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Morning in late summer over our local wetlands.
To see more interpretations of ‘morning’ click on the link above. Or, check out a few of my favorites (so far) here, here and here.
And this one too.
Tag Archives: Photography
Lunch with Mom
Home
But we weren’t like that. We rarely shopped together, neither of us were really into it. We didn’t meet for lunch at little coffee shops, though she made all of us lunch thousands of times at home. No, we weren’t the stereotypical mother/daughter. Plus she lived in Alabama. I lived in Michigan. Each visit I made was a big deal, a family reunion. Something she’d plan for weeks.
An event.
The hellos were wonderful, full of anticipation of time spent on the lake or around the table, all of us together. The goodbyes were heart wrenching, never knowing how long until the next reunion.
I want to go to lunch with my mom. Just a casual lunch, nothing special. I want to talk about her ducks and my dog. Her garden and mine.
Sometimes at night I look at the sky, stare at the stars and ask her to please come home. Please. But I know she is home now, and there aren’t any flights that leave there.
I’m here and she’s there.
Someday I’ll have lunch with my mom. It probably won’t be a casual meal because it will be a pretty special reunion. An event. For now I guess I’ll go make a sandwich and talk to her in my head. About her ducks and my dog. What’s in her garden today, and the tomatoes in mine.
You know – just casual stuff.
Her lake.
Paddling the blues away
Morning light.
My family has come out to the lake and gone home again. The house feels empty and I’m feeling a little blue. But this morning the sun rose on another perfect day and there’s nothing to do when you’re feeling blue except take a paddle on a gorgeous lake.
So I set out.
Let’s go see what there is to see.
This is what we lake people call ‘water ski water’ because it’s the perfect glassy surface to fly free at the end of a tow line. I’ve had plenty of beautiful skis like that over the years but this morning was designed for more quiet refection.
Going around a bend I lost the perfect water and headed into a bit of a wind. And I realized I had forgot the sunscreen and the water bottle.
Paddle harder!
So paddling got more difficult physically and mentally. But I wanted to see how far I could go with a bum shoulder. So I’d rest a bit, floating silently, looking at all the lake houses, now empty of their people for another week.
And up at the next point I saw a tree. A tree that made me feel even more blue.
Not fall color. Not.
Because surely that was not fall color! Surely that was just caused by the drought. Even though it’s sitting right on the shore with plenty of water. Sure.
I quickly paddled around that point, and the water was smooth again.
Mom and Dad are everywhere on this lake.
I’d have to go way past that island and around that next point to get even close to the mountain where my parents’ ashes were spread. So even though I was curious about whether I could paddle that far I floated a bit and reluctantly turned around for home.
After all the turkey buzzards were circling above, waiting for me. And I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of dehydrating in the hot Alabama sun.
Ever hopeful circles.
As with any trip, the paddle home seemed a lot shorter than the going out had been. Partly because that breeze was at my back. Partly because I’d moved into a rhythm, one with the water and the sun and the breeze and the paddle.
Still, home looked pretty good.
Home and shade, plus a bottle of water, await.
Rain dance
It’s day one at the lake and I’ve been itching to get onto the water but the weather has been fickle. Neighbors tell me that they haven’t had rain in weeks but there was a good chance for it today.
Of course.
All day the wind has been gusty and and blowing away from the house, so I hesitated taking the kayak out, concerned about battling the elements to get back home. Twice I went out to chance it and was turned back by the wind.
By evening things had settled down, the sky was still a pretty blue with puffy white clouds. I decided to take the kayak up the slough toward the cyprus trees.
Quiet down here.
Just a short jaunt.
It was peaceful up there, water like glass reflecting the pretty trees. But I noticed the clouds overhead were changing.
Uh oh
And I heard a noise coming up the slough behind me. It sounded like a fast boat, which would be unusual, but newcomers to the lake sometimes mistake our little slough with a throughway to bigger water. So I moved over to the side and turned around to watch.
It took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t a boat coming around the curve. It was rain. Really loud hard pounding rain. The kind that will instantly soak you.
Is that RAIN up there?
Nothing to do but sit there and watch it come. It began to sprinkle a few fat drops on me. I braced myself.
