Gallery Five: The Light Arrived

This is my photo for Gallery Five of the 52 Photos Project. The prompt is "The Light Arrived." I had the blinds open in my room and noticed how the shadows of the trees made the light dance on the floor like flames.

And I've been reading this fascinating book, "How the Light Gets In: Writing as a Spiritual Practice,' by Pat Schneider. Both of these quotes are from different places in the book. I've been taking quotes from the book, typing them into my notes app on my phone. I wanted to finish the book this weekend but I still have a couple of chapters to go.

This one is an old Russian saying, according to the author of the book I'm reading. She cited Alexander Solzhenitsyn as having said it. 

Just noticed I spelled the author's name wrong in the photo above. Dang it, guess I'll have to go back in and fix that. Good thing this is a phone photo and text app I've used. That will make it all the easier to fix. Just not tonight!

52 Photos Project, Gallery Four: Good Luck Charm

I had to think a bit on this one. I don't have anything specific that I always carry with me as a charm to bring me comfort or luck (unless we count my phone, with it's camera!). I have many things that I like to have near me, things that bring me comfort, if not luck.

One thing I do always have with me might be words, in my head. I try to keep those positive and affirming and comforting.

These are a few of the words I've been carrying with me this week. I started a little project (there's a Facebook group) where I'm doing some kind of artsy thing on an index card a day. The project will run June 1st through July 31st (I don't know if I will last that long). You can use their prompts or you can go rogue and do whatever you want to do. She also offers a weekly theme, if you don't want to follow the daily prompts. I am loosely translating the first week's theme of "text" and doing little collages with stuff I've cut out of old magazines.

.

The "tiny, heartbreaking commonplace" is from CS Lewis' book, "Grief Observed." I read it over the weekend. It was a helpful book, with some new to me insights on the grief process that turned out to be true to my own experience with grief once I read about them.

 I've begun the process (again) of opening an online store to try and sell some of my "thangs." That necessitates me being brave. And the time seems oh so right. I've slowly come to terms with some issues that have held me back in the past and it feels a little weird at my age, but I think I'm finally growing into myself.

I stumbled across this quote today and I feel it is quite appropriate for me. These are words I will surely carry in my head for luck and comfort.

"For the artist, the hardest part of your job is knowing when it’s finished. May you finally release your work with confidence even though you know there is more you could have done. May you reject the temptation to wait for qualification, certification, permission or perfection, working instead from your smallness, your weakness, and your pain. Let yourself be human, as it’s your humanity that touches the soul, not your expertise." Emily Freeman, A Blessing For The Finishers.

I have no wisdom to add to this one, other than to say I am trying to do a better job of living the day I have while I have it. I am trying, that is the key. Sometimes I am failing miserably at doing that because of a certain dissatisfaction I am experiencing in my life which causes me to want to be somewhere other than where I am. And, as Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that."

(My contribution to the 52 Photos Project, Week Four)

52 Photos Project, Gallery Three: Sugar

 Sugah, is that a sugar spoon I see in that ant pile?

(I am from the South but my sense of proper etiquette has faded lately. I never was too good at formality, to tell the truth!)

"Self Portrait: Artist at Play"

I did not realize I was so well reflected when I took this photo with my phone.

I think I'm going to want to print this one.

And this one:

There is something quite Zennish about polishing (cheap) silver(plate) while sitting on my porch listening to the birds sing. I bought the set at a second hand shop and thought it was complete place settings because it said there were 64 pieces. There might have been 64 pieces but there were only 6 forks, and two of those were a different pattern from the rest! 

I originally thought I might use the pieces for some sort of artsy-fartsy craft project. I might still do that. 

This is my quirky contribution to Week Three of the 52 Photos Project.

52 Photos Project, Gallery Two: Criss Cross

Just so happens I had a few photos with a sort of criss cross theme.

This is one of the old windows on a little room my uncle is fixing up for me. 

This is a view from the inside looking out.

We planted a small garden a couple of weeks ago. I was playing around with my shadow and my gloved hand.

(My contribution to the 52 Photos Project.)

52 Photos Project, Gallery One: Fire

The porch of my little house in the country. We often sit out here in the evenings and wait for the "booger light" to come on. That is what my grandparents always called the security light. The candles are citronella, and necessary lately because of all the mosquitoes.

When we aren't on the porch, we are gathered out in the yard around our fire pit. There is nothing like a quiet evening in the country with darkness all around and the stars shining in clear skies above.

(My contribution the week one of the fourth year of the 52 Photos Project. I enjoyed participating some before but ended up getting off track. We will see how well I do this time around!)

52 Photos Project, Week Seven: Crimson

Both of these photos are from 2010. I love how the pomegranate almost looks like some sort of (alien?) brain. I can't remember for sure but I think I took this one with an old phone I had.

And this one is "just" an old dying rose. I seem drawn to the old and dying flowers.

