Personal Favorite

My personal favorite. I took this many, many years ago on Vinalhaven, Maine, an island off the coast of Rockland, Maine. I love the way the light is hitting the cottage and apparently I 'm really good at "negative space" (whatever that means... I'm sure I'll learn.). I think I'm lucky! I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Trevor doesn't believe in coincidence and neither do I, honestly. I'm pretty sure that as the sun is setting it hits this cottage every single sunny day there is. I just happened to be there and capture it and the green grass. I'd buy this cottage in a heartbeat if this was the way it was portrayed...

Good Question

In church this morning during the children's talk the Pastor was talking about Easter eggs and why eggs are associated with Easter, both the historical and spiritual reasons. One of the children asked, "Why isn't there an Easter Chicken?"

Tales of the Easter Bunny

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Big Y Supermarket down the road from us and while I was wandering the frozen food aisle (also known as the ice cream aisle), over the intercom came, "Will the Easter Bunny please report to the produce department? Easter Bunny to the produce department." I wondered why the produce department but then remembered that bunnies like carrots.

Later that afternoon when we were on our walk at Fitzgerald Lake I spied a yellow plastic Easter egg on the ground. And, just in case you don't know this, Fitzgerald Lake is just a HOP, SKIP, and a JUMP from Big Y. Now I know where the Easter Bunny was!

Nice Picture in a Silly Hat

Here's a nice picture of Trevor in one of his many hats. If you're interested in the hat parade you'll have to look at his website. You won't see it here.

Portraits

After I was done taking pictures for Trevor's hat parade on his website he allowed me to take a few of him with his bass where I was allowed to call the shots, so to speak. It was fun and I hope he lets me do it again sometime. I especially like the action shots of the twirling bass.

I'm an artist!

I took this photo yesterday on our walk at Fitzgerald Lake. (see post below) It's so nice to take B&W photos with a digital camera. The exposure guessing game is solved by being able to see the image on the display screen and how adjusting the aperture and/or shutter speed effect the image. And if I still don't like it I can always fix it with Photoshop! I'm pretty much convinced I never need to use film again!

A Nice Walk

We went for a nice walk yesterday at Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area in Northampton. It's a short drive from our house and about a half-hour walk in the woods to the lake. The path was snow-covered and in the Hemlock grove it was ice-covered. Once again, it was great to get out and stretch our legs and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. We're aching for more warm weather!

I've been taking B&W photos with my digital camera again. Here's the snow-covered path at the beginning of the walk.

Happy Birthday!

Today is Trevor's birthday! He's 52 today. Here's a few pictures of him over the years.

We're celebrating tonight with his best buddy, Don and his wife Barbara and Trevor's kids, Jason and Myrrh, and Myrrh's fiance, Joe. (That's right, I'm going to be a step-mother-in-law!)

Job Security?

I got a letter in the mail last week that said I had to attend a seminar at one of the Career Centers that the State operates in order to continue to be eligible for unemployment. Translation: if you don't go to one of these seminars they don't send you your check. So I signed up and went to one yesterday. Naturally, there were no openings at the Career Center in Northampton (which is 5 minutes from my house) so I had to go to Greenfield (20 minutes north) or somewhere in the Berkshires (forget it). I chose Greenfield. At the seminar they tell you everything you can do at the career centers. They have a lot of classes, seminars, and workshops. They actually want to help people find a job.

The woman who was leading the seminar told us that she was unemployed 7 years ago. You'd think that if you worked for the Division of Unemployment Assistance that you'd have job security but apparently that isn't true. (I was the only one in the room who found this at all humorous. But I'm easily amused.) She went on to say how bored she was for the 5 months that she wasn't working. She told us that her house was really clean but she was really anxious to get back to work.

Now, it's only been a little more than a month since I was "let go" from my job and yet I am no where near being bored and my house is definitly NOT clean! I started cleaning the music room a few weeks ago and haven't finished yet. My list of things to do and places to go keeps getting longer. I really don't think I have time for a new job right now. A few people have said to me, "Oh, you'll get offered a fabulous job and you'll have to take it and it'll be all over." To that I say, "Not if I don't look for one!"

I finished a project!

I finished a crocheted hat last night! I started it Monday night during my last Crochet 1 class. It's kind of a floppy sou'wester style hat with a '70's style open weave on the sides. The flat round top part of the hat is in double crochet, then there's a special "V" stitch down the sides and the brim is single crochet and then half-double crochet and finally the trim is reverse single crochet! It turns out I probably should have done gauge swatch but too late for that! It fits this bear just fine and my housemate, Jenna (who's 14 months). I used a lovely yarn I got at Webs in Northampton. It's Ella Rae Classic 100% wool. I've picked out my next project (a bag). I'll head to Webs tomorrow for more yarn!

The Apology

My housemate, Rowan (age 9) has been sneaking into my cabinet and eating my good chocolate! I only buy the good stuff. I prefer dark chocolate and it's usually Green & Blacks. I really like the mint one and just bought a bar of Maya Gold and Rowan ate 1/2 of it! He's pretty sloppy about his thievery. I found it unwrapped in my cabinet! I spoke to Alice (his mom) about it and she made him buy me a replacement when they were at Whole Foods the other day. He left it on the counter with this note.