And there it sat, about 10 yards away from me, the water pouring down and the lake rough with wind. I continued to sit in a slight shower, complete with sun above.
Reflections
Then it moved across the slough, up the hill and disappeared. I shook my head as if to clarify what I had just seen.
Drip
And then I paddled peacefully through the sun drenched evening on a little piece of a big lake toward home.
Home again, home again, jiggity jig.
Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: Older than 50 years
Le Chateau Frontenac, built in 1892 is the centerpiece for Old Town Quebec.
Very French
It’s a huge building, so hard to fit it all into one frame. This image shows just a tiny bit; some of the lines and curves, windows and roof.
Definitely more than 50 years old.
To see other people’s interpretation of ‘more than 50 years old’ click on the link above, go over to Cee’s original post, then check out the comments there.
The people of New York City
I don’t have a perfect representation of the people that inhabit or visit NYC. These are only those the images I felt I could get away with undetected. Except for the girls in Little Italy that posed for me while I was trying to get a street scene. We laughed about it after, how the street was better looking with them in it. Which was true.
NYC is filled with such facinating people. I wish I was braver and could walk up to those interesting faces and ask if I could take their picture. Maybe I’ll grow into that someday.
Each of the images in this slideshow has a story. I could tell you what they were…but it’s probably more fun if you make up some stories on your own.
Wordless Wednesay: Sharing a joke on the subway
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The lady
Going to see a lady.
You take a boat over to visit Lady Liberty. If it’s a hot July morning the boat will be filled with hundreds of people, all herded on board like steerage. Which seems appropriate when you think about it. But no one minds too much.
All eyes are on her.
Hey Lady!
You pay an extra five dollars to go up inside the pedestal and enjoy the view. It’s worth the money and the 200 or so stairs to enjoy the view and the breeze. Yes, you could use the elevator, but why, when there are stairs to climb just for the taking? Once out on the pedestal walk you have an up close and personal view of Ms. Liberty.
She’s huge!
Or, if you have a zoom lens you can get even closer.
She’s ready for her closeup.
Once you go back down the stairs, don’t skip the museum. It’s not large, but it has some interesting details. Like how they built her.
Not an easy task.
And full size features of her face and her toes.
Beautiful detail.
Afterward, tour the grounds a bit. Take some more pictures. It’s not an easy angle to get your family member and the Lady in the same shot.
Perfect angle.
But it can be done.
Enjoy your Statue of Liberty! She’s there for you.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Locks and Clocks
Brooklyn!
I’ve seen first hand that more than one tree grows in Brooklyn. We’re here visiting friends and taking in a bit of city life.
Brooklyn after a storm.
During our first day we visited The New York City Transportation Museum here in Brooklyn. It has old buses and subway cars that kids can climb around and sit in.
Watch out world! I’m driving the bus!
Oh yea. Adults can too.
We saw subway cars from as far back as 1912…
The seats had more padding in 1612!
..up through 1961…
Mid-century modern.
…and today. The today picture I took while riding on the actual subway out to Coney Island and back.
2016…last night. But the museum had one from 2010 that looked just like this one.
After the museum we went for a walk along pretty tree lined streets, admiring the brownstones.
Beautiful old homes.
It’s fun to imagine what it’s like to live in one. But our friend made a good point. She said it was romantic to think about living in a house that old…but if she was going to spend that much money she’d want her new home to be brand new. These houses sell for millions each. Hard to fathom.
Someone suggested we see Coney Island. So that evening we hopped on a subway and went out to explore. Can’t beat a boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean in July.
Fun stuff.
And the amusement park had some really cool rides. Oh, you ask…which ones did we ride?
Tempting…but crazy.
Well..none actually. I’m pretty sure I’m at the age where anything remotely like this is going to make my sick. Well, not entirely sure, but sure enough to not want to risk it.
We walked out on the pier instead, watched people crabbing and fishing. And then we walked along the boardwalk for a long way.
Reflecting.
It seemed like a perfect end to a very nice day. But boy did all that walking wear us out! Especially when we had to climb all these stairs at the Barkley Center to exit the subway on our way home!
Gotta get my flights of stairs in every day. Sigh.
We were pretty tired. And sore. But will we take it easy tomorrow?
What do you think?
Peaceful evening along the Atlantic.
Change Is Hard 