FIRST POST of 2023!!!!

       Once again, almost by mistake, I was able to connect to my blog!  It is always a happiness to work on a new post. I hope everyone has had some peace and some joy over the holidays.  I also hope my friends in California are safe and somewhere dry during the current and unusual and dynamic and frightening and very wet weather there!!

     Here now are some of the photos and links I have wanted to share over the last 12 weeks.... Please note: the four grandchildren made it into these photos.....

always good food from the Cuisine J.W. !

Two photos of the versatile pond:

checking out bulldozer noises yesterday on the property next to mine (find my house !) 

looking across my field from my house at the newly shaved steep hillside  -- I learned that there will only be one house, at the top. When it is not winter, I won't be able to see it. 

 neighbors are treasures:

S and J's super cute Pygmy goat -- living for now in the house -- very lively and fun.

 

 

I made a DENVER trip in early November:

during a museum visit nearby E's office

an artsy view of two of my photos hanging at the bottom of the stairs  -- which are my exercise guarantee when I visit my Denver family.

    Gettting ready to bike to school:

This last-photo-for-tonight is by Rebecca.  It shows the "first waterfall" and Nik and Hannah who came the week after Christmas.  Lucky us!

I just wanted to show signs of life in the winter here!  I am going to do more "normal" photos in upcoming efforts.  I seem to get distracted from doing one of these posts on a totally predictable schedule, so I will just say I plan to return here soon.  Many thanks for your interest in my work.

 

Light

Eastern Standard Time makes it feel very dark very early.  

The raw antics we hear about -- sometimes called politics-- are also dark, and have been for years.

I figure since I work with photos -- which usually require a decent amount of light -- I can record how, for me, light can do its thing when it's not ignored or taken for granted. 

I remain fascinated by what I see -- and by the way light changes, every minute. I like to work with it, like to leave it alone until another day, like being surprised by it. I even like writing about it.

Sometimes it's the light that hints or insists it is almost ready, and, other times, the show's all over in an instant, to be savored as a memory and a gift.

I've decided to find some recent photos that have been part of my dialogue with the outside.  I don't usually talk about my fascination with natural light, but it regularly willingly works with me and intrigues me. I'm so grateful for its companionship.

one day

another day

It really was this bright and beautiful in the Skaggs' back yard.

Meditation on a tree, as it dances in the changing light:

I can't resist including this photo of the grandparents of the bride, and good friends of mine, The wedding had beautiful weather even in late October, and a delicious home-cooked feast.

These last four photos are from Wednesday night, in Bath County, where there are these mounds, and lots of flat land, and a farm where my granddaughter has been going this fall, after school, to learn to ride a horse. I went with them to see the scene, but the light made it too hard to not make at least a few photos.

LEGS

into the light

        To end this week, I want to share a photo my dear daughter made on the way home from the riding lesson -- in the public library restroom where we changed into "our civies" for the drive home. A quick generational photo, for fun, AND with plenty of inside light!!  I love that it makes me laugh.

 

 

DEER

It's the season, that's the reason, a sort of invasion, an annual ritual to provide the hunter with food for the winter, something that has never interested me to do, even though it doesn't require an A47.

I do know that deer can decimate a garden, eat your sunflower patch in a single night, take over the town, like they have in nearby Morehead, and so are often not very popular.

This happens to be my first post in my blog that I have dedicated to photos of deer.  They surely mean well, but when there are a lot of them...... it's a clash.  I have had some deer visitors these past two weeks, and the big hunting season begins next weekend.  Wear bright colors while out for a walk, and be legal about how you take a deer.  Stay safe. Wonder about Balance and Justice in our world.

Ears on Deer

FIVE PHOTOS, SECONDS APART:

 

 

NOT DEER!  DO NOT SHOOT!

Two favorite deer photos are to be added once I find them.  I have a lot of photos they can hide among since I don't keep up with my info on the image as well as I could.  In the meantime, I am going to slip in another video that I want to try including, since my last try two weeks ago was a no-go.

 

 

 

 

fall, so far: walnuts, those green and mowed fields, beautiful light , and more morning mists than usual

    We are beginning the leaves-fall-off part of autumn but there has already been a lot of beauty and action.  Thanks to morning drives while taking care of the family chickens --- my daughter and her family were away for a few days --- I saw more mist than I might have.  True confession -- I don't often get out early of a morning like I used to just to make a photo.

    Posting on my blog every other week, however, continues to present the challenge of getting everything in I want to share because there can be too much to choose from --- not necessarily a problem, but occasionalIy I like to mention the way I work. Or don't work. I hope the info is sometimes interesting.

 

   First, two views of the enormous number of black walnuts this year!  Amazing! 

The walnut tree just standing there, taller and thinner and separate from other trees, and a major bird perching place.

 

A bit more of an arty photo, same tree, maybe a day later, but I was standing in the same spot for both. Look out underneath such beauty!  And thank you, chickens, for getting me there in that light.

 

 Next: one misty morning, with the mist hiding the usual view, I was so surprised to see how different this place looked that I see every time I drive away from home.  (I showed this photo a blog post or two ago.)

 

Here is what it looked like the following evening!  The cows are not there, but what can I do about scheduling cows!

Other scenes during this time:

along Route 504, a version of earlier photos

Then this is from the same place, looking back where I had come from. The mist is rising here, but still not where I go next.

And this is a big year all over Kentucky for fungi, mushrooms, etc.!!

    

 I did visit some neighbors this week, and this tiny pumpkin display was in their living room. Usually she has a pumpkin to give one to every grandchild, but this year that hasn't worked out.  But I loved seeing the variety and design of these little ones .

As I left their house, I decided to make a short video of their "back yard" -- and I hope to provide it -- as well as another one as I finish up for tonight.  Actually, I have "lost" the video I thought I had... Will redo it soon.

So thanks as always -- I enjoy the sharing.  And I end with my familiar and repetitive encouragement to be generous of heart and get vaccinated, please, please, please!!  NOW.  Stay alive!!  Keep others alive!