winter vacation...

i needed a vacation bad.   my sister needed a vacation, also bad. 

key west wasn't an option this year. 

so we went to cape cod during one of the worst cold spells in years. 

it was utterly perfect :)

 

we sat on our couches in our soft pants,

with our laptops, and worked - or played :) - with stuff. 

pictures for me, etsy/facebook for her...

it was a week of art

and snacks and beers

and fires in the fireplace

and hgtv (or the bachelor, or american idol)

and sunrises in the snow and rides to the beaches

and dinners at some of our favorite restaurants... o m g.  

who needs the heat from the sun

when there is good company and hours for putzing?? 

it.

was.

PERFECT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we could not have asked for more...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a day away...

january is a usually a turning point for me, in my life...

when i think back over the years,

big things happen to me in the dead of winter.

• when i was first married, we lived 500 miles from home. i felt lost, the marriage was crumbling and i didn't have any idea who i was.  somehow in january 1979, i took a stand, held my ground, and we moved home.  it was the end of the marriage and the beginning of being an adult...
• i started with lifetouch 34 yrs ago tomorrow - that changed my life and i've been married to them ever since... for  better and for worse, through sickness and in health, through good times and in bad lol
• i started a part time job as a waitress so i'd have enough money to remain living on my own in my little apartment.  on my first day there, i met joey.  :)
• my sister and i took our first january vacation together to key west - the first of many...we learned so much on these trips, some of it surprising.  big things. life changing things... thank you, january, for the lessons of the green parrot :)
• i've had some tough lessons in januarys over the years.  many work trips, many small things that led to big things.  a trip to jamaica that propelled me to change jobs and therefore change my life, a book that i read that inspired me to start a blog, a trip to arizona that helped me speak up with MY voice...so many roads along the journey seemed to begin in january...

so it is pretty fitting that tomorrow is the first day of vacation.  marilyn and i can't swing the key west trip this year so we are spending a week at cape cod.  i expect it will be a turning point.  i am trying to decide if it is time to retire from lifetouch and this week is going to let me try that on, to some degree. 

 

so january 2013, do your thing...

i trust you, you've been involved in many of the best decisions i have ever made. 

i am looking to you to shine your light and show me the way...

a beautiful morning...

i love the snow, when it clings to the branches. 

it makes everything beautiful...

 

 

 

 

beautiful...

as the journey of Beyond Layers comes to an end,

one of the final assignments is to take this image

and enhance it in whatever way seems to fit..

my favorite kind of challenge :)

 

 

i used several actions from pioneer woman and

also added layers of 'evolve' and 'wonderfulmagic' textures,

along with multiple brushes from kim klassen...

to create a collage-type feel...

 

 

foggy weekend...

the weather has been spring-like all week.  and with snow still on the ground, it made for a foggy weekend...
after the week from hell at work, a little fog to slow things down was a very good thing...

 

 

 

 

 

ride into the sunset...

so it was only tuesday and already it felt like the work week was taking a toll...

i had to run to the office supply store for paper and toner, so i grabbed my cameras and headed out. it was only 4pm but the sky was on fire, so i kept on driving, right past the store, right on to the river.

 

and i stayed out there until the crazy colors faded.  it was a stunning display. 

as i was getting back in my car, a young girl came flying up in her car

and jumped out with her phone, taking pictures.

i motioned her over and gave her my spot at the river's edge...

i felt like i was looking at a younger version of myself...definitely a different age, but with the same love and uncontrollable response to a sunset...something about it made me smile at her and at myself, with a whole lot more tolerance and forgiveness for myself for having driven right past the office store. 

 

sometimes, playing hooky for a sunset is very much the right thing to do...

i needed to see it from the outside in to realize that the fleeting things like a fabulous sunset are more important than supply replenishment :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

morning light...

i woke up to a dusting of snow,

just enough to make the whole world beautiful...

 

enhanced with snapseed and a layer of chalkmagic from kim klassen...

sharing with

 Simple Things Sunday.

explore...

my word for 2013 is explore...

i am excited about it, it already has made an impact and it feels like it could make me stretch in a lot of different ways this year...

on friday morning, i went to the sunrise at the river like i do as often as i can.
i feel like i have photographed every bit of this little road along the river,
yet it calls me back day after day, season after season...

friday, i purposely 'explored' different angles,
and played with my macro lens.
i drove through the field instead of staying on the road, exploring a different section of the floodplain.  all in all, a great friday morning,
thanks to my new word...
 

 

 

 

then, on saturday morning, when i was driving to the river,

again the word 'explore' made its impact. 

i turned around and drove AWAY from the river,

and explored somewhere different for the sunrise.

i used to go to different places all the time but so fell in love with my secret river road that i've spent easily six months going there almost every day. 

by exploring some place different, two days in a row, i found beauty i was missing.

 thank you, my new word-for-2013,

you already are more than i could have hoped for...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

some images were enhanced with snapseed, some with kim klassen's textures....

snow birds...

a ride to the river, no matter what time of year, is a slice of heaven...

but when the snow changes the background to a simple white

and the birds are willing to gather close, hoping for some snacks,

it is a bird stalker's paradise...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 0 1 3

first morning...

first light...

2013

Connecticut River floodplain

enhanced with kim klassen's textures Providence and Now