Saturday Evening

"How quickly can you be ready for an art event on the square?" my husband asked as he came in from working in the yard. Wait a minute... is he suggesting we do something spontaneous? The most spontaneous thing I've done all week is run my two year old to the little froggie potty...

I can be ready in two minutes.

We left the kids in capable hands and before I knew it we were strolling from one art gallery to another, listening to live music, and talking with an accomplished sculptor as we walked through his studio. It was the most wonderful, spontaneous thing I have done in a long time... so spontaneous that I forgot my camera! I didn't even have my phone with me. And that's just fine because I was holding hands with my best friend.

Spontaneity: I highly recommend it.

Rain

I love summer rain! Yesterday was the first time we had rain without thunder in a long time and although I didn't get any awesome photos (because I was sheltering my camera in the garage) I did get a few worth sharing:

Just Because

I don't have anything for the creative word prompt "connect." I'm not feeling creative at all.

For now, here is a beloved Sonnet

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

-Shakespeare

Whatcha got?

I converted this image to b&w in order to reduce distractions and draw attention to baby's expression and gesture. My reason for the selective color? Because I can.

I was so excited to post this until I looked at my original again. Aren't those baby blues beautiful? Maybe I missed the most important part when I edited. I just don't know.

What do you think?

Denim

The Creative Word Prompt at Life Set to Words is: Denim.

Discoveries

Have you ever woken up in the morning and realized that you've been a grump? That happened to me yesterday so I decided to turn off the distractions and head outside with my kids. It was wonderful! I re-discovered my imagination... we played, we cooked, we cleaned, we lost track of time! For the first time in a while I didn't worry so much about the "right way to do things" and at bed time we were still singing and playing. My oldest boy said to my youngest boy Mommy is so silly! This simple statement meant allot to me because I have gotten used to saying no too often and I forgot how much fun it is to say yes! I'm too busy doing laundry (or avoiding laundry) and I forget how important it is to look into my children's eyes and listen to what they have to say. How important it is to tell them that I love them and give them answers that they can understand.

The other thing I found out yesterday is how cool it is to download my photos after all that playing and find some that I LOVE! Here's one of them:

Happy Independence Day!

You know, I'm growing braver so I decided to bring my camera with me to the fireworks this evening. I've never done it before because it seemed intimidating but it was easy and really fun! I'll share a little secret with you *I let the camera do all the work!* The truth is that my husband helped me set my camera (high ISO, wide open aperture, fast shutter). He also showed me how to exposure bracket- which means that each time I take a picture the camera takes one photo at what I metered, and then one under what I metered, and one over. Here is my favorite from tonight:

ISO 800, f/2.0, 1/200 sec.

Open: a different take

1 AM- is this a good time to reflect? Maybe...

Last week my husband's uncle died. While visiting with distant relatives before the funeral, a friendly and polite young man (I think he was about 16 years old) came up to me and said "I know you, you are Ian's sister." The young man's dad was nearby and said "Yes! How is Ian? Wait a minute, he was in a car accident or something last year, wasn't he?" Yes, my brother died. He was 16. And that young man reminded me very much of my brother- so polite, so friendly. I have missed Ian everyday since he died and I'm wondering, will it always hurt so much to think about him? Last night as I drove by the fire station I saw that the

doors of each fire truck and ambulance were standing open.

Those firefighters and EMTs and Paramedics are ready to work hard to save lives every night. There are allot of people who need help. I realized that I should spend more energy looking for ways to help others instead of being so introspective. I'm not exactly sure what action to take but here is a verse from the Bible that has comforted me many times:

"The LORD is good,

A stronghold in the day of trouble,

And He knows those who take refuge in Him."

-Nahum 1:7

Open

The door is open, come on in!

I have missed Creativity Boot Camp and am really thankful for The Sunday Creative!