batman and his teddy bear

we've had weird weather of late...one minute beautiful and practically springlike and the next sleeting down small balls of ice (too small to really be hail) between cracks of thunder. but nothing stops the 365 photographer and especially nothing stops batman. especially when he's with his teddy bear.

keeping the threads together

as i continue to take a photo every day, i've had cause to ponder why i continue. haven't i taken photos of everything in my surroundings? is there ever anything new? why do i do it? the community that was there in the beginning has dissolved, so that's no longer why i do it. is it just a habit at this point? do i move my photography towards a better place with these daily photos? or is it just a mundane plodding along that i do out of habit?

very early on in my first official, declared 365 project (2010), i realized that the project wasn't about taking an awesome photo every day, it was about memory and about finding something every day that i wanted to remember, a kind of visual documentation of my life. that was back in 2010. here i am, still going strong with my daily photo and when i look through my various iPhoto libraries (yes, i have multiple libraries, because once they reach a certain size, they make my now elderly iMac a bit unhappy and sluggish, so i have to start a new one), i realize that i pretty much began taking a photo every day when i bought my first DSLR in may 2008. i may have missed a few days there in that first year, but from 2009, i have one or other photo from every single day. even husband relies on this, sometimes asking me, "when was it we got the first chickens?" or "what was the date we picked up the pigs?" - because he knows that i'll have a photo of it that will help us remember.

my 365 project hasn't had a specific theme, other than the odd assignment i've given myself from time to time. it's been documentary, most of all. but nonetheless, you can trace my various interests and obsessions and yes, even my travels, throughout. not every photo is brilliant, in fact, probably only a very few of them are, but it does somehow contain throughout the threads of a life...my life. and for me, that's reason enough to keep doing it.

you can see much of it (from 2011 onwards) here, if you're interested.

glorious, healing autumn light

these glorious mornings of spectacular light are precisely what i need to fortify me for the day. breathing in the cool, crisp autumn air, walking through the dew-laden grass, past sparkling spider webs, surrounded by the golden, warm light is the very best start to the day. i'm so happy to have animals to feed so that i get out there and savor these moments every day. some mornings, it's like the golden light flows into my very veins.

some days, i'm more grateful than others for the fortification of the soul that these mornings provide. there are days when it seems like the little things (colleagues who don't return your good morning, loud phone conversations that make it impossible to concentrate, displays of lack of respect for people's depth of knowledge and passion for their work) chip away at your energy, draining it away. but then, i think back to the light and the play of the fog and the cool, crispness of the air, and breathe on through it...letting the memory of the light once again deliver the healing energy and return me to center.

happy weekend, one and all.

2013: the year in 36 pictures

january

february

march

april

may

june

july

august

september

october

november

december

limiting myself to three photos from each month was difficult and much more happened than is visible here. but looking it over, it seems that cats figured rather heavily in 2013. molly, frankie, frieda, tobias, stella. it was also a fairly creative year (in fits and starts anyway).  i got much more involved in my community. i think that was good for me. we had a real summer, with weeks of sunny days and that was good for me as well. i began a new obsession: lego minifigures. we lost our chickens to chicken rustlers and we got new ones, who finally started to lay eggs as the year drew to a close. trees (and other things) were felled by storms. we made progress on the house and on the garden. it was, for the most part, what you would call a stille og roligt (quiet and calm) year.  but perhaps i've reached an age where that's a good thing. but now, i'm looking forward to whatever 2014 brings.

the old man and the sea

i took these photos several years ago and stumbled onto them when i was perusing an old iPhoto library the other day. i don't think i ever used them in a blog post, or at least i didn't have any recollection of doing so. i can't decide which of them i like best.  i hadn't had my camera for very long back then and i'm sure i was using automatic settings, so i can't really explain the difference between the photos, other than that i must have moved a little bit and the camera decided on a different shutter speed in between the two shots. i can't decide whether i like the slightly overexposed one best or the darker one.

i can tell you, tho', that my photography has improved dramatically since then. it seems that practice does make perfect and taking a photo every day for nigh on five years means that you inevitably get better. in fact, i was looking through those photos from the early days and cringing a little bit. but we all have to start somewhere and we have to learn and perfect our techniques and slowly improve. all those photos i've taken have been steps on a journey and represent one of the longest sustained efforts i've ever put into anything (other than gathering academic degrees). i've come a long way, baby. and it will be interesting to see what kind of photos i'm making in another five years.

which of these photos do you like best? and why?

