365:119 - Barefoot

It's that perfect temperature here where it's comfortable to wear jeans and go barefoot at the same time.

This is from the balcony on our room on the third floor of the lodge.

cross processed using Picnik

365:118 - Bumblebee

Our lodge room at Eric's conference has a balcony, and in the eaves are living some bumblebees! It's harder than I thought to take a picture of a bumblebee--they're not really slow at all!

edited with Picnik

365:117 - Branch and Smokestacks

Driving to Eric's conference from Abby's house, we had a bunch of time to mosey. We saw signs for Shawnee Lookout park, so we pulled in there and drove around. Although I feel like I should hate these smokestacks (for environmental reasons), they're quite impressive, and the smoke is beautifully puffy and graceful.

It is a shame, though, that they kind of overshadow a bunch of the park. I thought the contrast between the tree branch and the giant, concrete, man-made structure was interesting.

cropped and colors adjusted using Picnik

365:116 - Chloe

This is Abby's new puppy, Chloe. She's a rabble-rouser, but she's so darn cute!

edited using Picnik

365:115 - Kite

We drove from Binghamton to Abby's (near Cincinnati) today. The air conditioner in our car is kaput, and strangely for April, it's 90 degrees...so we were cranky. But it's windy, and there's lots of flat space in Ohio, so Eric pulled over and we flew his kite. That made things better.

Exposure and contrast adjusted using Picnik

365:114 - Shadow Birds

I was determined not to miss another day, so I snapped this shot in the morning before work, as the sunlight was coming in our front window.

cropped using Picnik

365:113 - Level 2

I completely missed Day 112 (April 22). I didn't even realize it 'til I woke up the next morning. Oh well. Carry on!

This is the inside of a parking garage. I just enjoyed the dark grittiness of it.

edited with Picnik

365:111 - Barbed Wire

There are lots of cool things to take photos of in the city. Now if there were only less people and cars.

edited with Picnik

365:110 - Hiding the Still

This is TV Turnoff Week, so last night Eric was reading to me out of The Foxfire Book. This is a book of Appalachian lore, with stories and home remedies and hunting tips....and moonshining advice. This particular section describes how to hide your still from the law.

We were really getting a kick out of the home remedies, though. Here's an example:
"If bitten by a black widow spider, drink liquor heavily from 3pm to 7pm. You won't get drunk, you will be healed."

365:109 - Emily

Our friends' sweet little girl

edited with Picnik

365:108 - Truck Seat

Although I'm not generally a fan of stuff like this in the woods, I really liked how this looked and was excited to take a few shots.

colors adjusted using Picnik

365:107 - Cloud and Tree

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so I went for a walk and took a bunch of pictures. As I was walking back toward home, I noticed this cloud that was reaching down toward the tree, and I just had to capture it.

contrast adjusted using Picnik

365:106 - Giant Danish

Through work, I'm able to order food from an organization called Chenango Bounty, through which we can obtain food (prepared food, fresh produce, meat, etc.) from local-ish producers. It's such a fantastic idea, and I'm so glad to be able to support local farmers and food producers instead of getting everything that's been brought to the store in a truck from California.

Eric wanted to order a cream cheese Danish, and he sure got what he asked for!

365:105 - Sun and Lamppost

This was actually quite bright. I bumped up the shutter speed and bumped down the size of the aperature to keep from having the sky completely blown out. It ended up being dark, but I kind of like it that way.

365:104 - Dominoes

I was determined to actually think a photo through this evening. After having little luck with the daffodils on our kitchen table, I spotted the dominoes on the shelf with the games. I tried a few shots, and this was the best.

365:103 - Income Taxes

I finished our income taxes Monday night. We had to file in three states, plus the federal return and one local form. Thankfully, my father is an accountant and was able to answer all of my MANY questions.

I'm glad that's over for another year!

And I'm glad that my parents' lives will calm down in a couple of days, after April 15!

365:102 - Easter Sky

I did edit this picture.

I hesitated because I thought it would mislead people into thinking I'm great at capturing sky color. Then I remembered that when Matt and I took the photo class a few weeks ago, the instructor told us that part of the art of photography is to capture the feeling that you had (or the feeling you wanted to convey) when you took the picture.

So here's the cropped version of the actual photo, with the colors and softness adjusted to make the sky seem as beautiful as it did to me when we were driving home after the Easter sunrise service.

edited using Picnik

365:101 - Pussywillows

I discovered last week that the tree next to our porch has pussywillows growing on it!

colors adjusted using Picnik

365:100 - Josh

Our friends had a sweet baby boy a few weeks ago.

edited with Picnik

365:99 - Rosie the Riveter

Love her.

365:98 - Peek

This one was an accident. I was trying to take a fun picture of Eric peeking up into our bedroom from the stairs, and I kept taking straight-on shots lying on the floor at eye level with him. This one where I sat up for a minute ended up being the best one.

colors adjusted using Picnik

365:97 - Peace

colors adjusted using Picnik

365:96 - Handful of Chapstick

I did the laundry this evening, and this is what I ended up with.

Good thing I checked the pockets, eh?

365:95 - Stray Cat

This cat sometimes likes to hang out on our porch and think about nabbing the birds who come to our bird feeder.

Usually he's pretty skittish, but this day he decided to be my friend.

365:94 - Cows

We went to visit Doug at the farm where he works, and while Eric was helping him with the chores, I hung out with the barn cat and took some photos.

Some farmer I am, eh?

365:93 - In Remembrance

April 3 was not a good day in Binghamton, NY.

This candle is lit in honor of the fourteen people who lost their lives only a short distance from our home.

365:92 - Sitting in the Sunshine

Beautiful day...wonderful man.

365:91 - Polka Dot Pants

I bought these pants for $2 at a thrift store one summer while I was working at camp. They are giant polyester bellbottoms with an elastic waistband. Almost every week of camp, there would be a dance, and I wore these pants with a tan flowered shirt that I salvaged from the rag bag in the craft shop at camp. As you can imagine, I was the most stylish lady there.

I was going through and weeding out some of my clothes, and I found these. I wasn't sure that they'd still fit, but to my delight, I managed to squeeze into them!

Although it might seem silly, I'm going to hang onto them. You never know when they might come in handy for a costume....*grin*

edited with Picnik

Fin

Our friends at the Park Terrace Community United Methodist Church held their annual Good Friday Art Show this afternoon and evening. The theme for this year was “It is Finished”, based upon the lectionary reading for this day: John 18:1-19:42. The above was my submission to the show. Here’s the statement that accompanied it:

“The roll of film in a single lens reflex camera captures for me the essence of what those standing at the base of the cross must have been feeling when Christ uttered those final words: ‘It is finished.’ Like those disciples, someone who has never used an analog camera would not necessarily know what to expect when the final frame is exposed and the film rewound—even if they have been told repeatedly. Perhaps it is the end. Perhaps.

“Yet, those who have taken a completed roll of film to a lab know that through an intensive process something new and glorious comes from it. So it is with Christ—the cross is not the end.”

365:90 - Moon

The moon was the only thing that inspired me on Tuesday.

This makes me want a zoomier lens!

365:89 - Seric

Here we are--we finally got a couple of evenings at home together this week.

edited with Picnik