Month: June 2019

childhood, family, grandchildren, kids, life goes on, moments, perseverance, photography, simple things, sunrise, the big picture

Ready or not…

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Time marches on in spite of me.  Sometimes I just need to process things.  I want to stop and think, catch up mentally when things seem to be moving impossibly fast.  I first remember feeling this way when my kids were really little.  They grew and changed so quickly, and I remember thinking that I wanted to put them in deep freeze for a second, just to catch up.  When they first started making announcements that you knew weren’t just a repetition of what you had said to them, but were an original thought of their own.  They became people, right before your eyes.

I have two sets of grandkids, the ‘big kids’ and the ‘little kids’, with a very large gap between.  As the two oldest grew up I was just as astounded as when my own kids did the same, but I told myself at least I still have the little kids.  Now the little kids aren’t little anymore, and the oldest one graduated from high school the other night.  I have an amazing set of grandkids, as I know we all do.  They are my greatest blessing, that and the fact that my kids are the people who raised these amazing kids.  But I’m scratching my head over the whole thing.  And the bug bites, but mostly I’m scratching in amazement because I tend to get lost in my own thoughts now and then, but then I resurface and come face to face with life’s milestones, ready or not…grad12

a second look, Just do it, leap of faith, learning, life goes on, live and learn, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, road trip, second chances, technology, the big picture

Call me superficial…

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I have a friend who might stand beside me while we look at a beautiful mountain landscape, he would want to climb that mountain, as long as it was 4,000 feet high, while I’m content to take pictures.  I’m an observer, and that’s as far as it goes.  Usually.  Not just mountains, there is no telling what will catch my eye, this building certainly did.  And I had taken pictures, and I believe I put a couple on the blog a while back.  But my cousin suggested that I go inside.  “It’s magnificent,” he said.  And I did that the other day.  I snagged one of the three parking spaces at the side of the building and discovered that he was right.  It is startlingly beautiful. Mind-boggling to me.

Bradford, VT was the first town in the state to receive a charter for a dedicated library.  That took place in 1796.  But it took until 1895 for John L. woods to will $15,000 toward that end, and Lambert Packard to design it, and the Woods Library was dedicated on July 4, 1895.  All of which I looked up just now, thank you Google.  But the population of Bradford, VT is currently 2619, and I don’t imagine it was more than that in 1895.  So I find myself astounded at the architecture and detail of the building.  A gem of a building, not in a big city, but in a small byway in the country, and intended for the people of that town.  And I felt that way just looking at the outside.  But the inside looks like a magnificent gentleman’s library.  The wood working, high ceilings, and attention to detail are a wonder to me.  Credit my lack of education in the arts, we didn’t study much of that in dental hygiene school.  Thanks to my cousins for telling me that I needed to see the inside of that building.  It was well worth another trip…Bradfordlibrary6.26

Right from go the reception area with it’s loft above told me I was in for a treat.  But I had to start with the main reading/computer room.  There was a man on one of the computers, and another one at the table smack in the middle.  I felt badly as I tried to take photos around them without disturbing them.  And circled back in case they had left but they hadn’t.BradfordlibraryPITAguyBradfordlibrarywindowsBradfordlibrarywingchairsBradfordlibraryfireplace

And then the loft area was next.BradfordlibrarystairwellBradfordlibrarystairwelldownBradfordlibrarystairwelllightBradfordlibraryloft

Perhaps I’ve spent most of my life with blinders on, distracted by the glitz and glam, and missing the bigger picture all together.  Here I’m on this road trip in search of my youth, the person I used to be, was supposed to be, and what I’m finding is a new appreciation of all that I see…

a second look, learning, old dogs new tricks, perseverance, photography, road trip, sky, sunrise, technology

Sunrise on the bridge…

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Honestly!  You would never believe how happy I was to be able to process these photos in Lightroom yesterday.  After all, I really liked them.  And I had happened to see a nice reflection early the morning that we went to the Quechee Balloon Festival, but we couldn’t stop for pictures that day.  Since then I hadn’t seen a promising sunrise at all.  But today there was a nice sunrise, and rousted myself out at 4:45 AM to take pictures.  And I finally got them into Lightroom and edited and saved to use later.  Then I had to beat my head against the wall to find them again when I wanted to write a post.  And of course it turned out to be operator error, the external hard drive had been disconnected.  Plugged it back in and there they were.  I know this isn’t interesting but I’m writing it down in case it helps me remember what to look for in case there is a next time.  And of course there will be a next time.  There always is a next time…

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a second look, Camping, fantasy images, finding my way, learning, old dogs new tricks, perseverance, photography, road trip, sunrise, technology, travel

