Spring (happily!)

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted. Shamefully long. What can I say, work and life got in the way.  I don't want to go into the gory details of the long hours in the office, but thankfully a bit of the time keeping me from this blog was spent having fun.  I went rock climbing for the first time, enjoyed some good baseball with friends, started a book club, etc. 

And I had the honor (with my friend Laura) last weekend of being my friend Lauren's wedding photographer (can't wait to share those pics!).  She got married at City Hall and the reception was at Queens County Farm Museum.  What a neat spot, tucked away in the middle of Queens, a little farm with animals and hay rides.

To warm up, so to speak, for the evening of phototaking, I stopped on my way into the farm to take some photos of these tulips.  Oh, tulips! How happy they make me!  They are such a sure sign of spring and the end of cold, dreary winter.

(Queens County Farm Museum, photographed May 2011)

Heading to the Desert...

I have exciting news. I'm headed to New Mexico in a few days to volunteer on a Navajo reservation.  I can't wait to get away from my desk and out into the sun, to meet some great people and do a little good for someone else.  Will have to tell you about it later, because it's way past my bedtime as I type this post.  So just enjoy these photos from my field trip with Meghan to the d.c. botanical gardens in the meantime. 

(d.c. botanical gardens, photographed February 2011)

A walk in the garden continued...

After seeing my last post, my friend Dara commented that the photos were "pretty!" but "also sort of strange," because "orchids are weird-looking."  I can't say I disagree.  Orchids can be quite beautiful but really are odd-looking.  I'd try to espouse on some metaphor or simile with greater life meaning, but I have a headache and am ready for bed.  So you are on your own for that one.  Just enjoy these photos and the orchids' strange beauty.

(U.S. Botanical Gardens, DC, photographed February 2011)

A walk in the garden...

As I mentioned in my last post, I was in d.c. last weekend with my friend Meghan.  It was a sunny but very windy day, so we took shelter at the botanical gardens.  And I took full advantage of the opportunity to take photos of all the amazing flowers, which included several dozen kinds of orchids.  Big ones. Little ones.  Purple with white spots.  White with purple spots.  Ones that looked like dancing fairies, and ones that looked like evil monsters.  It was quite the collection.  Mind you, there are some 20,000 types of orchids, but I think I would run out of space in my memory card if they were all at the botanical gardens in d.c.

(U.S. Botanical Gardens, DC, photographed February 2011)

Dreaming of Spring

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent the long weekend in dc with my dear friend Meghan.  We had a brief reprieve from the cold, dark winter during my visit.  It was sunny and bright, so Meghan and I took to the streets of the district.  Unfortunately, it was also windy, very windy.  Meghan and I had no choice but to take shelter from the fierce gusts.  Luckily, we were right by the U.S. Botanical Garden.  We quickly decided that these greenhouses would not only be a great way to enjoy the sunlight without the blinding wind but also would give Meghan a chance to cross something off of her dc bucket list of things to do.  Oh, and there was free admission!  I love that about dc museums.     

The many gardens full of colorful blossoms and exotic plants would also give me a chance to break my streak of uninspiring days without photography and start taking some photos again.  (Meghan had thought of that, too, as a reason to visit the gardens.  She's such a great friend).  And boy, did I have fun.  It reminded me of visits to the Mitchell Park Domes -- the botanical gardens in Milwaukee -- with my dad during Christmas breaks when I was younger.  We'd go, cameras in hand, to take a break from the cold winters of Wisconsin and practice taking photographs of flowers. 

My love of taking photos of flowers has not waned since those days with my dad.  I took a lot of photos at the U.S. Botanical Gardens with Meghan (ya, expect more posts on flowers), but what I loved about these is the dream-like composition.  Suits my mood, in which I'm dreaming of spring.

(U.S. Botanical Gardens, DC, photographed February 2011)

Flutter By...

"Just when the caterpillar thought her world was ending, she became a butterfly."

I love that expression.  I'm not sure who originally coined it, but I stumbled upon it while reading a sky mall magazine on a long flight.  You know the sky mall magazines, right?  Full of junkity-junk and crazy contraptions that no one needs and you wonder who even thought up such wackadoodle ideas.  (But truthfully, I want some of the crazy but completely unnecessary items. Shh!  Don't tell anyone!)  

