366 Pictures: #53 Pasta

Leftover pasta from lunch today. Grilled chicken, asparagus, squash and zucchini in a roasted red pepper sauce. Yum!

Date: June 30, 2008.

366 Pictures: #311 Rose

A small portion of some fresh flowers currently in my apartment. This is the only rose that has fully bloomed so far. There are also gerbers, lilies, and a mix of filler flowers.

Date: June 30, 2008.

366 Pictures: #66 Money (Notes)

I rarely carry cash. So, I thought I should snap this photo while I had a bit on me.

Date June 30, 2008.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Loneliness :: Flying solo


2. Traffic :: Atlanta


3. Chaos :: Fun


4. Burp :: Gross


5. 500 :: Will buy a new lens!


6. Movie :: Juno


7. Coma :: Snooze


8. Bark :: Charlie


9. Stare :: Blank


10. Angelina :: Jolie

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Unconscious Mutterings

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Goodbye :: So long, farewell


2. Cage :: Don't fence me in!


3. Buddy :: Field trips


4. Magic words :: Please and thank you


5. Library :: Musty smells


6. Fall in love :: Tingling


7. Tense :: Massage needed


8. Work! :: Never-ending


9. Empty :: Current feelings on the Presidential Election. Blah.


10. Heat wave :: summer in Atlanta

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Teary Thoughts . . .

I've been thinking a lot lately about my family and friends. As many of you know, my grandmother has not been doing very well. She recently suffered from three stomach ulcers, one of which was bleeding, and has had a difficult time regaining her strength since being released from the hospital. She is 84 years old and her body is having a difficult time dealing with its recent stress.

I went home over Father's Day weekend, and it was hard to see her feeling the way she does. She still has her spunky, cranky personality, but it's obvious at times that she doesn't feel well. She's in quite a bit of pain and isn't able to do many things she was able to do just a few weeks ago. One of her doctor's last week diagnosed an irregular heartbeat, so we are all concerned that congestive heart failure is a very real possibility. We can see the fear in her also.

It's logically very easy to analyze the situation and remind yourself that she's been here a very long time. 84 years is a long life. She's raised 5 children, has 7 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren (counting my nephew from my step-sister). It's all part of the natural cycle of life. On the other side of that, it's so difficult emotionally to even consider.

I lost my paternal grandmother when I was 17. I was close to her, and it was difficult. But at that age, I still didn't quite comprehend everything. Now that I have matured, and also become closer to my grandmother, it's a completely different experience. For the first time recently, I've found myself visiting the grave sites of my deceased grandparents. I've been there many times growing up, but never alone. I suppose a part of it is knowing how difficult her passing will be for my Mom, as well as my aunts and uncles. In turn, that winds up with me thinking about my Mom and how heartbreaking and emotional that will someday be for me.

While all of this has been on my mind lately, I suppose this was brought to a head tonight with news that the daughter of someone I've known since I was a child passed away today. She was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer and was only 7 years old. I probably haven't seen her parents, or grandparents, in years. Her grandmother was one of my very first teachers and watched my friends and I grow up. I went to school with both of her sons. It's sad anytime someone passes, but the death of a child is more so, I think. As sad, and dreadful, as I am about my grandmother, I can't even begin to imagine the stress and fear they have endured.

#366 Pictures: #50 Fruity

A group of beautiful, nearly ripe blueberries growing on the Mennonite farm. Blueberries are another one of my favorite fruits.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #90 Juice

My Mom has grapevines in part of our yard. They don't bear fruit every year, but when they do the grapes are really good. These grapes were growing at the Mennonite farm, and we were surprised to see them so early! Grapes are the necessary fruit for my favorite juice . . . grape juice! Thus, a roundabout way of getting this picture into 366 since I've already posted green. :)

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #274 Puddles

What do turtles like to play in? Mud puddles! This little guy was in the middle of the gravel road we were driving on while exploring Starr Mountain. We didn't see him on our way up, so either he was in the puddle or hadn't yet reach it. Luckily, I spotted him on our way down.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #161 Sky

This is literally the yard across the street from where I grew up. It's a large dairy farm, and all of it used to belong to my grandfather. This was taken around sunset on Saturday night. I loved the colors created in the clouds from the setting sun.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #36 Clouds

This was taken from the air on the way home from Denver. We were getting ready to land in Atlanta and it was around sunset and really cloudy. The windows aren't the greatest to shoot through, but I still think this one turned out pretty well.

