simply rumi

Come into my house, beloved - a short while! – Rumi

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developing

I have always found the different shapes and sizes of manhole covers fascinating but never developed that interest into anything tangible. So when I looked down during my morning walk several years ago, became immediately engrossed in the rusted surface beneath my feet and just had to stop to take a picture with my I Phone, that dormant fascination was fully resurrected and quickly blossomed into an obsession! I could not focus on the road ahead so busy was I looking at the ground at the various patina finishes, words, and patterns of ironwork in so many unexpected places. One day while bent low to the grass engaged in the detail of a scratchy blue cover marked “water”, a plain-clothes security person on Capitol Hill happened by. No, I was not planning to do anything to breach the security of the United States. Yes, I was a bit nutty about how many small circular and square plates were located on the grounds…see! I was surprised at the genuine admiration he expressed when he looked at my photographs, then allowed me to continue.

The great thing is I did not delete those phone pix and now that I have a real camera and have developed my own editing styles, I wondered what my pictures from recent past would say to me now…

   

This morning during a phone conversation with a very close friend, I heard myself say that I am coming back around to who I was supposed to be. Though I’ve only taken a high school class in photography and don’t recall much except the subject matter of what I shot, a camera has been present and in my hand at some point during each decade of my life. When I took the class right up to present day, my eye not the textbook, teacher or what anyone else is doing guides me to what I am to see and capture. I’ve also written in various forms since I was quite young, loving words quietly then loudly; most people have no idea I was a serious introvert and that I was and still am rather shy. Taking pictures has allowed me to develop my own unique voice, to speak in a way that I don’t always have words to express, to design artistic creations that I am unable to put down in another medium. Writing the blog is a license granted to me by me for sheer free expression. Occasionally, I tickle myself with some of the things I scribe and feel a sense of balance twice a week once I hit Publish.

Combining the two...bliss. Adding travel to the equation…utopia. Arriving and developing in more ways than one...

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curvaceous in black

Just before I left for Nantucket a few weeks ago, I took a photograph of a leaf whose curves resembled those of a voluptuous pin-up girl. I did have to pause for a few moments waiting for her dance with the cool wind to subside in order to snap the pose.

Just when I was about to leave Nantucket, I happened on a gorgeous sculpture in the window of a gallery. I stood out front admiring the shiny marble with an overwhelming desire to run my hands over the smooth curves; the gallery was not open so I’m still imagining the sensation.

Just as the plane rose into the sky leaving Nantucket behind, I gazed out the window in time to capture shorelines in the distance amazed at how the curves wound around to create such heavenly places to visit. I could still feel soft sand caressing my feet as I edited the photos and there before me was a shape very much like the very first collage goddesses I created.

Something involving curvaceous bodies in black is quietly calling for my attention. Don’t quite know what just yet, so…

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celebrating dads

On this day when we celebrate Dads, I wish mine a very Happy Father’s Day!

Hope it’s a very special Sunday for every man who has lovingly and responsibly raised a child. Until Wednesday…

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her first

Today my first niece graduates from high school, leaves for her first year of college at the end of the summer. I look at a picture of the first time I saw her just before her first Christmas. She was just a tiny bundle wriggling around in a baby jumpsuit with feet taking in her surroundings and me. I love our first photo together me holding her, both of us in hats, her first bought by me just for her.

The first time I played baby sitter, she was determined to stay awake pacifier moving fast as she studied my face and the huge carnelian on my finger. She attempted to remove the ring several times; I was careful to prevent that from happening on my first watch so afraid she would put it in her mouth and swallow it but the more I resisted, the more she persisted! Finally, she gazed into my eyes in a manner that gained my full attention, pointed to the ring then pointed to her chest. It was a moment I will never forget. She clearly communicated her first message to me without speaking a word, her first still yet to come. Of course I had to take off the ring allowing her to handle her first piece of jewelry. She turned it over in her tiny hands inspecting every angle, handed it back to me, put her head down on my chest and we both took a nap. A memory I savor...

