blue skies / gray skies

L - Nikon / T - Nikon, one year ago today

It was so cold today it felt more like February than April but looking at the forecast it looks as though we will have a sunny and warm weekend. I'm looking forward to it.
T's phone, it turns out, is fine but somehow the internet service didn't get hooked up so she can't send photos to me. That's got to be fixed or I'm afraid this will become a one-sided blog. Tonight I asked her to send something from one year ago. One year ago we were on spring break. We went to Hilton Head with sun bathing in mind, but the weather was chilly and not the best for enjoying the beach. So we had to think of alternative activities. We had fun rummaging thrift stores, ate out at great restaurants, took a 1 hr boat trip to Daufuskie Island and explored the island by golf cart, even went to a spa to have a massage and facial. Turned out to be one of my favorite spring break trips. We took a lot of awesome photos and just had fun being very spontaneous. Do you have a fun spring break you'd like to share? / this photo was taken on our trip to hilton head island one year ago, exactly, for spring break. however unfortunate the lack of sun was for my tan, it was nice for photographs.
we bought this wedding dress at the local salvation army on the island for twenty dollars, went to the beach on that cold and steel-gray day and shot a lot of photos. we had some onlookers but i didn't even care, it was fun. i used the tripod and remote for some of them and mom shot some - we came back with many i was happy with but, as is often the case, not until afterwards did i think of some other things i wished i had done with the shoot - wish i'd pushed a little further, know what i mean?

a common thing / dandelion

L - iphone / T - taken by a friend

“The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world.”

On the way home I shot this photo while waiting at a red light - common right? Even though it's a weed, don't you think the dandelion is a most startling event? - it starts out sundrop yellow and then turns into a delicate white puff-ball over night - each seed, a tiny little parachute that we wish on and blow to the wind hoping every dream will come true. just a random thought.
Anyway, on the way home, I had the windows open and it was warm and light outside. It's so nice driving home from work in the daylight. I didn't get off work until 7 tonight, yet it was still light enough to sit outside on my deck with a cup of tea when I got home. My Yogi tea tab said, "whatever you are doing is the most beautiful thing" and it was. I was 8 pm , 69º and I was walking around the yard noticing how much the buds had opened up just since the weekend - each day I see more growth and beauty. Tonight I saw that my wild azaleas are almost in full bloom, the dogwoods are opening, the doublefile viburnum is loaded with buds, the oak leaf hydrangeas have really put out a lot of new growth since last year, even the one little peony has it's bud. The peony is the biggest, showiest flower in the yard and it blossoms from the tiniest plant in our yard. The plant dies back to the ground in the autumn and then, seemily, magically appears and produces one flower about 6" in diameter. This is a miracle, and there is nothing common about it. Isn't this time of year exciting in the garden? / my friend peter needed my help with one of his friend's photography assignments, so of course i was quick to say yes. when they arrived i was given a sharpie and told to write "i am ___." i usually need time to think of things like this! i didn't like being put on the spot, so we started chatting about other things when peter and i remembered our plans to make cupcakes. i had it – "i am an excellent baker" was promptly written neatly on my hand. it was beautiful outside, i sat in the grass, picked a dandelion and stuck it in my hair. she said that i looked pretty the way i was so she just started shooting. i don't even think the writing on my hand showed in most of the photos. i'm not sure exactly how she used these images, but i was glad to be of assistance and hope people are that kind to me when i need them to be in my photos!