Janet Brien's photos

(looks best at full size against black) (Sorry this post is so long!!) 6:45am....it's pitch black. It's just so DARK! I do not get up at o'dark o'clock! But, I guess I do after all. My younger self would be horrified to know that I willingly get up at 6:45am without a blaring alarm clock. Just like the Grinch, I can see my younger self screwing her face up into a blackened scowl..."There is no moaning? There is no crying?! Why, you actually climb out of bed in a very happy mood... looking forward to the day?!" My younger self would scream, "BUT IT'S PITCH BLACK OUTSIDE! AND NOBODY IS FORCING YOU TO GET UP! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!!" LOL. I have to laugh because it really is crazy that I choose to get up so early. My younger self would never do it, but I'm happy to because it's so worth it! Pumpkin and I headed down to the kitchen after my shower and I deposited her onto the window perch Steve made for her. From that vantage point she watched the Mama Bird Show... While I whistle back and forth with Pumpkin, I turn on the espresso machine and the coffee grinder. Take my coffee cup from the cabinet and put it on the counter. It will take a couple of minutes to warm up...no worries, I've got plenty of other things to do! Pet Molly, grab her bowl and remove the board that seals the dog door to keep the cold out. Go to the kibble container, pour in a cup of food, add some warm water from the sink, get dog food from fridge, scoop some into her bowl, mash it all together and call Molly. She runs eagerly from the living room to her feeding station and begins chowing down. Take a tall glass from the cupboard, put it on the counter. Go to the spice rack, grab the red pepper flakes and the powdered ginger. While I'm over there, I open a different cupboard and take out the glass jar full of wheat berries. As I'm carrying these items to the counter I look at the plump wheat seeds and think, "Gee they look cool in there, I should take a macro of them at some point!" I take a ½ teaspoon of ginger and put it into the glass. Sitting on the counter is a partially full gallon of something that says "Apple Cider Vinegar Drink". I give it a vigorous shake and fill the glass with the ginger in it. I give it a good stir and then pop it into the microwave for 45 seconds so it's drinkably warm. While my drink is in the 'waver I open the fridge again and take out Pumpkin's veggie/fruit mix, a can of corn and two plastic containers--one which says "Pecans" and the other, "Chix bread". I grab one of Pumpkin's food bowls and add a big handful of veggie/fruit mix (carrots, peppers, celery, apple), and then a heaping forkful of corn plus a little more, and stir it up. I grab the ½ teaspoon and sprinkle a large scoop of wheat berries on top followed by a scoop of red pepper flakes. I open the two containers from the fridge and place a pecan on top and from the other I take out two 1.5" squares of bread (multi-seed wheat bread that's been cut into pieces), run them under the water for a second and walk over to the microwave. The 'waver is beeping at me right on time...I pull out my drink, pop in the two 1.5" squares and let it go for 5 seconds. I whisk them out, place one on top of Pumpkin's food and the other one in the food bowl of her perch. Pumpkin sees it, immediately walks over to her bowl and begins "gronking" joyfully as she dives into her warm breakfast treat. I take my drink over to the counter, open today's container of vitamins, pour them into my hand, stir my drink and swallow all of them as my drink goes down the hatch. Let's not forget the chaser...I get ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes and pop them into my mouth, chomping happily. LOL, you think I'm crazy! Steve thinks I'm crazy too but they are a nice boost for your metabolism and have other benefits as well. Oh and what is an "Apple Cider Vinegar Drink"? A serving is 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tsp of cream of tartar, ½ tsp of salt, 1 tsp of lime juice and water enough to fill a 12 oz glass. WHY would I actually DRINK that? Well, because it's full of electrolytes and potassium and it's an essential key to my ketogenic lifestyle. It's also quite yummy once you get used to it! I love it! :) Finally, I pull my shot of coffee, add water to make it an "Americana", and chug it down. I'm done! Pumpkin has thoroughly enjoyed the show and her treat, and now steps happily onto an offered finger. I grab her bowl of food, bring her up to her day cage, turn on her music and tell her I love her before quietly closing the door. Trotting downstairs, I grab my phone, headphones, put on my shoes, scarf, gloves and coat and then pop outside, stretch my legs and I'm off for my morning walk. WHAT A ROUTINE!! Today I'm sharing another dahlia from San Francisco. This pink blossom was starting to open up and I loved how its petals looked. I hope you like it! Pam, I hope this pretty flower will put a smile on your face and maybe give you a burst of energy too. I bet your day is full of crazy routines just like mine...we need lots of energy but I wish I could send mine to you right now to help you feel better soon. Thinking of you always! Explored on 12/20/18, highest placement, #4.

