Mine, Mine, Mine...

April 25, 2012

Whenever I am at the beach I find myself watching the seagulls and taking an abundance of pictures of them.  On our most recent evening at the beach, the seagulls were particularly plentiful and quite vocal.   They were raucous and seemed almost frantic.  My take on it is that it was mating time.  They appeared to be chasing each other and doing quite a bit of standing in groups and crying out.

Light

April 24, 2012

This picture shows a beautiful contrast of light and shadow.  As I take pictures, I find that I look for interesting light patterns, shadows, contrast, reflections, and silhouettes. Those add so much interest to a picture.  Many of my pictures are taken in the same place, but no two look exactly alike because of the differences in the light and shadow.  Quite a few years ago Catherine and I spent two days at the Grand Canyon.  While there we took advantage of two tours - one at sunrise and one at sunset.  I was fascinated at how I could look at the same section of the Grand Canyon for 15 minutes and see what appeared to be many different places, all because of the way the light shined on it.
Another favorite is sunrise at the beach.  It's eerie in the dark.  Then the first few rays of light appear, full of hope and promise for the day.  Then more and more light shines until there is full sunlight.  It's beautiful and different each time.  A true gift.

Look Out For That...TREE

April 23, 2012

This looks like an adventure waiting to happen!   Or, in some cases, an accident waiting to happen.  A tree with a homemade ladder, and a rope hanging from the other side looks like a childhood dream.  A place to climb and swing away.  A spot to sit and think or dream or read.

Just Sittin' and Rockin'

April 22, 2012

One of my dreams for the future is to have a house with a big porch on which I can have several comfortable rocking chairs.  There's nothing quite so pleasant as sitting in a rocking chair with a cup of coffee or tea and a book early in the morning.  Or, an evening spent with friends enjoying a glass of wine while we sit and rock and share our lives.  Someday...

My Little Songbird

April 21, 2012

Tonight was Catherine's Senior Voice Recital for her degree in Music.  It.  Was.  Amazing.  I've been listening to Catherine sing since before she had words, as she made singing sounds as a baby.  She made up songs as she played and made up words to tunes she had only heard once.  As we drove down the road running errands or taking trips, Catherine would sing about the things she saw along the way.  In Elementary school she wrote an abundance of songs and performed them for me.  In Middle School she continued writing songs and performing them.  Two of those performances were particularly memorable.  The first was when she and a friend performed one of her songs at the school talent show.  The second was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.  Catherine wrote a song after September 11.  On the year anniversary of 9/11, Catherine and her friend sang this song A Cappella in the gym in front of the entire student body, faculty, staff, and guests.  The poise she displayed humbled me.  There were numerous performances throughout high school and college, all of which I sat through with a goofy grin on my face.
I was so proud of Catherine tonight.  I laughed.  I cried.  I did the goofy Mom grin.  And she sang.  And sang.  And sang some more.  My hope for her is that she'll always have a song in her heart and on her lips.

Rest Stop

April 20, 2012

Over the past four years we have made many trips from Bradenton  to Sewanee.  We've learned that if we leave right after work, we can usually get about halfway before we have to stop for the night (if we leave early in the morning we can go the whole way).  Halfway is Tifton, GA and we have often stopped at the Hampton Inn there.  However, that one very popular so we've also become frequent flyers at the Hampton in Adel and, occasionally, have gone as far as Cordele.  Always the Hampton Inn, though.  They're friendly, the rooms are always big, they have the most comfortable beds, and the free breakfast is great!  Yeah, I sound like a commercial, but personal recommendation is the best!

Growing up Fast

April 19, 2012

In just a few short weeks, the tiny little fuzzy chicks have become children well on their way to teenagers and then adults.  As I was watching them this morning, I wondered if the parents have the same feelings human parents do (in a much shorter time span).  Feelings of love, fear of bad things happening to our "chicks", indulgence as they do the crazy things they have to do in order to learn what is and isn't acceptable, pride in their accomplishments, joy in their cuddles, a mixture of gladness and sadness as they leave the nest, and all the other feelings we know so well.