I just want to tell you how proud I am to live in Massachusetts...and how proud I am of my team, The New England Patriots. The state of Massachusetts was promised to get a shipment of PPE last week for our front line Health Care Workers and emergency responders to use to protect themselves as they treated patients who are sickened by the Novel Corona Virus. This shipment never made it here, and was sent elsewhere. I'm so proud of our Governor, Charlie Baker, who thought outside of the box and came up with a plan to get the needed PPE that our health care workers are in dire need of here. He consulted with the Kraft family, who are the owners of the New England Patriots, and together they worked their way through all of the red tape to send a humanitarian mission to China, using the NE Patriots plane, to acquire and deliver 1.2 million N95 masks.

As I watched the plane landing and being immediately unloaded upon it's arrival in Boston, I couldn't help but have goose bumps and a lump in my throat. Not only are these masks going to be used by the people on the front lines here in Massachusetts, but today a NE Patriots tractor trailer arrived in NYC with 300,000 of those masks aboard, to be given to the front line health care workers in NY who desperately need them. The Kraft family spent 2 million dollars to acquire those masks for the state of NY. Boston's sports teams have always had serious rivalries with the New York teams, and I find it extremely heart warming, that when in times of need, we are all one.

I'm putting politics aside here, and just am so proud of our Governor, who's caring and compassionate leadership throughout this crisis has been remarkable. 

I took this photo at the New England Patriots Hall of Fame at Gillette Stadium a few months ago:

Yes, we ARE all Patriots. How fitting this quote is today. Thank you Mr. Kraft. I'm a proud member of Patriot Nation. God bless us all and God bless our World.

Stay safe my friends xxoo

Words For Wednesday 4/1/2020

Life is only a reflection

of what we allow ourselves

to see.

Beauty And The Beast

Taken about a month ago......the last time I was out in public......we took Ryleigh to see Beauty and the Beast at Massasoit Community Theater. It was such a wonderful show and although these are just cell phone shots, I love the happiness these pictures exude.

Ever just the same

ever a surprise

ever as before

ever just as sure

as the sun will rise.......

Stay safe my friends. xxoo

The Fox Are Back

As our world has suddenly come to a screeching  halt, Mother Nature reminds us that life goes on. The animal world isn't affected by the Corona Virus. Their lives continue to go on and their instincts are as acute as ever.

Today I photographed my first fox sighting of the Spring in the woods behind my house. As you know, the past several years we have had a fox den right in our own backyard. I've recently been hearing screams in the night coming from the woods. A few weeks ago I saw a fox on my street in the early morning hours.....around 5 AM. Also about two weeks ago, our neighbors chickens were out free ranging and sadly they lost one chicken to the fox. The circle of life. Nature is so beautiful but so cruel at the same time. The survival of the fittest.

Life goes on. Nature goes on. Mother Nature sets her time clock and nothing stops it.
Please stay well and safe. xxoo

Social Distancing Visit

Hi All. Hope you are doing well. It's been a long time since I've seen my grandchildren. I'm used to seeing them once or twice a week, and since I started social distancing for health reasons, before most people, it feels like it's been forever since I saw them. I'm thrilled to say  I had a social distancing visit with my son N and my grandson Henry this morning!!!!!!!

I was in my backyard with Rudy (our dog) and they came and met me back there. It's incredible how a three year old understands the concept of social distancing. We all stood from 6-10 feet away from each other during the entire visit. I say it's incredible, but it's also very sad that this is the way life is nowadays. It's difficult to remain optimistic that this is only temporary, but it's what we must do.

That's a zoomed in and cropped cell phone shot. Henry loves to see our next door neighbors chickens. It warmed my heart to have just that little time of normalcy with them. I hope you are also finding ways to bring some normalcy into this "new normal" we are now living.

"Teddy" also came along for today's visit, as you can see him safely tucked under Henry's arms. 

I look forward to the day when I can safely tuck Henry in my own arms. Please be well and stay safe. xxoo

WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY

Hi all,
I've decided to change my weekly Wednesday posts from "Wordless Wednesday" to "Words for Wednesday" and will include a photo with an inspirational quote each Wednesday. I hope you enjoy this change, and I hope that the photo and or the words can bring you a sense of peace or comfort, or even sometimes a smile as we go through this crisis.

This photo was taken the other day when I ventured out to the park:

"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence."

----Ansel Adams

Covid 19 and Photography

Hi Everyone,
 These are such troubled times and times of anxiety and uncertainty. If you are a regular follower of this blog, through the years, you know I have asthma and a few times a year I have severe asthmatic exacerbations which stop me in my tracks and sometimes takes 2 or more months for me to fully recover. I also was recently hospitalized for a different new health reason. After consulting with my primary care physician and my pulmonologist, it was agreed that I am a high risk patient if I contract Covid 19. As a result, and it literally breaks my heart, I am out of work from the hospital on a 2 month leave of absence to reduce my exposure. My future of returning is uncertain.These have been some pretty dark days for me, but I'm certainly not complaining and hope I'm not coming across that way. There are far too many people who are hurting right now and I would never minimize the hurt, devastation and pain they are going through.

Today a friend and fellow photography blogger posted a question on his bog; he was questioning if he should consider stopping his blog posts with all that is going on in the world. I replied that I always look forward to reading his blog, and it's therapeutic for us to have as much normalcy now as possible for both him to write the blogs, and his viewers to read and view them. This made me realize I should follow my own advice.
You can find his blog here. It's full of education and fantastic, inspirational landscape photography.
https://lightscapesphotography.wordpress.com/

Yesterday was the first day I went out with my camera in weeks. I went out solo of course to a local park. The only human contact I have is with Mr S and our son J who still lives at home with us. It felt good to be out in nature with my camera, but I also felt incredible guilt for doing this when I feel like

I have deserted my coworkers when they need me the most. I know in my head it's the right thing for me to do but my heart is telling me otherwise. The photo above is one I shot yesterday.

When I was recently hospitalized, my coworker and good friend Noelle gave me the following quote that she picked up in the hospital chapel. I am going to use the quote and the above photo together and use it to not only help me heal, but I hope it can give you some comfort as well.

" Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way.

You are on the path exactly where you are meant to be right now. And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing, of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love."

This blog will go on. Most photos will probably be taken from my home and my backyard. But as I told my friend Kerry today, it's therapeutic to keep some normalcy both for myself and you the viewer. 

Please stay healthy and safe. xxoo