(Please view large!) Stop what you're doing and for just a moment, think of three things that you are grateful for in your life right now. Think about why you feel this way. This is something you can do for yourself every morning to make your day even more wonderful! On this rainy, cold, but beautiful morning, I walked up and down our driveway and I thought about my day's trio. What was I especially grateful for? Who did I feel grateful towards? I am grateful for my husband. He's always been there for me, he doesn't give up, and he is a huge reason for all of the fun and adventures we've had in our lives. He's exposed me to things I've never done before, like scuba diving. He's taught me to be the best that I can be whenever he has something to offer; in photography, he's shared his expertise which has shaped who I am. He and I are the best team I've ever had the joy to be part of and we continually prove we are better together than apart. I could go on and on but you get the point! :) I love Steve so much. I am so grateful. I am grateful for my parents. They raised me and my three brothers to the best of their abilities and we grew up in a nice neighborhood in San Francisco, close enough to all of our schools that we could walk to most of them. My mom and dad were both brilliant and I was lucky enough to get my father's analytical mind (but not his math skills, lol) and my mother's creative and artistic talents. I am so grateful that I have been able to tap into these life-long gifts from my mom and dad. I am grateful for the community here at ipernity. Since I came back to start my Pictures for Pam project, I have been welcomed home with open arms. I'd been in a terrible depression and hoped that doing something for Pam might make me feel better. It did. More than that, I've been surrounded by the most amazing, supportive, wonderful, warm, and generous people from all over the world. You've made me a new person. I have a renewed sense of confidence in myself and my abilities. You've reminded me of the joy of visiting the world through this community's eyes. I am able to give back my thanks by visiting your photo streams and letting you know how I feel about your pictures. This feeds my insatiable drive to make others happy. Additionally, the feeling of sizzling inspiration when I see some of your photography is so fantastic. Because of you, I am back to my wiggly, happy, creative self. That joy has then made my whole life, my relationship, my world so rich and full of exciting possibilities. I am so grateful to each and every one of you. Today's picture was something that amazed me when I saw it on my computer. It wasn't something I planned for and I had no idea it was there! As I was looking through images I'd taken a few weeks back, I came to this one and I could hardly believe my eyes! All I can see is Tony Robbins talking to a flock of enchanted followers that gaze up at him in awe. I know that feeling. His teachings are responsible for a huge amount of life-changing understanding and realization. I am so grateful to him. I hope you like my tribute! Pam, I am so grateful to you. You shook my shoulders and woke me up. You gave me the courage to stand up and take a step forward. A gentle realization came to me that doing something to show you how much I care would in turn begin a healing process for me. Because of you, my downward spiral turned upside-down and now I'm on an upward spiral with no end in sight. I am so grateful to you, my dear friend. May all of our grateful hugs bring you the strength to regain your health. We love you Pam. Explored on 12/19/18, highest placement, #2.

(+5 insets) Alright, ENOUGH of the short days already! I woke up this morning to absolute, pitch blackness in the room. My faithful and feathery alarm clock didn't seem to mind though. At 6:45am…PEEP! :D Well, even though I really don't like getting up when it's dark I threw back the covers and started the day. I stopped to think about the dates…hmmm…today is the…16th? 17th? And the shortest day is the 21st. I groaned. Too many days! It just couldn't come soon enough As the world began to lighten, a foggy world slowly materialized outside. Wow…it was so cool looking out there! When I went for my morning walk, I made sure to take pictures with my phone…I didn't think I'd post them today but I'd have them ready for the next opportunity. Today is Macro Monday and the topic is "cards". The group's admins are taking a break for the next couple of weeks and it wasn't clear if the group would be open for posting the current topic. Thus, I didn't take pictures over the weekend like I usually do. However, when I found out the week is actually open for submissions, I spent some time digging around for different sorts of cards to photograph. I eventually came up with a number of ideas with varying degrees of success. A couple of the insets feature a deck of nature playing cards and the "J" card is a picture I took! It was such fun to have one of my pictures published, the only time this has happened. (I'm including an inset...if you click on the picture you can learn more about that story.) Pam, I think it would be great fun to play a game with you! Steve and I have a couple of huge bins filled with different board games. We always had plans of having a game night for friends but since we moved up to the countryside in Oregon, we have none! :D Still, it's fun to think about what it would be like to have game night with everyone on ipernity. Best of all, it would be wonderful to play a game with you, Pam! Feel better soon!

