Month: April 2020

It’s amazing how much time I have these days. I’ve been staying in one place for several weeks now, forcibly slowed down from my usual go, go, go mentality. I can’t go see all the things “out there” so I am noticing more of what is “around here” and especially in my current backyard. That little lizard at the top of the post? I was looking at the new batch of iris blooms last week when I noticed it jumping from table to patio post. And then it did that little thing where it stays stock still and displays a…

It’s National Library Week (April 19-25) for 2020. My county’s library system is closed for visitors, but, thankfully, e-book borrowing is still available. I’m not the only one who is a fervent customer these days. But then, I grew up on books… Every Saturday when I was little, my mother would scoop us into the car and we’d drive to the library. And then we’d drive to another library. Sometimes, we’d drive to a third library. You see, each library had a 14-item limit on checking out books. My mother would blow through that in way less than a week,…

Last week’s photography challenge, A Different Angle, made me realize I’d fallen into a rut, in photography and in life. As a photographer, I was looking at things within a foot of my eye level. I was going for the easy stuff: flowers, trees, and old houses. Looking lower to the ground last week, I saw bushes and little flowers and critters that I would have otherwise missed. Looking up last week, I saw beautiful blue sky and white puffy clouds. The challenge was a good push to change my way of looking at the world. In my daily life….

Yesterday felt like a really long day, for some reason. I decided last night before going to bed that I was “taking the day off” on Friday. I’d sleep in, read a book in bed perhaps, eat a late breakfast, and do whatever the heck I wanted. As it turns out, all I really needed was some play time. And for me, play time often involves my camera and a willing subject. The irises showed up again this morning, so I snipped one off and let it float in the little puddle of dirty water that is the backyard birdbath…

Today, I listened to an interview with the astronaut Christina Koch, who recently returned to earth after spending 11 months in low-earth orbit as a resident of the International Space Station (ISS). When Trevor Noah asked her how she thrived in such a tiny space as the ISS, she answered: “It’s all about how you frame it, and your attitude.” To illustrate how we can change our perspective, look at this sky photo. Isn’t it beautiful? Guess what? It’s actually a photo of a puddle of muddy water on the ground. All I did was flip it around and crop…