Day 217

It's Monday and I'm back at work after a four-day vacation with people of whom I am quite fond.

Yep.

So Jason and Cindy--well, mostly Cindy--are big fans of Christmas decorations. Saturday night I went out and took pictures of their yard. As you look at the picture below, bear in mind that they're not done decorating yet. They really like to decorate. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them and get the full effect).




The other thing you should know is that Cindy loves elephants. This, of course, means that in addition to the traditional elements -- nativity scene, candy canes, wreaths, tree lights, etc. -- there are no fewer than three Christmas elephants in the yard.




And, just for a more wintery touch, there are penguins here and there, sledding around, having fun.



Wheeeee!

Day 216

Somehow, even though I've taken the commuter train in from Dune Park before, I never quite connected that to the fact that it's a park on the shores of Lake Michigan. Late Saturday afternoon, Cindy and I headed to the park. Unfortunately, I'm used to the sun setting between 5:30 and 6--in her time zone, it goes down an hour earlier. So instead of having an hour or two to play around and take winter beach pictures, we got there right at sunset.



I suppose I wasn't all that disappointed. It was quite beautiful. And look how the setting sun lights up the scene.




Shooting into the sun was really spectacular as well. Even the smokestacks down the shoreline took on a dramatic persona.



I hope you can see the dogs in this shot. Luna the weimeraner is on the left. She was the one who saw me from afar and raaaced down to say hi, completely ignoring the shouts of her people to stop and come back. Charlie the cocker spaniel is the blur on the right. He'd been swimming and was wet and coated in sand. Much more polite was Charlie. He greeted me happily when they all drew alongside. He wagged his tail and licked my hand and leaned up against me with great friendliness as his humans told me what a cranky dog he was. "Not a fan of people, our Charlie," they said, as he panted cheerily up at me.

I love dogs.

Day 215

Jody put me in charge of dressing the table.



I love doing things like this! I made flame for the candle-holders, created place cards, laid out chargers, and gave purpose to an overgrown plant.




I'm also a fan of symmetry, as you can probably tell.



I love this shot because it shows what we really did all day long--pictures, pictures, pictures. And she let me use her camera! Alas, I forgot to get copies of the shots I got from her lens. I'll post some of the better ones when I do.

Day 214

On Thursday, a whole lot of cooking went on.



Our pumpkin pie (a joint effort) had the most delicious, flaky, buttery crust -- a complete win for Jody (who arranges it here).



She took care of the crust and I dealt with the filling. A little less ginger than called for and more cinnamon than the recipe said--and it was a great success indeed. Truly mouthwatering, our pie. And I have not a single picture of it on my camera. That's how quickly we ate it.

Day 213

Happy Thanksgiving! (At least, the day this represents was Thanksgiving.) The above is how I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, courtesy of EarthCam. It was very much slower watching it in real time instead of with the cuts and performances of the official NBC production, but fun, nonetheless.

Last night (Wednesday), I was whisked away to Indiana by Cindy and deposited at this train station to take the South Shore commuter in to Chicago to visit Jody.




The station was very cute, but my favorite part was the "Train coming" sign. It works!

I imagined women dressed in their travel finery, stylish hats perched on their heads, Grace Kelly bags over their gloved hands, waiting to head into the city for a little shopping when the sign would light up.



Ah, the South Shore Line in its heyday.

Day 212

Every Wednesday morning, I sit in this conference room and I stare out the windows. I'm so thankful for glass walls and tree views. (Sometimes other people lower the black shades and I get neither sun nor view. But on this morning, no one else was around and I didn't even have to turn the light on!)



I'm often distracted by squirrels or trucks going by behind me or customers entering the bookstore across the lobby. But most often, I'm distracted by the sight of this tree.



Believe me when I tell you that the picture above captured the angle, but not the experience. Somehow from where I sit, the morning light hits the leaves just right to make them glow in gorgeous jewel tones of perfect green against the blue sky. In the fall, the leaves transform into an incredible mix of gold and blush that look every bit as inevitable and perfect against the rich blue background.

This is closer to how I see it.



It's both invigorating and restful to be able to turn my head and see this view.



Yellow! Rose! Green! It's sheer decadence.

Day 211

It was foggy this morning. Not so fun to drive in, but oh! what it does to the trees!

Urban trees seem to belong to themselves in a way that they can't quite when they're hemmed in by buildings. On foggy mornings, the trappings of civilization recede.



I wish I'd gotten a picture of the tree I drove past that was glowing with all the orange-gold leaves on its fingertips like lanterns on the prow of a boat coming into harbor. It was glorious--and I was driving.

