You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2012.
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.” Stanley Horowitz
We have several huge Katsura trees in the back yard. They are luscious green in the spring and summer, and an absolutely stunning orange/yellow/red in the Autumn. They are at their best right now. Stunning.
The Katsura tree is a very distinctive landscape tree known for its delicate leaves and bright autumn colour. In autumn, the heart shaped leaves smell of burnt sugar when crushed, and the tree turns bright yellow, pink, and orange-red. The botanical name is Cercidiphyllum japonicum.
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“I don’t care about my looks but I wish people will see my soul and it appears more clearly in these photographs than in others.” – August Strindberg- said about a series of self-portraits.
I continue to be supremely challenged to put myself fully before the camera. It’s so easy to capture a shadow or reflection that gives a suggestion, but not the real image. Every once in awhile though, I surprise myself and actually capture something I like. I like this image. I look content, I look happy. I am content, and I am happy. I’m in a great place in my life, with few of the worries, stresses, illnesses of so many people I know. Unfortunately, I have lost too many dear, close loved ones to cancer or other illness/tragedy way before their time.
I am not a “religious” person, so therefore I believe that life happens . . . some things we have control over and some things we do not. In no way is my life perfect, and I’m certainly not perfect. However, I do believe it’s up to me to live my life to the best of my ability, physically and emotionally. I am responsible for my own results, and if “life happens”, I have choice in how I deal with it. If I die tomorrow, it’s the impact and influence I’ve made on the people around me, the ones I leave behind, that carry my spirit forward. I live on in the energy I create and put out in the world. That energy can be positive or negative . . . my choice.
I choose positive energy, as it is the basis of harmony, happiness and love.
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“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, Fluttering from the autumn tree.” Emily Bronte
It’s that time of year again . . . how quickly summer seemed to pass! The leaves on the trees are turning their gorgeous shades of red, orange and yellows, and cascading to the ground leaving a beautiful rich carpet. I just had to get out and play around a bit. I had a vision of creating a “waterfall” of leaves showering down on the camera. It didn’t really work out exactly like I wanted . . . but I do like the blown out image. I would have liked the leaves to be a bit more defined. I’ll keep working at it, but it’s now raining – our wettest weekend here since May. I enjoyed playing in the leaves though – brought me back to my childhood in Northern Ontario!
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“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Dale Carnegie
I set my D7000 on timer and let it shoot away. This was the best of the bunch, as I was heading off to the airport to pick up my sister who is flying in from Whitehorse, Yukon. I love the timer feature on my camera(s). It makes doing this 365 so much easier. My only challenge is focusing. To do a shot like this I have to guess where my focus is and hope that it turns out sharp, not blurry. I was trying for the panning effect in the background as I was rounding a corner at the time. And it looks like I was fairly successful with my focus this time. I did process it a bit in LR4 and Topaz Adjust.
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“Little moments can have a feeling and a texture that is very real.” Ralph Fiennes
I was shooting pics of my 4 year old Great Nephew when he looked at me and said “Why don’t you take a picture of yourself?”. Ha! So I did! And this is the result . . . an upside down shot of myself. I took it in to Lightroom 4 to do a bit of processing, then in to Photoshop CS6 and Topaz Labs to further render the photo. I also added some texture from Kim Klassen Cafe .
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“If you want something, it will elude you. If you do not want something, you will get ten of it in the mail.” Anna Quindlen
I live in a rural area. About two years ago, Canada Poste installed these banks of mailboxes to replace all of the old “mailbox on a post” banks on the roadways. These new postal banks are away from the busy traffic areas, usually down a dead end cul-de-sac. As a result I usually only check the mail once or twice a week. I like it though, as our mail is much more secure, and we don’t get all the junk newspapers now. Still lots of junk mail though – which is surprising.
I would think with the advent of the Internet, junk mail would become less and less. It’s so expensive to produce for one thing – then even more to distribute. I know because we did it for awhile to advertise our business a few years ago. High cost for low return. I don’t even look at the junk mail anymore – a neighbor has placed a garbage can right by the mailboxes so we can just throw our junk mail in there and then he recycles it. (Anything with our identifying information though – I bring home and shred)
I guess we’re still going to be dependent on Canada Poste for certain mail, despite the fact that I take advantage of paperless billing as much as possible, and rarely even write a check or even a letter for that fact.
Amazing how much the internet has taken over . . . but paper mail still persists!
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Linus: “Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.” It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
My Great Nephew’s pre-school class took a visit to The Apple Barn, a local farm that has many fun and education activities for kids. I was fortunate enough to tag along and had a blast! One small part of the morning was a hay ride out to the Pumpkin Patch. The kids were told that if they could pick out one pumpkin for free, but they had to be able to carry it off the field themselves. The biggest obstacle was – so many pumpkins to choose from! He walked around picking one up by the stem and hefting it to see how heavy, then would drop it rejecting is as too heavy. He did this time after time after time . . . until he found this one . . . the PERFECT Pumpkin! The look on his face is priceless!
I love moments like this . . . watching a child discover and explore and figure things out for themselves. And I love that I get to be there to document it!
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“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” Henry David Thoreau
In addition to Zucchini, we are growing Pumpkins in the garden. We got a really nice crop of them last year (I still have some pureed pumpkin in the freezer). This is just one of them – I think we’ll end up with four or five nice ones. They are just starting to turn color . . . so pretty! That is my shadow over the left side.
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“I’m queen of my own compost heap & I’m getting used to the smell.” Ani DiFranco
The City is starting a new Waste Disposal program effective October 1st. It involves three waste bins – one for Recyclables, one for Organic waste (compost) and one for Garbage. Organic waste will be picked up every week, but Recyclables and Garbage will alternate weeks. We live in the country on acreage, so we’ll not put Organic waste at the curb, as we keep a big compost pile out back. Unfortunately, I haven’t been as diligent about walking out to the compost pile – its just been easier to dump it in the garbage. Now that garbage is only being picked up every other week, I have to get in the habit of “taking the walk”. So today I hauled all the guts from the zucchini that I’ve been processing the last few days. Interestingly enough, the city allows animal waste in the Organics bin . . . but I won’t allow that in our garden compost. Also – the coyotes would have a feast off the compost if we put chicken bones and other animal waste out there.
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“Tiggers don’t like honey.” A. A, Milne
But I do! And on freshly baked Zuchinni/Raisin/Macadamia Nut Muffins – heaven!
This is from the New Jersey Honey Bear (see my Day Two Hundred Five post) – some of the best honey I’ve ever tasted. Thanks again Andy for sending Honey Bear . . .
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Nurture Self 365 