another new year

Hanging out on New Year's Eve, with one of my oldest friends, and thinking about making resolutions. The last few years I've resolved to do things like 'laugh more,' along with all of the usual 'be healthier' ones. Laughing more was a really great goal, and I'm glad to say that I think I did. This year I think I'm going to give myself permission. Permission to do what I want, and not to do things I don't want to do.

I turned 45 recently, and you know what, I'm old enough now. I can do whatever I want. This is truly the mid-point of my life, I mean who really gets to live past 90 years old? I can decide to be happy. I can take some chances. I can try things. I can even fail, if it comes to that. And I will give myself permission for that too. I've never been good at trying things where I don't know the outcome, I'm really not a good risk-taker. I hate to lose, or to do poorly, or to fall. 

I can... no, I will live my life today, now, right this moment. I'm so tired of waiting for something to happen, for things to go the way I want, for that elusive 'happiness' to find me. Darn it, no one is in charge of this ride but me, and I need to let myself drive. 

Anyway, this is a photo blog. So here are some photos you've never seen. A photo opportunity that presented itself just over a year ago now, actually. A chance that I took, and which didn't really hit the mark. But it was such a great experience. I learned so much, and I don't just mean technically, with a new wide-angle lens that I really just wanted an excuse to buy, but about putting one foot forward. One small step. 

Here's to a great New Year... one step at a time. 

in-studio with Michael and Heather

(as always, click photos to enlarge them)

heirlooms

heirloom: (noun) a family possession handed down from one generation to the next; (adjective) being an old variety that is cultivated again.

This is a post about history, and my flowers, but first I should explain a little about my house. I live in my grandparent's house. They built it, back in the '40s. I love that. My grandma and grandpa originally lived in the house next door, and my lot was their garden. Then the city wanted to develop this neighborhood, so they told them to build a house here. In my basement, we found my grandpa's book "how to build a bungalow" which he used to build this house. So, two houses, next door to one another, and they put them both up for sale. The other house sold first, so my grandparents, my mom, and her sister, all moved into this house. This is where my mom grew up, until she graduated from high school and married my dad. Grandma and grandpa lived here all of their married lives, until he died in '83. I rented the house from my grandma for several years, after she fell and had to go to a nursing home, and then I bought the house after she passed away in '03. I love living here, because I can feel them both here, and I love the feel of the history in the house itself. I've tried not to change too many things, so it still looks and feels like the home I remember as a little kid. Sure, my stuff is here, but I'm just a caretaker of sorts.

In my yard I have flowers that have always been here. Tulip bulbs that my grandma planted, I've made sure they are replanted every year, and they come up faithfully for me every spring. Sometimes the squirrels mess with me, and I get a tulip in the middle of the yard, but if it is yellow or pink, I know it's one of grandma's, and I smile. And I have these fantastic gigantic peonies in the back yard. Both white and pink. Or at least I used to. This year, for some reason, I only have the white ones.

I think the bunnies liked the pink ones so much, that they burrowed beneath them, and killed my flowers. And this just breaks my heart.

I know these peonies are "heirloom" to no one but me, but I love the darn things. They're high maintenance, they have to be caged just to keep them upright, and they last for such a brief moment in time; but when they are in bloom, they are enormous and lacy and glorious, and they smell fantastic. And, most importantly, they remind me of my grandparents.

summer night

This past weekend was a really good one. It had elements of all my favorite things: friends, family, food, live music, and of course lots of things to photograph. Friday night I was fortunate to get to hear one of my favorite bands play here in town, and I shot some photos of their show. It was a gorgeous warm night, and sometimes on nights like that I frequently just drive around with my cameras. As I was leaving the club and wandering around the Capitol square, I rolled to a stop, and shot this one out the car window.

This city is so beautiful at night.

sunny day

A couple of weekends ago, I had a good friend come into town for the weekend. It was a gorgeous sunny spring day, and the weather was unexpectedly great for that early in the year. I met my friend for lunch on campus, and afterward I headed up to our Capitol hoping to shoot some photos of their amazing tulips.

The Capitol gardeners plant these gigantic tulip bulbs each year, with a differing variety of colors on each side of the building. You really do have to walk around to experience them in all their wonder.

We'd gotten a few nights of frost the week before, so I was a little worried they might already be gone, but they were still glorious, with the sunlight shining brightly through them.

Many miles and several hours later, with a sunburned forehead, and a camera filled with happiness, I started to head back home. And then this little moment of Parisian flair walked by and made my day complete.

céad míle fáilte

A hundred thousand welcomes.

That's how I immediately felt upon arriving in Ireland, as our little tour guide in her red jacket hustled us out of the airport, and out into the sweet sunny spring air of Dublin. We landed early in the day, and had the whole afternoon free to explore on foot, so we immediately hit the streets in search of food and drink.

Irish stew, soda bread, and a Smithwick's, of course. 

We had beautiful warm weather, and were so happy to see that spring was already in full bloom. We saw churches and cathedrals, fantastic architecture in the cities, and moss-and-ivy-covered stone walls out on the countryside.

Christ Church, Dublin

Bunratty Castle, so beautifully furnished.

Some of Dublin's famous painted doors. 

King Edward VI's famous double doors.  

As we drove from town to town each day, we saw so many rolling green hills, and rocky hillsides dotted with sheep. So many sheep! And all of the brand new baby lambs, which I just could not stop photographing. I absolutely loved how green the countryside was, just as I had dreamed it would be.

And no matter where we went, there was always the sea. From the quiet beauty of Galway Bay, to the dramatic windy Cliffs of Moher...

"Like the gold of the sun, like the light of the day, may the luck of the Irish shine bright on your way. Like the glow of a star, and the lilt of a song may these be your joys all your life long."

love.

I have about a zillion and a half photos that most people have never seen. Albums upon albums of travel photos, pictures of my city, my family, my friends, bands that I love, gorgeous places and faces that I've come across. But tonight I'm snuggled up with my tiny, soft, furry, purry kitty cat Tasha. And I realized I've got more pictures of her than probably anyone else I've ever known.

She worships the sun, and can never be too warm. 

She loves to be snuggled. And she has the loudest purr I've ever heard.

She doesn't seem to mind being photographed from way too close. Which I love. 

My last cat, Charlie, had these fantastic enormous gigantic feet. Like a bobcat or a lynx. Really big paws, it was so cool. And she was a polydactyl, so she had extra fingers and toes on all four paws. One of the first things I noticed when Tasha came into the family, is that she has these teeny tiny little kitty feet. 

And they amuse me endlessly. 

At Tasha's last geriatric checkup, the vet pointed out to me that she is something like 17 years old, and will probably not need another rabies shot, because they are good for three years... I wasn't at all prepared to hear that. Because Tasha herself has promised that she will never leave me. This cat is going to live forever. 

But just in case she can't, I will keep taking a million more photos of her beautiful face. 

red-tailed hawk

Some of my friends may have seen the photos I've taken of my neighborhood red-tailed hawks. I've seen them for years in this neighborhood, and their nest is near my office building. I love to watch them sunning on the window ledges of the office, and frequently get to see them flying around during the day as well. Their wingspan is amazing, and to see the white and brown of their under-feathers as they fly overhead is fantastic.

Lately I have been lucky enough to see them hunting at midday, from some tall old trees very near my house. That these beautiful birds have been close enough to be photographed, just fills me with wonder.

And I hope they continue to visit often...

(click photos for full size)