This is lagniappe: In my reading, I am learning about how my taking care of my health today is like giving a gift to my future self. I really like that thought and it helps me to stay on track. 

(This is my contribution to week seven of the 52 Photos Project. Go check it out, there are lots of pretty crimson things.)

52 Photos Project, Week Six: Uncommon Shapes

We see this sight every time we make our drive to the country. And since we go after work on Friday, the light is gorgeous when we pass. This photo does not do the scene justice! I notice it every single time and I have been saying that I'd like to stop and take a few photos of the sight. A couple of weekends ago, my husband pulled off to the side of the road and I got out and took pictures. Technically speaking, this is not a "spot on" photo. The highlights are blown out a bit. But I still like it and I can pretend I blew out the highlights on purpose!

I'd said something similar to this to a friend in email one day and it was suggested the words would do well in a "thang" and I immediately decided I'd like to use this photo. What I did was to make the photo reflect itself and combined that into one photo. I like the way it turned out. You may not be able to see the detail as well in this web-sized version but to me, it looks like there are a couple of faces in the photo. In looking at it, I realized that I had not made the ends of the photo reflect that I'd intended to.

This is what I intended to do originally, to join the lighter ends. But I liked the way the trees came together in the original version so I kept it. I'm waiting for inspiration to come for this photo. In the meantime, I like it as it is. It almost looks like a set of pincers coming together, doesn't it?

Actually, I have a version in the works with a Jung quote on it but I am not sure that is what I want to use for this photo so I am keeping it under wraps for now.

Uncommon shapes, that's the theme for week six of the 52 Photos Project.

52 Photos Project, Week Five: Water Droplets

 (and a story of grief and gratitude, of joy and sorrow)

These are photos from November of 2010. I used the stick in the second photo to create a "thang" that still rings true to me.

I was reminded that joy and sorrow are never far apart today when I read a post on 3X3X365 that talked about honoring death and grief (it's the middle photo and story). When she wrote about the grave being covered by fake green grass carpet, she triggered a memory for me of my son's burial.

The cemetery is about an hour and a half away from where the funeral services were held. Several of his friends stopped to eat at a home where they all often hung out together. They thought they had plenty of time. But they were a little late arriving, and some of them were pallbearers. Because the friends were late and we took a little longer than planned, the grave digger people could not wait for us to all clear out before they lowered the casket. They had another burial at another cemetery to attend to. So there I was, still sitting in my front row seat, the grieving mother with what was left of her family. I watched carefully as they lowered the casket in the ground and then shoveled the dirt back in over the casket. Somehow, watching that ritual was strangely comforting to me.

I did not know until I read the blog post story today about honoring death and grief that I am so grateful his friends were a little late so that circumstances transpired such that I could sit and breathe my final goodbyes to my son's body.

Joy and sorrow, they are never far apart.

(My contribution to 52 Photos Project, Week Five)

52 Photos Project, Week Four: Crop It

I realized as I was getting ready to post that these are not actually the same photographs! But they are essentially the same, a cardinal at my backyard feeder, taken through the kitchen window this weekend.

I also realized, as I looked for a suitable photo for this week's 52 Photos Project theme, Crop It, that I probably don't crop often enough.

Most of the time, the only time I do it is when I am trying to bring something in a bit closer, as I did with this new bird we saw last weekend.

Facebook discussion indicates this is a summer tanager. We saw a couple of them again this weekend but I did not get photos of them.

52 Photos Project, Week Three: Street Art

I know, it is not exactly normal street art, but it seems close enough for me. We bought sidewalk chalk last September to write messages on my son's grave for his birthday and we've kept the chalk up there in a zip-lok bag ever since. I came to the cemetery alone the day before Mother's Day and left a message for my son. Silly? Maybe so. But I still did it.

(My contribution to Week Three of 52 Photos Project.)

52 Photos Project, Week Two: Microscopic

Spider webs fascinate me. Wet spider webs with rain droplets thrill me. I can spend an inordinate amount of time fighting with my lens trying to get focused on the thin thread of a spider's web.

(My contribution to Week Two of the 52 Photos Project: Microscopic. Go check it out, there are many others who participate!)

52 Photos Project, Week One: Conversation

Time for a new year in the 52 Photos Project! I believe this is the third year of the project.

I chose this photo because I had a short conversation with these women when they stopped me and asked if I'd take a photo of all of them together. Of course I said yes and one of them gave me their phone to take the photo. I took two shots and they didn't like that one of them had left her sunglasses on. They wanted me to shoot again. As I was trying to see them clearly in the screen (the sun was making it difficult) and relax so that I'd get a good photo, I told them how I really didn't do well with photographing people, that I much preferred taking photos of things that did not get nervous when you put a camera in their face. The women all laughed and I ended up getting a good shot for them. One of the women said how they had seen my big camera and thought I'd be a good person to ask to snap the photo. Little did they know!