Day 210

I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday. There, I rediscovered how warm and rich the scent of pine is. Great swathes of it were twined in wreaths and garlands and laid loose over several tables, ready to be made into whatever you like. I remembered how charming I find branches of winter berries, so red it seems impossible. There were pears and apples and brussel sprouts by the bushel and basket.

And not only did I not buy a single thing, I completely forgot to take my camera.

I debated about getting it and going back through, but decided against it. And then I saw a father and daughter walking toward the stalls. I thought, "I'd love to take their portrait!" but I'm afraid I'm just not brave enough to burst out of my car and ask someone if I can take their picture. Which is when they stopped for dad to chat with an older woman he clearly knew. And the little girl waited impatiently to get moving again. So I went creepy stalker and took her picture through the windshield. Yeah, I'm awesome.

She had beautiful dusky skin and thick blonde hair and that fantastic sense of style that only children and a few very secure adults seem to have--the "if it makes me happy, I'll wear it" kind of confidence. Leopard print and stripes? Why, of course!

Day 209

A while back, I thought I'd experiment with a little product photography. It was an experiment both fun and frustrating. I had plans! Ideas! And very few of them actually worked out as I'd dreamed. But I was pleased enough with a few of them.

I love this lantern! And I love how here, instead of the candle flame it's supposed to contain, the sun itself is the light it holds.



I wore this ring as Amy's maid of honor in April. I wish the purple had come out in all its deep richness here -- it's really quite striking -- but I'm afraid the orange overwhelmed it a bit. The bronzy-gold looks nice, though.





I love this necklace. I bought it at the same time I bought the ring above at a little shop outside Chicago. There were several necklaces that wanted to come home with me -- and believe me, I wanted to give them a home -- but I just couldn't say no to this one. It's so dainty and woodlandy and the kind of thing that the fairies of my youth would have worn.







I've just realized why this entire post reminds me of John and Heidi--it's all connected. The lantern was a Christmas gift from said friends and they took me to the shop (their "favorite store!") at which I bought the jewelry.

Thank you both for being constant contributing factors to lovely moments in my life!

Day 208

I've done it again. Completely forgotten to post on a day that required multiple posts. *sigh* My apologies. It is, at least in part, because I haven't been out to take pictures much lately. And, in part, because I've got hundreds of pictures in reserve, but I'm afraid you're completely sick of seeing fall and trees and all the nature girl I can be.

This morning, I've decided that I don't care (for the moment). I'm going to post pictures that make me happy and hope they'll do the same for you. However, I'm also going to tell you that I should have plenty of pictures of people and events and city life by next week.

For now, though, I give you autumn reeds at sunset.

Day 207

Amy, Brian, and I have been going to the Sonic here since it opened several months ago. Early on, we noticed these little stuffed tot babies they had available for purchase for children. Naturally, we wanted them. We asked for them every time we went. And every time, they said, "We're out." Every. Single. Time. Even with their resupply truck sitting in the parking lot behind us, loading new stock in.

Brian's gone now and Amy and I haven't been to Sonic since. Then, earlier this week, a brand new closer Sonic opened. And yesterday, Amy and I decided to go there (inadvertantly cutting line).

Lo and behold...they had them. They had them!

TOT BABY!!!!!




Oddly, I think his name is Horatio. I don't know why. It seems far too big a name for this little guy. Isn't he adorable?

Yep. That's the excitement of my life, folks. Teeny, tiny tot baby acquisition. Cower before my magnificence!

Day 206

Warning: this post is random. It's from July. And it's all I really have time for. Because, truth to tell, I feel kind of like Hamlet looks in this shot. Insane.

Here. "Portrait On the Verge of Madness." Just for you.

Day 205

Steph will probably kill me.

I was going through old shots last night and I saw this one and remembered how much I love it. I really, really do. It's all intensity and ownership and focus.





I heart my big sister.

Day 204

Thanks to the run of fantastic weather we've been having lately, my new weekend tradition seems to be escaping into the outdoors. Saturday I didn't go quite as far afield as I have the last two or three weeks. Instead, I went back to a spot that's just up the road--the Meijer parking lot.

Scoff not! Between the lot and the road, there's a big swath of grassy hill and trees, both deciduous and evergreen, and squirrels and birds and flowers in the spring and summer. And if you step over the curb and walk about six to ten feet, you can sprawl out on the hill and not be seen by people parking or driving by.

So that's what I did. I took a book to read in the sun, but after a couple of pages I put it down and just stared up into the sky, content simply to exist, fingers splayed out in the grass, feeling the coolness of the dirt pressed into my palms.