I like to spend an enjoyable couple of hours each day visiting contact's photo streams, appreciating a picture and leaving a comment. It occurred to me that everyone probably has a different way of doing this. What is your approach? How best do you utilize your time to visit others? The way that makes most sense for me is to go to my previous day's posted picture (2 days ago) and visit each person who's left a comment for me. I want to make sure to show my thanks to everyone who's taken time out of their day to look at my picture and let me know what they think. Do you do this differently? If I have extra time, I will often visit my main page that shows new contact pictures and take a stroll, leaving comments and saying hello. Or I'll visit Explore and visit some of the new pictures I see there. I returned to ipernity over a month ago from my long creative abyss, and in my absence I had forgotten how wonderful it is to be part of this community. There are so many genuinely sweet, talented and friendly folk who I simply love chatting with. The funny thing is how I usually carry on conversations! Someone will leave a marvelous comment about a picture I posted or the blog entry I wrote, and it invites a response. I don't prefer to reply on my photo's comments because I don't trust that they will actually see what I wrote. So instead, I will visit their photo stream, comment on their new picture and then add my reply there. (I know about the feature where you can follow comments you've left but it's too much work to keep up with that in my opinion.) This is a fun way for me to give them extra strokes and acknowledge what they wrote to me. The next time they comment on my newest picture, they often continue the conversation. It's awesome! I recently discovered the solution to a problem I'd been facing since I joined the photo-sharing community. Namely, sometimes I visit a person who's left me a comment only to find they haven't put up a new picture yet. What to do? My happy solution is this: I take a look at their photo stream and when I have gone back far enough, I'll find a picture I haven't seen yet! So, I dive in, enjoy their image and leave my comment. Then I go to their most current picture, leave a note to say that I've visited a picture I hadn't seen yet, and paste the URL so they can see my comment! I really love this solution because everyone enjoys having their pictures looked at, and this gives me the opportunity to see and enjoy more of a friend's photography! (I do know the feature that allows you to see who's been browsing your photo stream. However, I want to make sure that my photographer friend knows I've come by to say hello, instead of relying on them to check their browsing history.) Today it's icky outside, stormy, windy and cold, so I'm sharing another beautiful dahlia to brighten up this day! I hope it adds a little sparkle for you too! Pam, one of the things I've always admired about you is your generous spirit. I've always loved how many people you visit to give them strokes about their photography and to give your famous *hugggggggs*. Reading comments you've left for people is such a treat and I'm so happy that you've been able to stop by from time to time, even though you're not feeling great. I just want you to know how loved you are by all of us here at ipernity. I'm sending my *huggggggs* to you with hopes that you'll feel better and better in the coming days. Explored on 12/17/18, highest placement, #1.

What an incredibly magical morning it was. Pumpkin and I peeked outside first thing today and found a world cloaked in mist. Fog had filled the valley and wafted up the hills; only the closest trees in our meadow and lower forest could be seen, slipping in and out of view. My walk was wonderful too. As I did my laps I relished the appearance of the forest and meadows shrouded in fog. At one point I noticed movement down by our gate and looked to see several mule deer trotting off into the mist, their tails held up like white flags. Later I heard the cry of a Redtail hawk and turned to watch it materialize and land in a tall pine tree. I stood and watched for the moment it perched there, repeating its calls several times before alighting and flying in a long circle and then away, its cries fading into the distance. At one point I walked off the road and over to an Oak tree. Taking off my glasses, I peered at its moss and lichen-encrusted bark so close that my nose nearly touched the tree. I call this "nose-close" and this is where my horrible nearsightedness pays off. I have what I like to call "micro-vision" because I'm able to see things extremely well if they are very close. Staring at the tiny world in front of me I appreciated the Seussian beauty of the bright green moss tufts. I marveled at the myriad shapes and types of lichen and then..."Ah, there you are!" I'd found what I was looking for! Peering at me shyly from between the cracks in the Oak tree's bark was an incredibly tiny mushroom. We're talking about 1/16"(1.59mm) here. I smiled warmly at the little woodland fairy and soon I found others nearby, some a little larger, others not bigger than the letter "o" in this sentence. These mushrooms are so very small that it's no wonder I'd missed seeing them until just a few years ago. I whispered that I'd be back and slipped quietly away. This afternoon I returned with my camera and macro flash. I spent an hour exploring the tiny worlds I found on each tree and on branches that had fallen to the ground. So many surprises awaited me! It was such fun. In the end I got many wonderful pictures that I hope to share with you as time permits. Today's photo shows one of the "micro-mushrooms" that posed so nicely for me and behind it you'll see a pair of others faded into bokeh. I hope you like this glimpse of the magical lands and its little fairies that I photographed today! Pam, I took you with me on my photo outing today and I pictured you staring at the bark and branches, finding treasures of your own. How fun it would be to run over to see each other's finds and figure out how best to get a picture that showed what we loved about the subject. It will be fun to see your pictures again my dear! For now, this little fairy mushroom is waving hello to you! Explored on 12/16/18, highest placement, #2.

