Blah No More

I've been having a pretty crappy day.  Sinuses are all plugged up, stupid people are everywhere I turn, and I'm tired.  The 2 hr. dozing nap helped a little, but not enough.  Guess it's definitely time to turn to the photos for a mood lifter!

I went out to Cox Arboretum the other day, mostly to see the new tree tower and see if I could make it to the top of it.  Physically that wasn't an issue.  Mentally and emotionally, I didn't quite make it.  I'm afraid of heights.  This structure is wooden, with a beautiful spiral staircase.  It was a very windy day.  Whether or not it really happened, by the time I neared the top, I felt slight movement in the structure and decided I'd gone high enough.  It was high enough to get some good shots of the tops of trees w/ the leaves changing color, as well as some of the pine cones clustering near the tops of trees.  I was VERY glad to get back down to solid ground.

Now that I selected the pics to share w/ y'all, I really am in a better mood.  I'm hoping that once they're uploaded to the blog and I make a few comments, I'll be well on my way to a good mood!

No, Mr. Duck, when you live at a MetroPark, you have absolutely NO privacy.  Besides, you're so gorgeous, you should be used to people stopping and staring at you.

Once again, I was as intrigued by the shadows as what caused the shadows . . .

Nice, bright, and colorful flowers that just made me smile.

The newly opened tree tower.  Pretty cool, but this girl prefers to be on the ground level . . . it was worth the climb, and I will try again to see if I can make it to the top.

Looking up at the tree tower from the ground.  Love the symmetry and geometric shapes.

I liked the way this tree looked at ground level, but there was something more intriguing about it when seen from above.

These branches were relatively close to the tree tower, several landings up.  I think I made it at least one more landing up after this one!

Back down on terra firma, I looked up to see these pine cones almost directly above me (quite a few feet above me, really).

I really like the Monet bridge, and thought it was interesting through the trunks of two trees.

More colorful flowers that made me smile.

This contortionist duck made me laugh, too.  I got about 5 shots of her preening, but this is my favorite.

In all of the trips I've made to Cox Arboretum, I've always looked for this border collie, Zipp.  He is a working dog at the park who keeps the geese away from the pathways.  This was the first time I'd sighted him, so I had to make sure I got a picture of him.  He seemed more interested in keeping an eye on the people walking around than on these ducks.  But since they weren't near the pathways, I'll cut him a break!  Would have LOVED to have been able to pet and play with him, but he was working.  Darn it!

Yes, I'm in a MUCH better place than I was when I started this post, emotionally speaking.  One of the many reasons I love photography - it has the ability to transport me to another place and time and completely change my mood.  When I'm out looking for pictures, it does the same thing, so it's definitely a win/win situation.

Sweetest Day

I had a feeling it was going to be a great day when I started on my morning walk . . . well, after I turned around and got my cell phone that I'd left on the charger.  I'd decided to take my camera with me to get pics of the "new" elementary school that took the place of two schools I'd gone to.  I was looking all around me as I made the trek, and found a few interesting things to photograph!

We're just getting to the end of April, and here come the pine cones!  That just messes with my sensibilities somehow.

This reminded me of a miniature wreath . . . Christmas in APRIL????

A couple of Irises almost ready to bloom!  This is so strange to have the plants so far along already.

I thought this was a funny angle . . . perspective IS important.

This is the new school.  It combined two elementary schools that were back to back.  I went to 2nd and 3rd grade in one, then 4th-6th in the other.  With the fencing, and the cupola, I think it looks more like a prison than an elementary school!

I love construction equipment, and this particular piece had some interesting shapes to it!

I think there is something drastically wrong with the next three pictures.  It's getting close to the end of April, when most kids are more than ready to be playing outside, yet the playground at the school is off limits.  The old playground has been torn down, but the kids can't use this lovely equipment!  I can only assume it's a liability issue since no protective/cushioning cover has been put down around and under the equipment.  I think somebody messed up their planning BIG TIME.

