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!
Looking Closer
Day 59
As I attempt to take a picture each day for the whole year, I am beginning to notice things that I have never really noticed before, for example those weeds you see by the road. Today I decided to stop and take a closer look, from a distance they look like good old ordinary weeds but up close they look totally different, almost like feathers, soft and fluffy. I wonder if birds use the soft bits for their nests, that would be fitting, for something that from a distance looks rough and prickly but is actually a bit soft and cushy and will make a comfy home for baby birds. I think a lot of things are like that, they look one way from a distance but up close, completely different. How many times have I rushed to judgement, on everything from people to places to things? In the future I will try to remember these weeds and how they are so different up close, especially if something disappoints upon first look.
"Do not judge by appearances; a rich heart may be under a poor coat." -Gaelic Proverb
A Diamond in the Sky
Day 58
I can't wait for spring, to see some colors other than brown and white and gray. Today was a nice preview to the spring, blue sky, unseasonably warm, a day that makes you impatient to shed your winter coat and go with out. I try to remember on days like today...Mondays...that it will get warmer, flowers will bloom, grass will turn green and leaves will come out on the trees. But in the meantime I will be thankful for the days when the sun shines like a diamond in the brilliant blue sky.
"The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy." -Henry Ward Beecher
You Need Friends
Day 57
You will notice throughout the year that I love to try to photograph birds, I fancy myself a bit of a birdwatcher, I love to just sit and watch their behavior, the things you usually don't see, how they land, or take flight, how they gather food, all kinds of little things. Today I watched a small flock of gulls, they were trying to stay warm in the cold breeze. As I watched them, at first it looked like each bird was alone, but after a bit you could see they were actually all working together. As the group huddled together, each bird would take a turn to lift it's head and look around to make sure all was ok, that no danger was approaching. Birds would come and go but the same pattern followed, I was fascinated watching them, they instictively knew to do this, to take care of others so that others would take care of them.
"The only way to have a friend is to be one" -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Winter Colors
Day 56
The sun was out today!! But so was the wind, and it blew the little bit of snow that fell last night around like it was a fine glittery powder, everything had a beautiful shimmer, a dream like quality. It can be hard to see on a day like to day, in every way, the blowing snow, the brilliant sun, all the white on white, but if you take the time you can see much more than you think, rows of golden brown in fields waiting to be planted, the ice blue of the winter sky, bright red barns dotting the landscape like cheery freckles. People always ask me how can I stand the cold winters here, and to be honest, sometimes I wonder, but if you look around you, really look, no matter where you are, you will always find beauty.
"The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination." -Terri Guillemets
Beauty After the Storm
Day 55
After a while the gray days of winter really start to get me down, we haven't had much snow around here this winter, but we haven't had much sun either. Today was no exception, it was really really gray and rainy all day, then just when you thought it couldn't get any grayer, it did, a storm rolled in turning the sky to night. I hadn't taken the picture of the day yet and I was starting to worry, but as has happened so often during this project there was some divine intervention and as fast as the black clouds came, they left, and in their wake another beautiful sunset this time with a rainbow as an accessory. It was incredible, the clouds that were left looked like pink cotton candy floating in the blue sky. I couldn't believe it, after a day as gray and blah as today to have it end with such beauty and light. I will try to remember today in the future, it will remind me that just because the day is dark and gray it doesn't mean it will end that way.
"God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us-in the dreariest and most
dreaded moments-can see a possibility of hope." -Maya Angelou
