morning light...

keeping it simple...

enhanced with kim klassen's 'simplicity' texture

for texture tuesday

old days, old times, old friends...

the theme for this week's "texture tuesday" is 'story'...

i decided i am going to use this theme as inspiration every day this week.

this first story involves vehicles...

i am not a car person. 

 i can't tell what brand a vehicle is when i look at; and i don't care what it is. 

 but i can describe, in detail, every car i ever owned...

my car is my home.  i'm in it a lot. 

 my job involves driving and i also drive for fun every day. 

 my rav4, which i am in love with, is one of my best friends. 

 we've traveled over 200,000 miles together.  

if a car could talk, my old girl would have some stories to tell. 

so when i see old cars, i see stories..

makes me wonder about the miles traveled and the roads that led to here...

i honor them and all who loved them :)

enhanced with kim klassen's zuzu texture

six word memoir

this week's assignment in Beyond Layers class is to write your 6 word memoir. 

 i believe it's gonna take more than 6 words but the first thing that came to mind was...

the truth is,

i find i look for outside approval more than i should.

my whole life i have tried to curb the impulse to check with others,

my first instinct is to look to them for reassurance...

but as i get older,

 i am learning to measure my growth against me.

not others. 

so when i ultimately grow up,

i grow into ME...

my mother was my first measuring stick.  especially when it came to anything artistic or creative. 

she was my biggest cheerleader, to the point that no piece of artwork or craft item was complete until she oooh'd and aaah'd over it.  she nurtured creativity in a big way.

at work, i look to my boss for the same reassurance, and cheerleading. 

 i always have. 

and when that support is there, i flourish.  when its not, i flounder.

over the years, i came to realize it is a weakness.   i want to be more sure of myself.  

but more than that, i want to develop my own voice, my own vision. 

so i have put myself out there, with my best attempts, knowing the biggest stretch for me is in the reveal.  and the goal, for me, is to watch myself grow.

 i may be a small tree out there among the taller trees, but i am out there. 

 and i am growing :)

picture enhanced with kim klassen's textures - providence and not-too-shabby

six word memoir   www.smithmag.net/

while i wait...

in october, i dropped off my favorite nikon lens to get fixed.

 i have missed it terribly.

three months later, it still isn't back.  

they have been 'waiting for parts' all this time. 

apparently, the tsunami in japan impacted manufacturing...

over the past 3 months, i have been lost without my lens.  i felt blind, like i lost my vision...

sometimes i got angry at nikon.

then i would remind myself of the true losses from the tsunami -

 loss of life,of homes, of memories,

of the past, of the future -

and i would find my patience, regain my compassion, stop whining about my lens...

this weekend, i reached a decision...

nikon needs my support :)

so i went and bought another lens.

not only is this my show of support for nikon -

i will not let you down, i cannot switch brands, i apparently love you -

it also is a gift to me...

i was able to see again.

the first picture with my new 55mm-300mm lens...

it's not my 70mm-300mm, but it will hold me over while i wait...

keep it simple...

simple beauty in an unexpected place...

found this very cool tree in the drive-thru

at mcdonalds today :)

enhanced lightly with kim klassens 'awaken' texture

blowin in the wind...

o p e n . .

texture tuesday, kim klassen, providence texture

desert dreams...

"the phoenix hope

can wing her way through the desert skies,

and still defying fortune's spite,

revive from ashes and rise..."

miguel de cervantes saavedra

phoenix arizona...

a place of beauty, of nature...

soft and harsh,

side by side...

arizona...

teacher of the cycles of life

the twists and turns along the way...

and the endless lessons to be learned...

blue moon...

it was late when i went to find some winter beauty...
but there it was, waiting for me :)

a new attitude...

last january, we had snow, lots of snow.  probably too much snow... 

but it was a winter wonderland to photograph and i loved every minute of it.   

it was cold, it was slippery, it was beautiful...

i realized yesterday that this year i was on hold. 

i was waiting for snow to get out and take some pictures. 

this january didn't have any of the beauty that last january had...

i worked every waking moment in november and december, longing for the peace and beauty of january... 

and yet when it got here, all i saw was gray and drab.

this realization came to me around 3pm yesterday afternoon.

and with it, came the clarity of mind that january WAS beautiful this year,

i just wasn't seeing it for what it was...

i was looking for something different and therefore missing

the beauty that was right there in front of me all along...

so i grabbed my cameras and went for a ride.

and there it was, everywhere...

not only did i have a lovely ride, i intend to have a beautiful january :)

edited with Kim Klassens' Providence texture...

this little light of mine...

my goals for this year...
 - light a light
 - keep it simple
 - see the beauty in the moment

Texture Tuesday with kim klassen's Friday texture, at 100% on soft light...