Well, Well, hello April

Doesn't time fly??  

#abandoned

The Musical is over and I had a super short week of school, and have now really enjoyed 3 days of a ridiculously short "spring break".  I realized when I sorted through and deleted probably 800 photos on my editing program that I hadn't downloaded any pictures for at least 3 weeks.  I had a few on the camera, but not enough to make me remember after a long day of work and play practice to open up the camera and insert SD card into card slot on my trusty little laptop.

Pancake ice on Lake Superior

That was sad.  So I invited my dear friend Cat to come along with me on a journey to the north and of course I took my camera.  We did a little hiking, a little eating, a little shopping and a whole lot of catching up- good day. My camera got a great workout, and I then had days in front of me that are lending themselves to mini photoshoots.

One of several lovely sunrises lately

Facade

I have many photog friends whose work I admire, and several of them do a spectacular job capturing abandoned houses, buildings and vehicles.  I have been a fan of this for a while, but until recently haven't specifically worked on those subjects.  I mean I have taken photos of the stone house and the remnants of the ghost house for years, and I have painted pictures of old trucks and cars that I had photographed, so the interest has been there.

Not much holding this up

This fence appears to be keeping this building from falling over

So  I have done a few photos of different abandoned or empty buildings which is a hoot.  When something is part of your landscape, sometimes you don't really see them.  I shot one place that is on my drive to school, I mentioned it to the MA and he said- yeah I had thought of that, but didn't think it was worth it..... well, don't make that decision for me!  It was worth the stop.

Not worth mentioning....

Trumpeter swan

Speaking of the MA, another nice thing about these days off is that I actually sat at the dining room table and ate lunch with him in my own house!  As mundane as that sounds, it doesn't happen much.  When one (ahemCPAtypescough)  gets home at 8/9 at night, one's spouse does definitely NOT wait for you for supper.  Of course Saturdays are meant for eating out and Sundays we both seem to be hurrying to get back to something else, so lunch may or may not be eaten in the living room.....  rumor has it, you know!

yesteryear wasn't so long ago

AND speaking of eating out, I am very very excited to anticipate the opening of a new restaurant in town here.  The likes of which we have NEVER had here- the likes of which you have to travel many miles to get a similar experience.  It is called Valerie Mae's and it is being opened by a former student of mine who is involved in running his family's farm (Shady Knoll) and has brought farm to table produce almost all year round.  I am thrilled to be getting some fresh green things again to eat and can't wait to begin dining in the restaurant.  YAY!!

Anyway, the sun is shining and I am feeling the need to go out into it.  Hope your April 1 is fun and not annoying like many April Fools jokes are-

Be a joy giver today and always, and it will be returned to you.

The struggle is real! and other stuff.

I played with the color a little here- it was soccer season in Italy, they were playing in a big European series....  hence the flags

So unmotivated today.  I have things that need to be done- today.  TOP of the list**- a frig full of peaches that need to be cooked or frozen.  So that needs to happen.  Next on the list are 2 SD cards that have possible treasures on them that need to be chosen, looked at, imported, edited, exported, some deleted and in all ways dealt with.  This is holding up progress, people!  I want to write about the trip before I lose it all, and time is awasting!  I already sat in my spot last night and was just SEARCHING through my memory about this first set of photos.  It was so long ago!  It almost seemed like a dream!!

NOTE!  Click on the photos for a better view- it is worth it.

Bridge over the Adige River

And since those pictures were taken in Verona- (I decided to edit by location for now- too many photos would be overwhelming- so I have to do it in chunks) I have had the song "My Sharona" going through my brain, but of course the oddity that is me sings it to myself- My Verona.....  oh boy. The random neuron firings are at it hot and heavy.

