snow day / snow day

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

Everybody likes a snow day don't they? Well how about two or three? I, for one, enjoyed staying at home – a nice fire and good book, some more time in the studio and I'm good. Others would say they had cabin fever by the second day and might just go stir crazy by tomorrow. Two snow days in Atlanta is a lot and for school children there will be a third. When the mail is not delivered you know it must be bad right? With temperatures in the teens again tonight that ice on the roads is not improving.

I do have to admit it was nice when a friend came over today and took me out to eat at a Mexican restaurant, Starbucks and for a hike in my favorite woods - The Big Trees Forest. I felt alive out there. The scent of pine was strong and the air so refreshing. It really did me good. / three days off from school! i think that's a record in the south. we're missing the first days of our new semester but you don't hear me complaining. however i do have to say it's hard to hang out with people when you can't drive. a walk in to town for pizza proved treacherous. haha. and i'm too scared to sled on sheer ice. but days off from school... that's cool.

1000 feet / 1000 steps

solo post - L, Canon / Nikon

Do you remember in 1970 tightrope walker, Karl Wallenda, walking across the 1000 ft deep Tallulah Gorge performing two headstands in midair as he crossed? This is where I went on Saturday. Why we chose one of the hottest days of the year to make this hike I'm not quite sure. Going down the 345 steps to the suspension (swinging) bridge wasn't so bad. From here I could see the raging Hurricane Falls - a fall that has a 96 ft drop. But we wanted to get a closer view so we descended another 200 odd steps to the floor of the gorge only to find that we needed a permit to cross the river and continue downstream to the Bridal Veil Falls where you can slide down rocks into pools of water. Jumping from rock to rock to cross the river looked inviting and fun but I wasn't sure I wanted to pay a steep fine for breaking the rules. Still is was a beautiful site. After some picture taking and video footage we climbed back up – made it thanks to the cooling rain and many breathers along the way. BTW, my legs are pretty sore today. What sort of activity filled your weekend?

mysterious / hidden

solo post - L , Nikon

Sunday was a wonderful autumn day –the sun bright and the breeze cool – so I went out, without a plan, looking for something to photograph. I ended up in a very historical city of Roswell and explored the Founders cemetery and then went down to the old mill area and did some hiking. But I was wearing cowboy boots so I couldn't do the hiking I wanted to do – cowboy boots don't give the best traction you know. But I did make it up the steep steps to a trail that overlooked the Vickery Creek and old mill. There were sections in the trail that were scattered with these huge leaves giving the area a eerie sort of feel. I came home and looked at the photos I had captured. None so good, but I kept being drawn to these two and specifically to them together. There seemed to be a tie to them that I just couldn't put my finger on. After doing some research on the area I found that the area where each of these were taken is haunted. At the mills, several recordings have been made of hearing the sound of millworkers moans and of visitors getting the sensation that they are being pushed. At the cemetery, it has been recorded, is home to a more playful apparition: a small girl who sometimes reaches up to hold your hand or scampers behind a tree. I had no knowledge of these things when I photographed on Sunday but now I look at them and they seem mysteriously linked. I don't know what to believe about ghost. I personally have never had any encounters with them, but it apparently makes for an interesting tour of the area. I wonder, have any of you had encounters with ghosts?

uplifting / daunting

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

When T sent me this photo late Sunday night I knew I had to put it together with my photo from my Sunday morning walk. Her's being a late night scary walk in the dark, with friends... mine being an cheerful walk in nature, alone. My walk had a one little obstacle, her walk was had several. I did not get lost, she did. / my best friend came into town this weekend from charleston and on her way back home to atlanta. it was great to have her back in town – i hadn't seen her since i moved into my house here. she's such a breath of fresh air in my life. however few and far between our interactions it's always nice to see her. since happenings in my little town were slow, we decided to make a twenty minute road trip with one of my other great friends to watkinsville, where washington farms and their famous corn maze are located. we got there around eleven and.. we did not make it out alone. by the time the field was closing at eleven, we were nowhere near the exit. none of us had ever been to a corn maze before and it was actually a lot of fun, however a little daunting! i would really like to go back and conquer it.. maybe when it's a little lighter outside!

bounty / illumine

solo post - L

I had 3 apples... I was going to paint them – then I saw the recipe for Apple Crostata... no more apples to paint. SO I went to the market and bought some more fruit and those wonderful sunflowers I shared yesterday. This morning I arranged the items I bought and now I have an abundance of photographs and good starts for at least 3 paintings. One of the compositions really excites me. But first I just had to get outside.
The temperature was perfect so I decided before painting that I should get some exercise. So off I went to Big Trees Forest for a nice hike in the woods. Well I can't go for a walk in the woods without my camera but for the sake of exercise I should have left it at home. I kept seeing things I just couldn't pass by. I was stopping every few yards to take a photo. So my hike turned into a leisurely stroll. You know when you slow down enough to "see" – there is all kinds of beauty around us. (To make me feel like I was actually getting some exercise I decided to walk the trail 2 times instead of just once). The walk did me good even if I didn't get my heart rate up.

Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence. ~Alfred Billings Street

Once home, I set to work trying to decide which "set up" to start painting. My mom always said, "Begun is half done." Well I'm glad to say, I am more than half done now. Yeah. It's been a good weekend.

I talked to T – she hasn't totally abandoned the blog. She and some friends went to a corn maze this weekend and she said she took some photos. I can't wait to see them. First she said she had to do marine environment homework and start on her next design project. I'll wait - patiently. : )

happy / blissful

solo post - L

I woke up today and the first thing upon stepping outside I sang to myself, "this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it". I know that's not just a praise for glorious days weather-wise but a praise we should sing every day. But this day was so exceptional in the weather department I couldn't help but rejoice and I wanted to be outdoors every minute possible. Hm, I think I said this yesterday. Oh well, it held true today too. So... I decided to take Evee, and myself, for a walk at a local park called Big Trees Forest. We walked, and talked (I hope no heard me talking out loud to my dog), she was patient when I wanted to stop and take a photo, we sat on the creek bridge and watched the water flow, we took 'bench monday' shots (well she couldn't take one of me and I didn't bring my remote), we watched the birds and the butterflies, she cooled herself off in the water, she was even nice to the other dogs along the way. I say this because many times she feels the need to bark and carry on. But she was such a good dog today I think I'll take her more often. She truly seemed happy to be enjoying the day right along side me. Hope your weekend was glorious as well.

Here Evee sits beside me on the bridge as I dangle my feet. To me it looks as though she is smiling, seeming to say, "thank you for bringing me along"