New Year's Eve..oh my oh my oh my!

Hahaha...it's New Year's Eve, or so I've been told. Seems as though I should be dashing about trying to finish a bunch of things before the year officially ends. Instead, it's nearly noon and I'm still in my pj's. No hurry. A new year will be here tomorrow and there'll be 365 new days to finish that bunch of things or start a few more! Happy New Year to all! May you leave all your worries behind and have a bright wonderful 2011!

Bottled Light

I may have been obsessed with white earlier in the week, but after spending some time outside shoveling snow and seeing white sky, white trees and white ground, I needed an infusion of color.

Peaceful Storm

I'm always amused when people ask me what camera I use and how many mega pixels it has. I've long believed that while technology is great, at the end of the day good photography has little to do with the camera and a lot to do with opening our eyes and seeing the world around us. Today was a classic example.

Robb and I had planned to make a quick trip to Ogden (about 30 minutes away) to do some errands before the promised storm really set in. While I waited for him to clear our long steep driveway, I noticed a large tree beginning to be burdened by the heavy load of fresh snow that had been falling steadily since last night, so I grabbed a quick shot of it with my cell phone.

Since it was already snowing heavily at the house, I was surprised that it was only raining as we made our way down Ogden Canyon into town. Thirty minutes later on the return trip up the canyon the road was already disappearing under the new snow of the arriving storm. The snow had completely obliterated the landscape as I knew it and presented us with a new one. Once again, I grabbed a few shots with my cell phone.

Obsessed with White

When you live somewhere that is deep in snow for months each year...AND you've never lived in the snow before... it's easy to become obsessed with white. My new obsession is to discover the countless shades of white and the delicate textures of snow.

Not Just Any Monday...

One thing that I love about being in a new place is that I can't predict on any given day what the new dawn will bring. What a lovely surprise this particular one was!

The Day After…

It’s Sunday and Christmas has come and gone. So, too, the kids who came to visit… only their tire treads in the snow remain…and the rivulets where the snow melted and then froze in soft billowy folds.

The Reason for the Season…

It’s Christmas Day, all snowy and bright. As I sat staring out the window at the wide landscape swathed in white and thinking about the image I would create for this day, my thoughts turned to Mary – a strong, faithful, courageous, young, beautiful woman, a mother. There wouldn’t be a Christmas to celebrate without her, but with each passing year it seems to me as if that very idea might slip sadly into obscurity.

I haven’t put up holiday decorations in my house for years…partly because it seems I’ve always been on the go and partly because I bristle at the commercial aspects of Christmas. And yet I love the season. I find the greatest joy in remembering the many ways in which my life has been blessed, the good friends I have had, the comforts I’ve known, and the great kindnesses that have been shown to me. My favorite Christmases have had little to do with me and everything to do with others for whom I could do something nice.

This Mary, who seems deep in thought or prayer, was a favorite possession of my sweet dad. He found her somewhere in Tuscany while serving part of his tour of duty during WWII in Italy. I don’t know the exact circumstances of how she became his, but I do know that she is about 400 years old and he loved her. When he passed away, she became mine. And, so, this Christmas I think of him and pay homage to her.

Reflecting on the End of Another Year

Did I say that I wasn't going to start this until January 1? Ha...that would be like too many New Years resolutions made in December and forgotten in January.

Instead I was inspired by my own tendency to procrastinate. I've been sorely bugged the past weeks (maybe months) by the constant clutter that comes with building a house and my inability to just clean it up. As I ambled down the hall this morning my eye caught the mirror on the floor and I knew it was to be the perfect prequel to my blog.

What's more apropos for the end of the year than reflections on the past? Things remembered. Things forgotten. Things not remembered as clearly as they seemed. A certain sense of melancholy and wondering what the next steps will be. A yearning to leave our hang ups behind.

No procrastination for me. At least not today. Merry Christmas to all.

Abstractions...

Now some people might call me Pollyanna-ish, and so I say "let them". It's just who I am. I wake up each day and am glad to be alive. If the sun is shining and the sky is blue, then so much the better. If it's rainy and cold, that's OK too... more flowers and fresher air when it comes to an end.

So I decided I needed a creative goal for 2011 ... something that would make me get out and make images every day. I promise not to do a "365 days of whatever" blog... we've all seen those and they can be pretty self-absorbed or boring or strange or yea, well you get the idea. My goal is to find everyday scenes that might seem ordinary or unworthy of attention and show you, the trusty viewer, that they are anything but ordinary. It's kind of a big goal, but I'm going to give it my best... so, see you on January 1.

Meanwhile, Merry Christmas. Enjoy the holiday.