by jphilo | Oct 12, 2007 | Daily Life
The calendar says it’s October. And for the past few days, the chilly mornings have confirmed that truth. But every time I look at my garden, I check the calendar again. The cosmos just started blooming in September, and several more buds are waiting to open. The roses keep sending out new buds. One pink blossom tangles with a white mum, like wrestlers on the mat.
Strangest of all are my pepper plants. In August, with several sweet red peppers bending the branches low, they began blooming again. Within a week, new fruit was setting. I planned to pick them green since there wasn’t enough ripening weather left. But in last week’s warm spell, they began turning red. And even though the weather has cooled since then, the frosts have held off and the peppers get a little redder every day.
This long growing season should thrill me. Each fall I mourn the cooler days and longer nights. Instead, it’s making me uneasy because the natural order of the seasons has been disturbed. Plus, this longer growing season means I’m still watering plants and pulling weeds when I should be doing fall stuff like covering the rose bushes and picking up walnuts.
Just when I get ready to pick the peppers and pull up the plants, my personal method of getting the seasons in proper working order again, I come up against the truth. I can’t change the weather. I can only experience it and look for beauty in it. So this morning I grabbed my camera and took pictures of a rare October garden. And as I gratefully preserved its beauty, my heart found peace.
by jphilo | Oct 9, 2007 | Daily Life
I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to dusting.
I spent all morning yesterday at the task after putting it off for the better part of a month. Since Anne left for college on August 17, I’ve been telling myself there’s no sense dusting her room until shortly before she comes home for fall break.
Fall break starts this Friday.
And I convinced myself to put off dusting the rest of the house since until I hosted Book Club.
Book Club was last night.
So yesterday I found myself without excuses to procrastinate any longer, and I dusted with a fury. I used the Swiffer duster first and then I sprayed my micro-fiber dust cloth with polish and shined everything in sight. About halfway through the job I started sneezing. Then a headache formed. It got worse every time I sprayed polish.
That’s why I think I’m allergic to dusting.
I’m not sure what the solution is since I don’t think I can convince my husband to take over the job. And there’s no money in the budget for a cleaning lady. My best solution is a face mask and drugs – and never opening another window in the house so I can procrastinate as long as possible.
By the way, no one at Book Club noticed my spiffy polish job. We were having too much fun talking. So this morning I took a picture of the top of one cabinet. Take a good look because things won’t look that nice until about the first of the year. That’s when I plan to don a face mask and dope myself. Until then, I declare allergy season over at this house. Preventative medicine sounds so much better than procrastination.
by jphilo | Sep 24, 2007 | Daily Life
Last week, I mentioned the senior pictures I’d be taking for my daughter’s best friend, and I may have said something about a certain horse being part of the photo shoot. Since I’m writing this you know I lived to tell about the experience, as did the horse and the beautiful young woman. Though it was sunny and breezy and a whole lot warmer than expected in late September, everything went well.
We had a few tense moments when Rachel (the girl) nearly had her bare foot stomped on by Lancelot (the horse). But the bareback horse/barefoot girl look was what Rachel wanted and since she got her foot out of the way in time, no damage was done. Except that some of the horse photos weren’t that good. The quality issue had something to do with the photographer’s obsession with avoiding the back half of the horse when she should have been framing shots of the front half. Anyway the picture above is proof that the pictures were taken, but you’ll have to trust me when I say the girl was there, too. Until she sees her pictures, you’ll have to wait.
When I add Sunday’s experience to the difficulties I had on Saturday. when I took shots of stuffed animals for a magazine article, I’ve decided not to pursue a pet photography career. Sometimes, the littlest things remind me that life is really, really good.
by jphilo | Sep 18, 2007 | Daily Life
Since I launched this website, many of you have commented on the photography. Deciding to use my own photos wasn’t an easy decision. But since I come from frugal German stock, two facts tipped my decision: the photos are free, and I face no copyright issues.
Recently my hobby led me in an unexpected direction – pet photography. In May my brother asked me to take some pictures of his new hunting dog, right after she was diagnosed with cancer. “I want some pictures,” he said, and I thought I saw a tear in his eye. “Just in case. You know.”
What was I supposed to say to that? So on a lovely spring day, I took lots of pictures of Maggie Mae and learned something more experienced photographers already know. Dogs don’t stand still. That makes getting a good picture hard. My brother made the job a little easier, because Maggie seriously adores him. When he stood in front of her she stared at him with big, moony eyes. (See photo above.)
My next foray into pet photography took place at my cousin’s house this past summer. An accumulation of three rowdy red dachshunds begged a picture. You will notice that none of those pictures made it to this page.
This Sunday, I face my biggest pet challenge to date. I’m taking senior pictures for my daughter’s best friend. When Rachel called to set up a time, she reminded me that she wants her horse in some of the pictures. She’d told me this before, but I’ve been in denial.
From what I remember of my last ride on a horse, which took place when I was 13, horses are somewhat bigger than dogs. And they don’t stand still, either. Plus I really don’t like horses much. OK, I don’t like horses at all. Which makes me think Sunday’s photo shoot might turn into a unique blog entry.
You might want to check in next week and see. Just to clue you in, the blurry picture beside the blog entry? That’ll be the horse.
And one more thing, Maggie Mae is doing fine.
