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I Never Unpack

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I Never Unpack

Monthly Archives: March 2015

Ephemeral…That Magical Moment When the World Awakens

29 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Photography, Uncategorized

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Tags

photography

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I am a morning person whether at home or on the road. I love the quiet solitude of the early morning while I have that first cup of coffee. I love to watch the sun rise as I prepare to start my new day.

But I also love to hear the world around me as it wakes up. Recently, while on a trip to Arkansas, my husband and I enjoyed a glorious morning in the Ouachita Mountains. It was not a fiery, exploding awakening, but a peaceful, quiet one. We sipped coffee, listening as the geese woke up and started calling to one another. We saw them begin their day, as they took flight. We loved watching the fog roll across the water, and the geese as they interacted with it. It was…ephemeral…and I loved it!

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Ephemeral.”

 

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Wordless Wednesday…New Life

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

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photography, Wordless Wednesday

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Posted by slvrhawk2014 | Filed under Photography, Wordless Wednesday

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Fresh…From the Farmer’s Market

21 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Food, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

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Tags

Food, Weekly Photo Challenge

DSCN5303 (2)

Today we went to the Farmer’s Market in Columbia. As we were traveling to the market, I thought about how best to interpret this week’s photo challenge…Fresh!

As soon as I started walking among the tables of fresh produce, I knew exactly how I would interpret a sense of what is fresh.

There is very little that tastes better than a salad made with freshly cut greens. There is little more satisfying than breaking an egg that was just collected yesterday, and seeing that big round yolk at the center.

So, for this week I will base my meals on the lettuce, swiss chard, kale, spinach, daikon radish, cabbage, and that hoop tomato we bought fresh at the market this morning.

Oh, and then there are those eggs…my husband thinks they will go great with bacon…I see them in a fantastic vegetable omelet. We will see…maybe we can do both!

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Fresh.”

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Walls…What They Can Tell Us

14 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Uncategorized

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In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Wall.”

Walls can tell us so much about our surroundings, about our society, about ourselves.

Some walls tell us of protection from outside forces. These walls at recreated Ft. Caroline in Jacksonville, Florida, tell of protection for people who felt themselves to be in danger…”Come into these walls, and you will be protected.”  But they also acted as a deterrent…”You are not welcome here, stay out.”

These walls form the perimeter of Old Ft. Caroline.

These walls form the perimeter of Old Ft. Caroline.

Some walls speak of days gone by. These walls formed the skeleton of an engine house for the private railroad of Sheahan Quarries in southeastern Missouri in the 1860’s. The walls take us out of our own time; they lead us to another time and an opportunity for new explorations and new understandings.

Old walls at Elephant Rocks State Park in Missouri.

Old walls at Elephant Rocks State Park in Missouri.

Some walls seem to say “Come in, stay a while and visit.” This wall of rowhouses in Elfreth’s Alley in Philadelphia forms part of a neighborhood. It is a place where residents come home to entertain, to recharge, to enjoy family, to be family.

Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia.

Elfreth’s Alley in Philadelphia.

Some walls tell of disaster and great sorrow. The walls at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, made a truly lasting impression on me. It is a solemn place which brings to mind ordinary Americans who, on September 11, found themselves in grave danger, faced their fears and fought back with all their might.

These walls let us venture no further, for just beyond them lays the field where the plane came down. Only families of the victim’s of Flight 93 are allowed past these walls, and that is as it should be.

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The Flight 93 Memorial at Shanksville, Pennsylvania

Some walls tell us that they will keep out the ravages of nature. When the Mississippi River reaches dangerous flood stage, these walls in Cape Girardeau, Missouri are closed, keeping the water out of this thriving college town. When the river is flowing lazily within its banks, these walls form an artistic backdrop to a leisurely stroll or jog along the river’s edge.

Flood wall at Cape Girardeau, MO

Flood wall at Cape Girardeau, Missouri

And some walls tell us we are home…these are my walls, in my house. These walls are my comfort zone!

Walls within a home

Walls within a home

Walls can tell us so much!

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Orange…That Burnt Orange that Means Spring is Coming

10 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Photography

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Orange…it is showing up as buds on bushes and trees. It is showing up on the robins that are returning. It is showing up because spring will be showing up soon!

Even in the gray, snowy woods, the burnt orange breasts of these robins cannot hide for long!
Even in the gray, snowy woods, the burnt orange breasts of these robins cannot hide for long!
This robin is ready, and so am I!
This robin is ready, and so am I!
Even the bushes are popping with orange buds!
Even the bushes are popping with orange buds!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Orange

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I Love Being Old…There, I Said It!

02 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Photography

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Tags

photography

Yesterday I made the comment that I thought I was looking for spring in all the wrong places. So today I went looking for spring…in any place it was willing to show itself to me. And I found it…it was not on a long drive from home, it was not sitting in the back room watching TV, it was not in a book or in a long nap. It was in a long walk, in my own neighborhood, on a day after the biggest snowfall we have had this year.

This is what spring looks like right now…

Robins...I saw so many

Robins…I saw so many

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New leaves on old vines

New life popping up all around!

New life popping up all around!

Can spring be far behind…I don’t think so!

And that brings me back to the title of this post. I do love being old, and I realized that shortly after I retired five years ago. I also loved being a young wife and mother, I loved teaching classrooms full of young children to look at this world with inquisitive eyes. And I loved seeing my grandchildren begin to enter my life even though, while still working, I did not get to see so much of them.

But now I am in my late sixties and I am having the time of my life! Now I have time to look at those kids we raised…pretty well, I would say…and be so proud of them. I have time to visit my grandchildren spread all across the country…I will never get enough of those visits. I have time to learn new things, experience new places, and just sit and think if that is what I want to do. I have time to go out looking for spring!

The sunrise which serves as my featured picture for this post occurred this morning. I noticed it through my window as I was drinking my morning coffee and reading a book. I jumped out of bed, put on my boots, grabbed my camera, and raced outside… in my pajamas. Good thing I did, because two minutes later that beautiful sunrise was clouded over. When I was younger, when I was so busy, when I was so worried about who knows what, I would have never even noticed the sunrise.

I am glad to have been blessed with the opportunity to learn more and do more. I am grateful to be blessed with this time. I love being old…there, I said it!

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