Merry Christmas

 Hi All. It's hard to believe that today is Christmas Eve and the year 2020 is almost over. What a year it has been for all of us. I got on the blog today and noticed that the last time I posted was on Thanksgiving. A lot has happened between Thanksgiving and now, and I'll explain to you the reason for my absence.

On December first, I was hit head on in a motor vehicle accident. After spending a few days in the hospital, I was able to come home via ambulance. The therapists in the hospital recommended that I be transferred to a rehab, but I refused to go to a rehab due to covid. I felt I would be safer in my own home and I don't regret that decision one bit. Mr. S took almost three weeks off from work to care for me. I'm receiving some PT and OT through the VNA and have a very long recovery ahead of me.

My right leg and foot bore the brunt of the impact and I have multiple broken bones in my leg, foot, ankle, and heel, with at least ten other smaller fractures throughout my foot. Although these injuries are pretty severe, I count my blessings every day as I know that things could be much worse. I'm going to work as hard as I can to make a full recovery, and although I may not fully recover back to 100 percent, I'm going to try my hardest to get back as much range of motion as I can. 

I haven't picked up my camera since November 28th, when I took some Christmas card photos for Miss J and her family. It was a beautiful November day, and we were blessed to have a "surprise" visit from Santa Claus!!!! Ryleigh immediately figured out who Santa Claus was and she couldn't stop laughing!!! (Mr S played the role of Santa) Poor Stevie, the middle child, was frightened of him and wanted nothing to do with him, and Joey, the youngest, was so excited to see him that he ran up and jumped into his arms. It was so precious! 

This photo about sums it up!

A few more photos....

Ryleigh

Stevie

Joey

I'm disappointed that I got hurt and couldn't take Christmas photos of my grandson Henry, but I'm looking forward to taking photos of him when I'm able to.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the readers of this blog. I wish you nothing but good health and happiness this season. I truly consider myself very lucky and I'm remaining positive and thankful for the many blessings I have in my life. 

May peace be with you and your families. xxoo

Happy Thanksgiving

 From my family to yours, I want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving may be different for you, and not look or feel the same. It's like things are blurred and out of perspective for us. Today at my diner table will just be Mr S, our son Jay who still lives at home, and myself. I will miss the rest of our family, but to keep us safe this is what we decided to do......as I know many other families have chosen to do the same thing. 

If you're feeling out of sorts today, I think it's ok to not be ok. Allow yourself to feel that way, but just try to remind yourself that your loved ones are safe (I hope) and that better days are ahead. 

These lyrics speak to me about the crazy turbulent times we've been dealing with throughout this entire year.

THANKFUL

by Josh Groban

Somedays, we forget to look around us

Somedays, we can't see the joy that surrounds us

So caught up inside ourselves

We take when we should give

So tonight we pray for

What we know can be

And on this day we hope for

What we still can't see

It's up to us to be the change

And even though we can still do more

There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond us

there's so much sorrow

It's way too late to say I'll cry tomorrow

Each of us must find our truth

It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for

what we know can be

And everyday we hope for

what we still can't see

It's up to us to be the change

And even though we all can still do more

There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences

there's a place we're all connected

Each of us can find each other's light

So tonight we pray for,

what we know can be

And on this day we hope for

what we still can't see

It's up to us to be the change

And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving my friends. I have so much to be thankful for. Stay safe and healthy. xxoo

A Squirrel and his Acorn

The squirrel is on his way to hide his acorn:

Running through the leaves he goes:

He stops to take a rest (He's a very busy guy)

It's time to move on:

Nearing his destination:

Finally made it with acorn intact. Success!

I hope your foraging for Thanksgiving items goes as smoothly as this guys!

Stay safe and healthy my friends. xxoo

(Sorry for the rather "corny" content of this post) :-)

Downtown Woodstock VT

A few weeks ago I posted photos that I took at night of the Taftsville Covered Bridge in Woodstock VT. I also did other night photography shots that evening. One of the places we stopped to photograph was downtown Woodstock.

If you've ever been to Woodstock VT, it's probably been during the daylight hours. This downtown area is always bustling with shoppers, tourists, and during pre-covid times, tour buses.....especially during the peak foliage season. It was fun to stop and photograph during the quiet hours of the night. These images were taken around 10:30-11:00 pm. There were not many vehicles that came through at that time of night.

Trail lights of a car driving through town:

Here goes a tractor trailer:

Another truck:

Store Fronts:

It was such a great night of photography. I still have one more blog post to write about that evening which will be posted in the near future. 

Stay safe and healthy my friends xxoo

Thundering Brook Falls in Killington VT

During our stay in Killington this Fall, Mr S and I visited Thundering Brook Falls early one morning.

Along the trail heading to the Falls. You can see the early morning light shining on the distant trees.

We were in a pretty significant drought this Fall and many of the waterfalls were running low, as this one was as well. There was a steady flow here, but I'm sure under other circumstances it would be more impressive.

I'm pretty sure I have the best tripod caddy in the World. Here is Mr S walking the trail back to the car.

Stay safe and healthy my friends. xxoo

Words For Wednesday 11/11/2020

 

"In the truest sense, freedom can not be bestowed. It must be achieved."

------Franklin D. Roosevelt

Happy Veterans Day 2020. If you are a Veteran, I thank you for your service from the bottom of my heart.

Stay safe and well my friends. xxoo

Evening photos of Kent Pond and Killington Pond

 Continuing on with more Fall photos taken last month in Vermont, I'd like to share with you a few photos I took at dusk in Killington.

Through the years, I've visited Kent Pond at three different times, but have never gotten any photos that I would consider to be "keepers." Either the light wasn't right, the foliage wasn't right, or the wind was blowing which resulted in choppy water with no reflections of the trees.

