Archive for the 'Photos' Category
Our neighbors have a wonderfully huge lilac in their backyard. We have a knot-hole in our fence.
I love this photo. Right now, it’s the “cover photo” of my personal Facebook page (I change that often, but this one spoke to me, so I put it up last week, and as of the time of this post, it’s still there…). It’s also the background on my phone.
We took this photo in Hawaii, on the island of Maui. We’d stopped to explore the Black Sand Beach (yes, there is one on Maui!) while exploring the road to Hana.
It’s at a park called Wai’anapanapa.
Just saying it is fun.
Side Note: This weekend, Claire was looking through a calendar we got from a conservation organization. March’s picture is a beautiful shot of this very Black Sand Beach! I showed Claire the photos WE took of that beach, and when she saw they were the same, she was in awe! “Look! I see those three palm trees, right there!” Fantastic!
Anyway…
This was a trail we would have never found if it weren’t for letterboxing. We were thrilled to discover that there was a letterbox hidden at this very park, and the clues seemed easy enough. Needless to say, the start to this particular letterboxing adventure was just as rocky as the shoreline. We could not find this trail. We did not understand what some of the clues meant. None of it was making any sense. We traipsed off in the totally wrong direction, all the while pretending we were on the right track. We tried to force meaning out of the things around us. ”Surely this is what they meant!? Maybe they meant that!?” No. When you’re right, the answers to the clues slip into place. Usually.
We knew the rules, but decided to blatantly disregard them.
Although completely frustrated but not wanting to give up completely, we decided to stop for lunch and try again.
After a bite to eat at the park, we decided to try one more time. This time, everything fell into place. (We also agreed on how WE would have written the starting point of the clue, but that’s neither here nor there. Details, details.) With this renewed energy, we found it! It’s one of the coolest trails we’ve ever explored.
The picture doesn’t show how dark and mysterious this all was; the camera has lightened it up quite a bit. The canopy was so low that my husband had to crouch while under some of it. It was so thick, you could barely see the bright blue sky through it.
We’d stumbled into another world.
Secluded.
Secret.
Steps worn by other adventurers and the passage of time.
Such a great reward for not giving up, for going back to the beginning and trying again.
This photo inspires me in so many ways.
I like to change the photo on the background of my phone. I do it a lot. I play with favorite pictures and put artistic scenes on there, or I choose pretty views that make me smile. Hawaii and Cozumel are go-to favorites right now, with Santa Fe and San Francisco not far behind.
Last night, I was looking through my pictures and found one I took of Claire in Cozumel, which is one of my favorites:
I love the color of her eyes in this photo, so I decided to play around with it and see if I could make it into an interesting background photo on my phone. I zoomed in, and I was shocked to discover something that I’d previously missed!
Not only had I captured her beautiful smile, freckles, and sun-kissed locks, I’d inadvertently captured the view of the ocean and coastal buildings in her eyes.
Eye Sea The View!
I see the view, and I love it!
It was like magic. We’d just finished a class at the gym. Claire took one look out the door and said, “Mom. You NEED to get a picture of this!”
Everyone got out their phones, and one person even had a “real” camera. We stood still, whispering, mesmerized, trying to capture the vibrancy of the colors with the click of a button.
The above photo hasn’t been altered in any way.
It was even more magnificent in person.
It’s nights like this when there’s no doubt we live in Colorful Colorado.
When given a choice between frolicking on the beach or lobbing snowballs at each other, which do you think I’d choose? The beach. Hands down.
But, when Reality presents you with the option to totally enjoy the moment, I’m quick to choose that, too.
Plus, there isn’t a beach in sight, and we’ll get our chance to frolic in less than a month.
The weather people have been predicting a Snowmaggedon of sorts for us today. Yes, it was 80 degrees on Monday! But, this is Colorado, the epitome of the Wild West. Who knew they were referring to the weather when they said that?
Sure enough, it snowed. It snowed enough that everyone got all flustered, but my new car was made for this weather, and we didn’t slip or slide once. The trickiest part about this storm was the fact that the Fall Colors have yet to actually FALL, so the wet snow has wreaked havoc on the large, mature, leaf-laden trees. On my route to school, I noticed some downed limbs. Oddly enough, on my way back home along the same route, I saw MORE downed limbs! I’m just glad they waited for me to pass before crashing to earth.
So, what’s a beach lover to do when faced with snow? Embrace it. Play in it. Take cool pictures of it as the light played with it on the trees.
Yay! Snow!
Hard at play
I played outside with Claire for a while. Then, Daddy took a turn. They built a snow ET!
Crisp and Clean
Copper and Snow Lines
Of course, the fact that it will be near 60-degrees by the weekend makes it pretty easy to enjoy now.
A week or so ago, we were working on the path on the east side of our house. This was a path we built last summer and are just now getting the final touches put on before putting the gravel down.
My husband was leveling off an area when his shovel hit something. Because of all the rain we’ve had, we weren’t surprised to see the tippy top of a root. Thinking we’d just shave it off, he got to work. Then, upon further investigation, we realized it was a bigger problem than that. If left to regrow, we’d be right back where we started, only it would be harder to fix the path.
So, we decided to remove the root entirely. I mean, how big could it be? Almost two hours later…
Click photo to enlarge...if you dare.
The fact that he put on his best redneck mechanic voice and said, “Well, THAT’s yer problem!” made it all worthwhile.
If you’ve spent any time around me in real life, you’re probably tired of hearing about Hawaii, but I really haven’t shared much online yet. We went in October for two weeks, in honor of our 10 year wedding anniversary. Claire stayed home with the grandparents.
A grand time was had by all.
My husband and I didn’t want to leave Hawaii. We looked at each other and said, “Let’s just send for Claire and the kitties and just stay!” We weren’t kidding.
But, like good little travelers, we showed up at the airport on the last day of our trip and used our return tickets home.
This trip was magnificent. Hawaii truly is a paradise, and I can’t wait to go back.
Today, I got word that there is some exciting volcanic activity at Volcano National Park, and it’s prompted me to share some of our own adventures.
One of the most exhilarating experiences we had was the day trip to The Big Island to see the volcano.
We used an outfitter, and they couldn’t guarantee that we’d see lava flow. It’s worse than predicting the weather, and they didn’t want to get our expectations out of whack.
We knew we’d be able to hike in the lava fields. We did!
Can you see me hiking with the plume from the lava flowing into the ocean in the distance?
Shadow portraits! The sun kept hiding behind the plumes, so it was challenging, but we got a shot!
We knew we’d be able to see a volcano (and hoped we could get relatively close). We did!
Mauna Loa, The World's Largest Active Volcano
Scientific Instruments! Cool! We totally dig this kind of thing!
Would we be able to see lava flowing? Would one of the main reasons we traveled to the Big Island come to fruition? Time would tell. With our fingers crossed, the sun slipped farther and farther to the west, and Pele smiled upon us! We got to see lava flow! We got to get right up close! (Well, roughly 35 feet) We could feel the heat, and the sight of new earth being created right in front of us changed us forever.
You can tell things are exciting when all the tour guides are ecstatic. They were saying that they hadn’t seen such a wonderful display in over 6 months.
It was all we could have dreamed it could be.
This photo doesn't do it justice, but it warms my heart and makes it real all over again.
I can’t really describe the feeling of that moment and how it will forever be a part of me. We witnessed pure power. We witnessed raw creation. Experiencing it first hand was overwhelming and more exciting than we could have ever imagined.
And I can’t wait to go back.
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