(+1 inset) (Please view against black at full size! :) "Peep!" said the fluffy little alarm clock. My eyes slowly opened. It was pitch black. I closed my eyes and pretended I didn't hear anything. The feathery timekeeper would not be ignored. Twenty seconds later: "Cheep!" I groaned inwardly and reached an arm out to grab my clock on the nightstand, flailing about until my fingers touched the familiar rectangular shape. Holding it up to my face I pressed the illumination button and was horrified at what I saw. "Oh brother…it's only 6:30am, Pumpkin…" I fumbled the clock back in place and pulled the covers over my head. "Peep-peep!" Pumpkin knew I had stirred and would not be denied. I peeped a contact call back at her in desperation, begging for just a few more minutes of sleep. "Burble-burble-burble!" she chortled softly in the gloom. I whimpered, "Pumpkin, it's too early sweetheart…let Mama Bird sleep for just a few more minutes." Instead of settling down after my quiet cooing, she turned it up a notch. "PEEP-PEEP!" she answered with enthusiasm. Woah is me. I sighed deeply. Poor, tired Mama Bird. "Cheep?" said the timekeeper insistently. Laying there in the dark, it suddenly occurred to me…I could cuddle with her for a few moments before I got up, wouldn't that be nice? So I got out of bed and lifted the towel from the front of her cage and opened the door. Though it was almost completely dark, I could see that Pumpkin was cuddled down in her Happy Hut, a tiny triangular-pup-tent hanging from the top of her cage. She burbled a joyful "cheebie-cheebie-cheebie-cheebie" at me and stepped out onto my offered finger. I climbed back into bed, laid on my side and made a little cave for her to climb into. Pumpkin crawled right in and chortled with delight. Oh my! Such a happy little girl she was! I could feel her moving around under the covers next to my body and she whistled a nonstop stream of cheerful notes. I couldn't help but giggle at her enthusiasm. What a cutie pie. My fingers found her fluffy little body and I itched the spot between her shoulder blades. Pumpkin fairly purred and I beamed joyfully. What a nice way to wake up, even if it was too darned early! :) After ten minutes of cuddling, we got up and went into the bathroom. As usual, Pumpkin supervised my routine from her perch in the shower with lots of delighted whistling and chortles. When I was about to step out of the shower, I thought Pumpkin might like some water to drink. I raised an arm and let the water trickle down to my fingers which I then offered to Pumpkin. She touched the droplets with her beak and drank the water with the cutest little whistling sounds. When she'd had enough she fluffed up all of her feathers and then shook her whole body with a blissful twitter. Covering her with kisses as we stepped out, I thought to myself, "How lucky we are to have this darling little bird! What a DOLL!" :) Today's picture is for Happy Fence Friday! It was taken when Steve and I went on a 5-day motorcycle trip a couple of years ago with a photographer friend of ours. We made a loop from our home to the coast of Oregon, far south into California, then to eastern California, dipping a toe into Nevada and then back again, and finally north and back to our home in southern Oregon. About 100 miles south of Oregon on the first day of our trip, our friend Andy led us to the charming little town of Trinidad . I had never heard of this place but it's now on my list of most beautiful coastal towns in California! When I was looking through my pictures, I found this one of Trinidad Bay, which also has a fence in it! HFF, HUZZAH! I have also included a picture of the lighthouse which I thought was really neat. :) Pam, I hope that things are going well for you today. It's rainy and cold here but I hope you're warm and snuggly in your home right now! I'm thinking of you, wishing I could give you a cup of hot chocolate! Virtual *hugssssssssss* are on their way! :) Explored on 12/15/18, highest placement, #4.

