards such work is that I love the discovery process it is for me--oftentimes just as much as it is for the students!
At the moment I am thinking of my last lesson with one of my French students [who I will nickname Abby for blogging purposes]. Abby is 5 years old. Young enough to be a learning "sponge," yet old enough to catch me off guard with her snippets of insight and with glimpses into her intriguing little mind.
So this past time we met, I had intended to jog her memory with a review of the past songs we have used as French learning tools, going back as far as early in summer of this past year. But she didn't have a great deal of patience for this exercise and, you know, I decided that it wasn't worth pushing it. Because what I quickly realized was that her impatience was not due to any lack of retention. In fact, she easily [and with a twinge of feigned boredom!] sang the words of the songs I prompted. But then she started to suggest her own lyrics and songs. Soon she had me singing a series of impromptu songs about various objects she set her sights on. Who knew that one could sing a cute French ditty about "drapes and a couch"?
But I did, and it proved to be a much more interesting language lesson than the one I had intended . . . never mind the test it proved to be for my own language retention over the years! Serves me right for assuming that "teacher knows best" :-)

Happy "Hearts" Day!

Too all of you out in blogland, here's wishing you a happy Day of Saint Valentine!

a sight so lovely . . .

It's been cold. It's been really cold. And I don't much care for it. But it has also been stunningly, sunshinily beautiful. So I had the urge to just point my camera up at the sky and take a shot of it. I was tempted to adjust the photo but then changed my mind, deciding that it was quite perfectly lovely just the way it was :-)

on the rocks?

So remember that "snow hearts & ice blocks" post from last week? Well, after noticing since then the uncanny effect of those "cubes," I just couldn't resist having a bit of fun with it :-)

the fullest moon

I was grateful to hear the news, at work today, about the fact that tonight would be the brightest full moon of the year. And I also thought it was pretty cool to have the capturing of this sight be a part of my work assignments :-) Mind you, I have not yet done any moon photography, so it took a bit of research to figure out the proper settings. Once out there, however, my camera began to be its recently-finicky self, so I couldn't use the settings I "should" have anyway. What I ended up with is growing on me a bit, in a slightly eerie, full-moon befitting sort of way :-)

the concentric hearts

For those of you following my snowshoe hearts saga, here's the visual of my "community creation" :-)

snow hearts & ice blocks

This afternoon I headed out to the lake with the snowshoes . . . and there I found a delightful surprise: someone, it seems, both noticed and appreciated my snowshoe heart. For now, on the lake, there is a lovely set of concentric showshoe hearts :-) In other news, today was the annual ice-cutting on the lake--an authentically historic event, after which the blocks of ice that are culled are stored in the farm's ice house for the remainder of the year. While I did take the expected shots of the process itself, it was this photo of the after-effect that I found most interesting. Of course, that is my own aesthetic preference: one that is admittedly not-necessarily-normal :-)

just for goofiness sake

. . . because sometimes it is just necessary to amuse oneself. And, hey, after yesterday's photo fun, I realized I had a whole lotta frozen lake in front of me today that just begged to be "decorated" :-)

paving the way

It occurred to me today that I was tired of solely documenting other folks' snowy fun. So I donned the snowshoes and hit the lake today . . . leaving my own mark :-)

finicky fishies

When I spotted this fisherman and his paraphernalia out on the lake this morning, I first thought that it was some sort of preparation for the annual ice-cutting later this month. So I stopped and called out, "Excuse me, sir: would you mind if I ask you what you're doing?" [never mind the fact that it was of course too late, by this point, to ask if he minded my query :-)]. He was kind enough to not only not mind, but to oblige my curiosity by explaining a bit about the process of manually drilling holes for ice fishing--and to allow me to photograph the process. It seems that, so far today, the fish have not been cooperating very well . . . the nerve!

let's go fly a kite . . .

As we left to run some errands in town, I debated whether or not to take my camera along. Thinking out loud, I told Jen I'd just leave it for now, anticipating a practicalities-only sort of outing.
Later, dropping her off at her place as the sun was setting, she hollered back at me before going inside: "Get your camera," she advised, "and go down to the lake!" I did as she said and was ever so grateful to her for the tip. What I found was the most lovely sight--a solitary skater with a kite/parachute . . . a stunning sight, as he glided to and fro on the ice, the wind lifting, and dropping, his yellow kite behind as he went.
So maybe winter's not all bad :-)

snow dunes?

Perhaps it's just a winter-weary imagining--similar to thirst-induced mirages of glittering oases in the middle of the desert . . . But for whatever reason, when I passed this wind-swept patch of snow, all I could think was Sand dunes! Yes, I am officially, decidedly, bad at winter :-)

from the horse's mouth

Neighhh . . . I sayyy--aren't you glad Farmer Bob bought us fine new coats for Christmas? I just love stylin' in the snow!

of ice and men

As I embark on this adventure of weathering winter as, I suppose, it is intended to be, I am realizing that so far I have a decidedly conflicted relationship with the snow. I resent the way in which it hinders transportation and spontaneous outdoor excursions . . . yet I find it hauntingly, inspiringly beautiful.
This evening, for instance, I stopped on my way into the library, awed by the apparent ice-sculpture of a snowman that was in the neighboring yard. So when I walked into the library, instead of doing anything library-appropriate, I blurted out a query as to the creators of the stunning snowman outside. The librarian was confused as to the snowman itself, but she did say that she assumed it had been constructed by the children who had, in fact, just been in that same library shortly before I was. I took this apparent familiarity as a bit of a photographic go-ahead, so here he is, in his icy loveliness.

slip n' slide

This evening included a normal sort of Sunday drive--normal, probably, only in my family, as it meant a trip to the dump. But this particular drive also included a stop at an all-too-familiar tree, as of last night. Here is a snapshot of that tree. Sideways, you say? Well, not exactly: for this is the perspective I unfortunately, had, as I tried to decide how exactly I should extract myself from the car without tipping it, the rest of the way, over from its precariously wedged position. Yes, it's high time for those snow-appropriate tires: no more excuses forthcoming from my winterly-wimpy self!

how's the "water"?

I know I said I wasn't tempted by my icy lakefront anymore . . . but I guess that wasn't entirely true. Because today I dove right in--or stood right on, as the case may be. Seeing a father/son ice fisherman team from the shore, I couldn't resist heading out with my camera. They were kind enough to even let me try my hand at the sport, though I didn't manage to make a catch [which is probably just as well, considering licensing issues!]. So, in case you're inclined to come join me for a swim, here's a glimpse for you of how the water is, from where I stood :-)

refreshing?

Funny thing . . . somehow my summer swimming haunt doesn't quite beckon me to dive on in anymore: why might that be? :-)

on frozen pond

I have never before been witness to the freezing process of a lake. So when I ventured out this morning for the first time since returning to the NE, I was floored at how beautiful it was. With the combination of the freezing pockets and the wave-shaped already frozen portions, I just could not get over how lovely the effect was . . . had I not been so frozen myself, I would have been tempted to just sit and watch it freeze :-) Here is one of the photos I took, out of a series of various angles and segments.