To my niece who I love it is with pride and teary eyes that I scribe the word congratulations! To you and all the others in the class of 2012, there are so many firsts ahead of you. As you go forth, keep an open heart and mind and…

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batikin' it

Stumbled onto a way to make my pix sort of batikish...

...kinda island cool on a hot day here in DC.

Files are quite big and take forever to load. There are more designs in different colors so...

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snapshots

snakes from a plane? take off over washington was scenic

here's a poster version of a shipping dock in boston harbor



there are no cockpits in the very small cape air planes, could reach out and touch the pilot

clams on the half shell are served beach side all day long

there are oh so many shells here!

got my toes tickled by bright green fingers that wash up onto the sand to surf sounds

waiting for the tide to slow its ebb so I could capture one pose of colorful seaweed dancing underwater was an exercise in patience as this voyeur perched on a rock above

waves in the water come in all sizes

shells seem to laugh out loud with tiny mouths that go unseen if one doesn't stop to listen

golden threads blanket the shells like silk protecting them from the morning fog

beach front living is pretty spectacular...

beach views aren't bad either!

the B&B had some seriously nice views too...from the top of the house...



to the breakfast terrace...

to the interiors

brilliant iris petals lit up the yards on a drizzly afternoon 

heading home...is it really time to go? and yes, this is ALL the luggage I had!

only I could look down into the atlantic and find the voluptuous profile of a water goddess

it was a bumpy ride on the most gorgeous day...

I was more than happy for the approaching boston runway!!!

new york, just like I pictured it...home is just a few short minutes via air away!

I can't wait to visit Nantucket again, there are so many more picture perfect postcards to snap and save. Off to something new on Sunday so...

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perfect day

journal entry: may 29, 2012…

Woke for the first time at 5:15am, noticed dawn peeking around the edges of the shutters. Shut off the air conditioner and TV (fell asleep with it on as usual), opened the door to let morning come in with her cooing doves, birds speaking through song, and cool to blanket my body. Fluffed up the pillows, slipped back into bed, dozed until 7:00. Did the AM stretches (those cobblestone streets are hard on the hip!), got up and stepped out to a foggy morning...

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pulled on lightweight sweater, leggings, sneakers, baseball cap, earrings and walked to beach….

...nothing like clean fresh air and the feel of sand in your sneakers...despite the fog, lots of photos...

...gathered shells from the bountiful selection -- there were thousands of them for as far as the eye could see…

...and yippee, the sun broke! Continued taking pix...

...got back to the B&B just in time for breakfast on the terrace, which was simple yet pleasing to both the eye and famished taste buds...

Changed not a stitch as I proceeded into town to collect the decided upon treasures spotted on my "stop in/walk thru perusals" the day prior; visited a few antique shops and several galleries...

...spent an hour or so absorbed in the eclectic collection at the Graficas gallery, grabbed an iced decaf, headed back to B&B...

 Off with sneakers to let my feet finally enjoy being bare, donned a white linen top, tied my hair in a scarf and oh my new earrings are gorgeous! Staked out a comfy spot on the front porch, began to devour a book as sweet aromas wafted around letting me know when it was time to take a break for warm gooey choc chip cookies...back to my spot until it was time to go into town for a very light and quick supper.



A little more reading on the veranda when I returned before I retired to my room (love my room), ran a bath in the claw-footed tub (the only one in this B&B), lit the candles…

…after a long soak climbed under freshly laundered sheets, hooked up my I Phone to listen to my Billie Holiday Pandora station, read until my eyelids refused to turn another page leaving me just 47 more for tomorrow…

...grateful for such a lovely respite (and that bit of a rainbow I caught at dusk just before I closed the door for the evening) and heard the long slow whine of the last ferry of the day bidding farewell to the island…

Postcards from Nantucket on Wednesday, until then...

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