Wedding Picture to Remember

A mid-October wedding in Upstate NY is bound to be fraught with challenges.

But sometimes--when the wedding is in the afternoon on a frosty, crisp autumn day interesting things happen.

This shot at sunset of Andie and Brian actually top my list of best ever wedding shots.

I like the mist in the background rising off the field in front of the trees and the hues of the sunset as it fades.

We tried a bunch of pictures as the sunset was happening--but this one seemed to be the best!

Maybe I'll enter it into a competition at a fair next year.

Dragonfly Summer

It seems this was a summer to notice dragonflys.

And there were two images that really highlighted our photographic efforts against these ubiquitous creatures this summer.

One in Cocoa Beach while we were waiting for the Space Shuttle Endeavour to launch on July 15th. We were standing on the side of the causeway with some thousand of our newest friends waiting for the launch and Chris noticed this dragonfly striking a pose.

The other while we were doing a nature walk on Merritt's Island--just north of Cocoa Beach about two weeks later.

I can still smell the damp, musty odors of the trail and leaves on the nature walk as I look at this picture.

It was hot!

But our friend dragonfly was trying his best to keep the pesky mosquitoes away.

I must give credit where it is due--Chris took both of these awesome pictures!

But I still hold fond memories in my mind of both of these experiences.

A Sunny Afternoon in a Quieter Place

So after my brief respite at the beach, the other day. I began to think--I wonder what my best images of 2009 really are? Not that some are more or less better than others--but some just express an emotion that really helps me to remember the fonder times as I struggle through the dark days of this season.

This image--I call Monticello Monarch, and although taken during our early October trip to Charlottesville, VA; it caught my eye for its color and contrast.

As we strolled around the walking path outside Monticello, Chris and I came upon this very busy butterfly--probably just preparing to migrate to warmer climates for the winter. I wish I had migrated along with the butterfly.

I can still smell the flowers in the gardens and enjoy the leaves on the trees in my mind. And I also remember the winding trail through the woods as we walked down the mountain from the main house to the visitor center.

Not just an image--but a memory!

Christmas Gifts--Men vs. Women

And there it was--an article I linked to titled: "The Gift That Needs Forgiving," or "Gifts You're Better Off Not Giving." The title made me smile and I clicked the link to read more.

And this article was so true! the differences between men and women when it comes to Christmas gift shopping and giving.

There are a couple excerpts from the article I want to share with you:

Of course, gifts between couples can backfire in either direction. But—please don't shoot the messenger—men seem to be more clueless than women.

Women tend to care more about gifts. They shop more, and think more about them. They attach more emotion to them. And they can be more demanding and less direct. (If I ask my husband what he wants for the holidays, he will say "nothing" and mean it. If he asks me, I will say "nothing," as well. And God help him if he believes me.)

Making matters even worse: When it comes to bad gifts, women have the memory of elephants. Take Donna Clark Goodrich. In 1962, she asked her husband for a recording of Handel's "Messiah." Instead, he got her a parody LP of the Kennedy family by impressionist Vaughn Meader. "I've never let my husband live that Christmas down," says Ms. Goodrich, 71, a writer in Mesa, Ariz.

If it weren't for the gifts and all the shopping and all of the stress--I think Christmas would be a great holiday!

The eating is good, the parties are grand, and the general jovial nature of people in holiday spirit is fantastic. But it is the gifts. We even make fun of the gifts at office parties by having white elephant gift exchanges or Chinese gift exchanges.

We need to listen to each other--but the article continues later:

Then why so many bad gifts within couples?

It's simple, really. Sometimes men aren't listening to their wives. But just as often, women aren't clear about their desires. They want men to pick up on their subtle clues, rather than telling them outright what they'd like. As one woman I know explains, "It means we are special to them if they detect what we want without us telling them."

But here is the bottom line:

And there's the rub. When men receive gifts they hate, they typically shrug them off. Women, faced with the same dilemma, feel hurt.

Really? Now I think I understand.

I admit, there have been a few gifts that I have not appreciated that I continue to hold on to the memory of--but for the most part I couldn't even tell you what I received last Christmas let alone from who! Except for Makayla from everyone--but she was probably one of the greatest Christmas gifts I ever received, well at least since my first bicycle when I was a kid. I still remember that Christmas morning . . .

OK--the solution to the gifting problem!

Women need to lighten up and men need to listen up!

Merry Christmas

Waiting to Relax

I needed to get to my happy place for a bit.

I went through my pictures of last summer in Florida. The diving, the partying, the walking, the visiting, the watching the shuttle launch.

This was the one that most expressed my happy place---palm trees, sand, and a wicker chair in the sun on the beach!

Ah, and the memory of the day, too! Lunch at the Islamorada Fish House and a sweet day in the Florida Keys!

I can see myself in the chair, sipping a great glass of wine and having a conversation with someone about the way the waves are crashing on the beach. Following the fish as they swim in the surf and keeping an eye out for the occasional seagull or other shore bird. A Christmas light wrapped palm in the sand to lend light as night falls and I haven't moved.

It certainly is a long way from the foul weather we are experiencing right now. And the dark days!

Fear and Joe Bag-o-Doughnuts

"I'm not afraid O' nuthin!"


Really?


"Nope--I got everything I need and what can I possibly be afraid of?"

I guess--he's a healthy guy, being that way. Or is it that he is so afraid of something that he has buried it deep within his soul and it is now out of touch--that is until something sets it off?

What am I afraid of? Not getting everything done in time for Christmas and the New Years party! No really?

