One thing is certain, and I have always known it - the joys of my life have nothing to do with age. They do not change. Flowers, the morning and evening light, music, poetry, silence, the goldfinches darting about

-May Sarton

A dreary, rainy day. I spent some of it taking photos of birds. If you hit the little arrows you can see more photos.

It is like a new pair of shoes, you put them on and they feel a bit strange. You bravely pass your old shoes, comfortable and worn to shreds, as you walk out the back door. It takes time to adapt to the new shoes. They are clean, and more colorful, which makes you smile, but also they feel foreign on your feet, but you stick with them, because you know they are what you need. You think you might save your old shoes for times when you need something old and comfy, so you leave them by the back door, just in case. And sometime later you find the new, colorful shoes alone in the bedroom closet, unworn, and waiting. You slip them on, smiling because they really do make you happy, and once more bravely walk to the back door, where you pick the old ones, open the door, and walk them out to the trash.

““Memory runs along deep, fixed channels in the brain, like electricity along its conduits; only a cataclysm can make the electrons rear up in shock and slide over into another channel. The human mind seems doomed to believe, as simply as a rooster believes, that where we are now is the only possibility” 

― Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

“You seem to look upon depression as the hand of an enemy trying to crush you…Do you think you could see it instead as the hand of a friend, pressing you down to the ground on which it is safe to stand?” 

― Parker Palmer

It’s late afternoon and the sun pops out so I jump in the car and head down to the tiny park not far from our home. It is nothing to write home about, this park. But if one follows the trails that lead into the forest you can almost pretend to be out on a hike. Or if you choose to head in the opposite direction, you find a small shoreline along the lake. Often I am the only one there. On this day I walked towards the wood, looking for dabbled light and signs of spring. I had not gone far when I climbed over a fallen tree to get closer to these buds. Suddenly my foot became tangled up in old blackberry vines and I almost fell. I lost my shoe, but managed to stay on my feet. I stood still for a moment, just to make sure I was steady before allowing myself to breathe. I was safe. I think about this feeling safe and find that so much of life is learning to balance ourselves, to stay grounded, to not fall. And if by chance we do end up on the ground, we must use what stamina we have left to find solid ground once again, and move forward. Don’t we owe this to ourselves?

 

“Be joyful because it is humanly possible.” 

― Wendell Berry

Amongst the errands, I manage some time alone to walk down by the lake. I find I don’t need hours to explore, I just need to get out for a bit. For if I approach life with the right attitude, I can always find something that brings me joy.

I sit by the back door, camera in hand, and watch the birds. The sun is out, the sky is blue and I feel myself relax into this time alone, untethered to nothing more than what I see before me. I am, for a few minutes anyway, in my own little world, doing just what I want to do. I am reminded by my friend Donna in this beautiful post, that this is what this season in my life is all about.

I am getting better at waking with the whole day ahead of me and filling it with things I want to do, rather than things I think I need to do, be it for myself or others. I am getting better at asking myself, “How can I . . . ?” instead of “Can I …?” I am getting better at giving myself time to just be, allowing some room to consider what might be.

I was pleased with this little series I captured one morning of this black-eyed junco. It is almost as if she was telling me something. She landed, considered her options. and then turned her back on me and flew off. She had other things planned for her day, and I appreciated that.

A dog comes to you and lives with you in your own house, but you do not therefore own her, as you do not own the rain, or the trees, or the laws which pertain to them ... A dog can never tell you what she knows from the smells of the world, but you know, watching her, that you know almost nothing. . .
-Mary Oliver

Each week I take a photo of Baker and post it in a group on flicker. The group is full of like-minded dog lovers who like to take photographs of their pups. I almost always wait until the last minute to take the photo (it has to be posted by the end of Sunday each week), but Baker is always willing to pose, especially if there are treats involved. Baker is a fun subject to photography. He has tons of personality, and I try to bring that out when I photograph him, but I often get hung up on his eyes, his sweet face, and his heart shaped nose. This is week 1-9.

Here are some facts about Baker::
he is a 15 inch tri-colored beagle
he is four years old
he is our second beagle, our first one we acquired via one of our sons, when he took a job out of the country
he is named after Mount Baker, which is a beautiful mountain in our neck of the woods
he is scent driven, making it hard to let him run free
he sleeps with us, yes, sometimes under the covers
he is very stubborn, but also gut-guided so we always have a treat on hand
he can be a bit emotional, pout if the house is full of people or other dogs
he can be fast asleep in the other part of the house and hear the cheese being unwrapped in the kitchen

Baby Baker


In my life I have taken hundreds of photos of tulips. Here are two more.
The hardest part is deciding on a color. Yesterday, I chose yellow.

As human beings, we, by the definition of our very natures, can never be perfect. This means that as long as we are alive and kicking, we can be improving ourselves. No matter our age, if we always have a project to which we can apply ourselves, then we will wake up every day with an objective, something productive to get done. This allows us to go to bed at night in the peaceful knowledge that we have done some good, gained some achievement, however small.”
- Nick Offerman