Sandy Hook One Year

I've done some "blubbering" today as I read accounts from the parents and friends around that terrible tragedy from a year ago, with it seemingly right in the front of my mind when I think of my own boys and how precious the many years with them have been. Even more so when I think of my young grandson and the short lives of all those young children.

I saw the image that I am posting here, and thoughts instantly came to mind around the innocence and transcendence in the enjoyment of life by the young. If we can continue to find value in who we are and what we do into old age we truly have completed an accomplishment worthy of this life on earth. I was struck by symbols here, metaphor in the absence of the "makers" and the object of an angel as the subject of these simple inventions. There is a spirit around us whose ways I think we will never understand, but it will always help us "feel", be it joy or sorrow!

My nephew and his family visited this weekend. He and his wife and two young girls.

Single Digits & Drawing on the Window While Sitting in Traffic

It was cold this morning, I saw single digits (8º) and so when I had a moment while the traffic was passing, I drew in the frost on the window. I don't know why, it just came through as a happy face!

December Studio

Much to do for the holiday season, and I enjoy making many of the things I give to people. This past week it has been fused glass earrings. Here are shots of my studio work space and the cooled pieces this morning as they came from the kiln.

Silliness

These photos, while relatively untouched as photos go, provoke a sense of playfulness for me. While the Dragon, Chicken, and Pig are a fixture on the top surface of my Apple "Mini", I really would have to reach for significance there in terms of constructing some sort of meaning. The pig has been around for a while and I guess (s)he just stuck to me as a symbol of corporate greed (practicality to the more conservative). The Dragon adds a spiritual sense as dragons are one of the more mythical, yet very strong in some cultures, figure/creatures, while the chicken (notice that (s)he is plucked and seemingly expired) expresses the futility of life (as a chicken).

The second photo, for me, was like an aftermath of a hurricane or tornado, except the dichotomy is in the bright colors and even geometric shapes. This is an image I would really like to play with by superimposing some destruction, perhaps showing the "media" ambivalence that develops in many after seeing so much of death and destruction. For me it started during the Viet Nam War, looking at the number of soldiers killed every day in what I remember to be the upper right corner of the front page of the Bangor Daily News. Intense, and I didn't even know it at the time.

Another Frosty Morning

The field was all white this morning from the frost last night, and the detail as well as the overall covering was phenomenal. Now as I look over these few images, I wish I had taken a macro lens to capture the detail of the frost crystals on the grass. Maybe tomorrow or later this morning. Here are the images.

Turkey Day 2013

We devoured vast amounts of "bird" today, having our house guest (a four year old whose family is at risk) and our niece and her husband, along with a "plate" for our brother-in-law and nephew. Pies, vegetables, rice, and of course, stuffing rounded out the menu. I'm just posting a couple of shots of the "aftermath". I don't know why I don't just post more aesthetically pleasing pictures, but that's not the way I like to dance! Here you go with views of the "picked meat" and the "carcass". There really wasn't much left of the carcass when all was said and done.

Odd Eclecticism

So these photos are kind of an odd mix of the past few days, one of which I have posted on FaceBook but can't resist archiving here as well.

The obvious "cuteness" which I attribute to many of the photos I take of my grandson and the pride in my photos is not really necessary to explain or reflect upon here as I have done that so often that it has become a simple matter of finding and providing a new context for each set of images. Funny that I say "sets" because that is how I view a lot of the groups of pictures I take of him; they often catch more than just a moment in time, maybe several at once.

The image that really captured my interest was the apple caught in the tree. As it sat there suspended it was eaten and softened by time so that even the little holes in the chewed surface provided a visual interest, perhaps a face or some sort of creature that evolved from the shapes and forms of the decaying apple. Apples always fascinate me, but this one seemed to have a particularly interesting affect.

Simply Spectacular Sunset

... and I had a few variations spring up as I was shooting these images. I watched this sunset develop the last six or seven miles from home and felt that I may well have been too late to capture it all at it's peak. I got what I got, and these untouched photos reveal the deep saturation of color at that time of "dusk".

Oak Leaves are Fading

As it gets colder here in the Maine November, the leaves on trees have all but disappeared and the mornings are so much more frosty now. These shots were taken at the edge of dark and they are the same tree that I photographed in the previous post.

The yellow color has turned to a deep, yet still beautiful, brown and the edges of the leaves show more wrinkling and erosion than just a week ago. Ahh, nature and the coming of winter.

Oak Leaves and Carrots

These two items seem to be the toughest at hanging on after the summer has passed. The Oak trees are beautiful right now with their bright yellow hue, even after most of the other leaves have passed their color peak. The carrots also cling on into November and we left a few in our garden for harvesting next month. Even with the ground frozen on top, they seem to thrive in their bed of soil.

We "hilled up" our carrots this year and they have a much shorter and plumper profile.

The individual Oak leaves are amazing and I caught these two backlit in the morning sun. There is almost a personality to these that I find fascinating.