want to spring ahead but keep falling back

This is the winter that doesn't end.

Today is the first day of Spring, and yet here in Halifax we are still digging out from a series of colossal snow storms. We are now called Snova Scotia.

It's interesting to see the effect that winter has on the psyche- the psyche of people and of place.
It is apparent in how people act, speak, move.

this bus stop ad doubles as instructions.. climb the other side? YOU climb the other side- I'm done

you don't say

The heavy snowfall and bad weather take tolls on our moods as well. Personally, I have noticed a sadness, a discontent, a crankiness and a fatigue that I know is climate induced. We live part of the year in winter, so I try to embrace it as much as I can. Photography helps see the beauty in it. But even that can only go so far

yes, yes, it is pretty..

Now I am tired.

I am tired of boots and coats and layers of clothing. I am weary of feeling weighted down in body, mind and spirit. The urge to hibernate, to stay in bed or in the house is so strong. But that only breeds more sadness. Even I know that too much time spent in my own head is not good. Even my solitary nature  says ENOUGH.


I want to feel grass. I want to wear sandals and feel the air on my feet, to see my pink painted toenails peeking up at me. I long to hear sounds that are not the sliding of car tires spinning in snow and on ice. Or the scraping of the snow plow shovels hitting pavement. I long to feel light, not claustrophobic to the point of panic.

yes, yes, it can be inspiring..

In two weeks time I will take a trip. This is not to a tropical place, but a more moderate one.
Washington DC will be treated to nearly 4000 cherry trees in blossom, and I'm going to be there. I'm going to feel warm spring and smell fragrant air and leave my coat and boots and baggage behind.







But for the next two weeks I will try to breathe and think warm thoughts and hope it is enough to melt the snow.

beauty beyond the blizzard

February 19 gave us a bit more snow. It's not hard to tell that everyone is done with winter.

But since it is still here and steadfast, I will continue (try!) to find the beauty in it. This wasn't hard when I saw the little church-turned-museum in Africville shining through the snow

febuary blew in

February 1 had winds so strong they could blow a wave right off the ocean

I don't care if it hurts to stand here

from kings to rings and other things

Rather than post my shot of the day individually, I've decided to put a week together. From snow to macro, from Kings to rings.. onion rings that is... this was my week




January 27 was the day of our first winter storm of the year. It didn't seem so bad from the window so I thought I would try to venture out to work . The snow was icy pellets and the ground underneath the snow was slippery. After the bus slid onto the curb I took it as a sign to go back home and work from there

January 28 was my first time practicing with a micro lens. I tried to get a detailed close-up picture of Marley's eye, but he was not very cooperative (qu'elle surprise). This was the best I could get

January 29 was one of those rare occasions where I was craving meat. This was my first visit to Krave Burger on Spring Garden. I was just happy it wasn't Rotten Ronnie's

January 30 I spotted this card twice in two different locations in the city (what odds?) I think the Sidewalk King is following me

Seeing it all laid out like this... aaah the glamour of it all. 

Perhaps I don't have to post every day's photo...

just a little green

January 24 and it's always in the winter that I am drawn to green things. Perhaps because it is what we crave in this season. Also this bowl of limes and avacados made a very lovely guacomole

fresh faced flower found me foolishly fawning

January 20 came with a reminder that Spring isn't really that far away. This fresh faced flower brought some brightness to the day

what he said

January 19 is Martin Luther King Day. It was far too busy and far too rainy to take a shot outside so this one of my chalkboard seemed appropriate. 
I'm with MLK.
Stick with love.

ps it is hard to write with chalk

tomatoes make me think of a john denver lyric

January 16 ends the week so I stop by Pete's Frootique for coffee and end up with heirloom tomatoes. 
As you do.

"only two things that money can't buy that's true love and home grown tomatoes"
(although I'm pretty sure I have purchased home-grown tomatoes, John...) 

the only exercise I get

January 15 was a busy day with no time to take a proper picture. And just when I feel I'm not getting enough exercise I see this and realize I must be getting a good work out..

when all else fails, accessorize

January 14 and the recently fallen snow was still hanging around, like winter's way of accessorizing.

just look how it accents this gate necklace..

behind the news

My current contract is with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
CBC Halifax has recently moved into swanky new digs with a big open concept studio.
As I was walking by the news camera today I was treated to a different and interesting perspective.

not so bleak mid-winter

Oh how I miss you.

just a few more months and we'll be together again

so long sunday

January 11 was a beautiful day spent out of the city, returning in time to catch the sun setting over the harbour

panoramic of Halifax Harbour taken from Dartmouth

socializing and sinking balls

January 10 was a very busy day. 
As someone can find social situations quite uncomfortable, I have to say, I think I did my yearly quota of socializing today.

They were hello's and goodbyes and lining up shots

old dog, new year

Two years ago I gave myself a challenge to take a photo every day of the year.
It didn't matter how random, good or bad, but I had to commit to taking (and posting) one every day.
So for 365 days I looked for shots, and in doing so, I became a bit more disciplined and a lot more observant.
When the year ended I didn't continue, but loved to look back periodically to see what memory I had created and captured on corresponding dates.
This year I've decided to do it again.


