6. A visit from summer

Reflection in a puddle

Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you’re just a reflection of him?

~ Bill Watterson

The laundry reflects.

We are having the most amazing day today.  It is unbelievably sunny, clear, and warm.  I’m pretty sure the high today got close to 80 degrees.  I swear I thought flowers would start popping up out of the ground and leaves would unfurl on the trees.  That’s how warm it felt.

A puddle on the Woodland Trail.

It was the kind of day in which you throw open the windows, hang laundry out to dry, and find all sorts of things to do outdoors because it’s too nice to stay inside.

We had rain and wind overnight.  I know this because I couldn’t sleep.  I rather enjoyed sitting in the dark, listening to the rain and wind.  It’s soothing, and eventually things calmed down enough to put me to sleep.

In the backyard.

Do you know Otto over at In Flow?  If you’re interested in photography, you should.  I’ve learned a lot by reading Otto’s blog, especially about the artistic aspects of photography rather than just the craft.

Feeling tall in the woods.

Otto recently wrote a post titled Look at Yourself about taking self-portraits.  As many of you know, I don’t like being in front of the camera, but I’ve taken the occasional self-portrait either as a photo challenge or because I realized my grandchildren and great-grandchildren might want to know what I look like.  I often feel as though my photography is, in a way, a self-portrait, but that lets me off the hook too neatly.  That is why I decided to take up the challenge/project that Otto presented for himself: to take a self-portrait once a week over the next year, with the thought in mind that some weeks might not work out, but in the end I should have about 30-35 self-portraits.

It’s me!  Outside on this glorious day!  Wondering what the blustery wind did with my hair!

I started last week and ended up with this:

In all seriousness.

I know.  It’s a weird picture, right?  The processing made me more wrinkled than I am, but I sort of like it anyhow.  It’s me at the computer.  I was sorting through old photos, deleting some of the old to make room for the new, when I stopped and took a couple of shots.  I figure if I’m going to do this, I’m not going to set up the tripod, do my hair and make-up (I don’t think I own any make-up, now that I think about it), put on my nicest outfit, and pose.  I’m going to try to capture me as, well, me.  Doing me things.

I don’t know how many self-portraits I’ll post.  Part of me feels it’s a little narcissistic.  I suppose I’ll work through that, one way or the other, as time goes on.

It’s a good day to sit out on the dock and soak up the fresh air and sunshine.

I guess that’s more than enough from me on this beautiful day.  Thank you for visiting.  I hope this Monday has treated you to beautiful weather or beautiful something.  I’m going back outside for a while.  Let’s meet at the Point for sunset.  It’s shorts and t-shirt weather, but you might want to bring a jacket.  I’m not sure how fast the temperature will drop with the sun.  Sunset is at 4:45 PM.  Come early so we can chat a bit before the show begins.

Even the Kingfisher agrees it’s a good day to sit on one of the benches.  (You would not believe how difficult it is to get a shot of this bird!  Almost as difficult as getting a shot of me.)

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Up in the air.

Today’s joys:  The day!  the warm and beautiful day!; getting blown around by the blustery wind; capturing the Kingfisher; sitting on the dock enjoying the sunshine and watching the tide come in; hot & sour mushroom soup; the Eastern Bluebirds flitting around.