Day 252: Signs of Spring

Our Orchid plant

This is a direct result of Christine's undying faith in our two dying Orchid plants.  We were sure we had killed both of them months ago.  All of the flowers had fallen off (which is normal) and the stalks were drying up and dying and we had no idea how to fix it.  Mom and I wanted to toss both plants because we both thought they were dead, but Christine wouldn't let us.  She was sure they were still alive and wouldn't let us kill them for no good reason (even though they were both really ugly).

So we took them upstairs to the guest room and set them in front of the west-facing window.  We watered them and watched them do nothing for a couple of months.  Then one day after watering the plants, Christine came into the room announcing that the Orchids had both shown signs of life.  And more specifically, that one of them was already growing buds!

Tonight I went to check on the plants and was shocked to see how many beautiful little buds were on the one plant!  The other Orchid plant had much farther to go (it was really on death's door when we moved it upstairs), so it doesn't have as much growth, but it's definitely still alive and kicking!

It's a good thing Christine was so insistent with those little flowers or we would have killed two perfectly good plants for no good reason.

Day 233: The "Dead" of Winter

A field of dead sunflowers.

I passed this field on my way back to the office after lunch the other day and I was struck by the tragic beauty of the scene.  Everything has to die sometime, we all know this, but seeing an entire field of sunflowers - a signal of light and happiness - was gut-wrenching.  I was so struck by it, in fact, that I took a drive to that field during my lunch break today just to capture that feeling on my camera.

I won't go too far into the symbolism of this picture.  I could write a novel or give a lecture series on my thoughts about its significance.  But I will say this:  we can always take any experience in life one of two ways.  We can either see it as a positive or a negative.  And even though this picture looks pretty negative, I see it as a method of motivation.  Because I see it as a reminder that there is a time and a season for every living thing, and in the winter of our lives things can get a bit hopeless sometimes.  But we need to remember that spring will come.  The weather will change and every wasteland will be overturned and given new life.

Day 205: Fake Flowers

My mom's plastic poinsettia.

Such a hectic day!  Today was the last day before my office shuts down until the new year, and I was scrambling to get everything done in time!  And now that I'm home and able to put work stress out of my mind, I'm freaking out at all the stuff I haven't done yet for Christmas!  How am I going to fit everything in before Saturday!?

Aaack!

Day 154: By The Wayside

Some wild flowers growing on the side of a building.

I saw these flowers while I was out at lunch today and decided to stop and take some pictures of them.  I couldn't get as close as I like to get with flowers this small, but I was still able to capture a few of them.

On another, more exciting note: today is the first day of month SIX!  I've made it FIVE WHOLE MONTHS on this project (if you don't count that one time)!  That's HUGE!  In fact, I would go so far as to call it GLORIOUS!  Yea for me!

Now back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Day 139: I'm Ready for my Close-up

A lone grouping of roses in my parents' garden.  

I was in my backyard taking pictures during the sunset tonight when I found this little beauty in my parents' garden.  It was the only peach rose bush in the back yard, and it was starting to fall down.  These flowers aren't going to last much longer in the season, so I decided to take what is probably my last flower shot for a few months.  

I was still sick today, but I'm starting to feel better this evening (sleeping half the day away will do that to you).  Unfortunately, I wasn't well enough earlier this evening, so I missed a birthday party with my niece, and a chance to take some pictures of real people for a change.  

Oh well.  At least I got a chance to rest up today.  The rest of the week is really busy, so maybe it's good that I had to take today off.  

Happy Monday everyone! :\

Day 116: Reflections

Christine pausing on the front porch.

So I made Christine pose for this picture right before we left to see a movie tonight.  I realized as we were getting in the car that we wouldn't get out of the movie until after midnight, so we ran back out of the car and I took a quick picture of Christine with the red flowers.  She really is a good sport about these things!

One of these weekends I'll make the time to set up some of the cool shots I've had in my head for months.  But for now, I'm lucky enough to get some pretty awesome shots on the spur of the moment.

I have one more day on the red theme, so hopefully I'll have a new theme idea by Monday. :)

Day 99: Sick

The slightly worse-for-wear sunflowers from the other night.

