Remnants of Spring

I really start looking forward to the return of warmer, sunnier weather around this time of year.  Our snow has melted (for now) and the earth around me seems barren and dead.  I count down the days until the miracle of life begins to manifest itself amongst the lifeless remnants of a season long gone.

My How They Both Have Grown

As I was sorting through my thousands of pictures look for some inspiration for my next blog post, I stumbled upon some this precious photo and couldn't help but share it.

It is not posed, it is not perfect.  It's a simple snap shot that captures a tender relationship forming between a small boy and a loving, patient older cousin - a moment that took place years ago and would have been forgotten without this image's still reminder.

It reminds me of the simple things that we overlook in our daily life.  The things that are so wonderful but often quickly forgotten.  How fortunate we are to have the technology to capture these moments and to once again feel the gratitude of a forgotten moment simply by viewing a photo.

Whose Woods These Are I Think I Know

One of the few things I remember from grade school is being assigned to memorize the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snow Evening by Robert Frost.  I was in eighth grade and the assignment was daunting.  I did not like poetry and was terrified of having to recite the poem to my entire class.

After much complaining, my patient mother listened to me repeat the poem over and over.  As I begin to envision the scene that was being painted with the words, I grew a love for the poem that lead to a love of may other works by Robert Frost.

I've always wanted to capture the beautiful images this poem paints in my head.  This collection of photos is just the beginning of bringing to life the beauty that the tired traveler saw.  It was something so wonderful that despite the many miles still left in his journey, he took a small moment to stop and remember.

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farm house near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Beautiful Winter

It's sometimes hard to remember on days like today that winter is beautiful despite all the cold.

City Slickers

I ran into a bunch of "City Slickers" just bumming around.  They were kind enough to let me take some photos of them.

Unorganized Chaos: Also Known as Family Photos

A few weeks ago, my whole family was going to be in town.  This rarely happens and our family has changed a lot over the past few years so I thought it would be fun to take full family photos.

I had planned out exactly how it would go in my head.  Everyone would smile nicely, hold still and cooperate and we'd walk away with the most lovely photos.  I scouted out a place beforehand, made sure my camera battery and memory card were ready to go and thought I had everything in order.

You can check out one of my previous posts No Boy at All to get the story of how things really went.  The short version is that the little people didn't want to cooperate, the big people were all being "bossy," and the camera woman just ended up being really grumpy (that would be me!).

Despite the adventure, looking back it will always be a funny memory.  My family may never be able to take the perfect photo due to the variables called little boys.  However, the unorganized chaos that these photos capture are all of my family - the people I love most.

Photo credit goes to my Mom for this one.  Thanks Mom!

Card Collection: The Meadow

The Meadow is my most favorite places to take photos.  Everywhere I turn there is something amazing to behold.  The sunsets are remarkable and the water is picturesque.  It's just not possible to take a bad picture in such a magnificent area.

A place so wonderful deserves to have its own card collection.  I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of several card collections based on The Meadow and I hope the photos at least share a small portion of the joy this place brings me.

No Boy at All

We have a saying in my family that goes like this:

One boy's a boy.

Two boys are half a boy.

And three boys are no boy at all.

I'm not sure where the saying originated but I know it spans back several generations.  And boy, whoever said it first was sure right.  I would know because there are a lot of boys in my family.  I'm the only daughter, the only granddaughter and one of only a few great-granddaughters on one side of my family.  I've witnessed the wisdom and truth in these words over and over again throughout life as I've observed my brothers and cousins.

I came across another concrete example of this saying this weekend as we tried to take family photos.  Three little nephews (all brothers) made the process anything but simple.  I've decided it's impossible to get a good photo when you're stuck with "no boy at all."  Not looking at the camera was a game that even the youngest one could play and we ended up with an impatient Aunt Katie and a lot of pictures like this.

I will just be silly from the start and not listen to a word that anyone says.

And now I will just lick my brother. 

My brother is a puppy dog and I must pat him on the head.

 If you can't see me, I can't see you and this whole thing will just stop.

 Because all the cool kids walk like this.

 I will look everywhere but the camera.

 "We'll look, smile AND hold still if we can have our sticks in the picture," said no boy ever.

 I'm giving you the deadly skunk eye because you're being bossy.

If we just ignore her, maybe she'll go away.

"I'm not gonna smile for you Aunt Katie, so quit asking me to."

You may laugh at our silly little saying but as adorable as these three little boys can be, when you try to coordinate something they instantly fall victim to the curse of "no boy at all."  They won't smile and hold still for more than a split second (if even that) but when I let them do a goofy photo, they'll hold the pose forever.

Luckily for them, even the uncooperative and goofy photos put a smile on my face.  They tell a story all of their own that maybe no one else will see or understand.  That's one thing that's amazing about a photograph.  A picture that might look like a "blooper" to one person, could capture the moment perfectly for someone else.

For me, these pictures of my three wiggly, sometimes uncooperative and always goofy nephews are prefect despite the closed eyes, flying hands and silly faces.  I wouldn't want them any other way.

P.S. stay tuned for some of the ones that turned out a little less goofy that will be included in future posts.