Catching Up

Well... it's been a while since I've posted. I keep thinking I'm going to wait until I have something extremely interesting to say. That doesn't happen, so I decided to go ahead and post today with an update on recent but ordinary activities. You know, the kind that make up a life. But what would life be without those day-to-day events--pretty darned boring I'll bet!

Since I last posted, there have been several events at church. The pastor who was responsible for leading me to the Lord was in town with his wife and some of his family. I haven't seen him in many, many years, and it was decided to have a dinner for him at our church and invite people who had been there when he was. It was really nice to be able to visit and see his kids all grown up with children of their own.

Then later in the week there was a funeral for the mother of one of our congregation. The funeral was at her church, but the reception was at ours since it's bigger. A lot of work, but very fun and a great chance to see everyone again. Isn't it too bad that we usually wait until funerals (and weddings which are happy occasions) to get together and have "reunions"? I assigned myself the job of "photographer" and had a really good time getting shots of all the family & friends--the family seemed very grateful that I was doing that. This image is of the family (a few are missing--couldn't make it) of the gracious woman who went to be with the Lord.

That same night the local homeschool organization hosted a graduation ceremony. We helped, but we (our church people) weren't in charge of setting up or cleaning up, which, by then, was a welcomed relief. The ceremony was very nice. One graduate is from our congregation, and one used to attend. The other two were from other churches.

This is Sam and his family. We couldn't corral the grandparents who were in the other room socializing.

And this is Christiana, who used to attend our church, with her parents, and then in the next image, her entire family.

This next image is, of course, the 4 graduates together.

So after that was over, the following Sat. a bunch of us treated Louise to dinner for her birthday. This is Louise, and no, she's not really hugging a tree! We were on our way out of dinner and were all pretty giddy, so we had to do some silly stuff.

And here we all are, minus the person taking the photo.

It's almost as much fun watching people look at their photos on the lcd screens of their cameras as it is taking the photos. Well, that might actually be an exaggeration, but it sure is fun watching the faces of people as they view their images.

So I think that brings us up-to-date on the happenings in my life. Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much) to my Christian sisters (and brothers) without whom my life would be very empty.
Aloha

Well, Sunday was the day we had a birthday party for Scott and Caleb--of course Leah would have been included, but it would have been an expensive party to fly her home from Hawaii. Also, cousin Vicki's birthday was the week before, which I didn't know, so she got in on the cake picture. I originally planned the get-together to be at Jessica's house in order to use her yard, but the weather forcast was for rain and cool temps, so I decided to have it at home and just stay inside, which, for once, was a really good call because it was raining by the time everyone arrived. So, my "baby" turned 21 this year. Scott turned 39. Whew, it's been a loooong 39 years, and I can hardly believe it's been that long. I can still see cousin Vicki at about 3 1/2 years old, picking infant Scott up off the couch and carrying him around--giving both Aunt Barbara and I fits thinking she might drop him. But, obviously, they both survived...

Jeremy and Alyssa were even willing to pose. Aly will be starting kindergarten in the fall. She's quite the beauty and she obviously has her daddy wrapped around her finger.

Then again, here's Lauren: model, drama queen, talker, comedic relief, charmer...

brings back memories of what fun her mother was when she was my little girl.

Not sure what this get-up was, but she liked it and thought it made a great face guard.

It was fun having everyone here. We missed Leah, but she was here with us in spirit.

Aloha

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Tulips and Tots

Driving around, past the park, down side streets, finally discovering a parking spot, not only on a pretty side street, but partially in the shade. Ureka! Park the car, grab the photo gear, lock up and wonder exactly how far I am from Washington Park. People swarming around, coming and going to the park, pushing babies in strollers, skating, riding bikes, carrying packages of treats purchased from vendors at the Tulip Festival.


I arrived in Albany at about 1:45 on Sunday, Mother's Day, thinking that things would have been slowing down and there wouldn't be too many people wandering around. The joke was on me. There were gobs of people. The Festival was open until 6 pm, and it was still going very strong at 2 pm. It was fun walking around looking at all the vendors. Fortunately I didn't have any interest in buying anything, so I wasn't tempted. I was basically there to see a friend of mine from the photo club who had a booth set up.

I finally found him and his wife, and happily sat down to talk with them for a while. Jim is a wildlife photographer and has made several trips to Alaska and an eagle wildlife refuge to photograph his subjects.


After resting for a while, I wandered back to where the flowers are and decided that since I made the trip down to Washington Park, I would at least try and get some pictures even though there were people all over. I tried a different approach--sticking the camera into the clumps of tulips and shooting up. It was tricky and not too many of them came out good, but it was interesting and I like some of the results.

