Goodbye 2009...

So much has happened in this month of December...I have not taken many pictures or felt like blogging...in fact I have felt like the world has continued on as my world turned in upon itself...This month I lived through caring for my sister in her last weeks...This month I became closer to her and her children than I ever could imagine...This month I have become closer to my own children and husband as they support me...This month I turned 59 three days before my sister's death and received a card with her last words to me...This month I watched "White Christmas" with my sister and sang our theme song, "Sisters", for the last time...This month our family and friends got together not for a Christmas party but for a memorial service...This month our families started new traditions for the holidays...This month I tried to do shopping, and wrapping, and cooking to keep myself busy and to keep the family together...This month I took joy in receiving this beautiful "gingerbread" house made by my grandson so painstakingly...

The Meaning of it All...

Today being the first anniversary of this blog I have been giving some thought about it and it's existence.  Also, about a month ago, I made a commitment to Ruth of  synch-ro-ni-zing to write about the name of this blog. ..

I started it with a few thoughts in mind...

Perhaps the initial reason for starting this blog was to encourage myself to take more photos and to improve my photography skills...I had a new camera and a renewed interest in photography.  I took a photography class and enjoyed challenging myself through DPS assignments, Canon forum mini-challenges, and Shutter Sisters.  I enjoyed looking at  photographs online and realized that most of my favorites were of everyday objects and activities.

Somehow  I hoped to incorporate this into a photo journal and a kind of almanac of the year.   I have always been enamored of artists' journals and old fashioned almanac style books but I'm not artistically inclined and the few times I did start I wrote and drew only about three entries before quitting.  This developed into an idea of a simple photo  journal that I could document the little things that happened in a year that one tends to forget.  Later I also thought I might use this photo journal to start writing down some family and personal memories that I would like to save and pass down...it seemed that as I read other blogs it would often trigger a memory that I hadn't thought of in years...I should write it down!   Other reasons for saving a memory developed...I wanted to remember some favorite recipes and reviews of books I've read and movies I've seen.  I also started saving poems I enjoyed and quotes that touched me...

All in all I put very little thought into the name of the blog...just expressed my goal really and hoped that the title wasn't already taken...

So how do I think I did?  I do think I never would have taken so many photos of  my everyday life if it weren't for this blog...so that goal was definitely accomplished.  During the year I took two photography classes which I enjoyed too.  In the future I would like to learn more about Photoshop and processing my digital photos...and I still have to make a decision about whether or not I need a better camera than my nice lightweight point and shoot.  What I was pained to discover through this blog was how terrible a writer I am...how difficult I find it to express myself with the written word.   To think that as a child I wanted to be a writer and a poet!  So many memories I started to write about but gave up when I couldn't find the words...so many opinions that I couldn't communicate...I felt that my blog was best if I kept my writing simple although my favorite blogs to read incorporate both beautiful images with well written, descriptive words...like synch-ro-ni-zing and ramblins and Soul Aperture  among many others.  I guess my goal for this part of my blog would be to just keep on trying...

A Thank-you Song...

Celebrating Thanksgiving dinner in the kitchen may include lots of noise, commotion, and dishes in the sink...but Mr J's Thanksgiving song just needed to be shared...   I think I need to practice filming video though...

"Thank you for the sun so bright, thank you for the moon at night, thank you for my family, thanks for friends who play with me, thanks for every thing I see, I am thankful yes sir eee."

Thanksgiving...

...Each year, at Thanksgiving, we go around the table  taking  turns stating alphabetically what we are thankful for ...This year I will start with being thankful for Assistance... from farmers and cooks, from family and friends, from health care workers...from all involved with making this meal possible at my sister's home.  After Thanksgiving I hope to return with what we came up with for the rest of the alphabet!

Pink Sky at Night...

...Sailor's delight...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...I do hate it getting dark so early but I can still be grateful for a beautiful pink sunset...