As they walked off, I decided I'd get me a good old "butt shot" out of the deal and I snapped two shots of them walking up the hill to the observation tower. I was trying to hurry because they were moving fast and I didn't want one of them to turn around and catch me! When I got home and looked at the photos, I realized one of the photos was focused on the women and the grass was blurred. The one above was focused on the grass and the women were blurred. It was my favorite.

It reminded me of the quote I'd saved from an email conversation a friend and I had. I see it all the time in articles about photography and writing and other forms of art: You have to learn the rules well so that you can break them well. I don't doubt that that is sometimes true in life as well.

Conversations...

52 Photos, Week 52, Self Portrait

I've been a very sporadic participant in the 52 Photos Project. This is the last week of year two. A new prompt is up for the first week of the third year. I'm going to try and keep up with all the prompts this time.

This quote comes from a website called "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows". There are all sorts of made up words and definitions for those words. It is fun reading. I originally saw it when someone posted it on Facebook, from Upworthy, with the description "random internet quote guaranteed to give you the chills." And dang if it didn't give me the chills! The quote makes me feel tiny and insignificant, but in a good way.

I created the collage of present day me and young me on Thursday night and I couldn't figure out what text I wanted to put on the collage.

Gallery 51: My Favorite Place

I can't just choose one favorite place! But this is one of my most favorite places. It is the place where my grandparents' home was. There are many memories for me when I walk the dusty roads around here, or go out in the woods. It is a contemplative place for me. Recently it has been a healing place for me.

The view here is from the front porch. Some of you may remember the bottle we found out in the woods with green fern growing through a hole in the rusty cap. The fern has died and is now white. Last weekend we worked on a couple of flower beds. The fence gate (with no fence!) you see past the bottle is located in the middle of one of those beds. We had wild honeysuckle growing there and will train it to grow on the gate. We plan on adding a climbing rose later.

We chose the location for the flower beds in an area where old tree trunks were. We wanted to make it easier to mow without worrying about someone mowing over the stumps and messing up the lawnmower. It's going to work out well, I think. The azalea bushes were blooming their merry little hearts out last weekend. I hope there are still blooms when we go this weekend. The dogwoods were just about gone.

(This is my contribution to the 52 Photos Project, Gallery 51 I suppose a new gallery will start week after next. I hope to participate more consistently in the coming year.)

Vintage

Do they even use these things anymore?

My contribution to the 52 Photos Project, Gallery 45, Vintage.

I've missed the last couple of times
 but here I am, back again.

Wow. March 1st. How did that happen?
 

Hearts Are Hurting

I really kind of wanted to have postcards made of this one and to send it out to several of my friends around the country for Valentine's Day but I never did it.

In other news, today is my birthday! I am grateful to have been given another year of life.

I also have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off next week due to Mardi Gras! We will be leaving town to go to the country for several days of quiet relaxation. Yay!

And I remain committed to the idea of slowing down and noticing people around me and being kinder than necessary--to being "salt and light" in my corner of the world, as best I can be.

(My contribution to Gallery 42 of the 52 Photos Project, Hearts)

My Wish...

I wish there was less brokenness in the world.

I wish there was less brokenness in my country.

I wish there was less brokenness in my family.

I wish we always had someone to catch us when we fall 

(and maybe, that we wouldn't "tear our britches" so in the fall).

I wish for the world,

for my country,

 for you,

for my loved ones,

and for me,

growth.

My contribution to Gallery 41 of the 52 Photos Project, My Wish.

52 Verbs, Week 4: Renew

This little piece that was created entirely on my phone is my first post on the 4th verb, renew. It is also my contribution to the 52 Photos Project, Gallery 40, Black and White.

Here is the original photo, in color.

 I think I will have more to say about "renew" later on in the week. For now I am headed out the door to listen to a really good musician at church, which in itself is renewing.

Wide Open Spaces

(My contribution for Gallery 39 of the 52 Photos Project, Wide Open Spaces.)

I tried to think of something more unique than the wide open space of the sky but I just couldn't come up with anything else! I did have the thought that, for me, empty white pages in my journal represent wide open spaces but that would have made for a boring photograph! 

The photo above was taken in the early evening. I was coming back from the store and almost waited too late to stop my vehicle and get out to take the picture. The skies were gorgeous this past weekend (and the weather, too).

Here's a little washed out picture of "joy." Wide open spaces abound there too, in joy. . .

Right Now

Right now, I am enjoying a home baked gingersnap and a fresh cup of coffee...


Right now, I am wrestling with the dark side of me, the side that can be "malevolent and damaging"-primarily to myself.

By the time you read this, both "right now moments" will be gone. I will have moved on to other moments.

Also right now, we are in the midst of a weather event that is dumping rain on us and prompting flash flood warnings. By the time you read this, I hope that has moved on.

Right now, I am smiling and waving. Do you see me?

(This is my contribution to Gallery 38 of the 52 Photos Project, "Right Now." and, you might notice, I mentioned week two's verb "wrestle" in this post. There will be more to come with the verb of the week, but first I have to ponder.)