Two days later at the soccer game and again people swarming around, some sitting in portable chairs, others wielding cameras, bottles of water, pushing strollers, chasing toddlers, talking with one another while watching their son/daughter/grandchild, run after the ball. One little guy just stood on the field sucking his thumb and watching his team mates run in the other direction. A couple of others decided they needed a break and they just sat down at the edge of the field to watch their teams. The sun was shining and casting that beautiful yellow glow that happens as it gets lower in the sky before sunset.

Lauren spent her time playing by running up and down the field, running off the field to her mom and me, asking for a hug, a drink, a rest. She's quite the performer--arms swinging, clasping over her head, behind her back, bending over in mock fatigue, engaging the coaches in some sort of conversation.

Jacob on the other hand, seemed a little more focused. He stayed right on the field the whole time of his game, except for assigned breaks.

Looking forward to another nice afternoon so I can watch them play again.

Aloha

Saturday, May 3, 2008

TULIPS, TULIPS AND MORE TULIPS

A week from tomorrow, May 11, is Mother's Day. New York's capital city, Albany, conducts a tulip festival every year on Mother's Day weekend. They plant thousands of tulips in Washington Park and other small areas in the city of Albany. During the festival there are vendors, performances, speeches, and the crowning of the Tulip Queen. It's quite a big deal. I've only managed to attend the festival once--as mentioned in a previous blog, I'm usually busy on the Sat. of the festival, and then I just don't bother going on Sunday.
But the year I went, I was very impressed at all they had going on there. It was a very pleasant way to spend the day.

Yesterday I planned on going to Washington Park to photograph the flowers. It was gray and dreary, but really the best light to have to photograph flowers. A little brightness would have been an added bonus, but sometimes you have to work with what you have and make the best of it.

I'm always surprised at the varieties of tulips at the park. In my limited knowledge of all things that bloom, I thought a tulip was a tulip, you know, the traditional tulip you seen in flower shops.

The city of Albany is very faithful about keeping the flowers looking good. They replace any that punk out before the festival, and then after the festival they sell the bulbs--I'm not sure to whom, but what a great idea to recoup some of the money they spend to plant the flowers in the first place.

After finishing at Washington Park, I thought I'd head over to the "Mall", as in outdoor area. Well, all the parking spots required quarters--I only had one on me, and it was 12 minutes per quarter. I didn't think that would be enough time to mosey around, so I wound up going to the Riverwalk area. No inspiration there, so after walking around for a while, I just got in the car and headed home.

Mahalo for looking and Aloha for now.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

BOOKGROUP CUTIE

Well, last night we held our April bookgroup. The book was "Digging to America", by Anne Tyler. I hadn't read any of her books in a long time, so it was good to have to read one for bookgroup. In brief, the story is about two families who adopt Japanese babies and the families meet accidentally at the airport. They then become friends and have quite a few adventures together throughout the years.

Five years ago, Tina (our hostess) and her husband adopted a little girl from China and it was fun to hear how much her experiences were the same as the characters in the book. After a while, Christine and her dad returned home from an adventure and we got to visit with her before she went to bed. This is Christine and her Dad,

and here she's with her mom, Tina.

There were only 6 of us at the meeting, but no matter how few of us there are, it's always a good time. This group has been going strong for 29 years, and even though membership has fluctuated up and down and people have come and gone during those years, we've never given up on it. Most of us can honestly say that being part of this group has expanded our horizons in what we read. I know I've read many books I wouldn't have chosen on my own. It's been fun.

This first group shot includes me, and the next one includes Jessica. And yes, we actually do discuss the book--sometimes we get way off track, but someone always pulls us back to the topic on hand. But before and after the discussion, we eat and talk--it's great.

It was a beautiful evening--very much out of character for April in NY, but we all enjoyed it. For the first time we had the chance to sit in Tina's sun room during the discussion.

Our next book is The Luncheon of the Boating Party, by Susan Vreeland, a story about Renoir. We've read one of her other books, and she's a great writer, so this should be fun.

Aloha for now....

Saturday, April 19, 2008

THE SCHEDULE SLOWS DOWN

Today I returned home from a Women's Retreat!! Whew. That's the end of the whirlwind I've been on since arriving back in NY. Of course it's likely that another one will begin in the near future, but for a while, at least, things will be calm and ordinary.

The retreat was great. We had an awesome speaker, the "class clowns" of my church kept things very lively and we laughed a lot, and the weather was about as perfect as it could be. A great combination.

This year is the end of our two year stint as the Organizing church for the retreat. What a relief--it's a ton of work and even though it's very gratifying, it's good to know that we don't have to do it again for a very long time.

At this time of the year, the buds are just barely showing their color, so this was the most creative shot of the lake I could figure out. I don't really have a lot of time for scenic shooting when I'm at the retreat, but every once in a while I get the urge to do something scenic. It's usually an absolute failure, but at least it shows the environment.

The next two images are of my church sisters. Okay, we can never do just a straight shot without horsing around a little, but I guess that's half the fun of going away together.




