COMING WEEKEND?

Georgetown, Washington DC ~ 11.18.12

What are your weekend plans?

a walk?

sweeping leaves?

breathing the fresh air?

decorating the outside of your house?

I'm putting...

"SAVOR the OUTDOORS"

at the top of my list... 

PHOTO-HEART CONNECTION: NOVEMBER 2012

pic taken 11.17.12

I'm participating in Kat Sloma's PHOTO-HEART CONNECTION.

Click HERE to see the details for posting in this monthly "reflective" experience.

The basic concept is to "reflect on one photograph" --- photo bloggers look back over their folder of pictures from the prior month. Select ONE --- this is the most difficult part (especially when you're looking through a folder of 400+ photos). You post the photo that "tugs at your heart" for whatever reason, then explain what the photo meant to you.

My November reflection isn't about the skill or beauty of capturing what my eyes saw, but of feelings this photo brought from the depth of my heart.

When JPE & I visited MB & SLE over the Thanksgiving Break, we rode the Metro out to Arlington National Cemetery --- so I could take pictures of the "changing colors of the leaves" ---

Eighteen years have passed since I paid a trip to Arlington National Cemetery --- at the time, I was chaperoning 13 high school girls who were attending the National Camp Fire Conference in Washington DC. The girls were fabulous!!! but, our memories of that day were the overwhelming humidity & long lines to see JFK's gravesite. I remember nothing about the layout of the park or anything else about that morning.

Our recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery was amazingly beautiful --- the trees were gorgeous reds, oranges, yellows, browns & greens. Mazen was teasing me because I lagged behind our group of four (+ Sea-Bass) snapping picture after picture --- over 200 (later discarding ~165 photos). The sky was crystal clear blue with a smattering of wispy white clouds; the temperature had a slight chill; and I felt energized with each deep breath of fresh air... all the makings for a perfect "weather" day.

What I didn't expect was the QUIET, SERENITY, and CALMNESS I experienced in this historical resting place of  veterans. Glancing over the rolling hills, we saw groups of students, families, and individuals --- walking casually along the roads, stopping to find their location on the park map, some searching for a particular headstone, while others took advantage of concrete benches --- to rest their feet or wait to catch up with their group, listening to the chirping of the birds & water tumbling down the creek, or just sitting --- deep in reflection.

It was "WHISPER-QUIET" ---  no one raised their voice to get someone's attention, nor did we see a parent having to scold a child for misbehavior, and never did I see someone chatting on their cellphone (amazing, huh?) --- it was INDESCRIBABLE!

::: a day of stunning beauty & quiet reflection :::
 

IN THE MOOD?

Are you finished decorating?

Monday, after work, Susan & I met for dinner

& to wander the Apple Farm Gift Shop...

hoping the holiday glitz & sparkle would inspire us

 to get our decorating started... completed!!

I think we've decided to "DECORATE LIGHT"...
& cut-out the frenzy of doing-too-much!!

SOOOO, in addition to tasty food, the APPLE FARM 

decorations are...

GLITTERY....

includes SPECTACULAR LIGHTING...

plenty of RED & GREEN...

and SANTA & HIS SLEIGH!!!

all pictures taken @ APPLE FARM, SLO

now that these pictures are posted,

I think I used too much "frost" from the Winterland theme...  

I edited my pictures with PICMONKEY !!!

Check out PICMONKEY ~ it's a FREE PHOTO-EDITING program!!! 

how cool it that?

 

RAIN, RAIN - DON'T GO AWAY!

pic taken Sunday 12.2.12 @ 7:00am

As I've mentioned before,

I LOVE RAIN!!

A lot of people don't - but, for me...

it's energizing!

AND, also allows me to slow down & relax!

 

Lately, I haven't wanted to work on craft projects,

decorate for the holidays,

pick-up my camera,

or unpack my new sewing machine.

When it started RAIN-ing this past week,

I actually looked forward to putting on my RAINcoat, 

dusting off my umbrella

(actually, JPE's - I couldn't find mine - until later in the day)

& zipping my purse & work bag closed

(to keep my stuff dry inside).

The drive to work didn't damper my spirits either.

Even though my workload was enormous

(make that gi-normous)

I accomplished a lot!!

So --- I say, "BRING on the RAIN!"

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 12.2.12

 "CHARMED LIFE"...  "CUT TO THE CHASE"...  "RUNNING WITH SCISSORS"

It's here... DECEMBER and SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY...

Silly me... I waited until this morning to take pictures. Not the best light (overcast with light rain), but setting up my photo ops brought me out of my "FUNK"...

This week the SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY words were: MISSING, NUMBERS, PURPLE, MUSIC & BRACELET.

MISSING

Cute sweater... MISSING a button. It's amazing I didn't toss the extra buttons in the button jar... what do you do with the extra buttons that come packaged with clothes?

NUMBERS

Pulled from my archives... taken in Lima, Peru (in July)... amazing ironwork NUMBERS.

PURPLE

When thinking about the color PURPLE... I instantly think of flowers.

MUSIC

Listening... the gutter is gurgling... JPE put our Christmas MUSIC on shuffle... a light rain is falling... AH, MUSIC to my ears. Yesterday, JPE set-up his holiday houses... this time of year also reminds me of singing & listening to MUSIC in churches.

BRACELET

Although I haven't worn my charm bracelet in years, I continue to buy charms --- when I spot them! I found these in Sunnyvale - the Eiffel Tower reminds me of our trip to Europe the summer of 2005... and the pine cone represents the beautiful trees at the Big Bear Cabin (we're hoping to spend some time there after Christmas - can't wait).

Well, that's SHS for this week. Next week's words are: SEASON, COLORFUL, WEATHER, SILHOUETTE & CALM.

Hope you'll stop by again this week. Getting into the holiday "groove" now... so will be posting some pictures.

  

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

quote by Dr Suess