Date: May 27, 2008.

366 Pictures: #70 Spider Webs

Taken on Starr Mountain, just before snapping some butterfly pictures. This bumble bee was working hard to escape this spider web. I turned back to it after I was finished taking a few butterfly photos for more pictures, and he was nowhere to be found. Success!

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #117 Mountain

Taken on the way to the airport in Denver after a very fun-filled Memorial Day weekend. It was really overcast and rainy all over. This kept the views of the mountains from being clear, but they were still beautiful.

Date: May 27, 2008.

366 Pictures: #190 Farmyard

Lots of farm animals to be seen at Mennonite Farm. Horses, cows, rooster, hens, turkeys, and guinea fowl. There were about 8 or 9 guinea fowl around the blueberry plants, but only one of them had babies. This mama had 11!

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #22 Technology

Another photo taken at the Mennonite farm over the weekend. Absolutely no technology to be found.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #176 Pattern

When we were exploring Starr Mountain we saw lots of Butterfly Root all over the place. There were also butterflies everywhere! I'm not really sure what type of butterfly this is, but it's the only type we really saw. They weren't shy at all, and didn't fly away when I hopped out to take pictures of them.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #241 Lost

Okay, so we weren't really lost. We just weren't sure where the road we were driving on would end up. We knew we were on Starr Mountain, and we knew the general area of where we were driving. We just didn't know what was on down the road.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: 61 View

This is a view from Starr Mountain looking over the Tellico Plains, Tennessee, area. This was taken during late afternoon, so we were a bit surprised to see the fog had already settled in. Much of this land is in the Cherokee National Forest.

Oh, please excuse the bit of twig sticking up. There was absolutely no clear view up there. I was surrounded by trees and literally on the very tip of my toes. Just another indication of short-photographer syndrome.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #230 Transport

Mennonite communities, like Amish communities, normally don't use electricity, telephones, or cars. They use a horse and buggy as transportation from place to place.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #167 Model

One of two models I had yesterday. My adorable, chubby niece.

Date: June 15, 2008.

366 Pictures: #128 Tomato

Taken at a Mennonite farm near my hometown. This is only a small portion of the tomato vines they had growing. They have several hot houses on the land which had already produced some beautiful tomatoes. Look how big they are! Oh, and those plants to the right of the tomatoes? Cantaloupe, just about ready to be picked.

Date: June 14, 2008.

366 Pictures: #236 Dog

This is my dog Charlie. We found Charlie underneath my Mom's car Thanksgiving Day of 1998. He is the sweetest dog in the world! Even though he now lives with my Mom instead of me, I still consider him to be mine.



This is Lucy. Lucy is the only female dog living at my Mom's house, and she's also the most independent. Lucy's favorite thing to do, besides chasing rabbits and squirrels, is to give you a high paw! She's very enthusiastic about giving high paws! Take careful note of the out of focus bobbed tail. It was wagging during the photo.

Date: June 13, 2008.

366 Pictures: #346 Moonlight

This was the moon as seen from East Tennessee over the weekend.

Date: June 13, 2008.

366 Pictures: #8 Cat

So, it's really two cats, but it still fits. This is Sheba (left) and Socks (right) taking a Sunday afternoon nap.

Date: June 15, 2008.

Reminiscing . . .

Isn't it interesting the way smells trigger certain memories? Tonight I ended up driving back to the office around dusk because I'd forgotten one tiny thing I need for court tomorrow morning. Since it's a nice night out, I had my windows down. As I was driving, I caught the scent of something that immediately made me think of home. I had to laugh out loud because it isn't a scent one usually wants to even smell, much less that tends to be associated with good things. :lol: Any ideas?

Chestnut trees.

Anyone who has smelled them knows chestnut trees have a very . . . distinct smell. :lol: I immediately took a deep breath, thought about home, and then called my Mom. We have a large chestnut tree ione corner of our backyard, and my aunt has one just down the hill. Both of them bear chestnuts every year and give off that well known, sort of oily smell. Every year around this time it's all you could smell around our house! I never in my life thought that would be something that would make me smile. Who knew?