As I mentioned in my last post, my aunt passed away recently, leaving behind a houseful of belongings and family history. This weekend, I went over to the house and looked through a few boxes of really old family photos and….oh my. It was fascinating. Bear in mind that my Grampa was born in 1885 and died when…
Category: photos
Looking at Things…Differently
“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau Dirty gas tanker or a canvas for silliness? Old post-it note or a canvas for an anonymous happy greeting? Old fashioned duct work or a cheery tin man face? Lamp post or a platform for encouragement? Negative space or an opportunity…
20 Teachings to Start the Week
Things have been a little hectic lately, so I’ve been bad about blogging. Here are a few of my recent random iPhone photos accompanying 20 teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh that I found today. Love, love, love some of these. Here’s a link to the full article, but below you can find the free prize inside. 1.) People…
I Don’t Know Where I’m Going From Here…
…but I promise it won’t be boring. – David Bowie Ziggy is now stardust. Rest in peace.
He Really Was a Good Man.
This throwback photo seemed to be the perfect image to post along with this fascinating look at Charles Schulz and Peanuts on Brain Pickings called “Peanuts and the Quiet Pain of Childhood: How Charles Schulz Made an Art of Difficult Emotions.” A friend shared the article on Facebook this morning and I’ve been thinking about it…
This.
“To help heal others, you must first heal thyself. To do this, you must practice being gentle in all areas of life. Release all emotions that no longer serve you. Replace guilt with acceptance, swap fear for love. Have a warm and caring heart. Every cell in your body radiates peace and, because of this,…
More or Less
“There is no resolution that, if kept, will make me more worthy of love.” — Nadia Bolz-Weber I’m not sure I understand the “new year, new you” approach to the turning of the calendar. Why would I want a new me? It’s taken a long time and a lot of work to become this me. But there is…
The Tradition Continues
You know, I’d almost forgotten about it this year. In fact, I hadn’t even looked. Every year since 2011, during my holiday shopping I’ve found… …some innocent chocolate critter has been punctured… …squished… …smushed… …or gutted. I’d almost let this photographic streak of destruction snap. Then this afternoon, there it was, staring at me from…
It Will Be Happier?
“Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering ‘it will be happier’…” – Alfred Lord Tennyson I love that quote from Tennyson. I love to think that next year is going to be happier — especially when this year was such a good one. It’s always fun to look over blog posts to…
Life Lately: Holiday Edition
A few photos on the iPhone lately include glimpses of… …my kitties’ company… and cupcake baking. A full Sunday in the kitchen and I had four dozen from-scratch cupcakes to show for it: red velvet (top left), peppermint (middle), egg nog (lower left), and gingerbread with cinnamon frosting (right row). The irony of this photo…
This and That
If photos reflect a current state of mind, then mine has been a little quirky.
A Very Good Day
In anticipation of the holiday next week and in an effort to get somewhat caught up, the boys and I all took yesterday off for a full day of shopping and cheer. We went across the river over into downtown Saint Charles for some lunch and a bit of shopping. I don’t get over there…
Walking Miracle
“People say walking on water is a miracle, but to me walking peacefully on earth is the real miracle.” – Thich Nhat Hanh Apologies for the poor quality of this photo. I took it through my front windshield on the way to work this morning. I was startled by the posture and gait of these two…
God Winks
For the past few weeks, for whatever reason, I’ve been thinking a lot about a story I wrote and photographed for a dear friend’s magazine a long time ago. The story was about a local business called Seeds of Happiness (Seeds shown above), but it was never published. It’s bothered me from time to time that I…
If the World is a Fair Place…
Temperatures in the 70s with less than two weeks until Christmas? Really? Yes, please. I thought this called for a walk through Laumeier Sculpture Park first thing this morning. And it didn’t disappoint. Lots of fun details. But then there was this installation by Raqs Media Collective. I loved this. Here’s the exhibit description: “Laumeier…
A Little Closer
This morning as I got ready for work, I noticed some surprising shapes and patterns in my water glass. I’d never noticed anything quite like it before. Maybe because I’ve never looked that closely? I’m not sure. So I gave myself a little photo challenge today to look for unique compositions utilizing textures, details, and…
It Was All Yellow
Last week, I was fascinated by a number of ginkgo trees around town that seemed to decide to drop their leaves all at once, forming gigantic yellow carpets on the ground. Here’s a big one I saw near Forest Park. I was totally impressed with our local display until I saw… Check out this article and these photos…
Breathing Space
When one has a camera, a cold and rainy afternoon, and no interest whatsoever in Black Friday shopping, the Butterfly House is a perfect place to wander about, reflect, and decompress. It’s amazing how much there is to see in such a relatively small space. I am so grateful this town has such a variety of beautiful places in…
Santa’s Timely Arrival
This morning during our first snowfall of the season, a monster waited patiently at the downtown train station… …as did a Ninja Turtle (along with lots of little kids)… …for the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus! Seriously? Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive during our first snow of the season? It could not have been planned to…
Where Do I Begin?
“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.” — Pablo Picasso What an interesting day. At the end of a work trip, a brief window of time allowed for a quick run through at the Hallmark Visitor’s Center before catching the flight home. This was a stop that…
Running Around Town
The Spring Girls on the Run 5K was so much fun that it only made sense to run the fall 5K as well. And it didn’t disappoint. I never get tired of the view of our downtown. Almost all of the races I’ve run have had the arch as the backdrop. So, so lucky. Today’s…
Sunday Surprises
Early this morning I headed to the Botanical Garden to see if anything was still in bloom or if any fall colors were still hanging in there. Much to my surprise, I found a little bit of both! In fact, I had more than 130 photos to wade through by the time I got home. Here are…
My Favorite Color…
…is October. I’m not ready to move on.
Thanks for Everything…and Nothing in Particular
“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things… I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.” – Leo Buscaglia, author Today I was wildly enthusiastic about…a single sunflower defying the change of seasons. I can see. And enjoy. Kids’ artwork in a hallway of the local elementary school (my polling place this…
hey there, friends 