Jumping Back In

I have been absent from here for quite a bit.  Other interests and the like have seemed to take precedence.  And I just wasn't feeling it.

But last year, I joined a Photography Club in my area and have enjoyed participating in its meetings, challenges and competitions.  Nothing like that to get your creative juices flowing again.  As well as having a place to share your images besides Facebook or Instagram.

I took the plunge and have joined other photography club members in the LWRDCP 52-Week Photography Challenge where we must post an image once a week for 52 weeks, beginning October 1.  Each week, we must capture an image that best represents the theme for that week and post one image.  Weekly theme Categories are either Creative, Technical, Composition and Wild Card.  Sample Themes include Movement, Twilight, Water Drop, Leading Lines and so on.  You get the idea.  And you can't use past photos .... bummer!!  You must get off your butt and get out there and practice your craft.

So that is the whole purpose of the Challenge! To motivate us to expand the mastery of our cameras.

And if you want to follow me over at my new blog (which is still a work in progress!) as I post images over the next 52 weeks, you can find me at:

 www.reenawalkling.com

Cheers, my friends.  
Be kind to one another!

Reena

August, please slow up!

There's a feel of fall in the air with the morning temps in the low 50's.  The wet dew and crisp breeze greet me and the pups as they scurry out for their first pee break of the day.  Brrrrrr.....

Oh, I am so not ready for summer to end.

We had a remarkable double rainbow arch itself across our harbor the other day.  

There was a light sprinkle happening as the sun burst through the clouds.

It was just stunning!

I've been trying to take my camera out a bit more 

to capture all the beauty that

presents itself daily.

I could forever just photograph boats and dinghies.

Each one has its own character and flaws.

Like the one below. 

The oars remind me of the stockings

on the Wicked Witch of the West 

in the Wizard of Oz.

There are dinghies 

that are so well cared for .....

and others that look lost and homeless.

I find each boat full of charisma and character.

It's endless.

I could photograph them all day long!

Oh, August.  Please slow down.

I'm not ready for fall's arrival!

Maine ... island time

 I'm sitting on our deck overlooking the harbor.  It's a beautiful August morning.  The pups peacefully watch as lobster boats come and go and the finches feed below.  A quiet moment.  It has been a busy summer up here in Maine.  We've had a number of visitors, a good number of puppy training classes, and lots and lots of doggy walks.  All of which I hope to share at some point.  But today, I thought I'd share our recent boat trip to Swan Island.  Our first of exploring the further islands of Penobscot Bay. The boat trip was put together by Rockport Yacht Club and about 8 boats from the club made the journey for the several day event.   We followed our friends who charted an excellent course for us.

Of course, we had to board the pups.  It would be their first experience with boarding and it was hard to leave my babies behind.  That's Harry above, giving me the stink eye.

It is amazing how much work it is to load a boat up for a journey.  Blankets and more blankets for chilly Maine evenings.  Food and more food in case you get fogged in.  Fleece and rain gear and sweaters for layering.  And of course chargers.  One must not run out of power for the iPad and iPhones!  We'd be lost without our Garmin BlueCharts.

It was a beautiful day to journey over to Swans Island.  We arrived in Burnt Coat Harbor mid-afternoon.  About a three and a half hour journey from Rockport.

 On the opening day of the Sweet Chariot Music Festival, 

the performers motored around the cove 

and serenaded all of us in the harbor.  

 It was delightful!

That evening we walked about a mile to the community center, 

passing a couple of lemonade/cookie stands with kids raising money for the local lighthouse care.  

The event has been held annually for the past 20 some years 

with many looking forward to it with great anticipation.

I sat next to a woman who has been coming all the way from Ohio

for the past 7 years!

Truly fascinating was the artist who was painting the backdrop scenery.  

It is done every year with an artist working each evening on the art piece, 

finishing it the last night to be auctioned off.

I have been to a lot of musical events but I don't believe I have ever been to one 

where the performers put so much heart and fun into their art.

We must do this again!

Come the third morning when we were to depart, 

we were greeted with rain and heavy fog.  

But by 8:30 a.m. it had lifted enough for a safe return.

And for some interesting photos.

We made a stop in the quaint little town of North Haven.  

Definitely a place to go back for more photos! 

So many cute houses and lawns 

and front porches!

By the time we were nearing Rockport again, 

the fog and clouds had totally cleared,

allowing me to capture this beautiful schooner.

I'm hoping not to be so neglectful of my blog going forward.

Harry and Lucy have been such a handful

and my camera has sat in its bag so much this summer.

Time to change that!

Hope your summer has been going well!

Later, my friends,

Lupines in bloom

Can there be any more of a beautiful place than Maine in the summer?  Especially in June when the lupines are in full bloom and the morning air is crisp with earthy smells of a beginning day.

I have really never been a morning person, but now with puppies, that has changed.
I guess that is good.

I always wanted to rise with the sun, but the warmth and comfort of a soft bed always won out.

Nowadays, the sounds of whining pups that will soon turn into ear-shattering barks should I not move fast enough, rule my world.

But I have adapted.  

Especially here in Maine 

when we have these gorgeous views to take in.

Lucy and Harry enjoy their morning and evening walks.  

They especially like it when we arrive at the beach.

As you can see below, Lucy goes rather spastic

running in the sand.