Today while I was on my daily walk, Steve stepped out in his fluffy blue robe and thick warm slippers to say good morning--he usually gets up an hour later because he's got the "sleeping in" thing down to a luxuriant science! Huzzah! At a chilly 31 degrees, no way was he stepping off the porch so I marched over to greet him with a hug and kiss. "ACK!!!" He yelled, reeling back from my affectionate peck. "Your lips are frozen, woman!" I couldn't stop laughing as I gave him a hug. He pulled me tight in an affectionate embrace and then shrieked, "OH MY GOD, you're an ICEBERG!" He rubbed my back bravely but quickly stepped away with a shudder, staring with abject horror. Receding towards the door with a slightly terrified expression on his face, he left me with, "I'm going back into the house where it's warm!" My maniacal giggling followed him as he shut the door. Gee whiz, I've repulsed my own husband! :D And now, let us all bow our heads and take this moment of silence to remember Triangle Man. The other day I posted an image of two lovely mushrooms that I discovered on my way up to our ridgeline trail. At the time I noticed a couple of smaller ones erupting from the earth nearby. In the following days I kept an eye on them but apparently something else was too. In fact, the day after I'd photographed the pair of mushrooms I found one of them laying upside-down nearby and the other one was just plain gone! A few days later, one of the mushrooms I'd been keeping track of disappeared. That left Triangle Man. Oddly shaped with a perfect, rounded-triangle cap, I watched this mushroom slowly force its way up from the soil and grow in size. Yesterday I saw him and burst into song! "Triangle Man, Triangle Man, Triangle Man hates Particle Man They have a fight, Triangle wins Triangle Man" ~ Lyrics from Particle Man , by They Might Be Giants (This is such a fun song that I linked it…ENJOY!!) I thought about taking pictures of Triangle Man but decided against it. The grass was very long in that area and to prep for a picture would have taken too long to be bothered. I decided that instead I would appreciate this fun-looking fungus every day as I walked up and down the driveway. At last he was rising up off the ground and I thought that maybe I would take his picture after all. What's 20 minutes of prepping? Triangle Man was worth it! I planned to take his picture that day but it began to rain and didn't stop all day. This morning Triangle Man was gone. I looked around to see if he might be hiding under a leaf but he was nowhere to be found. Poor Triangle Man. Rudely plucked from the earth and wolfed down by a denizen of the night. His chance at an immortal photograph was dashed. Oh, the cruel, cruel world! We loved you Triangle Man! Since I can't show a picture of Triangle Man, I thought it would be appropriate to share another mushroom picture. This photogenic pair was found a few days ago when I took a walk along the ridgeline trail that runs from our property about a mile away where it peters out. It's a mecca for plants and animals, ever-brimming with photo opportunities. These two were spotted on an Oak stick that fell to the forest floor and was partially covered with leaves. Only when I kneeled down to peer carefully at ground-level did I spot these extremely tiny mushrooms. They are only about ¼" in height! What an awesome find! Pam, I invite you to listen to the song, "Particle Man," which is sure to put a beaming smile on your face while you think about the mushrooms you've seen in your wanderings that are gone the next time you come around. We were so lucky to see them! I'm looking out the window now and thinking of you as I watch the mist drift slowly past the Upper Table Rock. Beautiful...just like you. Explored on 12/14/18, highest placement, #6.

I'd like to preface my post today with a huge thank you for all the wonderful comments you leave me every single day. It is so touching that you like my photography and it totally rocks my world that some of you brave souls actually read my daily attempts to outdo War & Peace! It means so much to me. When you've written a long or particularly specific comment that bears a reply, I have tried to remember to reply in turn on your current picture. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day and giving it to me. It warms my heart and absolutely makes my day. And now, on to our regularly scheduled post of the day! One afternoon a couple of days ago, Steve surprised me by asking if I'd like to hike to the top of the nearby Lower Table Rock! At first I said it probably might not be a good idea because of the lateness of the day. It was already quarter to four o'clock and it got dark at about 5pm where we live in southern Oregon. Steve's face fell in disappointment but then I realized, "Oh! Why don't we just bring flashlights in case it gets too dark? That will work perfectly...let's go!" Happiness restored, we got ready to go and arrived at the trail head about 20 minutes later. What a treat. I haven't walked to the top of the Lower Table Rock for nearly a month and it was wonderful to see how it had changed. Most of the trees had lost their leaves which covered the trail in hues of yellow, orange and brown. It hadn't rained all day but the soil was dark with moisture and water pooled in leaves. Along the way I spotted mushrooms of all sizes peeping up from moss and out of the moist earth. We heard unfamiliar birds calling and the twitters of birds that were settling down for the night. A grey squirrel ran up a tree nearby and sat in a branch looking down at us, tail flicking fluffily. What a magical time. We made our way quietly up the trail to experience as much as we could. As cold as it was, Steve and I were nice and warm by the time we were half-way up the trail. When we l walked out of the darkening woods and onto the plateau, we had our hats off with unzipped sweaters. Our timing couldn't have been better. Our reward for a fast pace was a lovely sunset and Steve took some pictures with his phone to remember our twilight hike. Steve asked if I'd like to walk around before we left but I knew how fast it got dark in the deep forest so I suggested we not dawdle. The hike back down was a careful one as the deep shadows obscured jutting rocks and roots but there was just enough light that we didn't have any mishaps. We were both so happy as we drove back home. Arriving with monstrous appetites, it wasn't long before we were seated before our dinner—lettuce-wrapped burgers topped with bacon, avocado and red onions! What a fabulous end to our adventure! Today's picture comes from my walk up to the top of the Upper Table Rock some weeks ago. I couldn't stop taking pictures of leaves of course. This beauty had landed on the side of a Black Oak tree's moss-covered trunk and almost appeared to be floating as it leaned against a clump of moss, held in place by a cane of poison oak. The odds just amaze me, but here you are! I hope you enjoy this fun find! Pam, I hope that your day has been a good one. I'm thinking of you all the time and sending warm thoughts your way. :) Explored on 12/13/18, highest placement, #4.

