In the garden, Day 357

Accepting defeat, Day 355

Paint by numbers, Day 329

Slowly the landscape is waking up from its long winter's sleep.

A few small snips, Day 326

My self-healing mat no longer heals itself. I have spent many hours over the years, including today, cutting paper on this surface. It's been well loved.

Energy, Day 325

On the bus, Day 237

There are definitely some days that I wished I lived in Boulder so that I didn't have such a long commute home.

Holiday decorating, Day 223

I have been sick in bed most of the day, but the one thing I managed to do was paint Nicolai's toes.

Rim lighting, Day 160

This was the third day in a row that I photographed the sun back lighting the leaves in my dining room and finally I was able to work it in as an image for the day.

Obscura, Day 112

These circles are projected on the side of my house as the sun moves further west and begins to set in the evening. They are created by the light being filtered through the leaves on the crabapple tree. And although I know these circles are goverened by the laws of physics I prefer to think of it as magic occurring before my eyes. If the openings between the leaves were smaller or tighter they would project images of my yard, the neighborhood, and the sky upside down and backwards onto the side of my house like an image from a camera obscura.

Fresh, Day 97

We tend to travel quite a bit during the months of July and August and of course this happens to be the season when the garden is overflowing with vegetables. Nicolai and I spent a good amount of time this evening picking zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, green bell peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, and chilies. We can't possibly eat everything right now so the neighbors will hopefully help us out. It was also a reminder that I live an abundant life and that I have all the basics covered and more. For this I am thankful.

In the garden, Day 54

At the moment our garden is exploding in color. I grew up in Northern California where it's always green, but living in Colorado where there are true seasons, I really began to appreciate the change of the landscape when spring hits. I remind myself to appreciate it while it is here. This is a constant lesson in life to appreciate what we have in the moment, because life always changes. This is one thing you can always count on, whether you want it to or not. Right now I am really enjoying the garden.

The baby ?, Day 50

I realized the other day that this is my last opportunity to have another child before I turn 40. It's not really something that I think about often since both my husband and I are in agreement that having one child works just fine for us. My realization was more from a biological perspective. When you are trying to conceive or are pregnant the risks involved radically increase once you hit a certain age. Although I knew from an early age that I definitely wanted to have a child, but it wasn't that long ago by the time I was actually ready for one. My window of opportunity seemed to be very small even if I could have physically conceived at a much younger age than I did. Most of my friends who are around my age seem to be on the same page with the one baby rule. This makes the decision much easier...no peer pressure. My other debate with myself is around my child growing up without a sibling. I love having a brother. I remember the day he was born and meeting him for the first time. I am thankful that we had each other during the crazy times when we were growing up and in the future when we will help our parents as they age. This is where I get stuck in my decision to have an only child, but the clock is ticking.

The toenail fairy, Day 19

Trimming my son's toenails has been a constant battle. At one point they were so long that they were dangerous weapons. So one night I snuck into his room with a headlamp and a pair of nail clippers and attempted to trim them while he was sleeping . It actually took me two nights to complete the task, but it happened. In the morning I told him the toenail fairy came and since then he asks me to call her and have her trim them again.

Seeing is believing, Day 18

Some days I can see what is right in front of me and it makes perfect sense (like yesterday), and other days I can't see anything at all (like today). I was really struggling with what today's image would be. I was mentally trying to force something that wasn't there; trying to create on demand versus relying on my intuition. So tonight I sat down to edit images and I have to admit that I was not excited at all by my prospects. All day long I had visually in mind the color green, the shape of a backwards "C", and the letter "X"....but nothing was visually connecting while I was photographing. I felt like I had "been there and done that." But everything changed when I cropped today's image and placed it next to the previous day's image. I began to see the subtle lines in the sheets that are now made more obvious by the shape of the highway above. These are visual connections that I cannot plan, they just happen. Today's lesson: the more I shoot, the more I can begin to trust in my third eye.

Thinking of Imogen, Day 17

I mentioned in a previous day's blog that I sleep with my camera next to the bed. Although I haven't posted many photos from early in the morning, I usually take a few before my feet touch the floor. I love the morning light that comes through the window in the a.m. hours. To get me in the swing of things for the day, photographing in bed is my new morning ritual. There is just something comforting in the quality of the light coming through my window. When I took this image this morning it immediately reminded me of Imogen Cunningham's famous unmade bed image. Although a bit more abstract and in color, I think the feeling is reminiscent of her image. She was a truly magnificent female photographer that made the everyday object extraordinary. This is the principal behind my daily visual treasure hunt.

Green with..., Day 16

Last week at the hospital while visiting my father, my brother read our horoscopes. This is a family tradition when we are together. This particular day all of them seemed rather pertinent for everyone. I saved the page from the newspaper because it was the most interesting one I have had recently.

TAURUS: This is the way things are and they will never stay this way. That's life and you're learning to not only expect its transient nature, but to love it.

This really sums up the last few months for me, but it has been, and will continue to be a tough lesson. But at the same time, one that I am thankful for.