Spring still

Today was a beautiful day--for a walk along the GW Parkway. Even though many of the colors in the trees are gone for the year, and there aren't necessarily a lot of flowers along the parkway, I took my camera anyway, because sometimes there are other sites to see, right? Well, believe it or not, I did find some color in the tree! And new! -some pretty orange and yellow flowers.
Talk about serendipity! So of course I took many many pictures and then came home and played with them. So many in fact, I couldn't figure out why I took some--since they looked pretty close to the same, hm. But when I was reviewing and deleting the ugly ones, I couldn't decide which to keep--so I kept them both. They're not bad.


Then, I suppose in that mood, as I messed around with the different filters, I found some I liked and couldn't decide which I liked better, so I kept them both--the original here too.


And then as I was posting, I thought, well, I really like this one better than the above anyway, so I'll stick it in for good measure.

Colors and Smells of Spring

In the rain we've had the past few days, I've had the chance to observe many umbrellas. And I must say that I'm largely disappointed. I guess I should have anticipated it in the business area of Washington DC, but my goodness there are so many unicolor, and dark colored umbrellas. It all contributes to a rather glum feeling, particularly with the rain. So I'll go ahead and blame those things on my yucky day yesterday.

I have seen some pretty umbrellas though, and that's always nice. Seeing such makes me think about colors and the good things colors can do, particularly in writing. I've felt sometimes when I'm reading (even or particularly my own writing) that it lacks visual appeal--to black and white. It's been funny/interesting to note what the simple mention of a color can do to the imagination.

But visually, more literally, I love see colors in publications too. A color copy of one of the Wizard of Oz books was one of my happy collections from last year's silent auction at Hollins. It adds a fun layer. On a simple note, I love switching the calendars to the spring months, too, as the colors become more vibrant.

Along those lines, particularly since rain tends to enhance some smells, I've been thinking about memories attached to certain smells. Construction smells, for example. Perhaps many people don't really like the smell of wet soil mixed with concrete and metal and the oil from the machines. But I have to say that generally speaking this is one of my favorite smells. I grew up in a neighborhood that was under development, with houses coming up through fun and memorable times. We, the neighborhood kids, had picnic lunches in the basement of an unfinished house (it stayed in this status for a long time for some reason); then once it started building again, we played around and explored more in the crawl space and the levels, and we laughed and shrieked when we heard one of the bossy neighborhood men was coming to chew us out.

There's also the fun smell just of spring, of flowers coming up, yes, but also in the house--you can smell there's some opening up of the woodwork to allow the fresh air to come in after the long stagnant winter months. It also has a reminder of the smells of the end of the school year--the days when you could just run outside and didn't have to remember your coat. Oh joyous days.

Last night, although it is mid-May, I turned the heat back on because it's been sooo cold the past few nights and my bones couldn't take it any more, and even there, I had a nice smell reminder of the heat coming on, moving through the floor boards and hovering over my bed. Of course it felt more like fall, but it was as sweet and comfortable as spring. Mmmm.

What are some of your favorite smells?

Sandals!

Today, I put on a new short-sleeved shirt that I got for Christmas (I asked for summer shirts because I was low on them, even though it was winter at that time, what can I say?), and since it was black and white, I wore my black pants. And then since I was wearing basically black all over, I couldn't wear my normal brown shoes or navy shoes. I had to wear black shoes. And since they're in the closet where I keep shoes I don't wear as much, I happily surprised myself when I saw that I had some other black shoes that I could wear today--sandals! Yippee, yeah, yeah! It's sandal weather! I guess that comes with short-sleeved shirts, but since my sandals are black, I hadn't thought of it til now! And you know what the best thing about sandals is, don't you? You don't have to wear socks! That means I can sleep in an extra minute because I don't have to rummage through the sock drawer to find some that match. But I probably shouldn't tell myself that, because, as I just mentioned, sleeping in and having to drive to the metro is already a problem. So, now I um, can get up at the same time and maybe make it to the bus on time because I don't have to rummage...yah dah yah day....

Spring Just Keeps Getting Better

Some photos from my walk today at lunch. Sometimes I wonder how the world would be if everything blossomed all at once. That is, I can imagine how amazing some pictures would be.
But I think there's wisdom in having things come in their own time. For example, some of the photos might be discordant, having too many colors and shapes involved--a little like the combination of these three pictures. But also, I think some of the small things might need their own attention. We might otherwise overlook the individual beauty of some flowers, because they would be masked by the beauty of others. And, spring lasts a little longer, too, as everything comes in its season, right?

Cherry Blossoms

As part of the Kite Festival Trip, we also scooted over to see the Cherry Blossoms. Although I've been in DC for almost six years now, interestingly enough, before yesterday, the only time that I'd been on the mall in the daylight hours to get good photos was during my visit before I actually moved here. So I was quite glad for this opportunity. Of course, Saturday was a busy day to be going so getting good pictures was a bit of a trick. But I do have to say that I've always kind of liked those candid shots anyway. Sometimes people in their normal living make good shots, too, right?

DC Kite Festival 08

This Saturday I had a fun escapade with other singles in the area, a trip to see the Kite Festival on the mall. I think it was more fun to see them there than the pictures will indicate. But I hope you can enjoy them all the same. Here are just a couple.

Easter Eggs

Can you guess what I did this weekend? Sorry it's taken a few days to post, but I'm a slow thinker sometimes. Anyway, though these aren't blossoms, it was fun to experiment a little with the angles and stuff, too. It was also fun to experiment with the colors and designs when painting them. Can you see the frog? I discovered that it's hard to draw with white on white (wax on egg shell). Can you see the chick? That one's s a little better, though really light coloring. I did another chick that turned out darker, but some pink dye on my fingers made it look like someone had shot him in the eye. Not really pretty Easter-like. Oh--yea, I didn't paint all of these, either. My roommate Carrie helped. The flower is actually hers--so I guess I am taking a picture of some blossoms anyway, eh?

Spring and Photoshop

Not only do I enjoy taking photos in the spring, but having new pictures also provides opportunities to mess around a little so I don't feel like a terrible bum when I sit around watching tv and movies on Friday nights (or other nights). Here's a little of my messing around from last night. One of these pictures is the same as one I posted the other day. Can you tell which one?

Spring Blossoms

Seriously, although that last post was from last year, these are from this year--this week, actually. This is one of the things I love about spring--a good reason to get my camera out again and try new angles on the blossoms. These are some of my favorites from a batch I took during a lunch-time walk yesterday. Enjoy!

Happy St. Patty's

Okay so this is actually from last year, but it was taken in March. I just felt the need for a pretty picture and this is a nice green one. Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Spring! I pulled out my spring/summer wardrobe over the weekend, though I still found I needed a sweater yesterday and wore my winter coat to work today, but it's coming. Spring is in the air! Can't you feel it? I guess it depends on where you are. It's a nice feeling anyway.