This week’s PhotoHunt theme is “metal.” And as you know, I can take a theme and run with it. Sometimes running with it to such lengths that I cross state boundaries.
So, I’ve run on with my spoon theme. (Be grateful that I wasn’t running with scissors. Because, those are typically metal, too.) I also offer a flashback to last week’s reflection theme.
We’ve headed down to the in-laws for Thanksgiving. We drove down last night, after a crazy-busy hectic day. We arrived around midnight, and Phoebe was up well past 1:00. She was so excited to be down at the grandparents, though, that she woke up around 7:00. And with her new crib-free status, she was up and out of bed and in our room by 7:30. I was completely wiped out. Phoebe, on the other hand, was ready to play.
One of the perks of visiting Grammy and Grandpa’s house is that she gets to play with the castle. The castle is a Fisher Price Little People toy set that John played with when he was little. Some of the pieces are a little worse for wear (the poor horses have each lost a hoof or two), but it still makes for some great playing.
And because by it’s now after 11:00, and I have a list to prepare for tomorrow, I’ll leave you with these pictures.
I posted some pictures last night from a visit to Paris in the Summer of 2007. Several people were quite taken with the dragon sculpture, which was made of recycled materials.
These are the two photos of it that I posted yesterday:
The first of these prompted the flying mum to ask: “…why does the dragon have a big ball of fluff for a face?”
Ah. An excellent question. It was actually just my angle for that shot, which didn’t do the dragon’s face justice. In the sense that it didn’t actually show that the dragon had a face. But it did. Have a face, that is. The “big ball of fluff” was the dragon’s fire and smoke breath, made of plastic bags.
Here are a few more photos, some of which show the dragon’s face:
There’s also a nice shot of the dragon over at a post called A sunny afternoon in Paris at the “Jardin des Plantes”, which has some more photos of and info about the botanical gardens.
I never ended up posting a lot of the photos I took on my trip to France and Germany in 2007, so I’m taking this daily posting as an excuse to share some of them.
These are from Le Jardin des Plantes (or “The Garden of Plants”), which is a large (and I do mean large) botanical garden in Paris, France.
The main garden path.
Various colors of flowers. I have no idea what kind any of these are. Well, the red ones look sort of chrysanthemum-like to me, and the yellow ones look daisy-like.
Gray flower. (Okay, it’s a drain. But it’s flower-shaped, and I thought it was cool.)
There was also a big dragon, made out of recycled materials.
Here’s a close-up of the claw of the dragon, showing its aluminum can scales.
Yes, the cans are what made me think of these photos, what with my preceding two can-related posts. I was going to post them yesterday, but was deflected from this path by the reflection theme. A reflection defection, as it were. Oddly enough, it was not the garden path that led me astray. I guess it was just something else shiny.
This is a photo I took during my 2005 trip to London. We went on an excursion to Bath, and while roaming the streets, I was struck by this shopfront of a frame and mirror store. (Don’t worry, it didn’t hurt me.) A car happened to pass by into the frame (or frames) just as I took the picture.
I’m quite fond of reflected elements in photos and other visual art, so when I saw over at Webs of Significance that this week’s PhotoHunt theme was “reflections,” I felled compelled to investigate further.
So, I’ve decide to give PhotoHunt a try, having seen YTSL (and occasional others) particpate many a time. I saw that you no longer need to post their blogroll, so it seems less cumbersome to participate. In case you haven’t come across it before, PhotoHunt is weekly blogging even hosted by tnchick.com where people are invited to participate by posting a photo once a week on a given theme.
Of course, now that the theme of reflection has come up, I have a few more reflections I’d like to post. I’ll save them for another day. And maybe even a list.
If someone offered you a penny for your thoughts, and you gave them your two cents worth, would you feel shortchanged?¹
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I’m feeling a bit tired tonight, and can’t manage to find the focus to write anything meaningful. I could just write something meaningless. But I’ll spare you.
Seeing as I don’t want to leave you feeling shortchanged, since you bothered to come by to visit, I offer up some more photos as a consolation prize. I took these on Halloween before Phoebe and Theo changed into their costumes.
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¹ I thought of this when contemplating posting some spare change from my earlier coin collection. I think I’ve mentioned that I crack myself up.
I can hardly believe that November is half over. The days have been passing by in a blur for me. It’s hard for me to keep up with many things.
Phoebe, for example, is hard to keep up with. She is growing and learning so fast, and almost always moving.
I took these photos a few days ago. I was really amused by them, with Phoebe’s constant motion, and Theo’s relative immobility. (Notice, though, that Theo gets in some of his own motion blur at the end.)
There are events that affect us collectively more than others. All too often these momentous events are tragedies. Natural disasters. Attacks. Assassinations. Calamities. These events leave marks in our collective memory, as well as in our history books.
What were you doing when …?
In my lifetime, I can remember quite a few such events. Where I was when I heard the news, saw the footage. How I felt, what I was doing.
Tomorrow, I feel like I’m going to have the chance to witness something monumentally positive. I feel like I’m marching for women’s suffrage. Like I’m marching on Washington for civil rights. I feel like I’m helping to tear down the Berlin Wall.
I feel like I’ll get to see us landing on the moon.
One small step. One giant leap forward.
Progress in this country has moved slowly. But this election shows that we’ve still been, as a society, making small steps forward. I am excited that we may see improvements in areas and issues that I care deeply about. Education. Dipolmacy. Fighting poverty. Making healthcare available to all.
Not least of all, though, I am excited that we will get to see a Black man elected to the highest office in this country. I am thrilled that I get to see this event in my lifetime. That I get to have a vote in this. That my vote will be counted.
And I am even more thrilled that kids in this country will grow up accepting this as normal. That my own children will grow up accepting this as normal. It will be just a fact of history.
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Images: The top one is one that I’d seen in an email making the rounds, and sent to me by mother. I looked for it online, and found it at Yes We Can Hold Babies, where you can see lots more photos of Obama and babies.
I’d also like to direct you to some more photos that have moved me. First, Girls 4 Obama, found via Bitch, PhD. And second, a collection of photos by Callie Shell, a photojournalist. (Sent to me by John.) I was particularly impressed by the one showing the worn soles of Obama’s shoes.
The other photos above are of Phoebe and Theo. My friend Erica, who has been working her tail off volunteering for the Obama campaign, got us the buttons. Thank you, Erica!
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Oh, and for my word of the day, let’s say enfranchisement.
I love this time of year. Fall is without doubt my favorite season.
Today was a crisp, bright day. We went to our local playground, and then headed to a farm to pick apples and pumpkins.
(You can find a few more pictures featuring Phoebe here.)
collecting tokens 