It was a beautiful, misty morning and I drank in every sound I could as I tromped up and down our road today. Here and there were clusters of twittering birds that made me smile. I chuckled at the far-off sounds of our resident group of turkeys carrying on down in the lower forest. My opinion counted too so I tossed it in their direction, "Oh you silly birds!" I even heard the croak of a frog who was working on his early Romeo impression for the coming breeding seaon. Overhead I heard the caw-caw of a crow and looked up to see it flying by in its brilliant black attire. As it passed I heard the beautiful guttural purring conversational notes they make and soon I heard another crow's contact call. Stopping on the road, I stared up to the sky and watched not a "murder of crows" as a group would be called, but more like a "flow of crows." A spread-out stream of perhaps twenty crows flew over our property in ones and twos, all commenting occasionally in caws and purring croaks. I was happy they didn't roost here because the racket of a large group of crows was too obnoxious for even me to stand. However, their overhead calls were a welcome treat and I only began walking again after they'd all passed by. Settling into my walk I decided to listen to my favorite podcast, a wonderful science-based show called Radio Lab . This award-winning podcast presents fascinating and thoroughly entertaining topics directed at the general public. If you have any interest in nature or science, this show is for you! The shows are much more than just spoken words. They add music and sound effects that help us to understand and SILENCE so we can contemplate what we've just heard. It's a unique and outstanding production and worth your time, I guarantee it!! (I've listened to at least 100 different podcast shows so I'm fairly knowledgeable on them!) Today I listened to Dark Side of the Earth . It featured an astronaut who shared some experiences he had during the 168 days he's been in space, such as what it feels like to do a spacewalk and look blissfully out into the vastness of space with only a tether between you and the universe. Or what it's like to watch day turn to night and back to day within the course of an hour and a half...in fact they experience 16 days per Earth day! I encourage you to give Radiolab a try! Their topics cover a very wide range. Two other totally awesome shows that I recently listened to include Rippin' the Rainbow an Even Newer One , which is a glorious show that showcases which animal can detect the most colors...do you know which is the winner? This show even has a choir as background singing to illustrate the musical interpretation of ROY-G-BIV (color spectrum: Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet)! The other show was Smarty Plants which discusses the intelligence of plants by using several fascinating studies and entertaining experiments. Podcasts can be listed to in the background while you're processing your photos or you can take them on the go! Popular apps for downloading podcasts include Pocket Casts (for Android, it's what I use) and iTunes (for iOS), and this current article of the Best Podcast Listening Apps has links to all of them. Today I'm finally sharing a favorite dahlia picture from our past trip to San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers. It's a picture I processed soon after returning home and I just couldn't get over how lovely this dahlia was. I hope you like it too! Gosh, if I was as pretty as this flower is, my poor husband would be fighting off legions of would-be suiters all day and night! Pam, I don't know if you are aware of podcasts but if you're not, it might be something to check out! It's another way of experiencing the wonder of our world, and the stories take you to another place of learning and understanding. I bet you would enjoy these as much as I do! *big hugs from Oregon* :) Explored on 12/12/18, highest placement, #4.