So if you'll notice, we are wearing leis and flowers in our hair--at least most of us are. In three months in Hawaii, I never wore a lei or flower. It took returning to NY to do that. Actually, the one lady who was responsible for organizing the ice-breaker game also came up with the idea of us wearing these items, as she said, in honor of me returning to their midst, and also to be identifiable to all the other ladies as the ones who could answer questions about room assignments, where the dining hall is, what time the session begins, etc., etc.

I was happy to wear the flower and lei when I found out that her first choice was bunny ears, but she couldn't find them in a large enough quantity. Whew, dodged that bullet, huh?




This is a group from other churches who were playing the ice-breaker. Everyone had to get in line in order of the letter of their first name, and they had to identify themselves without speaking, so they're trying to mime the letter of their name. The "not talking" part was the hardest as you can imagine with a group of 110 very peppy women.




This is a line-up of some of the ladies from my church. They kind of cringe when I show up with the camera, but they usually do what I ask.






All in all, it was a great time, but I'm glad it's over.

Mahalo for reading this post and Aloha for now.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

GARDEN CLUB

Last week my sister-in-law called me and asked if I could help her present a slide show to her garden club. Seems she and two other ladies took an overnight bus trip to a a a, can't think of what it's called, but it's a huge indoor greenhouse type building that grows flowers and grass and shrubbery all year long. It was in PA, and they went there on March 1. Nothing outside of the building was blooming, but inside it was really beautiful.

Well, I can't grow anything more complicated than day-lilies, hosta and weeds, so the photos they took were great to look at. Not only that, but all of the ladies in the club have green thumbs so they even know the names of the flowers and plants.

So it got me to thinking about the Tulip Festival that happens every year on Mother's Day weekend in Albany. I've been down there the past two years--not on the weekend of the festival (seems like I'm always busy then), but during the week or two before the festival. The tulips are planted and everything looks spectacular, and it's great for taking photos cause there's hardly anyone there. On the weekend of the festival it's like the sky opens up and drops people all over the place, so getting good, unobstructed photos of the flowers is nearly impossible.

Now that I've run on about the Tulip Festival, I have to confess that none of the following photos were taken there. They're all from various other places where I've seen beautiful flowers and just shot them, not even knowing why, other than they were irresistable.

I'd even be tempted to take a trip like the one mentioned above--not that I want to buy flowers, not that I want to plant flowers, not that I want to weed flowers, but just that I'd love to take photos of them. I'll have to keep my eyes and ears open and hope I can connect with some kind of trip like that.

Enjoy the photos that follow:

Aloha

Friday, April 11, 2008

TALK ABOUT THE BLAHS!!

Well!! The blahs I'm talking about are the weather. Several days last week were very pleasant, but beginning today for the next several days it's rainy and grey and depressing. I'd love to be posting photos, but they would even depress you. Greyer than grey skies, mud and more mud, brown grass and bare trees. Well, that will all change very quickly--within a couple of weeks, spring will show her lovely head and the landscape will become gloriously beautiful. We can afford to be patient.

Last Saturday I photographed a wedding. Just two days after arriving back in NY. Between being on my feet all day, and a little bit of leftover jet lag, I was beat and very, very glad for the day to end. It was a lot of fun though, the people were awesome.

Since Saturday it's been non-stop again. Tomorrow I'm attending a wedding, Sunday I'll be out all day, next Tues/Wed I'm working and Thurs. morning I teach a photo class to a group of 4-H ers, then leave directly for a three day women's retreat. I will be very glad when it's all over, even though all of it will be enjoyable and I'm looking forward to it.

Aloha for now.

Friday, Ap. 4, 2008

MY FIRST DAY BACK IN NY

This is my first full day back in NY. I arrived in Albany yesterday at about 2 pm. It was sunny and pretty mild. The "sunny" part was very pleasant. Today, however, was another story. It dawned greyer than grey and was raining. It stayed that way all day. Okay--the pleasures of living in the northeast.

The flight home was uneventful, although long. After landing in Seattle, we discovered that our connecting plane would be two hours late arriving. No problem. The airport was practically empty (it was 11 p.m. Seattle time, still only 8 p.m. Hawaiian time)--plenty of seats and stretch-out room, and quiet. So I found an outlet, put my feet up, turned on the computer and wiled away the time. We finally left the runway about three hours after the scheduled time.

Because of the delay, I missed my next connecting flight in DC, but got on the next plane.

It was actually good getting to the house. Coming home is just that--coming home to the familiar and comfortable. After about 1/2 hour, it seemed like my trip to Hawaii was just a dream. Had I really been there? Was I really standing on the beach watching the sunset just two days ago?

Time is a very strange thing. At least I have my pictures and memories to prove I was really there. And the hope of going back next winter.

I spent the day cleaning the house, specifically my studio/computer area. Very gratifying.

Aloha