When I turned my head, I saw the lone leaf above rising out of the grass, looking so remote and stalwart. It felt like a teeny, tiny revelation, though of what precisely, I couldn't tell you.

The moral of the story? Well, if there is one, I suppose it's one of two things. 1) It's important to find out what your soul needs and feed that, no matter what (unless your soul needs, you know, to murder kittens or something). Or 2) you can find enough nature to make a difference in the most surprising places.

It was perfect for enjoying the last hour or so of light in the day. And speaking of the last light, I got this shot with the sunset setting on my camera. How extremely African savannah does this look? I love it!

Day 203

Look at that dainty little puff of autumn fruitfulness!

Why, what's that in the distance? Seems to be a sign of some sort.

I'll get closer.




Perhaps a bit too close to really make it out, eh?




Oh.

Does it count as trespassing if I'm only taking pictures of the sign?

Day 202

I love these shoes. These shoes first came to me as my mother's contribution to my trip to Ireland. (Technically, she sent me money and I found the shoes, but I totally count that). They turned out to be the best choice I could have made for international travel--super simple to slip off and back on at airport security gates.

With these on my feet, I stepped on my first foreign soil (not counting Canada), traipsed over mountains, down beaches, and across fields, climbed onto (and fell in love with) a small plane, danced through an ancient stone circle, and wound my way into a claustrophobic ancient tomb.

Since then, with their sparkly panache, they've taken me several thousand other places, and allowed me to comfortably see a million other things.

Including this lake from this dock on this glorious day.

I love these shoes.

Day 201

I like secluded places. Or perhaps I mean hidden places. Spots that require you to work for them, but, if you can find them, invite you to spend a few moments out of time.



Spots like that bench up there, peeking around the trees. I came upon this spot and thought, "Why, I'd like to be proposed to right there on that bench, looking out over the water." That's right, there's a lake behind me.




I'm clearly not the only one who has associated this perch with love.

Day 200

Err...hello.

This is day 200 and I was going to be all festive and do something seriously awesome (though I hadn't determined what) and celebrate and all that. And instead, I forgot to post entirely. Friend Holly and I had the following exchange at about 3:30 Friday afternoon:
Hols-- "ps. you have not yet posted on your photoblog today …"
Me -- "ARGH! No. No, I haven't. Thanks for reminding me. :) "

After which, it promptly dropped out of my brain again.

And then TODAY I was home sick in the morning and didn't post the required four posts. I'll be doing that now, if you don't mind.

Day 199

I do not have one of those jobs that make me happy to go to work each day. Someday, I hope to, but that's not the current reality. It's a good job, don't get me wrong, but when I haven't had enough sleep (Why? Why did I wake up at 3 in the morning?!), it's not a place I really look forward to spending my day.

So I pulled into the parking lot this morning, five minutes late, already a little grumpy. And then I turned into the parking space--and realized I was facing a frosty wonderland. The rising sun was lighting the crystalline weeds like klieg lights spotlighting the prima.

I tumbled out of the car and raced to get to the best vantage point. In those thirty seconds, the light had shifted just enough that I couldn't quite get the shot I wanted. If I'd been wearing jeans, I would have crawled through and shot this from the other side--might have been better. I hate when you just can't capture what's in your mind's eye--or your eye's eye, for that matter.

This one comes closest.




And this one I just love for the sheer drama of its clearly manipulated self. (The contrast is allllll the way up).



I'm still sleepy, but I'm not really grumpy anymore. Yay!

Day 198

My best friend is pregnant. She's had baby fever since she was 15 and now it's finally happening. And I could not be more thrilled for her!

Yesterday morning they had their first ultrasound/sonogram/whatever you call it. She sent me links to the four shots they took (proving, to her great relief and despite her husband's hopes, that it is NOT twins) and I promptly picked out my favorite, printed it out and taped it up over my computer at work.



Look at the cute, wee thing! I think it looks cuddly and squishy, like an amorphous stuffed animal. little stubby arm buds, ring of adorable tentacle like thingies for feet, and, if you stare long enough at it, the sort of woeful frowny look of a baby lion cub around the mouth. (Try clicking it to make it bigger. Maybe you'll see what I mean.)



See? Right above where the chin is, there's that sort of upside-down v shape and then a line that goes up to what could be a little nose fold? No? Just me? Okay, then.

Amy noted that if it had long ears it would look a great deal like her favorite stuffed animal, Bunny. If I had a picture of Bunny, I'd post it for comparison. For now, you'll just have to trust us.

ETA: Yay! Bunny picture from Amy!



Congratulations, Amy and Andy!