Project 365 - Magnolias in the Wind

Today was a bit on the windy side.  A front is coming through and rain is expected later tonight. I seize my moment to shoot a bit before 7pm.  Gentle light seems to be bouncing everywhere, washing my magnolia with a blush of pink.  The wind took them.  Large mops of petals shift and sway agains a tangle of bare branches.  Movement, a swish of spring.

Project 365 - Tucked Away

I have been gardening this plot of land for over 10 years now.  The peace I find here can not be defined.

I know every inch of ground.  I can show you where the groundhog lives, where the deer travel up and down the bank on their way to the creek.

I have allowed volunteers to sprout between the heavy Avondale bluestone that I pieced together into a rustic patio out under the 80 year old cedar trees, just behind the 100 year old boxwood.  Baby hosta, brunnera, and heuchera peek their tiny green heads up out of the soil that has been fertilized with cedar needles.

There is a carpet of moss that covers the rocky soil out behind the garage.  This time of year the entire expanse flushes emerald.  It covers rock and root.  If you take your shoes off the softness gives way to cool, moist spring soil.  The last of winter held under that green.

Out by the drive, just off the back deck stands an ancient lilac.  It is in pretty rough shape.  Every year as I do my early rounds, I wonder if it will make another full season.  Part of it is hollow and broken.  I have had to prune back sizable branches in an attempt to secure another year intact.  But this lilac is full of surprises. It has already begun to send it's little green leaves out to greet me, and tucked away in her hollow a piece of whimsy lives. A welcome, gentle grin that even I did not expect.

Project 365 - Spring Bloom

I went into the woods today with Maddie, my dog, and my camera.  Maddie took me down to the creek.  She was in search of tadpoles and minnows.  I was in search of my next shot.  The dog was just in search, following her nose.

We ambled our way along the creek bed for a while, marveling at the changes of season that had occurred since our last visit.  The skunk cabbage are reaching skyward now, puncturing stubborn, thick oak and maple leaves that had blocked the journey toward the sun.  The emerald moss punctuates the brown and gray of fallen trees and rock set free from the winter earth.

Maddie showed me where and how to cross the creek.  She hops from stone to stone with ease.  I keep my feet dry somehow.  I wandered away for a while and when I returned I found Maddie barefoot in midstream, hot on the trail of a crayfish that had darted out from the rocks along the bank.  The dog had gone to greet a neighbors Jack Russell that had decided to investigate our presence.

All along I have planted my tripod.  Here to examine and record the swirling line and rough texture of a log.  There, to shoot the burgundy margin of an emergent leaf.  All worthy subjects.

We fanned out on our way back up the bank toward the house. Maddie went off to explore the old ruin that is nestled in the gully. The dog ran up and down the bank four times before I even made it to the incline.  I wandered into a patch of briar requiring me to slow down and place my steps carefully.  I stopped, looked down.  I was surrounded by milky white stars floating above speckled leaves and red stems.  Heaven come earth on the first brilliant, warm spring day.

Project 365 - Lemon Yellow

I am not sure why I played with this lemon.  It was there on the counter and I thought, hmmm, let's see.  It gave up it's seeds for me and my lens.  The ultimate sacrifice.  But it was really it's lemony color that I needed.  It's reminder of warmer days.

Project 365 - Beatlemania

I grew up listening to the Beatles.  The cliche about their music being the score for my youth happens to ring true for me.  From gangly little girl to an almost sort of adult, it seems, that The Beatles were there.

The most amazing thing about this music is, that to this day, it still surprises me.  I am amazed at the poetry, the complexity of the harmonies, the sophistication of the arrangements, the experimentation and utilization of instruments.  But mostly, I am surprised and amazed at how many Beatles songs I actually know the words to.

Tonight I went to a show at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.  A local band performed two Beatles albums, Rubber Soul and Revolver, all the way through, with a little Abbey Road and a bit of the White Album thrown in for good measure.

At one point, my daughter, Maddie, turned to me and said, "Wow, Mom, you know every word to every song!  Do you know ALL the Beatles songs?"  I just smiled ear to ear and said, "Yes, Maddie.  I believe I do."  She smiled back and we danced and sang on.

See?  Amazing.

Project 365 - April Fool

A week or so ago, I began to spruce up the garden a bit.  The winter, as always, had taken it's toll, knocking chairs end over top in the freezing winds we had this year. I righted my garden fairies that had given way to the weight of the snow and ice.  And on a wonderful 60 degree, sunny, spring day I brought out some cushions. Vibrant color to tide me over until the flowers in the garden take on their rightful role.

And then, today, nature put me in my place.  Just another April Fool.

Project 365 - Still Small

This is Jizo.  He is a tiny little fellow that sits on a table in my front hall.  In Buddhism, Jizo is the embodiment of the Bodhisattva Vow, the aspiration to save all beings from suffering.  He is also said to be the protector of life's travellers through the Six Realms of Existence, guiding them through both the spiritual and physical.

I love that he is most often depicted as a child.  The idea of innocence and serenity taking the weary through all states of existence from Hell to Nirvana.  Waiting with tiny hands for each rebirth.