Variations on a Theme: Words

I have always been a collector of words. I remember when I was in junior high I would read quotes and poems I liked and type them on my mom's old typewriter and keep them.  I have folders of quotes I have saved, knowing I will want a good quote for something. I post them here, on Facebook, and up in my classroom. I love being surrounded by words. Today I took a tour of my house and made a photo collection of quotes. Here is one collection:

Finding a Single Focus

click to see larger

There Is Always Beauty

 home now

In the first blog post I created back in 2007 I wrote about the four seasons of the Inland Empire. When I was younger I always dreaded this end-of- winter- almost- spring time of year. Polluted smoke from the Bunker Hill smelter filled the already gray skies with a thicker gray and a dismal pallor hung over the skies of the Kellogg and the surrounding valley. The snow was dirtied by the slag used to give cars more traction. The sun didn't shine very often.

 I can't conjure up memories of anything beautiful this time of year from my youth. What I do remember as we marched slowly into a late spring was the absence of outside Easter egg hunts, white patent leather shoes covered with mud walking to church on Easter, and freezing weather the time our high school youth group organized an outdoor sunrise service. However I do recall the sweet smell of a blooming Easter Lily with a pot wrapped in pink foil and tied in a pastel bow.

 I paid attention when the lilacs bloomed in May, when we headed to Blum's greenhouse to get pansies and petunias, and the sight of Grandma's snowball bush blooming in her front yard in Spokane. I am sure there were other signs of spring before May, but I just didn't notice.

Now I notice the beauty of all four seasons each day. One reason is that I carry my camera wherever I go and have a visual history of the seasons in the Inland Empire. Another reason is that I try to be present and find beauty in every weather during every season. Today when I trudged through the mud in the driveway I looked at the beauty of the setting sun. The reflection of the frozen snow made me forget the broken branches and dead leaves waiting to be cleaned up in the flower bed by the front walk.

 I will notice beauty tomorrow also and the day after. I don't need a crocus blooming or forsythia buds swelling on the branch to have something to photograph. Tomorrow it may be the bare branches of the fruit trees awaiting spring. What I know for sure is I will have a record of it.
  You can find that first blog post here.

Faceless Portraits Part 2

 

  I am still experimenting with Faceless Portraits, but this series has a focus below the waist. It was interesting what my camera captured today as I roamed around my classroom while students were taking a test.

 

At home I continue to capture faceless portraits.

Blog Anniversary #4

On February 17, 2007 I did my first post on this blog. I created a post about the four seasons of the Inland Empire. After that first post I never looked back. I have now posted 1,451 posts and the posts  have varied from memoir pieces, recipes, sibling assignments, photos, gardening tips, poetry, life around our place, road trips around northeastern Washington state,our pets, family, and lots of lots of bouquets. Here are some favorite photos.

Kit right after he arrived to our house.

Kellogg High School

ice on the greenhouse window

plant starts in the greenhouse window

Annie: My Own Brown Eyes

BROWN EYES

In early youth I made a vow
That if to Cupid I should bow,
The one for whom he aimed the dart
At my desired, unclaimed heart,
Must have brown eyes; large, soft brown eyes.

Time came when eyes looked into mine;
Large, soft brown eyes that seemed to shine
With intellect. Did I succumb?
Oh yes! for though the lips were dumb,
Those lovely eyes I deemed a prize.

Within their depths devotion shone,
And as they gazed into my own,
They seemed to say, "My love is thine.
Please let me know that I have thine."
And Oh! I knew his heart was true.

My arms his snowy neck entwined,
And I rejoiced a love to find
So worshipful, so constant, true.
How oft they've thrilled me through and through,
My collie's wise, large, soft brown eyes!

by Mrs.S.L.Dempsey 

 ( although mine is a springer spaniel, I still love the poem)