this year in bits. in parts. 2-7 | 365

my whole life is built on bits and in parts. sections of one another.
moments strung like pearls on a string.

xoxo

2 | 52 . 1 | 365

I am plunging in on the 10th day (though not making this a ten on ten). 365.

(and week 2 of 52)

I was trying to find a theme as my boys are very fickle when it comes to being in front of the camera.  It couldn't just be about them. SO I thought maybe I would focus just on b+w photography.

However, as I was taking these photos this morning I realized that focusing on composition, using light and shadow, to convey mood and emotion is perhaps even more important to me.

What creative projects are you working on?

xoxo

friday | fodder+folly | favorites

follies of the week:                                                     
-facebook                                                                    
-facebook
-facebook
-canon customer service
-facebook

fodder for the soul:
-rising early
-listening to the traffic and pretending its the wind
-watching the sunset
-laughing with my oldest
-gratitude for the warranty on my big camera

provender for the days ahead:
-an oldest who turns 15
-starting my +365 project tomorrow
-embracing imperfections
-picking up my big camera from canon customer service
(after much needed repairs)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

xoxo

quiet. early. and morning.

it is quiet. early. and morning.

 i love it.

the heater just clicked on.

the dogs are curled up.

the dark still cradles the coast.

as much as i can loathe the darkest days of winter, where nothing feels right and your body feels off, there is something soft and sweet about the light that pours from the january sky. from the first light through dusk, it has a muted yellow to it that brushes my skin sweetly, softly, like the eyelashes of a baby.

xoxo

on a +365.photography or otherwise.

Diving into a spectacular project seems like the most exciting and thrilling thing maybe day 1.

Then comes the reality.

What special projects do you have for the New Year? What do you think will help you live into them? 

Devil's Punch Bowl | +365

Living in Los Angeles, but having spent the majority of our lives elsewhere, we often long to see real seasons. That aspect has been rough. However, the week of Christmas tide brought rains and colder weather, desperately needed for our parched lands. But the mountains taunted us as we could see snow upon their peaks so the day after the New Year, we stuffed ourselves into our station wagon (and I say stuffed because my oldest is now 6ft -182.88cm) and set out to a mountain trail that we hoped would provide a bit of a winter scene and a needed respite from the city (and also to avoid all the Los Angelenos heading to the ski resorts). 

The Devils's Punch Bowl, as it is called, did not disappoint. It was gorgeous. An hour and a half from Los Angeles, this gem of a park is within the the Angeles National Forest on the northern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains, near Pearblossom, California. We did the whole hike, all 7.4mi. (11.91km). It was long, but our three billy-goats (a.k.a. my three boys) rocked it, despite the cold and the ice we encountered. My middle and youngest made snow angels (until they got too cold) and even my oldest,felt the tug of nature's childish ways as we spied him writing his name several times in the snow. 

Then, at the end, when we were punch drunk tired and spent, we met two beautiful owls who seemed to make everything feel blessed and perfect. They live at the park's nature center.  Both were raised by humans, so they could not be returned to the wild. It was getting dark and my fingers were close to frozen so none of my photos of this sweet barn owl, named Ruth, came out perfect, but I love her sweet majestic beauty. And one thing I have learned in the past year is that sometimes "technically" flawed photos are just as beautiful as clean crisp ones, so I have included her here as well.  

And finally, can I start (and finish) a 365 project? Or even a 52 week one? I guess I won't ever know unless I try. xoxo

well hello January..... 2014 you are most welcome!

Ahh...... the sound of a fresh page. a new sheet of paper. the turning over of a new leaf. discovering a brand new book. i love beginnings, and january is so full of ripe promise and anticipation that i am always sucked down the rabbit hole full of new ideas, projects and dreams. i love this in between moments of calm, the aftermath of the drunk frenzy that christmas can be.  here in these last few days of winter break, the boys are sleeping in (as they have stayed up waaaaay too late), we are lounging lazy lizards and i let my mind wander about all the hopes of this new year.... usually by the end of january however, i am bogged down by the mid-winter blues and admonishing myself for all my fanciful dreams -it is like starting heavy weighted book with much joyous vigor, only to find your self wanting to chuck the book out the window come the start of chapter 2.

but as I stated above, 2014 you are most welcome. i have (or am forcing myself to have) really good feelings about you. 14 was always my lucky number growing up (as i couldn't possibly have 7 be my lucky number....way too common...so I had to pick something different but not entirely random) so I hope this year will be a blessedly abundant one, full of hard work, elbow greased discipline and every day joy. full of more fiction writing. more nature walking. more photography. more connections. more self discipline.

so i lift my cup of coffee and toast you, 2014, that i am not following my dreams down a rabbit hole of quagmire and disdain, instead i am climbing a mountain full of abundance, hope and hard work; knowing that i may not reach the top by the year's end, but that i keep going forward any way, ever onward into this beautiful world known as Life.

xxoo