Really--I have got to get the ceiling of the kitchen painted--and I'm just not up to the mess. I hate painting and I'm afraid of all the places the paint will wind up other than the ceiling.

Fear must be an important subject this year. I have heard about it at church and on the radio while listening to country music. It is the season for joy (and fear!).

I guess we have a lot to be fearful of--but it seems fear is caused by not dealing with those deep down darknesses that we carry around as baggage. Like death.

Jesus said: “Do not let your hearts be distressed." (John 14:1a - NET Bible) and then he went on to say why--"You believe in God; believe also in me." (John 14:1b - NET Bible).

Keep it simple, keep it direct, keep it believable and know why.

Joe Bag-o-Doughnuts may not think he's afraid of anything--but when crunch time comes, as it does for everyone of us--we need to have our faith in the right place to address and even conquer our fear. I guess if ignorance is bliss--Joe here is in nirvana!

So what does this have to do with Christmas?

It seems that this is the time of year when our fears begin to take root in us and strive to overwhelm us. It may be due to the "dark days" as I call them. After all the Winter Solstice is mere days away. Stand fast against fear--

In March 1933, one of the great Presidents of the US, Franklin D. Roosevelt, made, in his inaugural speech, a statement about fear:

"let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

I urge you to read FDR's speech for an insightful commentary on the year 2009!

So--happy holidays and do not be afraid!

Monday Musings - December 14, 2009

1. Christmas shopping? Maybe I had better get on the stick and start/finish mine. So far everything I've gotten for Chris she helped buy! Hmmm! There needs to be a surprise in there somewhere.

2. At least all four football teams did not lose this weekend--and two of them are actually remaining alive for the playoffs. (Cowboys and Ravens)

3. I actually heard a new Christmas song this past week--a much needed break in between "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" and "Silver Bells."

4. News flash!!!! I am tired of rain, gray, and gloom! The weather better improve or else I'm going to file a complaint.

5. I have determined that there is probably no better procrastinator on the planet than me! Tomorrow, I've got to make a change.

6. Guys: How many shopping days until Christmas? One--Christmas Eve!

7. Women: How many shopping days until Christmas? Which one? I'm already working on next Christmas, too!

8. We went to a fantastic Christmas party--a different wine for every course and of course I found one that was really nice AND unavailable! Oh well--that is the fun of wine--the searching for that perfect vintage which combines everything you like in a wine. And everyone can have their own because there is no right or wrong answer.

9. I am finally beginning to get over the rotten sinus infection that has been plaguing me for the better part of three weeks! Yay, just in time for Christmas.

"Ours is Prettier"

The true, sage words of a four-year old when comparing grandma's tree to the one at his house: "Our's is prettier."

Wow--sometimes when someone gives you an entirely honest assessment without any hint of malice--it is funny!

Ethan was visiting for the day, while the family was preparing to gather later at his house to celebrate more birthdays. He was doing his usual exploration of the grandparents house to determine what had changed and what was the same--when he cam upon the Christmas Tree.

Of course your tree is prettier--it had better be because your Mom and Dad put it together and you helped!

But it was funny, and true, and oh so honest an assessment.

We wouldn't have had it any other way!

And it made us smile at yet one of those long forgotten, but nice to know realities of life as seen through the eyes of a four-year old: "Life at our house is better than anywhere else! And don't you forget it. "

Merry Christmas.

Snow Village(s) 2009

most everyone knows that one of the really exciting things that happens around the house at the start of the holidays is the set up of the Snow Village.

This year, though--the village was deemed to be too big and so we divided it into two different villages.

One is in the family room--the one with the gold back ground and the other is in the dining room. We are enjoying it much more this year because we can see it daily and enjoy it every night.

It brings a bit of Christmas cheer to us as we watch TV or enjoy our meals.

Better yet--it means we have more space and are able to add a few more pieces this year!!

We still do not have a drape for the one in the Dining Room--but I am told that one is in the works.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

Dogs--Who owns Whom?

In addition to our energetic one-year old keeshond, Makayla, we have another more sedate dog--a 16-year old Yorkie, Zach. Zach weighs all of 4 lbs and has no teeth, so it is not like he is a threat to anyone, just himself. I used to love naming our animals after historical figures and so his real name is Zachary Taylor.

I have had other animals named after historical figures such as Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun (both were cats). Our daughter has a beagle named Jefferson and I'm not sure whether that is for Thomas Jefferson or Jefferson Davis--both could apply. We also had a cat named Hans Ludwig, after the somewhat crazed leader of Bavaria, Ludwig II, who built a number of impressive mansions and castles in the Bavarian Alps. So the names tend to run the gamut of famous and infamous. I even had a cat named George, for George Washington.

But this morning Zach reminded me that it is he who allows me to live with him and not the other way around. It seems the animals tend to take on the characteristics of their namesakes in some ways.

Zach likes to head out on what I call "walk-abouts" through the neighborhood every so often. While I don't approve of this and usually stand by the door to ensure he comes in as soon as he has accomplished the primary purpose(s) for being outside, this morning, believing that it was too cold for him, I wandered away for a short minute. This was the same as giving Zach a green light to conduct a walk-about !

Well, he was gone for about 15 minutes--a short one today due to the cold, but the funny part was that I went to the door about four times to call Zach and looked for him up the street--but it being dark, I did not see him.

Here's the rub--when he decided to saunter back to the homestead and wanted in--he barked a mournful bark. The expectation was that I would immediately open the door to allow the small traveler access to the house. How do I know this? Makayla barked and Chris advised me that the dawg was home!

So--I ask--who owns whom? I think we're kidding ourselves if we believe that we are the ones in charge!