January 1st and the belated White Christmas fell. I took a walk around the neighborhood as it was a beautiful still evening. Holy Cross Cemetery was still open so I managed to get this shot with the bright moon hanging over the chapel

Fairytale of New York

 Everything New York does is spectacular. That's what makes it one of my favorite cities to visit.
But the Holiday season is particularly brilliant with jawdropping decorations and displays. My camera doesn't do it justice, but here are some shots of the city at Christmas

Macy's- making believers since the mid 1800's

 For me, the most spectacular window displays were at Saks 5th Ave. People lined the sidewalks to walk past the Fairytale windows...

why Grannie, what big teeth you have!

Sleeping Beauty- there was a film moon, much like the 1902 movie "A Trip to the Moon"and it would look at you and wink or smile..

this one is Repunzel walking on her hair like a tight-rope

 

snow white

    

 The other side of windows had a very glamourous turn of the 19th century fashion look..

 

As if crowd-drawing windows weren't enough, Saks also projected a light show onto the building, complete with dancing snowflakes and Rockette sounding music..

this is how it looks from across the street, in between light shows

Everybody knows that Rockefeller Center does a huge display for the Holidays. They are famous for their Nutcracker soldiers, Angels and their ginormous Christmas tree overlooking the skating rink. It is the scene of every Christmas movie that takes place in Manhattan. But to see it in person is quite another experience. One of the things I love about travel is how it allows me that sensory memory- when I see places I've been in photos or film, I know exactlty what it is like to stand there. 

everybody knows this guy

I know how the air felt, smelled and what was behind me as I took in the view. I remember how I came around the corner and my breath stopped because it was so dazzling.

   

stunning by day

 

or by night

yes, it's a New York Christmas cliche, but it made me all warm and fuzzy, dammit

 Our Brooklyn neighborhood was decorated as well- not in such a grand way, but it a beautiful community kind of way.

a Catholic Church in Park Slope

 

 

 

 

 

 

summer sigh

I knew this day would come.
This day, the 1st of September.
The end of the summer.

Sure there are still nice days ahead, but it's just not the same.
September is here. There is a feeling.
It was cool this weekend, so cool I had to shut my window for the first time in months.
Today it was so humid there was no relief.
Welcome to the East Coast.

I knew this day would come.
And it hits me with a panicked thought...
Now, every swim might be the last. 

It wasn't a bad summer. It wasn't a great summer. It was a fast summer.
Where it went, I still can't say. It washed away like sand in the tide. It was unstoppable.
It was a blur.

But there were beaches.
Not as often as I would like, but then it could never be enough.

The season was off to such a great start, as swimming began in early June. It was unbelievably warm, probably due to Hurricane Arthur that blew up the east coast. And though it didn't stay that warm, there were still some great days in the sand, sea and surf.

Kingsberg, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia

And I managed to grab a few shots that I really liked

local oysters, local wine, local ocean

clam of clam harbour

eagle in wolfville

somewhere near annapolis royal

Cooked a bit..

watermelon and cucumber gazpacho

Then more beaches

queensland beach, nova scotia

melberby beach, nova scotia

and some time enjoying my city

halifax

As I said, not a bad summer.
I just don't know where it went.

perfectly procrastinating peppers

Today I purchased a pack of peppers at Pete's.

One rogue red chili was hidden in amongst the green. 

I started to make a meal, but ended up making this picture instead.

one hundred and twenty six days

On January 1st of this year, I gave myself a task; a mission, if you will.

In trying to challenge myself creatively, I made a pact to take a photo a day. The subject and content doesn't matter. Even the quality doesn't really matter, as long as I have captured an image.
To this date, I have captured 126, and since this is the 126th day of 2013, I have managed to maintain the goal.
126 days, and I am already aware of the benefits of this project.

Even as a child, I saw everything in frames, as pictures, but it is even more so now.
My view changes angles, composition happens before my eyes. I feel more focused on what is around me.

But it also makes me complete a task, and these days, that is a task in itself.

When you see everything as a photograph, the next step is to find the next shot. I'm always looking. But more importantly, I'm always seeing. I'm seeing more.
It's also fun and interesting to go back from time to time, to the very first shot on New Year's Day, and follow the journey, day by day, for all one hundred and twenty six.
Some shots are funny, some quirky, some mundane.
Others are random, accidental, or taken with someone in mind.
But they all invoke a memory. They all return a piece of that day.

Sometimes I have something in mind, and sometimes, out of the clear blue, they are presented to me.
That was the story of today's shot.

While driving with friends through Grand Pre, in search of the Bay of Funday mud flats, I spotted these doors on the top of a hill.
It all felt a little Alice in Wonderland.
But I do love the shot.

It looked like a scene from one of my dreams.. or a Tim Burton movie.