October 6, 2020

This particular evening, the wind was still, the colors were beautiful, and the sky had an interesting cloud formation. I was very happy to finally get an image here that I like.

From here, we went just up the road to Killington Pond to photograph the evening light. Again, I have also photographed at Killington Pond on several occasions, but the conditions just weren't right.

4 second exposure:

6 second exposure as the light was quickly fading:

I'm happy with these two photos, but just wish the mountain in the background had more color. There's always next year and I know one of these years I will get it just right. That's part of the thrill and fun of photography for me.

A quick funny story about this evening at Killington Pond. When I arrived a couple was sitting on the bench as I was setting up to shoot. I said hello to them, and noticed the man kept staring at me. Kind of freaky for a minute.....but then the man asked me if my name was Carol.......I said yes, and he introduced himself. He is a photographer who follows me on social media and I also follow him. I have NO idea how he could recognize me wearing a mask, as we have never personally met each other before. It can be such a small world sometimes, and it was nice to meet him in person.

Stay safe and well my friends. xxoo

Taftsville Covered Bridge Woodstock VT

 The Taftsville Covered Bridge is a timber framed covered bridge that spans The Ottauquechee River in the Taftsville village of Woodstock VT. It was built in 1836 and is one of the oldest remaining covered bridges in not only Vermont, but in the nation.

I photographed the bridge one evening in October. I knew that this was one of the few covered bridges that is illuminated within at night, and it was on my bucket list to photograph at night this Fall.

I also stopped to photograph this beautiful bridge on our final day in VT, backlit by the sun, as we were on our way home.

Hope all is well with you during these crazy and unsettling times. Stay safe and healthy my friends. 

Words For Wednesday 11/4/2020

 

"Be soft.

Do not let the world make you hard.

Do not let pain make you hate.

Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.

Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."

-------Kurt Vonnegut

Photo taken of Mr. S one morning this Fall in Vermont. I've been saving this quote for today. I knew that this was going to be a difficult time for us here in the USA. I personally need these words today, and if you find yourself needing them too, I hope this helps......no matter what side of the aisle you are on.

Stay safe and healthy and worry free my friends. Be loving. Be kind. Be thankful for the beauty that surrounds us and have faith. xxoo

Boston Public Gardens Snowliage

 I feel like I'm all over the place here on the blog this Fall. I know yesterday I wrote that the next several blog posts would feature pictures from Vermont, but I decided to change it up and post photos I took this past weekend in The Boston Public Gardens the morning after our Fall snowstorm. 

It was a cold morning with the temperatures in the upper 20's, but it was 100 percent sunny skies and virtually no wind....a very comfortable morning to walk through the city.

The walking bridge across the lagoon:

skyline and snowliage reflections:

More skyline reflections:

Many people were out and about on this beautiful morning:

George Washington greets visitors coming in this entrance to the Gardens

The lagoon bridge:

I hope you enjoyed viewing these as much as I enjoyed taking them. I can't say what the next blog post will be about.....Vermont??.....cranberry bogs??......Boston's Beacon Hill???? I have a lot of posting to do as I've made the most out of this Fall season. I'm not particularly looking forward to this Winter and what it may bring with the covid surge so I've been out while I can.

Stay safe and healthy my friends! xxoo

Jenne Farm Reading Vermont

 After the three day trips that I took to NH and VT this Fall, I went back up with my husband for a four night stay in Killington, as my house in Barton was not available at the time.

 Vermont has some strict travel restrictions this year due to covid 19. My husband and I adhered to the travel restrictions....we both got tested for covid 19 before we went. We stayed at a very nice one bedroom condo at the base of Pico Mountain. The owner assured me the place would be sanitized before our arrival, but I still opened every window and sliding door and sprayed the place down with Lysol spray as soon as we arrived. We also Clorox wiped every single surface, light switch, door knob, faucet, tv remote etc etc etc. We ate our meals at the condo except for one morning we went out for breakfast. This was our first time at a restaurant since February. We chose to eat outdoors under the tent, and we were the only ones out there. We felt very safe.

The next several blog posts will contain photos about this foliage trip. Today I will tell you about my trip to Jenne Farm.

It has been noted that Jenne Farm is one of the most photographed farms in the World.....and I believe it! I've been photographing Fall in Vermont for over 20 plus years and have seen literally hundreds of photos of this location taken by other photographers. I actually got the point of being almost sick of seeing the photos and purposely avoided going here myself. Until this year....and I must tell you that the beauty there is undeniable and really deserves to be seen in person. I'm actually glad I finally made it there.

I first learned of this location from a Massachusetts photographer who during the 70's wrote "a little yellow pamphlet book about finding scenic places to photograph in VT" His name is Arnold Kaplan and I was lucky enough to meet him one day a few years ago before he passed away. He was a superstar in my eyes!

Through the years I've seen pictures of photographers standing elbow to elbow with their tripods set up on the hillside overlooking the farm. Today there is a sign posted to "please stay off the grass." I initially didn't see the sign when I arrived but it's there for a very good reason.....this is someone's home and property and it needs to be respected. Even this Fall I've seen photographs posted on social media that photographers have taken down at the pond by the house. This is a total invasion of privacy so I urge you to please respect the property and the owner's privacy if you go here to photograph. 

As stated, I'm happy to have finally seen this beautiful location. More photos from day one of our trip will be coming soon.

Stay safe and healthy xxoo

Snowliage Trick or is it a Treat?

 We got about 3-4 inches of snow here today at my house in SE MA.

It is the year 2020 afterall, where by now we know to expect the unexpected.

Stay safe and well my friends. xxoo