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speaking of photos:

really interesting article and series of photos of male affection

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speaking of the sea, the operation to right the costa concordia began today (live stream here).
here's a great piece on how they're going to do it.
they say due to hull damage/weakness, they've only got one shot at it.

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 interesting review of 1000 years of european history via an animated map.
it would appear it hasn't been easy to be poland.

flashback friday

the beauty of digital photography means that you can access your memories right there in your iPhoto library (or if you're me, in 4 different iPhoto libraries). so i thought i'd take a little stroll down memory lane to what i was doing at this time in years gone by.

we were in istanbul

on july 26, 2004

in july 2005, i was in the badlands of south dakota.

in july 2006, i was in cape town.
and my hair had grown out a bit.

on july 26, 2007
i spent 21 hours traveling on a train to skopje, macedonia from ljubljana, slovenia

husband worked on our a-frame greenhouse

on july 26, 2008

stupid bitch we sold the house to tore it down
oops, was that out loud?

i relaxed in the garden with my laptop

on july 26, 2009

proof that there was sunshine,
but i had just received news that my favorite professor from college died

on july 26, 2010

i came home with dark hair and bangs

july 26, 2011

sabin and mom and i explored old abandoned houses
july 26, 2012

where were you this time last year? or the year before?

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in light of my newfound mantra: you are a mashup of what you let into your life, i've signed up for a fortnight of self-adoration with kylie ballard. it's free, and there's a facebook group, what's not to like? you should join us too.

fabulous ice formations or those mole hills are good for something

we've had really mild temperatures so far in january, but a couple of days ago, it turned cold. it must have frozen at precisely the right pace for these amazing ice crystals to form on top of a fresh mole hill. i happened to notice it when i went out for a vitamin d walk when the sun peeked out for a few minutes the other day. i've never seen anything like them - like the water was forced up out of the ground as it contracted and froze and flash froze the water as well (you can tell i am a literature person and didn't pay attention in science class, but you can see what i mean in the photos). very grateful for my photo every day habit - it's what made me notice this at all.

2012: a year in 36 pictures

january

pinky the pony. 44 swans on the lake and memse the norwegian trotter. it was cold, but the light was already returning.

february

more wintry weather. ice skating on the lake. cold, clear, sunny days. february had an extra day and this year, we didn't mind.

march

pony rides, jump shots, unseasonably springy weather and homemade goodies.

april

bunnies, signs of spring, nettle gnocchi. and the light, oh, the light. in these northern latitudes, we are so grateful for its return.

may

my daily drive - i love this road. and the rapeseed flowers were amazing, lining my path ahead. frankie was a special kitten already then and we knew we couldn't part with him.

june

an idyllic house on a winding country road, frankie growing up and fleamarket finds. june was a bit cloudy, but not bad nonetheless.

july

a photo "class" for children at my local library. riding camp. and a fabulous bloggy visit in a hot, humid minnesota.

august

struggles to bring home a little minnesota kitten named molly. baby chicks galore. and glorious summer light.

september

experiments in homemade tonic (it was a win), a smiling tween (we're learning to cherish that sight) and frankie growing up fast.

october

the pear tree went a little nuts - so i canned pears and made pear-ginger jam. i discovered anne brodersen's amazing work. and we entered (and didn't win) a cake contest.

november

a return to creativity that was mostly dorment (except in the kitchen) in 2012 with felted stones. and more cats - frankie's mom produced some little stripey siblings and he turned into a truly handsome grown-up cat himself, with a coat like a mink.

december

sparkly boots sparkling in the snow. blue skies and frost. a visit to a favorite place.

what were the highlights of your 2012?

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wowed by this photography - such beautiful natural light. and he's danish!

looking through the photos under living took my breath away.

i must learn to make photos like this.