SEEING THE MUSIC

It isn't a far stretch for me to imagine movement when I think of music.   A favorite song has the ability to make us dance in front of others, to drum our fingers against the steering wheel--we even bob our heads to the beat.

We hear it, we feel it, we have our personal tastes and understanding of what music is and what it means to us.

I thought of architecture (surprise!) when I considered the transformational power of music. Just like this incredible walking bridge, our emotions can start at one place in the song and end at another.

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And of course there is rhythm. The beat of the drums and the bass guitar are the very reasons we are prone to head bobbing.

Music is mysterious. We don't always understand why we like a particular song, but that music can churn up specific memories decades later when we can remember what we were wearing, the time of day and of course, the person we were with.

This same mystery can be applied to the beauty of chants echoing through the stone walls of this cathedral destroyed during the reign of King Henry VIII. 

Music is a powerful media--filled with love, longing, power and emotion.

I can't say I have favorites, but I do love the big bands, the 50's, 60's and 70's. Keep it country for today's music mixed in with some spiritual music.  And I can't forget the old hymns that take me back to my grandmother's country church.  

Do you have favorites or music memories to share?

SEEING RED

Do you see red? Or perhaps I should ask, how do you see red?

Seeing RED typically means anger or the image of a bull charging at a red cape despite the danger he incurs every time he faces it. Thankfully, today's Shutter Sisters challenge was to see red in our lives and elevate it.

With the Olympic fever still in full swing, I again thought of England with the red double-decker buses and the red telephone booths. But following a less obvious path, I found red mixed with the graphics or patterns I so dearly love.

This was taken at Oxford University. I love the windows and the texture on the bricks. Imagine the view looking out of those windows.

 In this case the red isn't shouting "look at me". Taking the photo, it wasn't as much about the color as the pattern of this gorgeous ceiling at Oxford.
I was thinking it would make a great PhotoShop brush which I haven't bothered to create yet.

After I chose the photos for this post, I realized both included flowers--well sort of.

This was an interesting exercise for me because my response to the challenge changed by the second. First, seeing red was about tomatoes in the garden, or some red-flowered vines in our backyard, then a bus and a phone booth and finally to a muted red in a patterned ceiling. I'm glad I waited for my mind to slow down and just let it discover.

When you think red, where does your mind go?

5 Fact Friday





In the interest of fun and sharing, I'm participating in a 5 Fact Friday hook-up at Reflections of You. Today is double inspriration day because at Shutter Sisters the one word prompt was "cameras."

Hence the photo! The Spartus was a clean out the foot locker moment with my in-laws years ago. The Canon AE-1 was my first SLR that was purchased in  Oklahoma where my husband was stationed. And the other camera---don't have a clue where I got that one. I have others--a couple I should try to sell. They aren't valuable, I just appreciate what they represent.


FUN FACTS

1. Surprise! I like old cameras! I'm not a collector, I just love thinking of the memories they hold.

2. There always is a stack of books next to the bed and on my Kindle. Just started: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; also A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson. There's more, but I don't want to bore you.

3. Going to lunch with my bestfriend on Friday is a favorite thing. We try new restaurants, we talk, we laugh.

4.  I'm seriously considering an "organize my life" month.

5. It would not bother me if I never tasted beer again. But don't take my wine glass until I'm finished! Where's the chocolate?

A FAVORITE SPACE

 

My backyard is a place of comfort, connection and meditation for me. Most of the area is shade so we relish our sunny spots to encourage herbs and flowers to grow at this time of year. The shade is reserved for hostas we try to protect from the deer, ferns, a lovely hammock made for lazy Sunday afternoons plus a meditation spiral (my little Stonehenge) created amongst the brown leaves.

This space gives me peace even when I'm not physically in it. Just looking at it from the kitchen window reminds to slow down and enjoy the gift.

"A Favorite Space" was today's prompt offered by Shutter Sisters. Do you have a favorite space you would like to share?

Dying Light

This evening I received yet another lesson in looking for the light and how fast that light can fade.

Walking into the bathroom, I saw a glow in the shower stall I had never seen and thought, "Wow, I should use that for a photo." This light was coming between the trees in the backyard as the sun was setting, through our bedroom window, into the bathroom to reflect off the mirror and onto the shower door which in turn created a glow on the floor. No wonder I had never seen it! How often does that happen? Unfortunately, by the time I grabbed the flowers (which I kept because I wanted to capture the wilted look) and my camera, the light was gone. The sun had moved and the magic moment had disappeared with it. 

It seemed like a "circle of life" moment--dying light, dying flowers, my disappointment. But I rallied a bit--afterall, I had the flowers and the camera. So before I sent them to the trash, I captured their last moments of sharing their yellow light with me and said a "thank you" for their gift of beauty in my life.

GREETINGS FROM LONDON 2011

Seems like everyone I talk to is interested in the Olympics. We are too. Our common practice to record the events, then speed through the commercials and anything else that doesn't interest us. Remember when we used to have to get up just to change channels? Or was that before your time (no need to answer that)?

I'm not a big sports buff, but I do love Great Britain. We celebrated our wedding anniversary with a trip there last year so I thought it might be fun to offer a few non-athletic posts.




Love the graphic elements of the wires. Did you ever notice every city has a different name for it's subway system?





I feel safer already!

The block around the famous Harrod's on the left was this lovely pale terra cotta.  I didn't buy a thing (there).  

We were fortunate to see a practice run of a parade for the Queen. Not too much of a crowd!

BLACK & WHITE SUNSHINE

Isn't it fun to just "let go?" I wish I did it more often. This blog was an exercise in just letting go because I knew nothing about blogging, I just jumped in. The frustration level comes when I drag my feet because I think I don't have subject matter.

The same thing with this photo. I was taking some photos for a working project and during the processing part of it, I needed some playtime. Call it procrastination--I think initially the term fit, but I enjoyed the time spent making this black and white sunshine. The project is still waiting, but I'm thinking maybe I should use this technique.  So maybe playtime turned into art time.