SUNDAY POST: Favorite Place

Jake’s topic this week is Favorite Place. This could be as small as a corner or as big as a city. I mentioned on one of my other posts, one of my favorite cities is Quebec City. I haven’t been there since I’ve had a digital camera so I had to go back to my photo albums for a scan. Here is a photo of the city as viewed from the river.

My favorite (small) place is my “dining room.” We have a table at one end that we almost never use (we tend to eat in the kitchen), but at the other end is a couch where I have my tea in the morning while I read and write in my journal, usually with one of my kitties on the arm of the couch beside me.

So you are wondering why there is a Christmas tree? Technically, it isn’t one; it is covered with birds. A woman I used to work with raffled it off for a charity donation, and I won it. I keep it up all year long and decorate it for the seasons and different holidays. My cats have made it a little worse for the wear, but I’ll enjoy it for as long as it lasts. As I sit on that couch I get to look at my books and my plants…ahhh…that’s comfort.

 

“…every room is a little showcase of its occupants’ values and personalities. Every room is about memory. Every room gives us layers of information about our past and present and who we are, our shrines and quirks and hopes and sorrows, our attempts to prove that we exist and are more or less Okay.”

Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

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Naptime with Zoee

Naptime with Zoee

You don’t like me napping –

not now —

You burst the sun into my darkened room

giddy with your brilliant gift;

you stand on my stomach

kneading my middle-aged dough

with gusto.

In return

I knuckle your soft brassy cheeks,

admire your whiskers

arresting as the moon;

you push with your purring face,

fit it tight and

warm under my chin.

I’m awestruck and still;

stymied intentions discarded.

I know how fragile this is:

Just breath and taste

this momentary bond

complete.

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Sunday Post: People

Jake’s topic this week is a broad one: People.

Jake talks about community, that made me think of events where people get together. Whenever I attend a get-together or family event I try to take general “crowd” pictures as well as close-ups. They aren’t the most artistic shots, and the composition isn’t always the best, but that isn’t their purpose for me. I take them to try to show the flavor of the event — what it was like to be there.

This is a photo of a birthday party/lobster fest last summer. People are in line to get their plates of food; notice all of the smiles…people are looking forward to eating!

If I’m lucky, when I look at the pictures after the fact, I see interactions going on between people that I didn’t see at the time.

This was an engagement cookout. You can tell who the couple is by their gestures and because there are two cameras snapping away besides mine!

Finally, I didn’t take this one (I’m the one with the silly green hat). This was taken at a Christmas luncheon where a bunch of us were singing Christmas carols. Looking at the photo, though, the woman on the left clearly said something funny or embarrassing!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitary

Some activities are by nature solitary: such as reading or writing. Certainly for those activities, people seek out quiet places where no one will disturb them. Somehow I would feel intrusive taking a photo of someone in the midst of those activities…they are choosing solitude for a reason.

So for this Weekly Photo Challenge topic, the camera must be unseen and virtually nonexistent, the subject unaware, totally concentrated on their activity.

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Hey You! Get Outta My Sun!

Zoee settled herself in a wonderful patch of sun from a skylight.

 

Aimee, perhaps envious of Zoee’s sun, wanders over and begins to bath Zoee. This is a ploy I’ve seen both use to kick the other out of a spot. Make it impossible for her to sleep — annoy her until she leaves!

 

Zoee puts up with it, maybe even enjoys it at first, but she’s wise to this game. She lets Aimee know that she is wise to this strategy and tells her I’m not going anywhere. Aimee doesn’t give up easily.

 

Then…Zoee says, “Fine, make me resort to force!”

 

Aimee tries to pretend that she’s leaving of her own accord; she doesn’t care about Zoee’s sun patch

 

After all, there’s another just down the hall and it’s better! Nah-nah-nah, nah-nah.

 

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SUNDAY POST: Autumn

According to the calendar, it is not autumn yet in my corner of the world, but Jake’s topic this week is timely as far as what I see outside.

The leaves are starting to tint. Some unhealthy trees have already lost some of their leaves because of the drought conditions of this summer. The nights are cool; the AC is off! YAY! The garden is winding down.

And the stores are selling their autumn wares. (Some are even selling Christmas stuff…SERIOUSLY?) Fall festivals are taking place on small town commons. The farmstands are selling squash and gourds, cornstalks, mums, and pumpkins.

I love the fall. I love the weather, the colors, and the feeling of the air. Happy Autumn everyone!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Everyday Life

It’s funny…somehow I got it in my head that this week’s Daily Post topic was Everyday Items. So as I worked on taking photos and composing the post in my head I went off the beaten track a little. Instead of interpreting the topic as an activity, I was simply considering items in the house that are used everyday.

My husband is the cook in our house, and a great one at that. These are his can’t-do-without seasoning keepers; he doesn’t use shakers. I have no idea what the true purpose of these items are, but I don’t think this is it.

It’s funny that as long as an item can be used as we wish, we can become attached to it, though it may not be the nicest or most modern. This mug tree used to be in my grandmother’s house. We could certainly get something more modern or more attractive, but to me this works and I have a small reminder of my grandmother every day as I reach for my teacup.

That being said, I now have to comment on the mismatched mugs. They remind me of different times in my life or the person who gave me the cup. My husband and I have much nicer cups: ones that match our dinner plates and ones that aren’t chipped (I keep thinking I should throw out the mug with the blue flower, but I can’t bring myself to do it yet), but these are the “everyday” mugs and represent real life to me.

This mug is my present favorite and I use it every day (unless it is buried in a sinkful of dishes). Books and cats…for me there is nothing better!

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Wordless Wednesday: Contemplation

Zoee contemplates the passing of another day…

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Sunday Post: Morning

I don’t get up and about early enough to get sunrise shots, so when I saw Jake’s topic, Morning, I knew my interpretation would not involve that.

But part of my morning routine this time of year is that when I go to the stove to make my morning tea, I always look at my morning glories. I actually have them in a pot on my porch with something for them to climb on, of course. Though it isn’t tall enough, and they make their own way.

They actually climbed into a neighboring window box surrounded by snapdragons and clover.

And they haven’t stayed confined to the porch. Seeds got scattered the rest of the yard…I saw one growing in the midst of the butterfly bush!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far

The example provided on the Daily Post for this challenge is a beach scene. I hate to be a copy-cat, but a photo of a beach is a great example because you can see a long way into the distance: everywhere else it seems there are homes or other structures blocking our view.

So beaches are the only place near where I live that you can see for a distance; these are taken at two different beaches along the Atlantic Ocean.

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