Change of Plans

Here's an example of what I've been doing on PhotoShop. I scanned a B&W photo that I took probably 20 years ago at a cemetary in my old hometown of East Bridgewater, MA and adjusted the pixels to 600 dpi then I used one of the many artistic filters that are so much fun to play with. This one is cut-out. Just like cut-out paper.

Today was supposed to be my appointment at Hallmark Institute of Photography but it got changed to next Wednesday at 1pm because it's spring break this week for them and none of the instructors are there. One of the things I'd planned on doing while I was there for the afternoon was having my work reviewed by an instructor so it seemed pointless to drive up there and only accomplish 2 out 0f 3 things. While, not entirely pointless but more like inefficient. So I'm staying home today. It's fine with me, it's a dreary, rainy yucky March day anyway. I'll just have another week to obsess over the portfolio and worry about what to wear!

I'm a bad influence on my friends

I met my good friend Rachel at Cafe Esselon in Hadley today. Here she is looking at my slides. She's back in the States for a couple of weeks on break from working on her MS in Environmental Studies at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. I like to tell people we went to high school together. But they usually figure out quickly that Rachel's 20 years younger than me! We actually met when she was a student at Northampton High School and I was working there in the Science Department. She was a science geek (and still is) so we actually go to know each other over the 4 years that we both spent at NHS. She used to hang out in my office and use my microwave oven to heat her lunch and sit and chat with me. She told me she loved geology and I, naturally, encouraged her to pursue her loves. Rachel graduated in 2003 and I was "let go" from my position at NHS and went to work at Nourse Farms. Rachel went to Wellesley College where she majored in geochemistry. When Rachel & I hang out and I ask her about her research I'm probably one of the few people who understands what she's talking about! Rachel has kept in touch with me since we both departed NHS 5 years ago and I'm always glad when she calls me up and we get together to chat. Today I told her about my big plans to attend photography school and showed her my portfolio. She admitted that she's a "wanna be photographer" and was a bit envious of my plans. I teased her about following in my footsteps (the geology degree that doesn't really get used, changing career paths in mid-life, etc.). I'll just have to wait and see what Rachel does next..

A Friendly Water Fight with my Siblings, 1982

I found this series of photos when I was sorting through my old pictures. I'm wondering if my brother and sister remember this? Someone wrote 1982? on the back of the photos but I think my hair was longer in '82. Trevor recently found a photo of us taken in 1982 at Blairhaven in South Duxbury. If you're lucky I'll post it here...

How to stay busy while being unemployed

Are you wondering how I fill my days while I don't have a job?
It's pretty simple and I have to say that I'm getting really good at this.
If you should suddenly find yourself unemployed take some tips from me:
Get up when you feel like it. (for me this is anywhere between 6 and 8 AM)
Do whatever you want all morning. (this might actually include looking for a job, and looking at job listings on-line counts so you have a really good reason to be in front of your computer)
Keep a detailed calendar of appointments. (I have two this week!)
Make lists of projects to accomplish during this time period.
Scan old photos into computer and email them to old friends.
Clean the house from top to bottom.
Read a book. I'm currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Stay in pj's until noon if the spirit moves you.
Go back to bed if you want to.
Shower if you feel the need.
Get dressed.
Wear the same clothes as yesterday if you don't feel like opening the dresser drawers.
Goof around all afternoon.
Go for a hike on a sunny day. You don't have to wait until the weekend!
Visit as many local independent coffee shops as possible whenever you want because you can.
Crochet! Start projects and never finish them.
Fantasize about having the entire summer off!
Accomplish very little.
Make dinner.
Go to bed when you feel like it. (for me this is anywhere between 9 and 11PM)

Sanderson Brook Waterfall

I learned how to shoot B&W photos on my digital camera today. Who needs film?

Well, it's official. I have too much time on my hands.

Yes, the time has arrived. I've been happily unemployed for a little over a month now and am showing absolutely no signs of being bored or finding suitable employment. I've begun this blog and so therefore I must have too much time on my hands.
I've spent many hours in the past few weeks sorting through my photos and putting together a portfolio of my work to bring to the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, MA. I have an appointment on Wednesday of this week for a tour, critique of my work and admissions interview. If all goes well, I will apply, be accepted, fork over thousands of dollars and start in September. It's a ten-month program and they teach you everything you need to know about the photo business. It's pretty impressive. Wish I'd done this 20 years ago.
I've enjoyed going through my photos and scanning them into this little iBook that I love so much. Thanks to my brother-in-law for PhotoShop Elements. I've been having a blast experimenting.
Today Trevor & I took a drive to Chester, MA where there's still plenty of snow on the ground and hiked into Sanderson Brook Waterfall. It was about a half-hour hike in and we found a rock in the sunshine to sit and eat our lunch. The waterfall was pretty impressive but even Trevor thought the trail down was too treacherous. I was relieved. We'll go back when the snow has melted. Maybe May? Silly us, thought since we don't have much snow here in the Valley, that the Berkshires musn't have much snow either, right? We were very wrong about that.
My next impossible goal for between now and September is to visit every single property of the Trustees of Reservations that I haven't already been to. Maybe I'll just start with this region and see how it goes.