A cold, wet diversion

Snow in December - very unusual for Georgia. 

Just trying to get through the season.

Blink

Blink and another year has flown by. Once again I discovered the camellia was blooming and I found myself looking for the Scarlet Oak leaves; they've become a tradition now.

My least favorite time of year. Today was my mom's birthday. I miss her every day. 

Voir Dire II

My fourth jury summons, my second time going through the voir dire process. This was a capital murder case and the jury panel consisted of sixty people. Two days of extreme boredom in the jury assembly room interspersed with a few hours of actual questioning by the attorneys. The defendant eventually decided not to proceed with a jury trial and we were all dismissed.

What I learned is that I have (luckily) led a life with no encounters with violence... me or my family or friends. The majority of the panel of sixty had experienced some violent occurence in their lives.  Tonight, I'm toasting my boring life... may it continue for many more years!

Pre-Irma

Went to Florida for Labor  Day, to visit family. When we planed thee trip,, we had no idea about Irma.
We came  home on Wednesday, ahead of the evacuees. I think my nieces and nephews may be spared the worst of the storm. Hopefully. 

The Solar Eclipse

I did not have the eclipse safety glasses. For someone who usually plans and plans and plans, this was bizarre. My excuse was that I thought my backup was some AstroSolar film I had purchased years ago to make a solar filter for my telescope. I still have that filter, I sold the telescope. 

Anyway, the fine print: The film is only good for cameras, telescopes, binoculars... not naked eyes. By the time I read the fine print, the chance of finding the glasses anywhere was nil.. 

So, I made a filter for my camera and ONLY looked at  the LCD in order to find the moon/sun. 

It is what it is...

The crescent-shaped shadows surprised me. At first I wondered if they were always like that and I never noticed. They were everywhere... so surreal. 

Hiatus Hydrangea

Been here before, out of photographic practice. It's going to be difficult to compile enough new photos for a 2018 calendar. 

Gulf Coast of Florida

My late husband and I had often vacationed on the Florida Gulf Coast. I prefer the calm gulf waters to the ocean side of the southern US. Since his death, I had longed to return to that area for a stay. Occasionally, I even considered going alone.

But things never worked out until recently. My niece and I booked a few days in Panama City Beach. Even with a day (all day!) of rain, I still enjoyed my stay and I'd go back in a minute.

Two

Longing for some floral color to offset the grey of winter, I brought a bouquet of hyacinths home from the market. 

Perfection

Perfection

Right out of the gate, the photo idea for February 1 is "Perfection". sigh. Nothing is perfect. No one is perfect. There are fleeting moments of perfection. Like happiness and beauty, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. 

I know I have commented on other's photos - "Perfection" because I felt that everything came together... at that moment. But to capture it today? I just don't know. 

A sunny, warm day in mid-winter is probably as close as I'll get.

* Intentionally out of focus.

A Plan

Well,  my photo-a-day project has gone off the rails but I found something online that might help me get back on course. Photoblog.com posted a year's worth of daily photo topics/subjects, available for download. I'm hoping this will spur my creativity. 

Move

You can't get there from here.

For the New Year, I wrote on my chalkboard:  "12 New Chapters, 365 New Chances". No pressure there, right? I only know that change doesn't happen if you don't make a move. Right, left, up, down... just move off center.

I have long been of the mindset that each day I should do something that makes it different from yesterday. Not momentous things necessarily; simply make something different, new, better.

One Line

Each day I give thanks.

Here we go again

2017. Already. 

Christmas is back in the basement... again. The house always looks dull after I take down the tree and lights. Add the dreary landscape and January looks bleak indeed. But I've decided to try another photo-a-day project because I've become a very lazy photographer. I partly blame my phone camera. I tend to 'snap' a picture instead of putting a little thought into comp, lighting, etc. So I will have to utilize the winter bleakness as best I can.

We will see.