(+3 insets) (View large for the best impact!) I kept waking up last night thinking about this week's Macro Monday theme: Advent. That's kind of a tough subject for me because although I am very spiritual, I am not religious. I felt pretty moody about the issue because it seemed kind of blatantly Christian. But instead of getting ruffled, I decided to focus on one of the suggestions: candles. Yesterday I rummaged around and found a few candles, put some Christmas lights up and played around for half an hour. I was pretty happy with the results except that I should have been back further to get better dof on the candle itself. In any event, I picked out three images that I liked and got them ready to post today. (See the insets) Except that...well, last week the topic was "Light Bulb" and I sort of did the very same thing except I used a light bulb instead of a candle. Where was my originality? I was annoyed—I hadn't produced the quality I would have preferred and I hadn't pushed myself to think outside the box or grow in any way. Finally giving up on sleep, I opened my laptop and began reading about Advent symbology. Candles, wreaths, Christmas trees, etc., but then I stopped on a word I didn't know: Chrismon . What that heck was a Chrismon? It's the joining of the word "Christ" and "monogram" and is an ornament that's usually white, but not always. These ornaments can be free-standing decorations or placed on a special Christmas tree that only has Chrismon ornaments—it's called a Chrismon tree. Ornaments can be made from many things that have specific meaning. For instance, evergreen trees represent eternal life. The traditional number of four candles represent the four weeks before Christmas. Each has its own meaning: hope, joy, faith and peace. Even colors have meaning. I thought it was all very interesting. I had no idea that Advent and Christmas were brimming with so many symbols to convey such deep meaning. To bring this together with my picture, a couple of days ago I took a walk along our ridge line. Although I was hunting for mushrooms, I couldn't stop myself from finding other things along the way. At one point I looked down and discovered a Black Oak acorn cap sitting on an enormous Ponderosa Pine cone. I was amazed and shook my head, considering the odds of that happening. I loved the way this pair looked so I took a set of pictures. I'd looked at the pictures on the computer and loved the dramatic look of the image. While learning about Advent symbology, I discovered that pine cones are often used because they signify death and resurrection, and acorns signify good luck and rebirth. My specific input is also that the acorn springs forth from the acorn cap. The second I put those two nuggets together, the joyful smile on my face warmed the whole room. Nature had provided me with the perfect picture, one that represented who I am and my kind of spirituality! Hooray! Pam, my idea of Advent when I think of you is the coming of your return to good health. Let us hope that each week that comes to pass, representing hope, joy, faith and peace combine together and bring that gift to you. Many *hugs*!! Explored on 12/11/18, highest placement, #1.

(2 insets) (please view large!) :) Ok, who out there is a night owl? Raise your hand! *bounces up and down, waving both hands* Wait a second. I'm not a night owl! At least, not anymore. I USED to be. I never wanted to go to bed, and 1-3am was the best time to be up and doing stuff. In my early 20's I would watch "The Love Boat" from 12am to 1am and then "The Big Valley" from 1am to 2am. I would go running at 1 in the morning through our hilly San Francisco neighborhood, and loved the peace and serenity of the fog swirling around me. I liked to say that I was protected by the "cloak of darkness" and shrouded by the thick fog. I now look back at those days and shudder, especially my running at night. When Steve and I met back in 2000, we were delighted to share our love of the night. We were always pushing our bedtime and it wasn't uncommon to stay up until 4 in the morning on the weekends. We'd drag our tired bones into work on Monday morning, sorely regretting our bad decisions but funny enough, when Friday rolled around we were happily staying up until 4am again! Oh brother. Moving up to Oregon finally forced a change in our behavior. The jobs we had required getting up very early—in fact, poor Steve had to get up at 6am so I couldn't even complain about my 7am wakeup. To make matters worse, our bodies weren't as resilient as they once were and if we stayed up too late, boy did we regret it the next day. However, I began to notice that as long as I got a reasonable night's sleep, getting up earlier was actually quite nice! And, as time went on, I had to admit that as fun as it was to stay up late, it was actually MORE fun to get up earlier! Now I get up at 7am (sometimes even 6:45!) because I want to, and I wake up to the sound of Pumpkin peeping a cheery good morning as dawn begins to lighten the sky. One of my favorite parts of the day is going out on my daily hour-and-15-minute walk because I get to experience the world waking up around me. I get to see the sunrise every day! And, what an indescribable joy it is to hear the myriad birds twittering, tweeting, chirping and carrying on as they start their day. When it's cold enough, I get to appreciate the lovely frost all over everything. I get to enjoy Magic Hour every day! There's just nothing like this daily gift. In a radical about-face, I now think that staying up late is overrated and I will leave night-owling to the young and naive! :) Today began as usual until I saw the morning light on the floor...it was PINK. "HOLY COW!" I said, and opened the blinds..."Oh wow, it's going to be a gorgeous sunrise!" I knew I had time for my shower so Pumpkin supervised from her shower perch and I was in and out in a flash. Looking outside, I could hardly believe the intense cotton-candy pinks and lovely shades in the clouds. I was so excited I put my shirt on backwards! I was bouncing on one leg trying to get into my pants without falling over! Pumpkin laughed at me in amusement—it was the Crazy Mama-bird Show! I mimicked her laugh right back at her and we trotted downstairs on the double. I put her on her kitchen perch and stepped outside with my phone to take pictures of the amazing sunrise. I looked over at the window and there was Pumpkin, admiring the lovely scene as well. What a SHOW!! I took more pictures later when I went on my walk, and you will see some insets that show the progress of this amazing sunrise. Pam, let these beautiful sunrise images elicit oohs and ahhs, and reflect on the lovely sunrises out your window each day. As I look at my sunrise, and you look at yours, we can think of sharing these special moments together. Two friends holding hands and experiencing the magic of a new day. May your next sunrise be even prettier than today's! Explored on 12/10/18, highest placement, #8.