Faking it…

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This being a camper thing, I am faking it a bit.  I’m in my last week here in the campgrounds and I do know how to use the features, most of them anyhow, of the camper itself.  But do I feel confident?  Not at all.  I am lucky enough to be able to bring it to Cape Cod next, to my sister’s house, and I tell myself that I’ll practice putting it up and down while I’m there.  Make sure that I can do it on my own.  Having my cousin’s here for help and advice, and just plain fun, has been great.  But that also means I haven’t been on my own.  Plus computer quirks have me processing photos in a convoluted way that would probably have my photo group comrades shaking their heads.  Which brings me to this morning, and a 4 AM trip to the bathroom, which let me see that the sunrise was coming soon.  So off I went to the bridge to take pictures, and then came home to drink my coffee and see what I got.  But Photoshop didn’t give me the option to merge photos into HDR like Lightroom does.  Not that I could find with only one sip of coffee in me.  There I was with three images open, I think, and I made one click and it came up with this.sunrise3Wouldn’t I have loved it if it really looked like that?  But it didn’t.  It was pretty, but not that dramatic.  I need to figure out how to open in Lightroom, and I need to make a list of all the things I have to do to be ready to pull out of here on Sunday.  And I need more coffee, but maybe not in that order…

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, Camping, finding my way, friends, fun, growing old, Just do it, life goes on, perseverance, photography, road trip, second chances, unintended consequences

Second chances…

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I hit the road again yesterday.  Being in New England has allowed me to decide to attend the big graduation party for my friend’s graduates yesterday, and just get in the car and go.  Since 1969, the year we both got married and I moved away, spending time with my closest friend has required much preparation.  Vacation time, airline tickets, juggling husbands and children, and so for many years the closeness remained in tact, in spirit anyhow, but it wasn’t possible to actually be together.  Time has been our friend as we have gotten older, except for the wrinkles and gray hair.  But we have managed to visit more and more often as time has gone on, daily on facebook, and also in person.  And these years going forward are probably the time we’ll need each other the most.  I’m so glad to be here.  I think this snowbird thing is going to work out just fine…

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birds, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel

Raptor rehab…

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I spent time at VINS yesterday, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, back to Quechee again.  According to their literature they are New England’s premier avian wildlife rehabilitation clinic, and they treat 100s of injured birds per year. Some of the injuries can’t be determined, some are from being hit by cars, and some are as simple as being raised by humans, and that is enough for them not to be able to be returned to the wild.  If they don’t fear humans they won’t survive in the wild.  And that’s the goal, of course, but if it is determined that their injuries would prevent the bird from being able to survive in the wild they are cared for within the facility.  They become ‘ambassadors’ for their species and for wildlife in general.

I have been to a raptor rehab in Florida at Indian Rocks Beach.  It’s called The Narrows, and there you will find volunteers circulating among the visitors with various raptors on their gloved wrists.  Quite the up-close experience, and at first I was disappointed that I didn’t see that happening at VINS.  But I got over that once I saw the two-story enclosures, complete with trees, which the birds call home.  I happened to be there at feeding time and thought they would all swoop down to feed, but they seemed to like to think about it a while, move from branch to branch and flap their wings a bit. Forgive me for showing a close-up of the only one who did decide to eat while I was there, our beloved Bald Eagle.  Contrary to what you see here they nest close to water and subsist mainly on fish.  But with exceptions.VINSeagleVINSeagle3Golden Eagles were next, a species that I only recently became aware of.  They are bigger and stronger than the Bald Eagle, capable of carrying off a small wolf or deer.  That news was a surprise to me.VINSgoldeneagle

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We have the Barred owl, the Great Horned owl, and the Snowy Owl.  At feeding time the attendant didn’t walk into the enclosure with the Great Horned Owl because of where it was perched.  They have been known to swoop down and make a pass at an intruder, and he has been told that it’s like being hit with a 2×4 so he decided to play it safe.  Probably a good move.VINSbarredowlVINSgreathornedowlVINSsnowyowl.JPGI searched for the snowy owls at Duxbury Beach last winter with no luck.  They were probably there, camouflaged in the snow at the water’s edge.

Kestrals are very small, pretty birds.  But, like all raptors, they are wonderful hunters.VINStwokestrals

I must apologize for my lack of information on the hawks.  We had red-tailed hawks, Cooper’s hawks, broad winged hawks, and one with a name that started with an F, but I can find no information on that through Google.  Merlin says that all my pictures are one of the above, but it can’t decide which one of the above, it was singularly useless this time.  I should have taken notes, I forget that I can dictate notes into the phone.  Note to self;  the iPhone is not just for photos and directions to photo ops.VINShawkVINSkestral

And dare I neglect to include the Ravens?  Charley would be very disappointed in me.VINSravens

In the meadow were lots of flowers, and, my favorite, bees.  Plus sculptures.  I didn’t head to Quechee until the sun finally broke through the afternoon, so consequently I didn’t explore the gorge or the hiking trails at VINS.  I suppose that means I’ll need to return yet again…VINSbeefeatureVINSeaglesculpture