I have been walking around SO HUNGRY most of the time now- because I just can't be bothered to cook anything.  I really did enjoy NOT cooking and cleaning up after myself for 2 weeks.  That was pretty damn awesome.  But I am feeling really light-headed so perhaps I should get off this computer and my random babbling and eat something....  maybe.  Meh

Ok, so breakfast is being consumed- including some yogurt with the afore mentioned peaches, which are quite spectacular and perfectly ripe, along with a little bagel and olive oil and a tiny bit of cheese. Let me wax poetic about this olive oil---  it is sublime.  Another "how can I ever subsist on the correlating American product now" moment.  NOT to mention the balsamic vinegars that I also picked up... The oil is SO flavorful, and it makes my tongue so happy.  I'm trying to be frugal with it, but I think I need to figure out where to  buy something similar.  Because it is NOT anywhere near Park Falls, WI!

Part of the Little Colleseum- and one of the ubiquitous pigeons

One thing I way prefer here to Italy is my bed!  Lol- oh how I missed you, you marvelous, roomy sleep number bed set on 40 with several pillows and room to roll over.

Anyway, let me talk briefly about Vernona---mymymymymymy my MY VERONA!  hehehe  THAT was a good way to introduce us to our new country.  We had landed in the Milano airport, and after that whole luggage fiasco we were glad to meet our amazing Tour Leader,  Daniela.  We hopped on our home-away-from-hotel: the tour bus, with our amazing Brunelo, the driver.  Fine driving that man did!  Anyway, an hour or so away from Milan, is Verona- we had a great time seeing the Alps in the distance and saw some grape vines and the cypresses and a varied and interesting landscape on the first leg of the journey.  I loved watching out the window- I never napped on the bus, too busy looking for interesting things.

Juliet's balcony

We were in Vernona for a few hours- drove into the area, got off the bus and proceeded to trudge through this small city to find the balcony of Juliet!  Along the way there were so many balconies full of flowers, made of different sorts of wrought iron and stone.  I noticed the colors of the houses and buildings and really saw and understood how old everything is.  It was the first time that  we were surrounded by almost no English at all, and the signs were all strange then- though later in the trip, they all made much more sense.  We went to a mini-Colleseum area, found a park and shopping, tasted gelato for the first time and tried out our debit cards at the ATM machine.   We were getting our proverbial feet wet and our first free time in a city.  Very nice. We also found our first bathroom that you had to pay to use...

Gorgeous day in Italy!

After we finished up there, we drove onto the Hotel la Rondine outside of Venice for our first 2 nights.  So quaint, such nice people and turned out some of the best hotel food we had.  They set the bar high, so a few places to come were, frankly, a disappointment.

Anyway, I need to get myself going here and deal with those peaches, so I will plug in a few photos and get off the computer.  I am sure I will find stories about Verona that I forgot to mention, (like the fact that there are so many people who smoke over there!!  It was surprising)  but I might start an ongoing post for random thoughts that I have.... and there are a lot of those.

So until next time, I hope you are finding your joy today!



** wait- I thought lists and I were broken up....  Maybe I should just DO these things instead of listing them ;)

Road trip pictures

Wednesday found me traveling to the greater Eau Claire area, home of some fabulous shopping and also my old stomping grounds from the college years.  Ah the fond memories.....  Anyway, Eau Claire is one of my favorite shopping destinations.

Signs of spring

For those of you who don't live in a remote area, virtually all shopping trips are planned occurrences.  There is rarely a spontaneous "let's go to Target" trip, as the nearest Target is a 2 hour drive- with good weather, little traffic and a tail-wind.  And of course it depends whose driving!  ;)  No, we have to plan our shopping trips here and they are long days that are filled with an intense sense of purpose and usually some preplanning.  I mean when you need to visit a minimum of 5 stores plus get lunch in there, and get back before the deer come out at dusk, this takes some motivation and a schedule.  Not everyone does it like me; I like to get going super early (by 6am usually) and then get home by 6 pm, otherwise I just get too sleepy.

