Seven & Eight

Whoops - a little behind here. 

Week 7 of the LensProToGo.com 'Project 52' photo challenge was Light.  I wanted to steer clear of the typical candle in the darkness, or sunrise over the river kind of triteness. I was heading down Highway 3 in Massachusetts one day when a construction sign caught my eye. As much because of what wasn't lit, as what was.  

I pulled over on into the shoulder, kids and all, and started snapping pictures. I'm not 100% happy with the end result (that silly arrow in the bottom both blocks my view, and seems a little redundant given the GIANT FLASHING LIGHTS, don't you think?). I took this picture through my windsheild, and ended up over-processing it, to make it less flat but, well, whew... it's done. 

Week 8: "Laughter"

I had a couple of ideas (which I may still come back to) to put together for this one. But of all the pictures we've ever taken, this one says 'laughter' better than any other. 

This one, I'm happy with. 

This one will be shown one day at her wedding.  That's my little girl. 

6:52 - Jailhouse Rock

I started my morning at the Middlesex County jail.

I had to drive up further than I had planed, as I couldn't get this shot from the road.

I realized I had left my SD card at home, and only had my iPhone to take picture with.

The guard who came over as I was squatting in the driveway was remarkably reasonable.

"What exactly are you doing?"

"There's this project. And my assignment this week is 'song or movie title' - get it? "Jailhouse Rock!" Aren't I clever? Isn't that a great idea?! You may admire my genius now."

"..."

"..."

"Sir, you need to get in your car and leave now."

5:52 - 'I left my heart in...'

The LensProToGo.com 52 week challenge keeps marching forward. For February's first topic, the scope was expanded a bit. 

This week we are going to get to know about your favorite place. The place you’d want to go back to the most…where you left your heart. This photo can be a previously taken photo as I know, for me, the place is hundreds of miles away and there is a .09% chanced I’d get there to shoot this week. This week we are more interested in the description of why that place means so much to you.

Ha! Little do they know that I've made major life changes (including leaving my job of 11 years) in order to cut back on the travel. Because my favorite place is my home, and while I've always made a point to enjoy whatever I can out of my trips, I really, really would generally prefer to be sitting in my worn out jeans on my own couch. 

Even so, I took on the spirit of the challenge, and looked back through some of my favorite trip photos. Which brought me to another problem. That of being a crap photographer with a cheap camera. Some of the best moments/trips we've ever taken were lost to shitty film, not having a camera on me at the moment, or just being too lazy to get things developed (back when people still did that). 

Still. A couple of shots/trips stood out. I thought about using this one, from a trip in Scotland we took to celebrate our 10th anniversary. 

But then I stumbled across this one from the same trip, which I liked even more - the whole trip was on horseback, riding from pub to castle to bed & breakfast across the Scottish Highlands for a week (with more than a little bit of whiskey and haggis thrown in). 

This picture seemed to capture the week.

That really was a great trip, and a place I know that we'd go back to gladly. (and did several times, in fact, during the years we lived in the UK, though without the horses). 

Still, it's not quite right. There were trips to Italy, Ireland, Egypt, India, Mexico, and others, as well as plenty across the US. At last count, I've hit 42 of the 50 states. And while they were all their own kind of fun, I wasn't seeing a lot of photos that felt quite like I had left a piece of me there, and wished I could jump through the film to get it back.

So I got out the box of old photos from the read-only part of my house and flipped through a few. When I saw the right one, I knew it immediately. If there's any place I left my heart, it's right here. (Note: I'm the little one in the center). 

That's my grandparents' house in Blue Ridge, GA, circa 1980. It wasn't fancy, or faraway, or any kind of exotic (unless you consider pork skins and moonshine 'exotic'). And I'm sure everyone has those memories. But mine stand out. They glow. They form the core of who I still am today. They provide a model and a challenge to create that same sense of warmth and welcome for my family today. 

That's where my heart is. And where I hope it will always be, in some way. 

P52: Week 3 - Your favorite thing

From the LensProToGo 52 Week photo challenge: 

'We all have and do a lot of things that we ‘like’. I like to hike, I like my iPad, I like the Patriots (okay… maybe I love them…), I like camping, I like my rug under my coffee table, I like my high heels… but what do I ‘love’? We want everyone to get to the core of this and find something that they like more than everything else and hold close to their heart.'

Well. High heels were out. And honestly, it was difficult to choose a thing I'd rush back into a burning house to save. My books? Maybe. But they can be replaced generally. My banjo? I'd love to say yes, and I do love the artistry and workmanship that went into the Stelling Master's Cross. But as poor a banjo player as I am, I can't say it defines me very well. 

I settled back on my truck. It's a large thing, and since I got my shiny new Mini Cooper S last month, it's no longer my daily driver as it was for most of the last 4 years. But I love it, perhaps more than any other posession I might lay claim to. 

Manual steering. Manual brakes. 3-on-the-tree, 6 cylinder. No radio. No air conditioning. Vinyl covered bench seat that cracks in the winter and scalds in the summer. 

Pure steel. 

Pure joy.  

A little dusting of snow today added a few touches of white to the picture in unexpected places. You can see a little rust bubbling under the logo. And it's a little louder and slower to get started these days, especially as it sits for longer durations between runs. 

Yep. 

That pretty well defines me. 

A little of the white stuff

Normally, we'd have a couple of feet on the ground by now.

Last night's dusting will probably gone by the time I head home.