I liked this tree stump . . . it has the weathered and aged, interesting character look to it.

 

This house is where I attended first grade.  Back in the day, there were so many elementary school age kids that we didn't have enough schools to house them all.  So, the builder of all of the homes in the community offered the school system the use of homes for kids to attend first grade for a rental rate of $1/year each.  The houses were modified slightly to be able to accommodate approximately 25-30 students.  Many of us walked home for lunch because the only other option was to bring our own - no cafeteria here!  It was a great experience since kindergarten was not required at that time.

I got a nice 2 mile walk, some interesting pictures, plus a trip down memory lane (remembered where several friends lived when we were in school as I walked by them, and then some of the fun stuff we did).  Then I got home to find the animals ready to entertain me!  The squirrel cracked me up with the way he was perched there on the end of a branch; he kept looking for something, but I never figured out what it was.

I don't know why, but I haven't noticed many robins the last few springs.  This isn't the first one I've seen this spring, but it's the first one I was able to get a shot of.  I did finally see a blue jay in the redbud tree, but I didn't have my camera with me.  :-(

Then, just as I was thinking about getting up and going inside, a minor miracle occurred.  A red bellied woodpecker flew onto the redbud tree, closely followed by a beautiful cardinal!  It's not clear as I'd like, but I managed to get a picture with BOTH of them in it.

The icing on the cake?  When visiting Mom today, it was a pretty darn good visit.  She was joking around and laughing.  It's so wonderful to have those kinds of visits.  More icing on the cake?  I spent the evening with friends, talking and laughing and having a great time.  It's definitely been my sweetest day so far this week (and maybe this month).

Taxing

 Tax Day 2012.  This year, the taxing part has nothing to do with paying the government.  It's been a physically taxing day . . .

Just finished mowing the lawns, so I figure that was at least the equivalent of a mile walk.  I'm seriously considering going for a walk around the 2 blocks that make up a mile in a little bit, and I walked a mile this morning.  Might as well do it while I feel up to it.  Oh, and I won't feel quite so guilty while eating my mushroom pizza later . . .

Back yard before mowing

Back yard after mowing

I'm not seeing a huge improvement between these two pictures.  But, I guess for that to happen, someone would actually have to work on pulling or killing the weeds!  Sorry, I don't do weeds (yet?).  I figure if I can mow them down, that's good enough for now.  The Queen of Procrastination shines.

Let's see . . .  I've walked at least 2 miles so far today, done two loads of laundry, mowed the lawns, and discussed photographing a wedding.  As far as stress levels, I'll take the physical walking, laundry, and mowing over the stress of photographing a wedding!

The person who asked me if I would considering photographing her wedding is an aide at Mom's assisted living facility.  I don't have a problem with her, or any of the other aides.  I have a problem with the level of stress I would put on myself to do a good job.  Since I love photography, I would want to produce excellent photos (each one,  not just a couple of them); if it were my wedding being photographed, I would want one beautiful shot after another and then have a difficult time deciding which pictures I liked best.  Those expectations are what I would want to deliver for someone else.

I have photographed a few weddings before.  I was a nervous wreck the entire time, each time.  The first two were with film cameras, so they were extremely high stress.  The last two were with digital and film cameras, and were in some ways easier.  For one of them, I wasn't the official photographer, so that made it a whole lot easier to deal with.  

My half-sister's wedding was a whole 'nother story!  Loved the pre-wedding and reception shots.  I'm not a big fan of posed photos, so I really didn't like that part.  Since it was family, there was a lot of grief from family members about how long it was taking, why weren't we finished, etc.  SO glad it's well behind me.  I did get a few pictures that I loved, but they were candid shots.  I need to find someone who likes to take posed shots . . . 

So, I'm waffling about this potential wedding "gig."  I know a couple of people who've gone through the community college photography course, and I like their work.  MAYBE one of them could join me and reduce the stress??  That's the most taxing thing I've dealt with all day!

Time to go walk around the blocks (pizza's due in an hour).