Photography

Happy Thanksgiving!

/ still a dreamer

Thanksgiving, to me, is always the epitome of fall … glorious foods in colors and flavors of autumn grace the table, there still may be some tawny leaves on the trees, and just the right chill in the air. It’s the last major holiday before our thoughts turn to snow and Christmas, trees and gift-giving. Thanksgiving seems the culmination of fall, and then a whirlwind of different flavors and colors surrounds us.

We sometimes have to be careful that in our anticipation of great dinners and watching football and Thanksgiving Day parades that we don’t lose why the holiday was so named, a day to give thanks. I thought a few words from those who’ve pondered this holiday might be in order …

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.  ~Meister Eckhart

Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal.  It’s a way to live.  ~Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear

If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.  ~Robert Quillen

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.  ~G.K. Chesterton

Gratitude is the music of the heart, when its chords are swept by the breeze of kindness.  ~Author Unknown

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

 

The Joy of Images

/ still a dreamer

One of my friends laughs at me when he stops by and looks at my computer. Why? Because my desktop is always different.

For the same reason that I have at least 6 calendars around the house, I change my desktop daily or have images rotating on an hourly basis. And usually on a theme. It’s a continual art show, and for whatever reason, it makes me happy. Right now, not surprisingly, my desktop theme is fall, and here is one of my favorite images from the photo folder of the same name.

Because my mind seems already primed to want to look at beautiful images, and I’ve spent a fair amount of my life engaged in photography, I am also quick to grab fantastic photos,  (copyright free, of course), and squirrel them away. But it’s not as time-consuming as it sounds. It’s really more of a drive-by kind of experience.

I have folders on all kinds of subjects. The only one that is potentially problematic is food. When I have that dark chocolate bark with almonds on my desktop … well, you can only imagine what happens.  Mmmmm … maybe I’ll put that up tomorrow.

The Delaware River – Post Hurricane Irene

/ still a dreamer

There’s not much I could possibly say about Hurricane Irene that hasn’t been said 50 ways from Sunday, but I can post a couple photos of what the Delaware River looks like post-Hurricane. I went out this morning to take a look – fast-moving, brown, and carrying all manner of tree and other debris. This is already post-crest stage, but the Delaware is so high as to have inundated trees, docks and some buildings across the way in PA. I had taken some photos awhile back, thinking it was high then – which it was – but what could be seen on the PA side in March 2008  – not even visible.

The Delaware in March 2008

The Delaware August 29, 2011

And a different view taken from the nearby bridge to PA, looking northwest, taken in February 2009

And although in a different season, it can be seen that after Hurricane Irene, the bases of all trees are totally submerged. Those of us who live so close to the Delaware River continue to be thankful that the lay of the land is such that she has never, since 1955, approached our homes.

Springtime Whispers Green … and White

/ still a dreamer

Who can wait? After 2 solid months of not seeing the ground in my part of the state, every soul eagerly awaited the slow greening of the Earth. Despite the fact that we were greeted this morning with a light blanket of snow – not so unusual for March in New Jersey – I’ve been noticing the telltale signs of Spring each day.

One of my favorite indications of Spring is the noticeable pairing off of Canada geese … mating season has begun. While seemingly indiscriminate flocks abound all winter, they now pair off with their bonded mates, and can be seen everywhere in couples. For whatever reason large numbers of geese no longer migrate South for the winter, and have become a “nuisance” animal to some, I still love watching the faithful pairs and their protectiveness towards each other.

I notice other signs of Spring as I drive, such as the cut stalks of last summer’s corn now sheared to the ground, which will soon be ready for tilling. I passed a local farmer in his orchard, pruning his sleeping peach and apple trees. I noticed small clusters of snowdrops peeking through the ground as I walked to town the other day. Perhaps most encouraging, just the lightest veil of green wisping about some of the trees … telling me that soon the world will be lush and verdant. All this is amidst the ever-growing morning song of birds returning from their winter havens.

And, as always, it seems mere moments from the first greening that the world will be in full bloom.

This morning, however, the Earth tried on her lacy white gown just one more time before tucking it away, soon to embrace her own lovely, green rebirth.

Winter Sunset

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

“Your eyes register only a limited degree of the creative vibration that makes up everything in creation … Those persons who have perceptive eyes enjoy beauty everywhere.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

 

(Thanks to my friend, Pat, for sharing this lovely quote.)