Just Do It!

I decided it had been long enough since I'd been out taking new photos, plus I'd been successful in donating blood earlier, and was now able to take the Extra Strength Excedrin again.  Whew.  I really should buy stock in that and Benadryl . . .

So, I took off again for Huffman MetroPark, and in a short 40 minutes, got some shots I'm more than a little happy with!  I really like the challenge of finding new ways to see things, especially when I manage to hold myself to taking pictures every day.

This was one of the first shots I took, and I almost stopped after I got it.  I'm glad I didn't though - this isn't my favorite for the day!

Changed the focal point a little to have more of the reflected sky and clouds in the frame.

I liked the part of the tree w/ the stripped bark - hadn't seen one that was yellow before.

I liked how the V of the fallen tree fit the intact tree, and that you can see the roots from the fallen tree.  I also like the different contrasts in colors and light and shadow.

There's a lot of greenery around, but this shot gives a slight idea of how gently the water was moving here.

I liked how the pieces of what appear to be part of a dock have survived, and that in contrast to the foliage nearby and reflected in the water.

Still not to the favorite picture for the day, but this is another one that's right up there.  We've had so many extremely sunny days with beautiful blue skies and cotton ball clouds that I HAD to get a couple of shots of it.

The flow of the water as it was disrupted by a small island .

I don't have a clue what this plant is, but I liked the spikey-ness.

THIS is my favorite shot of the day.  It's almost made me dizzy a couple of times I've looked at it as the ol' brain tries to figure out exactly what it is I'm looking at.  I think that's why I like it though - it requires some thought.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to capture the almost brush-like strokes of color changes in the water.  It turned out better than I'd hoped for.

And the final shot of the beautiful sky and cottony clouds - the sun highlighted the clouds perfectly.

I had almost convinced myself not to go out for new pics but to take another break.  I'm really glad I didn't because I don't know I'd have gotten the same shots on another day.  Now I'm more motivated to go out every day to take pictures.  The hard part now is deciding where to go!  There are so many great places around here for photographs that it's takes me longer to decide where to go than it does to take pics once I get there!  But it's been worth it - the self-imposed challenge has pushed some creative limits, and encouraged me to try different angles or perspectives I wouldn't have thought of before.

Looking Up

It's been an interesting day.  I had been looking forward to getting some laundry and other things done around the house, just taking my time and then reading and watching movies.  I only got the watching movies part done, and not at MY house!

I'd been up, but not ready to do much of anything other than make a couple of phone calls, and sometime before noon my niece texted me.  I knew immediately that meant she was home from school, which wasn't a good thing.  She's been having a lot of stomach pains, nausea, & vomiting.  She's been to several doctors, and is due for an upper GI on Tuesday.  But, since going off some of the meds she had been on that weren't really helping, she's been vomiting more.  That's why she was home today.  Anyway, she was hoping for some lunch, which I got and took to her.  It was not something that stayed with her for very long.

I feel badly for her because it's been going on for several months, and none of the doctors seem to be able to pinpoint exactly what the problem is.  At almost 15, that's a tough age to be going through all of this (not that there's a good or easy age to go through it).  Regardless, it was great to be able to spend most of the day with her.

I took these pictures of the sky and clouds just outside my sister's and her family's house.  I loved the contrast of the darker clouds with the fluffy white clouds, as well as the blue sky and the green leaves of the trees.


I didn't realize the pics would also be so representative of the day!


When I arrived, my niece was doing OK.  Not great, but not horrible, either.  She ate her chicken sandwich and baked potato, and for a while, seemed to be doing better.  Thought good thoughts too soon, I guess.  I took some Sprite and took the fizziness out of it and had her sip that, which seemed to stay down the longest.


We did manage to watch two movies, one of which always makes me cry.  I love it, and I hate it.  She was watching "She's the Man" when I arrived, and it was kind of a cute movie (Amanda Bynes is adorable in almost everything she does though).  I was glad I got to see it, and that we could watch it together.  Next up was the tearjerker, "The Notebook."  


It's one thing to watch that movie from an objective standpoint, but once you know someone with any form of dementia (Alzheimer's is just one form of dementia, but the most widely diagnosed form), it takes on a whole new layer of meaning.


I'm sure by now you're wondering how in the world clouds, sky, and trees are representative of puking, crying, and dementia.  Well, the fluffy clouds and blue sky remind me of when things are going well; there's no sign of "threatening" weather or troubles ahead, just days where our plans move along and life cooperates with us.  The dark clouds remind me of when I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop; I know something not so good is going to be happening, I just don't know when or how severe it will be.  The leaves and the trees remind me that we survive those "dead" periods when everything seems to be going wrong or at least not much is going right.  Once we are firmly rooted in God, the storms, disasters, diseases, and emotional turmoil are survivable.  They still aren't easy to deal with, but we know who is ultimately in control, and know it will be OK.


I've discovered that looking up is almost always a positive move.