I'm on my second cup of coffee and have already faced the dawn. When I look over the top of my monitor, I see a view dominated by apple blossoms. This is one of the three trees I worked hardest to prune in early April. Last year it, and its fellows were pruned as much as I could do with a ten foot stepladder. This year, I realized I had inherited Mom's 24 foot extension ladder, so the rehab went a lot higher. In fact on this tree and a couple others that provide extremely delicious apples, I got off the top of the ladder and climbed as high as I could to thin out the canopy. It wasn't the smartest behavior for someone my age, given that nobody was home at the time, and it did result in one nasty cut across the back of my right hand with a pruning saw, but the overall results look pretty darn good right now, Two of the three trees receiving the most attention sport twice as many blossoms as the rest of the dozen or so apple trees we have. It will be interesting to see how they fare as the growing season progresses.
Yesterday we headed out to pick up Beth's mother in Madison and then drove to Belgrade where Sara and Russ treated five moms and grandmoms to one awesome brunch. It had everything from chocolate-dipped strawberries to french toast casserole with blueberries. Suffice it to say that I was sated and semi-sedated very quickly. We stopped in Waterville for ginger ice cream (I bought, but abstained), then a stop at the natural food store in Skowhegan for black cherry concentrate. We saw a sobering sight going and coming by the Hinckley School campus. State police, rescue and local fire personnel were trying to locate the body of a woman whose car went airborne Saturday afternoon and landed in the stream that enters the Kennebec River.
What was particularly interesting was the conversation Beth and I had about creativity as we were headed to get her mother. I told her about the short story I'm working on and how the act of creating a character from nothing in just a few short sentences was so emotionally powerful. That led to talking about how many experiences and memories we generate over 60 years of living and what an amazingly vast reservoir of material that can offer someone who writes. We both agree that for both of us, photography is an extension of that need to create and share. I was walking Bernie before we left yesterday and saw a lone poinsettia leaf on the ground where it had fallen as Beth recycled the plant. The gentle mist falling at the time had left myriad tiny silver beads on it. I brought the leaf back to the porch and took several photos to see which one provided the best contrast. Here's my pick of the litter.
Yesterday we headed out to pick up Beth's mother in Madison and then drove to Belgrade where Sara and Russ treated five moms and grandmoms to one awesome brunch. It had everything from chocolate-dipped strawberries to french toast casserole with blueberries. Suffice it to say that I was sated and semi-sedated very quickly. We stopped in Waterville for ginger ice cream (I bought, but abstained), then a stop at the natural food store in Skowhegan for black cherry concentrate. We saw a sobering sight going and coming by the Hinckley School campus. State police, rescue and local fire personnel were trying to locate the body of a woman whose car went airborne Saturday afternoon and landed in the stream that enters the Kennebec River.
What was particularly interesting was the conversation Beth and I had about creativity as we were headed to get her mother. I told her about the short story I'm working on and how the act of creating a character from nothing in just a few short sentences was so emotionally powerful. That led to talking about how many experiences and memories we generate over 60 years of living and what an amazingly vast reservoir of material that can offer someone who writes. We both agree that for both of us, photography is an extension of that need to create and share. I was walking Bernie before we left yesterday and saw a lone poinsettia leaf on the ground where it had fallen as Beth recycled the plant. The gentle mist falling at the time had left myriad tiny silver beads on it. I brought the leaf back to the porch and took several photos to see which one provided the best contrast. Here's my pick of the litter.
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