(1 inset picture) The morning fog made its way through our valley and then gradually dissipated, leaving a bright and beautiful day ahead of me. Walking up and down our road for my daily exercise, I kept looking up at our steep hillside, thinking about the ridge line trail. I wouldn't go up there for a couple of reasons. Partly because, by the time I got up to the top of the hill, I was miserably depressed over the sight of the countless dead trees. The other part was because I used to go up there with our Basset and Boxer, Moosie and Zoey. But a year ago we lost our dear Moosie, and our darling Zoey passed away in August. Our hearts have been broken by this horrible loss and walking along the ridge line was just too much. Since discovering that the hillside is covered with new saplings and young plants of all sorts, I feel like I can deal with the memories of Moosie and Zoey if I go up there for a stroll. The happy realization had me wiggling with excitement because I haven't been up there for over a year. It was time for a macro photo safari!! After lunch I popped into my boots and knee pads, packed my macro flash in my backpack, grabbed my camera and off I went! Up to the top I climbed and stood by my favorite tree, the Madrone which was now ringed with vibrant new growth. I turned to look down at our house and the valley below and realized that Moosie and Zoey wouldn't want me to feel sad. They'd want me to have a great time up here, just like they did when we came up here together. Such silly dogs! They'd chase each other all over and I'd have to keep telling Moosie to come along because he was such a slave to that nose of his. Seeing him trotting jauntily along the trail, his ears flopping back and forth, never failed to make me laugh. With her energetic puppy personality, Zoey was always joyfully running around investigating everything but made sure to stay close to Moosie or me. It was always a good time when we went and all of us would sleep well that night! :) (I have included an inset picture which I took of Moosie and Zoe playing on the ridge line trail.) I strolled along the path and had a great time. The Oak, Madrone and pine forest was so pretty—rarely visited by people, it's a wonderfully wild place. It was also perfect mushroom weather—humid and cool with moist soil—and I soon spotted a tiny little guy just waiting for the lime light! I spent the next hour or two discovering and photographing lots of tiny mushrooms before the sun grew heavy on the horizon and prompted me to go home. It had been a super experience and after I got home and told Steve about my trip, he asked me to take him up there so he could take pictures too! Moosie and Zoey would be so proud! :) Today's picture was actually taken a few days ago when I went up on the hillside the first time. On my way up I found this darling pair of mushrooms, and ever since I've been thinking about the mushrooms along the ridge line trail. Although I got plenty of nice pictures on my walk today, I figured it would be perfect to share this pair as my first mushroom picture since getting my creative mojo back! Pam, you would love the ridge line trail. It's hard to get up to the top of the hill, but I know you would enjoy meandering along the fire trail which is brimming with lovely woods all around. I imagine you oohing and ahhing over the endless beauty there. I thought about you a lot, and how thankful I am to you for bringing back my creative spirit and the courage to face things that hurt me...now I can visit our hill and the ridge line trail too! *huggggs* Explored on 12/9/18, highest placement, #5.

(3 inset pictures) (please view against black to see the wonderful frosty details!) This morning started with a truly stunning sunrise with lovely light and beautiful clouds in the sky. I took pictures with my phone a few minute apart and added them as notes so you can see too! (It turned out that today's sunset was just as spectacular so I included that picture too!) As I went on my walk today, I kept stopping and drinking in the lovely view. I reflected on the post I wrote about why we chose this place and reveled in our lucky find. It may be too hot during the summer but the rest of the year is so divine! I am very touched by the response to my story yesterday and I wish that I could give all of you hugs. It has taken a very long time to come to terms with such terrible loss. It is frustrating that I can't really talk about this to most people. They understand that it's sad to lose trees, but unless you have a connection to nature, people just don't really get it. They immediately focus on the loss of our shop. I gave up trying to talk about how I really feel, until now. Thank you, everyone, for giving me a place to voice my pain and express my deep sorrow for the loss of the countless souls up on the hill. It means more than you can know. *many many hugs all around* Today is Happy Fence Friday (btw it's 5:40pm here in Oregon!) and this gives me the opportunity to share one of the frost pictures I got a few days ago! I managed to get a whole bunch of winners but for today, I'm featuring a white Oak leaf that was caught in the mesh fencing around one of our gardens. Pam, I hope you enjoy the sunrise and sunset pictures too…while I stood and stared at these wondrous sights, I thought about you and hoped that you are enjoying some lovely sunrises and sunsets too! Explored on 12/9/18, highest placement, #7.