I kind of feel the way this flower looks tonight.  Something I ate this evening did not agree with me, and I've been balled up on the couch most of the night.  It's not a severe reaction, just a little nausea and cold sweats.  However, it's annoying enough for me to barely get any of my chores done tonight.  So I mustered up enough will power to take a few shots around the house, and even though I already took a shot of these flowers this week, I'm using another one because it fits my mood.

Enjoy. :)

Day 95: Sunflowers

A sunflower from Mary.

Yesterday Mary came over and dropped of a bouquet of beautiful sunflowers for my mom.  It was so nice!  Unfortunately for my mom, she's on a cruise with my dad for the next two weeks, so she will miss these beautiful flowers.  Yay for me though!  I love flowers!

Do you know what else I love, that I recently discovered?

Balloons.

I love balloon bouquets to be exact.  Every time I go to a party or event that has balloons, I secretly obsess over how I might get away with stealing those balloons when I leave.  I saw pictures for a wedding once that had a carnival theme, and they had a bunch of balloon bouquets everywhere.  I was dying over it!  It wasn't until a few months ago when I saw someone walking in a park with a huge bunch of balloons floating after them that I realized my love of balloons.  Now if only I could find an acceptable occasion in which to buy myself a balloon bouquet...

Day 91: Gifts That Keep On Giving

Flowers from our front garden.

This mother's day, all the women in our ward were given a small terra-cotta pot with a bag of assorted flower seeds. My mom and sister and I planted our seeds in our little pots, and soon the plants got too big for the pots.  So my dad moved them into our front yard garden.  Pretty soon, those little plants exploded into huge bushy things, and soon they began to sprout little pink flowers.  They were pretty, but too big, so today Dad dug them up and put the flowers in a vase for Mom to enjoy - along with some other flowers that grew too big for our little garden.

As I was taking pictures of the flowers tonight, I realized that even though we had to dig up our mother's day plants, they still lasted longer than any mother's day gift I've ever been given in the ward.  Usually we get candy bars or a single rose.  Both good gifts, but very temporary.  The flower pots gave us something more.  We got to watch the little seeds sprout and grow and become something beautiful.  It lasted months, and brought joy to all of us.  What a great present!

That's how the best presents should be.  Things that don't just last a day, but that continue to make the receiver happy.  The gifts that keep on giving.

Day 79: Peek-a-Boo

I have no idea what this flower is called, but it looks like it's hiding it's face with little petal hands.

Here's a little poem about the flower.  It came out sounding more morbid than I meant it to.

Hiding Flowers
I look between splayed fingers
Hiding in the dark
Afraid of what might be out there
Visible and stark

Wide open in the summer air
Loud and tremulous
Knocking over limbs and sprigs
Too big to notice us

Too wide care at all about
Our fragile little parts
Not noticing how harsh it grabs
How fast it breaks our hearts

So covering my little eye
I wait with baited breath
For the moment when it comes for me
The author of my death

Day 48: Dusk

Sunlight....so gorgeous!

I was sitting on my front step this evening, waiting for my cat to come back to the house and watching the neighborhood kids playing in the yard, when I decided it was the perfect moment to have my camera with me.  I took a handful of shots of the kids climbing the tree in the yard, and looking through the railing at me, before they all scampered off to another yard to play a different game.  It was so peaceful and calming to sit in the shade with a light breeze (it had finally cooled off a bit), listening to little voices laughing and chattering to one another.  It was exactly what I needed.

Then, just before I went back into the house, I snapped a few shots of the bushes next to my front door - on a whim, not really thinking any of them would turn out - and I happened to catch the sun setting behind one of the bushes.  Dream shot!!

This is truly my favorite shot of this project so far!  I just look at it and feel a warm glow.  I didn't edit it (just stuck my signature on the bottom), it didn't have to go through any prep or think up some great idea.  It just happened.

The best shots just happen!  You know. When you just happen to hit the shutter button at the precise moment in time to capture something that you wouldn't normally see unless you froze it.  Those are the shots that look OK in person, but translate into another dimension of beauty through the lens.

Those are the shots that make me LOVE photography!

Day 41: Painted Flowers

Flowers in my Mom's front yard (don't ask me what kind, because I don't have a clue).

I tried a few different shots for today's photo, but I wasn't super thrilled with any of them.  I have that problem quite often lately.  I do like how this one turned out though!  The flowers looked like a painting before I edited the photo, and I think they still do!  So pretty!