Anyway, sky mall magazine was selling some piece of jewelry or bookmark or piece of rice or something with this expression embossed upon it.  As ugly as the item was, I found the saying to be so beautiful.  Maybe it was the wine I was drinking, but this slightly cheesy expression really struck me.  I may have teared up just a little (okay, that definitely was because of the wine).  But wine or no wine, it hit a chord close to home.  I went through a lot of change in the last year and a half, but, like the caterpillar, my world didn't end.  I've -- dare I say it -- flourished.  So, when I was looking at these photographs I had taken at a butterfly exhibit, I was reminded about how far I've come from my little caterpillar days.  See, now I'm the cheesy one.  I might as well buy that embossed piece of rice.

(Butterflies at Milwaukee Public Museum, photographed May 2010)

Things I Like

I wouldn't ever say that winter is my favorite season.  It's not.  It's cold and dreary and, while I enjoy snow when it frst falls, it just gets grey and gross way too quickly in New York.  However, there are some things about the season that I adore.  Here are some of the things that have made me smile so far.

1. Hikes in the snow with friends.

2. First kisses at winter weddings.

3. Cups of hot cocoa with whip cream (and bourbon!)

4. Wisconsin barns as seen from the side of the road.

5. And snowmobiling in the snowmobile capital of the world, Eagle River, Wisconsin.

(Various locations, photographed December 2010 and January 2011)

Over the River and Through the Woods...

As I mentioned here, my dad and I ventured to Eagle River, Wisconsin, to see some of my relatives for Christmas.  In particular, my dad wanted to surprise his mother -- my grandmother Ethel -- with this holiday visit.  Because of various reasons, we hadn't seen her for Christmas in a really, really long time.  Too long of a time, in fact.  But rather than let her know that we would be there for Christmas, we instead simply showed up unannounced at her front door, presents in hand, on Christmas Eve.  (We had checked with my aunt that Grandma would be around, of course.  Didn't want the trip to be a complete waste).  I was just a tinsy-bit concerned that we would surprise Grandma a little too much, but no one keeled over from a shock-induced coronary during our visit, thankfully.  Grandma was tickled pink to see us, and we were happy to see her as well.  We talked and laughed, opened presents and posed for pictures.  Although Grandma as shy before my big camera, I still managed to take some nice portraits during our weekend holiday visit. 

(Grandmother Ethel, photographed December 2010)



Christmas Cheer

It's almost time for Christmas and I can't wait.  Mind you, there's a lot to do before I can relax and just take in the holiday.  Last minute presents to buy, packing to do before fighting the crowds at the airport, and, of course, lots of assignments to finish at work.  But that doesn't stop me from feeling some Christmas joy.  I planning on blaring Christmas music at my desk today and counting down the days until I can officially celebrate.  "Tis the season.

So, in response to my earlier post on Christmas, my friend Laura asked if any of the photos were taken with my lensbaby (lots of links for you to follow!).  None were, but that got me thinking.  Why don't I take some photos of my Christmas tree with my lensbaby?  Deep thoughts, right?  Honestly, though, I hadn't taken photos with the lensbaby for awhile.  In an almost shamefully long time.  But I immediately knew what about the lensbaby I would use to capture my Christmas cheer:  the star- and heart-shaped aperture disks. 

And ta-da!  My tree as re-envisioned by the lensbaby. 

(my Christmas tree, photographed December 2010)

Purring with Delight (B&W)

Meow.

Back-to-back posting on cats.  I wasn't going to do this.  Because I'm not a crazy cat lady.  

But it's been a while since I've participated in Black and White Wednesday, hosted by the Long Road to China.  I've been lax in posting to my little blog, thanks (unfortunately) to work and life obligations.  In November, I managed to scrape together three posts.  Three.  In the entire month.  No wonder I've been so grumpy and uninspired lately.  So now I'm making a concerted effort to keep these creative juices flowing.  And, in doing so, found these great black and white photos I took of my dad and stepmom's cats and thought these would be perfect for black and white Wednesday.

And that's how I got to back-to-back postings on cats.  Not because I am a crazy cat lady.  These aren't even my cats.

You have to admit, though, that these are cute cats.  Even if you are not a crazy cat person yourself.  Little Isaiah -- the one with the stripes -- was very perplexed at what I was doing, following him around on hands and knees, taking photos.  I think you can see the curiosity written on his face  in a couple of these photographs.  Luckily for my parents, however, curiosity did not, in fact, kill the cat.

(Noah & Isaiah, photographed October 2010)