The Final Straw

To say that it's been a rough winter would be an understatement. With unemployment running rampant, food and fuel prices climbing higher and higher and more troubles on the horizon, it's time for a change, don't you think? Well, I thought so. I spent the entire month of February sick and most of March trying to shake the winter blahs. Here it is April and I've seen my first beautiful crocuses on the front lawn. YEAH!!!!!! The grass tips are fighting their way up through the dead duff of last year, the birds are starting to get frisky, moose are on the move and the snowbanks are almost a thing of the past, on the edge of the road that is. Deep inside the forest, the snow is still just exactly that- deep. And, out of the blue, I fought a toothache all weekend. The tooth had been repaired several times and the last time, the dentist said it might be the last. he must be some kind of prophet. Monday, I'm in his chair and he's pulling it out. I hate dentists and hate loosing teeth even more. Today, I feel lousy. My jaw hurts just a little less than it did with the tooth in it, I have to be careful of everything I eat and drink, no soda and very little brushing. My mouth tastes like a war zone and I lost. I'll be so glad when the weekend gets here. We're going to work in the studio and get the camper out of the mud, ready for the season which starts on the last weekend of the month, the three day Maple Sugar Festival in St Albans, VT. I'll be there. Hope to see you there as well.

Weather Tease

Man, what a beautiful day. Carl and I went for a walk and the air just smelled so much like spring, it almost hurt because I know it's still really early. We could still get pounded with huge amounts of snow during the month of April. As I walked, I looked. I looked really hard for something to peak my photographic interest and I have to tell you, it's just not there, yet. Thursday, I observed one lone Canada goose winging it's way south. Is it confused or am I?

We both agree the ice is leaving the rivers and streams in a much slower pace. Perhaps we'll avoid the usual flooding of the Connecticut River low areas which includes the truck stop/convenience store/camp ground that our son works at. One year, it was so bad the fire dept forced him to evacuate the store in a row boat. He had stayed behind to move things in the store to higher shelves as the water rose. His boss was really appreciative.

The first flowers we'll see will be the trilliums shown in the photo attached.

Getting The Urge

We finally got our taxes done. It's not that my business empire is so huge, because it's not, it's just that it does take a lot of time to count all of those mats and frames. I am always amazed when I start plugging figures into my spreadsheet. And, if I only had that $10,000.00 that my figures tells me is sitting in my studio, well I'd probably be on my way to the camera store for that lens I mentioned I could really use. each time I look wistfully off into the distance knowing I can't bring that subject close enough or try to get a saleable image of an eagle or a bull moose, I mutter to myself the same thing. "Have to have that bigger lens before I head off to Alaska or Africa. It will be a waste of time, money and effort, otherwise." So, now the numbers are in the hands of the accountants and I'm getting the urge. The urge, you see, is for all of the snow to be gone. It's going, but no soon enough for me. The sap is running and I know that new life is just waiting to burst upon the scene. I can't wait until I can hang up my heavy jacket, put the boots away and start wandering the countryside in search of that first new baby whatever, the first daffodil, the first moose calf, anything but dirty snow banks and muddy brown lawns.

Facebook

For the past few days, I've been playing around with a new toy, a new project, one that I hope will be of real benefit to me and to my work. It's called Facebook. I don't really know much about it. A friend sent me a link to his page and, intrigued, I clicked on the link. I was disappointed to find out that I had to register ( join ) in order to see his graphic design work. But, what the heck, I dove in with both feet. It was surprisingly easy. You do have to enter a few personal questions and I didn't see the reason behind it until I actually got the account set up. The site opens a page of your own, with all sorts of information about you, your hobbies, likes and dislikes, whims, fancies and you can adapt the pages to make them more like yourself or do absolutely nothing at all. Members network themselves by "requesting" friends, family, neighbors and just acquaintances to declare "they are friends". This enables a whole network to build. In my case, the more friends I allow and encourage to view my site the better. It gets even more of my work out there for people to become familiar with. Already, I have set up seven or eight albums from our travels to Australia, Panama and so forth for people to see and comment.

My one mistake was that I set my account up under my home e-mail address and people looking for my page won't find it with the info@ photo-sensitivity.com address that is on my business cards. The address that you should enter when looking for my work is ryderlady@hotmail.com. I'm trying to figure out how to fix this boo boo but for now, please- go to facebook.com and set up an account. It only takes a few minutes and it costs nothing. You don't have to fill in all of the information. You will be amazed when you search for friends how intuitive and helpful the site is. It brought up people I never realized had a facebook page. Maybe that's because I never really checked it out until my friend, Tom, sent me the link. BTW, he's doing brilliant things with a couple of graphic design programs. Oh, and the photo I've posted is the real me, taken by my dad or his wife, Adena, during our recent visit to the Pacific Northwest.

Happy Birthday, Steph

Our grand daughter turned eight years old today. This isn't really anything special except for one very important thing. The day she was born she was 10 weeks premature and weighed 2 pounds. It was almost surreal looking at her in the isolette. I read her measurements over and over and wondered to myself how, in later years, I would be able to grasp just how small she really was. SO I took those measurements and hunted high and low for just the right bunny rabbit. It had to be exactly 14 inches long and weigh no more than 2 pounds. it had to have thin arms and legs. It took me a while but I was relentless finding just exactly the right stuffed animal. The nurses let me put it in her isolette and we took a photograph of her next to the bunny. We've taken this photograph every year on her birthday to remind us all of how tiny she was and to remind Stephanie as well of what a fighter she was. She came home from the hospital a little over 4 pounds with very little health issues. We thank God everyday for sending her to us and allowing us to keep her. I just thought you'd all like to know how wonderful the staff in the neonatal unit at Dartmouth Hitchcock really is. I even wrote a piece on her first birthday and sent it to the papers along with her 1st birthday photo. Attached to this piece is the one I took today.

I Didn't Know Dogs Could Get That Sick

I never realized what the phrase meant until this past month. I hated the ride north in the car though. The further north we went, the more pressure built in my head and by the time we got home, I was in tears. In fact, there are no posts for the month of February because I was so miserable. I spent more time curled up on the couch than I did on my feet. Carl thinks the misery of this head cold actually lasted longer because I also tend to get cabin fever during this time of year. Some call it Seasonal Affective Disorder and if you think about the initials, S.A.D. then it must be true. The days are finally getting a bit warmer and I can feel the urge to get out and take photos burning inside me. I'm not there yet, but my husband always knows when I'm feeling better. He says I get grouchy. LOL!

It's A Party, After All

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and the grandchildren are making their annual visit for our three hour tailgate party. We eat too much, laugh a lot, tell stories and watch football but the events of the day happen in that order when football is the least of the reasons for the gathering. I‘m still feeling really lousy but we wait a whole year for this event, I wouldn’t want to disappoint either of them. We see them often, that’s not the reason. It’s the randomness of the munchies and the cooking with the kids. It’s all about the PARTY!!!