Now, for something completely different...

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I'm supposed to take longer lunches at work to leave the office and do an online photo class I signed up for.  Lately I've been slacking off on my class (for mostly good reasons).  Today, I resolved to work on my class at lunch.  I made sure to take the time and leave even though it was busy.  I drove off feeling good that I was being responsible.  I first stopped to get some lunch and run an errand.  My next stop was Starbucks so that I could set up my laptop and use the free WiFi for my online class.  When I got to the Starbucks parking lot, it looked so crowded that I split, deciding to hit another hot spot to do my class.  But somehow I got sidetracked, and ended up parked at the end of an abandoned parking lot, deciding what to do next.  I was vacillating between going back to the office to hide in a conference room to work on my class, or staying in the parking lot to read my book in my car.

Guess which one I chose?

I felt slightly guilty lounging in the car reading my book, but not guilty enough to do anything about it.  Sure, it was hot and cramped, but I was already set in my decision and I hate going back on a decision - no matter how asinine.  Some people speak of the little thrill they get when they break the rules or lie, but I've never really experienced that. I only ever experience guilt, or fear.  Today, as I pushed my guilt down and tried to enjoy my book for my remaining 30 minutes of lunch, I was also battling my compulsion to stay on course with my new decision.  Because, not only was I feeling bad for not doing my class, but I was also extremely uncomfortable.  My face was turning a deeper and deeper crimson as the sun baked my little car and rendered my air conditioner (on full-blast) practically useless.  Also, I couldn't get into a comfortable, feet-up, position, stuck between the steering wheel and the e-brake.

So, even though my compulsion won out and I stayed reading in my car the remainder of my lunch, I returned to the office slightly the worse for wear.  My hair was frizzy and damp from sweat, and my cheeks stayed red the rest of the day.

OCD: 1     Valerie: 0

Day 33: Lazy Sunday

Kim's orchids.

I'm going through an over-exposure, faded, artsy phase right now.  I think I keep going for that look because I can't quite seem to get it right.  This is attempt number...I don't know...4?  I'll keep trying until my vision becomes reality!

So...today's the real 4th of July, and I didn't get any shots of fireworks, yet again.  This time it was because I was too embarrassed/timid to butt in on my neighbor's fireworks parties.  I had two separate neighbors in my block area that were setting off their fireworks in the parking lot and street around my place.  Both of them looked to be having fun, and the fireworks looked perfect to photograph, but every time I tried to go outside with my camera I got flooded with embarrassment.  I even got as close as the front door at one point before I turned around, ashamed and abashed at my utter lack of gusto.

Sometimes my social awkwardness doesn't inhibit me from getting the good shots, but most of the time it does.  I need to buck up and get a little confidence!  Unfortunately for me, it only comes by degrees, and I don't seem to have any control over how fast I gain that confidence.  At least I can tell that I'm slowly getting better.

That's a good sign, right?

Anyway, hopefully I'll get some better shots next time.  Thanks for reading, if you got this far, and thanks for commenting!  You're minimal support helps my pitiful confidence levels rise by degrees, and it helps me not feel like a complete idiot on the days when I disappoint myself. ;)

Day 5: Sunday

Today is Sunday, so I didn't want to do anything big.  Instead of stressing out about what I was going to do for my picture today, I just sat back and let it happen.  I'm taking that approach more often!  This is a picture of the Peony in my front yard.  I went outside to capture the sunset, but all my sunset shots were horrible.  As I was walking back in, I noticed my mom and sister taking close-ups of this beauty, so I decided to give it a go.

Such a pretty flower!  I love the color and the huge bunch of petals that it has.  I didn't think to smell it...that's a metaphor for ya.  I was so busy taking pictures of the thing that I didn't bother to take a moment and smell it or really enjoy it.  I mean, sure.  I'm enjoying it a lot on my computer screen, but that beautiful thing is sitting just outside my front door and I think tonight was the first time I even noticed it.  AND, I wouldn't have even noticed it tonight if it hadn't been for my mom and my sister's attention to it.

But I guess that's how life is too.  We get so caught up in the daily grind that we forget to pause every once in a while and just look around and enjoy the moment.

Stop and smell the roses.