We left home at around 11:30 for brunch. As I walked to the car, I took this picture. We didn't bother to rake this year. I guess we go in for that forested look. Actually we're just lazy about stuff like that. We both work hard and we like to have fun when we can.
Took a walk around our local reservoir, which includes Lake Pleasant This is a photo of the road that leads to the lake.
WP pointed out this unusual tree to me. It looks like it's in the conifer family but we don't know of any others like it around here.
Lake Pleasant
Green pond is iced over
and I can see my bedroom again! I was a good housefrau and removed the many items off the floor and vacuumed with the antique Electrolux. The T. Rex of vacuums!
It was a quiet, very cold, very peaceful day. Odd not to have chicks around. In our case four daughters.
Ed tagged me for the Meaningless Meme and I, being unable to say no to such easy frivolity, am playing along.
1. Five names you go by: * Gina * Mommy * Baby (at least it's not "Babe". which always reminds me of the pig) * Mrs. P (which is not accurate but people always assume we're married) * Pagan Sphinx (you know, in the blog world)
2. Three things you are wearing right now: * earrings (always) * an Indian print scarf * purple tights
3. Two things you want very badly at the moment:
* a vacation * a new work environment
4. Three people who will probably fill this out:
* Sherry * Steve (because I'm curious as to what movie clip he'll choose) * You!
5. Two things you did last night:
* Watched the movie Zodiac with WP * Ordered a pizza
6. Two things you ate today:
* toast with butter * black coffee
7. Two people you last talked to on the phone:
* SG2 * one known as a "busybody" - don't ask :-/
8. Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
* go to work * pay bills
9. Two longest car rides:
* Paris to Lisbon (as a wee lass) * Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
10. Two of your favorite beverages:
* wine * sparkling spring water
And finally, my favorite part: a clip from a favorite movie, Breaking the Waves with the incomparable Emily Watson as Bess McNeil, and a stellar soundtrack.
When America voted for Barack Obama, America voted for change. As we watch the President Elect pull together his cabinet, full of members of the Clinton and Bush administrations, we want to remind him of the promises he's made to the American people. We want to remind him to keep the door open to voices that belong to the future, not just the past--to listen to the people who were right about the war in Iraq, right about the bail out, right about the many tragic failures of the Bush years.
Two weeks ago, we asked you to urge Obama to meet with leaders of the peace movement to talk about bringing our troops home. Thousands of you have added your voices to the petition; if you haven't signed yet, please do so now -- this petition is linked to change.gov and will be submitted directly to the Obama transition team.
My Western Massachusetts town is on the Connecticut River. Below is a picture one of the last surviving paper mills in a town that once had a mile's worth of them along the river. I was standing on the narrow sidewalk of the bridge, facing North East. This was taken during the 4 p.m. rush hour; I walked down to the bridge from my car which was left parked in a local lot.
I was mostly focused on the sky and didn't think to photograph the canal on the other side of the mill building. Instead, I crossed the bridge and photographed a rather nice sunset. I drive over the bridge I described daily on my way to and from work. It's obviously not the nicest part of the river but I've got some other shots to share next week!
Thank you to this week's guest host, Linda from the blog 7MSN Ranch.
This week's artist is our very own Steve Emery of the blog Color Sweet Tooth. As I was searching my notes and the web for an artist to feature this week, it hit me. Why not feature the art of bloggers whose art I admire. Steve immediately came to mind.
I love Steve's art. It's intensely personal and filled with beautiful color that covers the canvas with life. Steve mostly works with watercolors and occasionally adds ink. He lives with his wife and two children North Carolina
A wonderful bonus of visiting Steve's blog is that he will often guide us through the artistic process. Sometimes he takes a photograph and posts it to the blog; followed by a sketch and finally by the finished painting. He writes beautifully about his inspirations, his muse and the details of the actual process of a painting. Steve's posts will often include tidbits about how his family reacts to a particular work-in-progress, giving the reader a very holistic glimpse into the life and work of a painter. If you don't have time to scroll through the posts (but I hope you do), I've linked to this artist statement on Steve's gallery web site.
If you're a regular bloggie friend here, you may have seen Steve's lengthy and substantive comments on some of my art posts. He adds so much intelligent insight and knowledge my bare-bones presentation, for which I am truly grateful. I feel fortunate that he comes by because I've learned so much from him but also because he's such a great person.
After seeing the following sampling of Steve Emery's work, I'm sure you'll want to see the rest of his online gallery. Stop by the blog, also, and tell him I sent you over!
Self-portrait
Woodpecker
Mistletoe House
The Elopement See this post and this post; they explain the process of this painting
Sunshine
Autumn
Stay tuned for next week's feature of another lovely blog artist in our neighborhood.
"When the Amherst sphinx styled herself a pagan, she meant she didn’t believe in the biblical God. What sort of deity, if any, she did believe in is hard to pinpoint." -- Gary Sloan, "Emily Dickinson: Pagan Sphinx,"
I believe that the images and writing posted here fall under the "fair use" section of the U.S. copyright law http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107, as they are intended for educational purposes and are not in a medium that is of commercial nature.
Took a walk around our local reservoir, which includes Lake Pleasant
WP pointed out this unusual tree to me. It looks like it's in the conifer family but we don't know of any others like it around here.
Lake Pleasant
Green pond is iced over
and I can see my bedroom again! I was a good housefrau and removed the many items off the floor and vacuumed with the antique Electrolux. The T. Rex of vacuums!