 

 

"We trowen [believe] that this day schal be a reyny day for that his morownyng was reed, or that to morow schal be a fayre day for that his euentide is reed."
[c 1454 R. Pecock Follower to Donet (EETS) 54]

Happy Halloween!...

An Autumn Morning...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just some random shots from the kitchen one morning...looking for inspiration...thinking about how October is already nearly gone.  I love this month for its colors of orange and yellow and russet and red.  I love it for its apples and pears, and pumpkins and candy.  I love it for its sunny, crisp days that insist you have to stay outside and for its rainy, raw days that bring you indoors...

Portraits...

Another assignment for photography class was on taking portraits.  Mr and Mrs R were kind enough to be my models for an afternoon.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I happily made my favorites of the day into a mosaic to join others at Mary's Mosaic Monday at  Little Red House...

Outstanding in the Field...

For a combined Mother's Day and Father's Day gift this year our daughters gave us tickets to a treat of a lifetime...reservations to a dinner sponsored by Outstanding in the Field.   Founded by a Californian artist, Jim Denevan,  the mission of this group is to re-connect diners with local food, the land it is grown on, the farmers that grow it, and the artisans who prepare it.   This was the first year that a dinner was held in RI and only the lucky ones who had heard of it early were able to get tickets...they sold out fast.  Our dinner was held at the Aquidneck Farms in Portsmouth, RI which raises grass fed beef and is situated on the Sakonnet River.   My words can't describe how beautiful the evening was but maybe my photos will...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we arrived we were first greeted with sparkling wine under this wonderful old tree...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We waited there only long enough to gather enough people for a hay ride around the farm with one of the farmers discussing how the farm was run and answering questions...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...We met some of the farm residents...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...then headed towards the river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here there were more servers waiting with local wine and the first courses...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The workers live on a bus for the five months that they travel around the country presenting these meals...

To get to the dinner table we walked towards the water...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and there it was.

 

 

Long enough for 150 people...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view was breathtaking...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....The food was served family style and was simply amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Denevan sat across the table from us for part of the meal...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr O and I enjoyed ourselves completely...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We managed to miss a rainstorm and capture a small rainbow just as it was turning dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the meal ended with dessert wine  the candles were lit ...and the mosquitoes came out...Time to go home...

This was such a wonderful gift!...Thank you to my wonderful daughters!

Hallelujah...

 

As I was walking through the woods this song played through the ipod...the sound of the music, the smell of wet pine needles and leaves, the feel of crisp autumn  winds all mingled into a spiritual moment...

 

My favorite version of this song is Leonard Cohen's  most recent recording which can't be imbedded here...but I first heard it this way...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hallelujah indeed...

 

Leonard Cohen's voice can bring me to tears...Although this song has been covered by many, the only one to come close to Cohen's version is k.d.lang...in my opinion...

...

Hallelujah
from The Essential Leonard Cohen
LYRICS

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Black and White...

This week's assignment for photography class was black and white photography...I have occasionally converted a color pic to black and white but I have never used my camera's setting for black and white...It was fun and challenging to try something new...

...but I think I will continue to use color....

Maine 7...

Cadillac Mountain is well known for its beautiful sunrises...it is the first place on the eastern coast of the US to see the sun.  For me, however, it was much more reasonable to try and see some sunsets.  Sunset on the top of the mountain is a joyous event with lots of celebrants...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...it was well worth joining the crowd for...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maine 6...

We initially planned on visiting Lamoine State Park because it was close to home, it had a nice looking playground, and we had read that there was a "sculpture tour" there.   We were right about everything except the sculpture tour.   The Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium is fascinating, and Lamoine State Park is hosting one of the 2009 sculptures, however the actual sculpture symposium is held in Schoodic Point and the sculpture itself will not be installed in the park until September.  What we found was just as delightful...a photography installation by the University of Maine art program titled Project Pathology. 

These photos were placed all along a nice, easy trail...a trail a stroller could be pushed along...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each of the frames had related photos front and back...

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the photos we had fun with...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed our morning at this park off the busy Mount Desert Island...sometimes it's nice seeing the mountains at a distance...