Nap
Tummy fur growing in.
zzzzzzzzz
WordPress photo challenge: Spring
While I still seem unable to follow the WordPress photo challenge series, I am grateful that Heather sent me this week’s challenge. Especially because the topic is spring. I’ve been encouraged by the signs of spring around here in the last couple of weeks. It’s still cold though, and today the 46 degrees (7.77 C) is augmented with rainy drizzle and clouds. It didn’t feel much like spring, but it wasn’t winter either, and after all…anything is better than this past winter, right?
So I headed out on a photographic adventure. I just drove a bit and thought about what things make me believe that spring is finally here. Of course the red-winged blackbird arrival signals spring, as does the goldfinch changing from olive drab to brilliant yellow. But I’ve shown you those before, and I wanted this to be different.
I hadn’t gotten very far along the road when I saw a bit of yellow green far off among the still leafless hardwoods. And I knew. Spring can sneak up on a person when they’re fully involved in their lives, commuting to and from work, filling the weekends up with chores. And then one morning as you’re driving you see a simple willow tree turning yellow green long before the rest of the trees bud out. And there it is. Spring.
So this morning I headed out to a local park, hoping I’d find what I was looking for; the brilliant green of hope set against the dark trunks of tall trees still hanging onto winter.
It wasn’t long until I rounded a corner and found it.
I spent a wonderful few minutes just enjoying the quiet and the water and the green. Then I explored deeper into the woods and found more hints of spring.
But that’s another post.
It’s been a busy week
Have you ever had so much to talk about that you can’t find the beginning? Can’t sort out your thoughts, put down a linear storyline? That’s me right now. I can’t tell if I’m so tired I can’t think straight or if there’s just so much jumbled up in my brain that it’s tangled in on itself and is stuck there.
The last blog post was a week ago and it’s not as if I haven’t done anything since. In fact I traveled to North Carolina for a long weekend to visit family. A family that was celebrating a wedding.
Newlyweds
It was a big day for everyone, but especially for the special couple who got married at the county courthouse on a sunny, windy Friday afternoon.
I wish them a long and happy marriage filled with joy and adventure, self reflection and growth. I know that marriage isn’t always joyful but I think if the partners always keep the other person’s happiness in mind it’s easier.
Heading to the courthouse.
So my advice is to concentrate on each other. At this time in your lives you can afford to slow down and take the time to learn about each other, to explore the world with each other and see how differently it looks from another person’s eyes.
Mostly just enjoy the company, the feeling that someone has your back, that someone is sharing life’s experiences with you. That’s what it’s all about.
Go forth and love.
Celebrate
Wordless Wednesday
Greening of the park
Katie here! Did you have a good weekend? A wonderful Easter? A beautiful Passover? Mama says she’s glad she didn’t invite anyone to dinner because she just slept and slept and slept all morning! I could hardly make her get off the sofa until later in the afternoon when my Dad went outside and started up the lawn mower. Well. That got me barking and Mama decided we should go to the park. Wonder how that’s all related.
So anyway.
Guess what? The burned up park is already green and it’s only been a week! We had the park almost all to ourselves…guess everyone else was home eating Easter dinner.
Mama says here’s a reason we don’t go down the hill and explore the train track:
Hey Mama! What’s THAT?
I didn’t like it one bit when that train went by. I barked and barked at it until it ran away. Got to protect my Mama that’s for sure. I’m good like that.
Get out of here train!
The rest of our walk around the park was pretty uneventful. My Mama made me stand on this stupid log like she does every year. But since I get cheese I don’t mind.
I’ll pose for cheese.
We practiced recall too, once. I got cheese again…and then somehow my Mama lost my treats. So that was that.
Cheese Mama?
No more working for me! I did spend some quality time in the shade under a picnic table getting a drink while my Mama watched the pond. That was nice.
Chillin in the shade
Then we went home and I took another nap.
Yep it was another great day!
zzzzzzz…
WordPress photo challenge
For quite awhile I’ve been getting photo challenge prompts from WordPress on Friday afternoons. They have been so much fun; I looked forward to them eagerly as Friday mornings went by and I’d check while I was still at work, eager to find out what the current week’s challenge would be. Then I’d think about it on the long commute and generally by the time I made our driveway I’d have an idea.
I haven’t received a photo prompt in two weeks, and it looks like maybe there haven’t been any. I’ve always wondered who comes up with the challenges and where they got their ideas and how long they could keep it up. But, still, it makes me very sad to think there will be no more ideas coming. Especially since I couldn’t find what I was looking for on the last challenge “threshold.”
