Maine Snow Scene

Beautiful Snow Scene

It’s snowing in Maine. Our daughter Ruth lives there, and yesterday she sent me the above photo. She’s been encouraging me to come visit, and had promised they were not going to have snow this year. Guess that isn’t so!  I usually travel to Maine in summer, but maybe this winter I’ll get brave and try a snow visit. I lived in Ontario, Canada until I was fourteen, and the first snow was always exciting, but now, having lived most of my life in California, I’m out of practice. We do get snow here, but only at higher elevations.Farm house

Ruth’s farm house in Maine (above) is beautiful and cozy. Lots of trees and open space.

HorsesLiving where they do allows Ruth and our son-in-law and grandson the joy of keeping horses. Ruth and I share a love for horses, and we love to ride when I visit.

In August I wrote about our younger daughter Nicole, who lives in New Zealand, in my post New Zealand, a Wonderful Place to Visit. I wrote that we have wonderful places to travel and visit our children. Now you know where two of our three children live, and in a future post I’ll share the wonderful city where our son and daughter-in-law live. If we schedule visits to our three children right, we can live an endless summer. As we head into winter here, New Zealand is starting spring, its seasons being opposite to ours. But for now, I’ll think hard about a winter visit to Maine: It would mean snow boots and winter coat, but Ruth’s farm sure does look beautiful in winter.

Taking Time to Really Look

sunset

This semester I’m taking a class in beginning digital photography. One of the homework assignments was to photograph a sunset. The first two evenings, I got so busy, I forgot to go outside and look. On the 3rd day, I actually set an alarm to remind myself  to head out into the backyard with my camera, at the appropriate time. Looking over our back wall, I realized  that I had never really looked at a sunset. It was lovely and I got a few good shots, but not as colorful as I had hoped. The next evening my husband and I climbed a near by trail just before the sun went down and were rewarded with a beautiufl view of a breathtaking sunset. The class assignment had turned into a very enjoyable experience that included a lovely walk with Martin.

water ripples

The second assignment was to take an action shot. I chose the ocean water moving over rocks at Dana Point Harbor.  Again, something I had never really taken the time to observe closely.

When I registered for the class, my motive was to learn to take better photographs.  What I didn’t realize, was just how many beautiful subjects there are to photograph, when we slow down enough to look around and really see. I hope to improve my skills, but even if I don’t, I have learned a valuable life lesson. I find myself constantly looking for the perfect subject for my next photo, and this alone has taught me to appreciate the beauty that is all around us. Perhaps after reading this, you may find yourself taking a little more time to notice the beauty which I’m sure surrounds you too.

Away From the Heat and the Smoke

 

water ripples

One of our favorite scooter destinations is Silverado Canyon, and that was the plan, until yesterday, around 10:00 A.M., when a wild fire started in Silverado Canyon. I spotted the tell tale cloud of smoke around 1:00 P.M., as I headed off to a  class, and by the time I arrived home at 4:30 the fire had obviously grown in size. There was no wind thank goodness, so the fire was not being pushed along as so often happens here in Southern California.

This morning when we woke we could smell smoke, and according to the weather report we were in for another scorcher. We made the decision to ride our scooters to the coast and see if we could find some cool, smoke free air. We weren’t the only ones looking.

yellow sails

As I write this we are home, about ten miles from the fire, which is still burning. The canyon has been evacuated and brave firefighters work to save homes. We are sending them good thoughts, and wishing the residents of Silverado Canyon a quick and safe return to their homes.