2018 Year In Review

2018 may not have been my best year, but will not complain. There was a lot of sadness this year, but it was also mixed in with a lot of joy. I spent way too much time being sick and missed a lot of photo opportunities because of that. But it could be so much worse and I'm thankful for all of the many blessings in my life. I'm looking forward to 2019 and all of the opportunities the new year brings. Thank you for following the blog throughout the past year. I hope to kick it up a notch this year and plan to post as often as I can. 

As I have done each year for the past 8 years, I'm going to post my personal favorites from this year. These may not all be technically my best, but they each have a special meaning to me.

Sunrise in Scituate MA, taken in February on the 4th anniversary of my Mom's passing. Each year my sister and I have gone out for sunrise on this date, and each year we can feel our Moms presence:

A weekend get away to VT in March provided an overnight few inches of snow that I was very happy to see and photograph. This image was taken along one of my favorite places in Barton VT.........along May Pond Road.

Also in March, the day after my Dads funeral, and the day before St Patrick's Day, we were blessed to welcome this handsome 10 pound Lad into our family.....our 4th grandchild, Joseph.

Easter with three of the grands....

Two Bald Eaglets that I had the pleasure to photograph this Spring and Summer were a highlight for me:

One of the adults bringing lunch to the nest:

A fun evening with camera club friends this Summer......photographing in Boston.

Julian Edelman taken at The NE Patriots Training Camp. (Love me some Jules):

Three of my favorite images taken this Fall.

Loved the way the Maple Trees frame the distant hillside cabin. Taken in Greensboro VT:

Godfingers lighting up the distant mountains from Barton VT:

True colors at Coffin Pond in Sugar Hill NH:

Three favorites from Upper State NY trip:

Have never seen a rainbow as vivid as this. It was spectacular!

Fly Fisherman at one of the many waterfalls that we visited.

Our grandson Henry......I got the idea in my head to photograph him with his teddy bear looking down into the living room at the Christmas tree. This isn't exactly what I was envisioning, but it is close and this may just be my favorite photo of the year.

Opening up my arms to 2019. Bring it on!!!!! I wish you peace, love, good health and happiness.

Merry Christmas 2018

From my family to yours, I wish you a love, peace, and joy during this Christmas season.

"Waiting For Santa".........

And here are my other three loves......

Have a wonderful Holiday!

Wordless Wednesday 12/19/18

Pastel Colors at Plymouth Harbor MA

Happy weekend! I hope you are enjoying yours. Right now there is sleet falling outside my window. We went out this morning for breakfast and are home now enjoying the Christmas decor in the house and awaiting the start of the Patriots game this afternoon.
Yesterday was a different kind of day weatherwise. It was cloudy and the temperature was up to a balmy 52 degrees. Mr. S and I took a ride down to Plymouth and the harbor was as still as I have ever seen.

The late afternoon light was simply magical. There was virtually no wind, and the water was like glass. There were not even the tiniest of waves lapping the shoreline....it was completely still and oh so peaceful.

Nelson Beach in pretty pastel colors. So blessed to witness Mother Nature's beauty.

Wordless Wednesday 12/12/18

Fly Fisherman/TRAVEL TUESDAY

This is one of my favorite photos that I took during the Upper NY State Waterfall trip that I took in October. (Click photo to enlarge)

A different vertical view....

Have yourself a Merry Schnoodle Christmas!

Rudy......the best Schnoodle in all of the land!!!!

Mitten Christmas Ornament

Just a mitten......

Processed three ways....

I haven't been out of the house for 5 days....

My yearly bronchitis/asthma flareup....

I'm going a little stir crazy....

But am on the mend....(I think)....

Just a mitten....

It's a cute little mitten, right?

Wordless Wednesday 12/5/18

Rainbows in Watkins Glen NY *TRAVEL TUESDAY*

Welcome to another Travel Tuesday post here on the blog....where images taken outside of New England are shown. Today I want to tell you about some pretty incredible rainbows that we saw on our visit to the Watkins Glen area of upstate NY in October. The weather forecast for this particular day was for afternoon scattered rain showers, and that forecast was quite accurate.

The first rain "shower" produced a spectacular rainbow. I was driving along Rte 14 and could see dramatic rain clouds up ahead. Suddenly to our right, a beautiful double rainbow appeared. I excitedly drove to a spot that would be a good place to take unobstructed photographs. The four of us jumped out of the car.....some jumped out before I even had put it in park I believe.

This is what we saw....

This beautiful double rainbow was such an amazing sight to see. We could also see the rain falling from the sky in the distance, and after several seconds, we could actually hear the rain coming, and then we could feel the rain hitting us, along with some hail pelting us. The four of us ran with our cameras in hand and dove into the car for protection. We were laughing so much....such a fun experience!!

When the rain and hail ended, the trees across from us were lit up nicely by the sun. 

Believe it or not, about an hour after this event, we were driving along in the exact same area, with another dark and angry sky ahead. I looked to my right and saw the most amazing rainbow I have ever seen in my life. The colors were so vivid. It looked fake....it was so close to us, and so vibrant. We all kept commenting that our photographs were going to look "fake, "photoshopped, "oversaturated" etc. I want to set the record strait......I applied NO saturation to the images. This is exactly how the rainbow looked to the naked eye. 

This is the same image, but I lightened up the background.

This was one of those "spiritual moments" for me that I have written about on previous blog posts. It's a moment I will never forget, and those incredible vibrant colors are something I will never ever forget. What a blessing to witness this!

Here is the sky, after the storm passed....

Oh what an afternoon that was! Oh....and please don't forget to double click on the photos for a larger view. Thanks!

A few More Fall Photos Abington MA

I took a ride around my hometown of Abington MA on a late October afternoon. Here are a few Fall images I made that beautiful afternoon:

I hope you enjoyed the hometown foliage tour!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Happy December 1st! I hope your Holiday Season is filled with love and happiness. Our grandson Henry is getting into the Christmas Spirit!

Happy Thanksgiving 2018

From my family to yours, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, and hope that it is filled with love and laughter.

I will be working tomorrow.......but I'm thankful for so many blessings, including your views, comments and support here on the blog. In case you didn't notice, I have placed a little award that I recently discovered at the top of the blog page. This blog has been chosen as one of the top forty New England blogs. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day!

Shequaga Falls/Travel Tuesday 11/20/18

Welcome to another "Travel Tuesday" here on the blog......a day where photos taken outside of New England are featured.

Last month during our trip to upper State NY, one of the many waterfalls we visited was Shequaga Falls, located in the village of Montour Falls, in Watkins Glen NY. Our first visit was in the daylight.

This is a lovely waterfall, located literally off the side of a road.

A few nights after our day visit here, we went back to photograph the falls which are lit up beautifully at night. It had been a very long day of photographing on this particular day, so it was nice to have these falls so easily accessible.

Juvenile Black Skimmers

I got word of a pair of Black Skimmers hanging around at Nelson Beach in Plymouth. I'm not much of a birder, but I do enjoy photographing them......and quite honestly, up until the other day, I had never even heard of a Black Skimmer before. So naturally, I headed down to the beach to see them for myself.

These are some really cool birds! Their bill is knife thin and their lower mandible is longer than their upper. 

Their bill allows them to drag their lower bill through the water as it flies, allowing them  to hopefully catch a fish. I was happy to be able to see them "skimming".

It was a beautiful day......unlike today with 6 inches of snow on the ground. No snow photos for me yet. I'm in denial I think.