Welcome to the Photo a Day Project blog, where you can read about my adventures in my quest to take a photo every day for the whole year!
The Rock Garden
Day 64
This time of year the lake can be crystal clear, well that is if the wind isn't whipping it up into a frenzy (see yesterday's pic). I went down to the park in my quest for a photo and started looking at the rocks in the lake, I love what water does to objects, it makes the hard rocks look like they're not solid, they smush and bend and ripple as the water moves over them, it's mesmerizing. If it wasn't so darn cold and didn't start snowing again I would have stayed and looked longer. But while I was there, I started to notice the colors and shapes of the rocks, and again was brought back to when I was a kid. I remember my grandmother telling me, my brother and cousins to go get some big rocks out of the lake for her rock garden, I really think she just wanted us to go out and give her some peace and quiet. But off we'd go, and stand knee deep in frigid water (Seneca Lake doesn't warm up till August) and fight over who got the best rocks. We used to try to get the most colorful ones, gray were not good enough, we wanted to get the striped ones or the yellow or red ones. We thought they would look the best in the rock garden, very colorful, but little did we know when they dried off they all looked pretty much gray anyway. We used to have a ton of fun, mostly because we got about two rocks out before we lost interest and started splashing each other, giggling and laughing. I remember how my grandmother always said that she loved the rocks we picked, they were perfect she would say, like we had just found a treasure. I don't know how many eight and nine year olds would fall for the 'rock garden' trick these days, it's a shame, they don't know what they're missing.
"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older."-Tom Stoppard
Clouds in the Sky
Day 63
Don't you just love big white fluffy clouds floating in the blue sky? It cheers me up, it doesn't matter if it is winter or summer the sight of the big cotton balls floating by takes me back to when I was a kid playing outside with my brother and sister. Remember those days? When your biggest worry was if you were going to have homework that night, not, doing laundry, putting gas in the car, getting groceries, working, you know, the fun stuff. I wasn't one to try to figure out what the clouds looked like, I used to try to imagine what it would be like to ride on one, I always thought it would be the most comfortable ride, nice and soft, floating above everything going where ever the breeze took you. It's fun to exercise your imagination, it keeps you young, i wish I had the imagination of my 6 year old niece, how many grownups would stack up a bunch of old boxes on their sides and proclaim they just built an apartment building for their dolls? I think everyday we should take 5 minutes and imagine something crazy, like floating on clouds, before you know it you'll be smiling for no reason.
"Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness,
which is everything in this world." -Blaise Pascal
Just Look
Day 62
Some days are harder than others, I wasn't really into photographing anything today, and the weather didn't help, more gray, it actually fit my mood perfectly. I thought, well today will be the first day I don't get a picture, but as I was leaving work and saw the trees that are in front of our building I looked at them and thought they looked like someone had sketched them in pencil on a huge white piece of paper. I took a couple photos and went on my way. I kind of like the photo I ended up with, to me it looks a bit like a sketch, it's different for sure, but not all bad. I will have to remember not to get discouraged in the future when I don't have a photo for the day, there are literally thousands of things I see every day that can be photographed all I have to is take the picture.
"You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut." -Dr. Seuss
The Love of Dogs
Day 61
I have 2 dogs, acutally they have me, they are cute, weird, quirky little things. Simon is the older 'brother' a Jack Russell, my protector, Divot is the little 'sister' a mix between a Jack Russell and a Pug, a Jug if you will, she is my lap dog. Their days are taken up by napping, this is so they will have the energy to get up and go to bed. They both drive me crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love how they greet me at night when I get home, running around and barking, like I've been gone for a month instead of 9 hours. They only want to be with me, to please, it's true having a pet really does reduce stress, you can't be stressed when you are petting a cute little dog who is trying to lick you. It just makes you smile. I strive to have one quarter of the ability they have to give unconditional love, they don't care what I've done that day, good or bad, important or not, they are both there waiting for me, their tongues hanging out and tails wagging, just like I am the most important person on earth...and to them I am.
"I hope to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am." - Author Unknown
Find Humor
Day 60
Every morning and evening I pass this small group of cows on my way to and from work, they have sort of become 'my' cows, I check to see what they are doing on my way to work, on cold mornings they are usually in their barn all lying down keeping warm and dry, on nice days out waiting for their breakfast to arrive. In the evenings by the time I get there they are eating their dinner, no matter the weather they are out there all lined up. Tonight what caught my eye was this one lone cow standing in the doorway of the barn looking like there was no way it was going to stand out in the rain and snow to eat, it cracked me up a little, so I stopped to try to get a photo. It was raining and getting dark so I wasn't sure, but I got a picture and of course, once the cows saw me they all started to come over and check me out even the cow in the door way (who I know eventually went to eat). I once heard that it is important to try to find humor in your life, in ordinary things, it's not hard to do if you pay a little attention to the things around you, conversations at work, bumper stickers on the car in front of you at a stop light, even cows in barn doorways.
"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." -Mark Twain