Anyway though I prefer to drive with another person along for company, this was a good trip to do alone, as I had many specific items that I was looking for.  I ended up going to Target, Starbucks, Menards, Scheels All Sport, VS, The Gap, Pier One, Best Buy, Hancock Fabric, Target again, Kohls and a Natural/Health Food store.  whew!!!  Then, unfortunately, I realized that I had missed one thing and stopped at Walmart in Ladysmith.  Which I generally avoid like the plague, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

So you are probably wondering what in the world this has to do with the scroll-down lovely that you are about to see!  On my way to Eau Claire and back I traveled on Hwy E to get to Hwy 70 and just over the county line into Sawyer county there is a beautiful little creek that crosses under the road and it was so lovely that I stopped, turned around and went back to photograph it.  It was overcast and grey in the morning, but still icy/lovely.  Then the blue skies on the way home had me  just knowing that I would be stopping again- for the contrast.  So the following pix are a representation of those 2 stops.  I have 2 pix that are virtually identical except for the time of day!  

Pine Creek, 6:30 am

Pine Creek, 5:30 pm

 It was totally worth the effort to stop!

And I found a lot of joy that day....

Have I mentioned that it's cold??

I am sure there are those of you tired of hearing about the weather and all, esp. if you are on facebook, or heaven forbid one of my texting buddies. But I am thrilled to say that it is SO cold that there is no school today!

A very wise friend of mine said that I should make sure to enjoy it because the day will go fast.  And wow there is truth to that!!  So, there will be no laundry done, no vacuuming, no closet cleaning or things like that.  A book will be read, the blog will be written, and I will go later this day to the gym, because those are things that will give me some enjoyment on this little gift of a day.  MAYBE I will do a tiny bit of online shopping??  Whatever I do, this found time is sort of like found money, you just need to sometimes do what you want, not what  you need.

Unfortunately, I never get to stay in my robe all day, as I have this cute horse out there who needs feeding.  So, not moving out of the house is not a possibility.  I can delay that until about 8 am, but after that, I just have to be dressed up and outside.

I have not posted pix from the last few weeks, so that is going to be rectified right now!  :)

Lazy Saturday morning.....

winter scene

I have a series of 4 pix of a few of my favorite people!  

Jon and my mom

My brother and his granddaughter

Mad-seester Rose and Emily

Eddie and Bella

The ice shacks are back!

Dramatic lighting in late afternoon

Life is a journey

Milkweed pods

Stone house

Frosty morning a few weeks ago at school.

Someone needs to NOT leave her camera laying around for the students to find!  :)
I'm sure I had something cute on underneath this tragic art shirt!!

No matter what, love this tree and this sky

So, here is my cold weather, enjoy the day, use it like I want, I need to read sort of a day post.....  I discovered a lot of joy already!

Find your joy today and stay WARM!!!!

Artistic picture post part 2

Here is round 2 for you.  

I am always looking for unusual viewpoints or an atypical shot.  Then to play around with the color and contrast just makes everything that much more enjoyable. 

 

So many people in my life inspire me in different ways.  Each of these pictures has a little bit of my friends and family in them.  Each of them hold a piece of my heart.  Because I had limited battery power, I tried to make each shot count.  Attempted to have a memory behind each one.  Alas, since I had over 700 pictures, some of them were a little bit of a mystery to me.  Probably 50 - 75 or so were taken by other people, so a few of them really were a mystery!  

Sunrise on Vermilion Lake

Amazing foliage

The weather was nearly perfect.  The scenery was amazing. The people were incredible.  Nature at it's finest.

tangle of roots

Wind swept

rocky landing

Morning mist

Everywhere I looked there was something unexpected, photogenic, picturesque.  It was a transformative experience in many ways- artistically, personally, physically- not just for me, but for all of the members of our group.

perfect

How can you not be affected by the beauty of this place?  In so many ways it is like my home, yet it is so different.  I am familiar with the trees, the wildlife, rocks, the water, yet the quality of each of these things is vastly different.

Lily paddling

flowing

harbinger

unused

sunrise

waiting

The memories are something I will treasure forever.  The gifts given to me will last a lifetime.

And that is pure joy.