Harry, on the other hand, is too busy looking for 

some morsels in the seaweed.

But we wrap up our walk taking in the harbor 

and lingering in the morning dew.

 Now if I can just get them to chill out after their walks

so I can enjoy my morning coffee on the patio,

life would be almost perfect.

Almost.

And there went April ....

Here we are, well into May and it has been almost a month since my last post.  Bad me.  Each day I had good intentions of posting, god knows I have enough photos!  But actually ...  it was kind of nice taking the break.  I think the thing I have come to like most about blogging is that it's like having a journal of thoughts tracked and stored among the daily ordinariness of life.  As well as hearing from all of you and your adventures.

But let's move on, and let me catch you up on April's events.

You'll recall, we trekked out to Napa Valley in early April.  Here's a couple of images of the Golden Gate Bridge as we headed back to the airport.

When we returned to Philly, Spring had finally begun to make an appearance, 

along with some stormy days.

We journeyed down to Fredericksburg for a weekend to visit our brother-in-law for a few days and his sweet pack of dogs.  We always have a good time hitting the flea markets and sharing lots of wine and laughter in the evenings.  He has carved out a walking path around his pond which is where I captured the below image.  And it must have been there that I inherited the tick I discovered on my waist the following day.  Ewww!  Fortunately, he had not fully attached himself.

Back to Philly, and spring continued to blossom 

with more and more of my birdie friends returning, 

and I caught up with an old friend who visited for a couple of days.

I continued to monitor a major bath renovation in our Rockport home that was started in February.

I had great hopes of its completion by the end of April.  

But as with all renovations, things never seem to run on schedule.  

Ugh.

April was also a time to catch up on some medical appointments.  A Synvisc injection for my cranky arthritic left knee in attempts to hold off replacement.  

And of course, the boob squishing mammogram 

with the continuous good news all is a.o.k.

Another friend from Seattle joined us for a few days to attend The Professor's 

Corporate Governance conference in Philly.

Our friend's daughter had heard of the Mutter Museum and wanted him to check it out.  

So one afternoon, we spent viewing medical oddities and body parts.

Definitely disturbing.

I made a trip down to Anna Maria to check up on our vacation properties 

and deal with some maintenance issues.  

Not much time for any R & R like these folks below, 

but I did get a few bike rides in and a couple of sunsets.

It's a pretty time of the year down there with the terns, skimmers and plovers 

mating and nesting ...  

along with the turtles beginning to return to lay their eggs.

And there you have it.

A full month of family, friends, travels, renovations and a 

'few'

Vesper martinis in the mix

to ease my achy ole soul.

Looking forward to things slowing down a bit this month.

Taking more photos and getting back into the groove of blogging

and catching up with all of you.

No place like home

Once upon a time there was a little red haired girl who left her home to travel around the world.  She flew in big and small airplanes, rode in cars on the wrong side of the road, and ate food

she did not know.

She was very happy.

 But now and then she thought about

her friends back home 

and wondered if they thought about her.

 Days and months passed

and although she continued to be happy

 she began to dream of the time

when she would once again return

to her home.

 One day as she was walking along a wooded path,

a friendly hawk swooped down and began to speak to her (with a French accent!).

"Silly girl!  Why do you visit all these countries

when you have the very same beauty in your own back yard?"

Aside from the fact that she was shocked that the hawk could speak with a French accent, 

she gathered her wits about her and exclaimed, "Excuse me?"

"Yes, I have been observing you 'oohing' and 'aahing' beautiful sights, 

but don't you remember the beautiful sights you have in your own back yard?"

  

With a tilt of her head, the little red haired girl said, 

"Well, yes, I do remember.  Like the northern pines and their reflections 

bouncing amid the shoreline waters."

"Oh, and the lighthouses!  How I love their twinkling search light."

"And I do so love the boats, especially at sunset, when golden light plays on their decks. "

"Oh, Mr. Hawk, you are so right," said the little red haired girl with a loud sigh.

"I didn't need to leave my own backyard to see such beauty.

It was there all along!"

The Hawk leaned down closer to the little red haired girl and whispered, "I overheard a scarecrow once telling of a story where this little girl was lost in some land called Oz and was so missing her home that a Wizard told her that if she clicked her shoes 3 times and repeated ' There's no place like home, there's no place like home,'  that she would somehow be transported home."

The little red haired girl looked down at her blue tennis shoes and said, "Really?"

The Hawk said, "Yep, that's what I heard.  You might give it a try.

But now, I must be off.  There's a lion in distress.  Something about a mouse.

Arrivederci!"

With a broad swoop of his wings, the hawk took flight.  

The little red haired girl thought about what he had said.  

She had seen many beautiful sights 

but she did long to return home.   

And before the hawk was fully out of view,

the little red haired girl closed her eyes and tapped her blue tennis shoes and said, 

"There's no place like home.

There's no place like home.

There's no place like ..... "

Home.

It was just that fast that she found herself once again in her

own backyard!

Happy to have returned home, the little red haired girl never ever wanted to leave again.

Well, at least for a while anyway!

(P.S.  We had some wonderful travel experiences over the last 6 months, 

but it has also been wonderful to spend some time here in beautiful Maine.  

Even in the winter, which was when all of these images were taken.)