I never did post the photo I thought I might use for that challenge. It’s a stretch, but here you go.
I think of the sky between the old building and the new building as the threshold between time.
This was on the University of Michigan campus, I was wandering around and happened to glance over my shoulder and saw the two eras standing in the bright sunshine.
So there you have it…..’threshold.’ Sort of.
I’m going to miss the photo prompts. I hope they come back. In the meantime if anyone has a challenge for me…well…I’m up for it.
Picture a photo
I’ve been enjoying the photography of Heather in her blog for a long time; she captures life in the north so beautifully. Her photography website showcases her art and if you take a moment to stop and peruse, you can enjoy all four seasons of the beautiful north country in just a few minutes. This winter she had the opportunity to take amazing photos of the ice caves along Lake Michigan, who knows if we’ll ever have another chance to see something like this, so go take a look!
I especially enjoy her photos of the Point Betsie Lighthoue, both because it’s beautiful, and because it’s where my folks went on their honeymoon in 1953. I’ve been there a couple of times myself and have my own photographs, but I’ve never been in winter so I was especially taken by this shot:
I know, I know, it’s a bad photograph of a great photograph! It was hard for me to decide which Point Betsie lighthouse photo to purchase but I eventually chose this one because it was different and because I loved the shapes of the ice in front of the lighthouse. I plan to hang it in my folk’s house down in Alabama, a modern twist on their love of northern Michigan.
Thank you Heather! For taking wonderful photographs that remind me of my trips to the north, and for making them available on your website! I can’t wait to see what you discover next!
Wordless Wednesday: Weekend v.s. Wednesday
Brahms and magic
Saturday evening + the Michigan Theater + the Ann Arbor Symphony = magic. Guaranteed. And even though I knew that going in I was still blown away from the start of this concert until the last thundering applause faded after the encore.
I’m no classical music scholar, I never took a theory class, didn’t play beyond high school until I reconnected through the community band, but I know when I’ve experienced something extraordinary. That happens every time I hear the Ann Arbor Symphony, but this weekend was beyond any expectations I could have had.
Saturday night it was all about Brahms, starting with Academic Festival composed by Brahms in response to being nominated for an honorary doctorate degree. The piece includes several student drinking songs, woven through the music. Who knew that composers back in the mid 1800’s had a sense of humor?
The second piece was The Black Swan: Intermezzo in A Major. What a stunningly beautiful piece of music. Transcripted for orchestra by Bright Sheng, a University of Michigan professor, the piece is based on Brahms’ composition for piano. It’s so beautiful you just have to listen to at least a little of it. Lush, contemplative, you can’t help but let the cares of the week slide off your shoulders as you let the music wash over you.
The last piece before intermission was Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A Minor, played by two amazing young musicians, Itamar Zorman on violin and David Requiro on cello. They played seamlessly, often one began the phrase and the other completed it, almost as if there was a single instrument. Such talent. They so obviously loved doing this piece, and we loved hearing it. Mr. Requiro said it was an ‘indulgent’ thing to play because the first movement begins after only a few measures with a beautiful cello solo. My favorite movement, though, was the third. Listen to a little bit of it; how playful it is. I had a stupid grin on my face through the whole thing.
And as wonderful as all that was, after intermission I fell in love with Symphony No. 1 in C Minor. Though they say Brahms was a bit intimidated by Beethoven you can hear him pay homage to the other composer in this piece. It’s beautiful, from the suspenseful beginning to the triumphant conclusion. And the Ann Arbor Symphony pulled every bit of beauty out of the music. They left nothing in reserve, put it all out there on the concert stage. The audience didn’t even wait for the last note to drift away, the applause started immediately and continued until we convinced them to play us one last encore.
Ann Arbor, you have a gem in your symphony. Every concert is astounding and leaves us shaking our heads in amazement. Even if you don’t think you like or understand this kind of music take a moment and listen to a little bit through the links above. And if that intrigues you go to one concert of your symphony next season, try a little taste, open yourself up to the possibilities. You’ll have an experience you won’t forget. It’s so much more wonderful live and your symphony is..well…there’s no other word…just magical. Attend a concert next fall, let the music take you away, overwhelm you, transform your soul if only for one evening. Go listen to the Ann Arbor Symphony and experience the magic yourself.
You won’t regret it – I promise.
