365/77

A very full day wonderfully spent in Bellingham. Uncle Charlie took us to visit the fire house.

I'm gonna clear my head, I'm gonna drink that sun...

Saturdays can be tough. Colin works an 18 hour day on Fridays so Saturday is mostly a day of recovery before he goes to work in the evening. We try and make it a fun day for everyone which can be difficult sometimes when you are dealing with lots of very different needs. One thing we've done relatively regularly Saturday mornings is go out to breakfast. This usually just means getting a pastry at the coffee shop but today when Colin got up he just announced that we'd be going to our favorite breakfast place in the city Hi Spot Cafe. We don't go super often due to the cost and also because we have to drive there and we just generally don't get in the car if we can avoid it but this was a treat and a much needed one at that.

The girls enjoyed mini-mouse pancakes and we were able to eat outside on the patio.
After breakfast wandering back to the car was such a beautiful feast for the eyes with dappled sunlight and old town charm everywhere.



After breakfast we went home and everyone napped for a few hours before we headed back out for a dip in the wading pool and some afternoon icecream.

Indy was busy today and had no interest in playing in front of the camera so it seems when it came time to load my photos tonight I found an abundance of shots like this:

I just can't get enough of this tiny girl's face it seems. Which I think is a good thing as it seems to be changing every single day.
Now Colin is off at work and the girls are peacefully sleeping. It might just be a good time for me to call it a night as well.

365/78

Still A Baby, originally uploaded by sufferingsummer.

She still nurses right before bed and this has to be my favorite time of day. She doesn't often fall asleep nursing anymore but after a particularly busy day sometimes, just sometimes I get my wee little baby back for a few minutes.
Tonight her poor little nose is swollen...added to the blackened eye she has...she is learning to walk and the curve right now is steep.

365/77

365/77, originally uploaded by sufferingsummer.

Since when do I have a toddler on my hands!

Light

**Warning: Grammatically this post is atrocious (as are most of my posts I assume)...please just try and get past that and read:) thanks in advance and I am sorry. I do hope to improve my grammar at some point in my life but not now.**

I was reading this article today and it really made me think about the concept of influence. I am definitely a big believer that there is really nothing new under the sun. We are all in some way expressing ideas or concepts that started somewhere with another idea or concept. Nothing is truly new. I find comfort in this. It is refreshing to think that as humans our experiences, though vastly differing from person to person, hold some level of connection. It is like on some buried subconscious level we are ultimately all speaking the same language it is only our dialect that is so diverse. This gives me hope. I think this is also another reason I am so drawn to art and the medium of photography specifically. I like that we are all capable of expressing our interpretations in such a blatant form that the dialect can be bridged and mutual understanding can be found. I'm not saying everyone can look at a single photograph and say they see the same thing, that's just silly. I'm saying I think that everyone can look at a single photograph and see something meaningful. A really good artist, like Edward Hopper, I think has the ability to infuse his work with a specific tone to encourage a direction of thought but I don't know if that is always necessary for art to be considered good. I'm getting off topic now....anyway, back to influence. When I sat back and looked at what has influenced my photography I can think of a handful of books that I have gone back to over and over of specific artist but more than that I think I have been influenced by composition. It seems like almost anything can evoke meaning when composed in such a way to make you think about it. I think this is most effectively done with light. So therefor my biggest influence is light itself. The world around me becomes art when the light hits it. Sometimes I am referring to actual light but other times it is just the more abstract concept of attention being drawn to something specific. An awkward moment between a customer and a barista brings to light the beauty of a somewhat ordinary girl's eyes when her hair falls just so and she looks coy. I want to photograph that. Or the way the late afternoon sun falls on the cracks in the cement making them look longer and like they are leading you somewhere...I'm immediately drawn to follow them, without thought, to see where they lead. When I wander through Flickr galleries I am continuously stopping on the photos that seem to capture that light in one way or another. The best I can determine, thus far, in my photographic endeavors is that I think capturing light in this way somehow expresses a little bit of the bigger picture, a step outside of ourselves for a moment and maybe a little better understanding of someone, or something else. Or the opposite, a step inside ourselves to learn or see something of ourselves that had prior gone unnoticed or forgotten which I think also helps see the bigger picture. I'm looking forward to seeing if realizing this will have any further influence on the rest of this photo project. Part of the fun of forcing myself to get a picture a day I guess.
Anyway, if you have the time or desire I'd love to hear what influences you...doesn't even have to be in art but just in life in general...though if you are a photographer it would make my day if you could tell me what influences your art.

365/76

365/75

365/75, originally uploaded by sufferingsummer.

There are other (most likely better but I'm a very poor judge) shots from today but I'm choosing this one. Mainly for esoteric and entirely subjective reasons.

Afternoon Biscuits

Afternoon Biscuits , originally uploaded by sufferingsummer.

most of the afternoon was spent making biscuits...first of the play dough variety and then of the lemon variety. It was overcast and cool...the perfect evening for a tea and biscuit dinner.

Love

Tickle , originally uploaded by sufferingsummer.

These two have been missing each other. This morning was the first chance we all had to spend time together in 3 days. This is a very long time for the 4 of us. I heard Indy in the hall jump into her Papa's arms and say, "My heart is beating so fast because it wants to be with you". I think a little piece of me died right then and went to heaven I was so very happy.
The smiles and laughter did not cease until talk of Papa getting ready for work entered the picture. This girl has a love for her Papa that melts my heart. I think it is because I love him so much and seeing another person embrace him with such wild abandon makes my heart soar. Especially because that little person is here simply because we love each other.
Love is a fascinating and magnificent thing, No?

365/74

I took 2 pictures today. This one and one of my shoes. Neither pleases me much but I spent 4 hours cleaning a bathroom that I had let get almost to a point of no return. I'm not sure much would please me right now except making the rest of my house look like that bathroom.