sunsets I have seen

post #416
      Today, in honor of THE SUN which sets for all peoples, I'm sharing sunset photos that hide out on my laptop and go with me wherever I am.  In keeping with my blog's constant theme -- that we all need to pay attention to wherever we find ourselves -- I encourage good look-arounds, even when you are not in a new place.  Thanks for joining me for some of my amazed moments from these past few years. I'll need to spread them over two blogs in order to cover all the photos I want to share, so stayed tuned.
       This week's sunsets are in Central America! Around 5:30 every evening! The place where nine of us are staying has a tremendous view facing west over the Pacific Ocean. Every night! (Note: Tomorrow I will be going from this dry heat to the very cold. Really hot to really, really cold.) Please be safe, everyone.

I'm not the only sunset obsessed person in the bunch....

photo by Robert Franzini

the next evening

I finally got my little point and shoot figured out enough to use the zoom on it. I didn't bring my bigger camera on this trip, which I do know better how it works, but, with a second lens, it is a lot heavier to travel with.

            In the end I've become a bit confused about which ones were to be included this time, SO I'm delighted that I have next week ready to make sense of what I did or at least what I meant to do....  with sincere thanks to the sun, who is trying, I'm sure, to help us earthlings do better taking care of this planet in its domain. 

TIme for a summer moment, in Maine

post #415
       Too much ugliness is showing in the world these days. And Steve L. encouraged me two weeks ago.  So I've decided today to go back to Maine, from when I was there a year or two ago.  My paternal female cousins got together for a long September weekend, something we had never really done before.  It was about time! 
       And then the light from the lake and the sky was so lovely that I managed to get some good photos.  Even when it rained I got some good photos. I didn't go just to take photos, however, but I'm so glad I had my good camera with me.  We ate well, talked and walked well, and between all of us we remembered well our childhood summer on this same lake, Lake Caspian in Greensboro, Vermont, over 50 years ago!  Bless you cousins, all.
        ENJOY!

 The dock for our long weekend rental was sort of our anchor, so to speak --

view along the bank near the dock

picturesque morning neighbor

afternoon visit from cousin Steve and Kathy, our cousin-in-law

and their happy-to-be-out-of-the-car dog

This view is looking from our dock to the right, in the morning.

gotta love the railing!

We were walking on the path around the lake until we came to the back of the house where we spent time as kids.  At least we were almost 100% sure this was that house.

midday light, but still beautiful with the clouds

another middle of the day, no clouds but lovely sister in the stern, and her visiting friend

one morning's fire after a very chilly night

never a gathering of any kind without a jigsaw puzzle

the longest game of Clue any of us had EVER played

What a wonderful weekend. I hope the photos look particularly good as we face storms all around us today. I also hope all peoples can be safe and the world made safer.

catching up with myself, sort of

post #414
       YO! I am trying to keep up with myself and not listen to the news too much and enjoy my hermit days when they happen -- like yesterday. It's wet outside, some snow, some rain, and who knows what something will happen during the night.  I hope everyone is safe and sane and staying positive in this new year. Today I'm simply sharing some moments from the past three weeks. Then next week I will do more of the Maine photos.
      To begin, a few snow photos from Colorado, in the mountains, where everyone is eager for measurable snowfall: 

tracks and shadows

Christmas gift -- a robot by remote

Can you find the same girl at a table in this restaurant? With my empty seat beside her?

 

Also on the balcony, besides myself -- a very unique chess board!

Back in Kentucky, stove-top shadows and patterns, thanks to Nik and Hannah -- bravo!!

Lexington, Kentucky had an arts display this fall of outdoor benches decorated with a book in mind -- this bench was inspired by a book by George Ella Lyon. I knew about the bench but I didn't know where it was. I found its more permanent location totally by accident, near the entrance to the Carnegie Literacy Center! It is based on her book What Forest Knows, illustrated by August Hall.  George Ella, when you see this post, could you please send a comment here to tell who the Lexington artist is?  I keep forgetting to tell you that I found "your" bench, in December!

 

I love the bird in the opening and the dog under the bench!

    

       Back home, I visited Sandy, and all those guineas came to visit at the same time!  There must have been a lot of news to catch up on.... Thanks, Sandy, for sharing your photo here.

I hope you have a good catch-up to share stories with someone, soon. 

 

a rare sun day today, do my photos shine?

post #413
           Welcome to the new year!  In honor of this annual new beginning, I guess I need to say one thing I hope for -- which are breakthroughs for our nation.  The variety of backgrounds newly representing us in the Congress is a hopeful sign. So is increased scrutiny of the impetuous and irresponsible behavior of folks in leadership positions in America. We could be so much stronger. We could be less afraid that we will run out of clean water and clean air future generations will need. We could make education a priority, so kids can be all they can be and not held back. (Kentucky, thanks to hard work and persistence by advocates, now has a law requiring that schools provide appropriate learning experiences for kids whose brains are excellent except they learn differently, such as experienced with dyslexia. Even small steps forward contribute to the greater good.) We each could and must learn to think independently from the herd and from what defies common sense. 

         Then there's the fact that I'm still having beginner's missteps 'twixt blog and my new laptop. So I decided at the least to test the technical quality of my photos, which seem to look a lot sharper on the new laptop! Can this be really so? Well, I've chosen some fun ones to test it out. Here goes:

Jamie gathering the bails of hay

Natalee, my neighbor and friend, is patient during a photo shoot at her grandmother's house.

 

A favorite cousin camp moment, at the pond, in honor of Eric starting a new job tomorrow as Solicitor General of Colorado! May you never lose sight of the family sense of humor!

with Mariko, and two of her friends, near Rennes, where they live, in France

mother and daughter, same place in France, very good sports about my taking a photo, though I do speak French

grandmother and granddaughter, first bottle

The meat's alike on the inside.

a child, during a demonstration, in Morehead

an artist with an amazing story and talent, at his exhibit at the Kentucky Folk Art Center, in Morehead

Wilkerson cousins, revisiting some childhood summers, in Vermont

on land, nearby the boats

maybe cousins, here in Kentucky?

I love discovering where pileated woodpeckers hang out.

I hope these photos look fine. I am grateful to be able to share them with you.  Thanks, Ann