Retrospective
Posted: December 15, 2011 Filed under: 365 Yoga Challenge, Adventures in Life, Autumn, Earth, fall, hiking, home, nature, Photography, Spirit, Spring, travel, Walking, water, weather, yoga | Tags: autumn, birds, flowers, Lancaster County, Longwood Gardens, nature, Outdoors, Pennsylvania, Photography, postaday2011, Susquehanna River, travel 32 Comments
Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve. Pennsylvania. May 2011.
This is the time of year when retrospectives start showing up everywhere, from blogs to television’s network news programs. Since it is a dark, dreary, rainy day here in the Bogs — not suitable for picture taking — I thought I’d pull out some of my favorite photos and scenes from the past year. Some have been posted here on Ye Olde Blogg. Some never made it, usually because I had so much going on that I didn’t have time to sort through everything.
Laundry musings
Posted: November 17, 2011 Filed under: 365 Yoga Challenge, Adventures in Life, Air, Autumn, Bicycle Adventures, Critters, Domesticity, Earth, fall, goals, home, NaBloPoMo, Photography, Spirit, travel, water, weather, yoga | Tags: Amish, Amish laundry, ironing, Lancaster County, Lancaster County Pennsylvania, laundry, NaBloPoMo, Pennsylvania, postaday2011 49 Comments
Not the neighbor's laundry. (Photo taken in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on October 22, 2011.)
Recently the neighbor’s laundry has caught my eye. Not in a “I want to photograph it” way. But in other ways. Responsible ways. Mundane, domestic ways.
Adventuring
Posted: November 2, 2011 Filed under: 365 Yoga Challenge, Adventures in Life, Autumn, Bicycle Adventures, Earth, hiking, home, Local Tourists, NaBloPoMo, nature, Photography, Quotes, Spirit, Walking, yoga | Tags: autumn, cycling, fall, Lancaster County, nature, Pennsylvania, Photography, postaday2011, quotes, Robert Fulghum 16 Comments
If this post pops up as scheduled this afternoon, it means I’m off on an autumn adventure. I’ll be back soon!
(Photo taken in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on 21 October 2011 during a bike ride.)
Only an open mind still has room for new knowledge. What is outgrown and used up must be discarded to make room for what is yet to be learned. And much of the best thinking is done alone — in deserts, on beaches, in bed, behind closed doors. It is why we say we need to get away — to escape from clutter and busyness — to hear ourselves think.
~ Robert Fulghum
Internet free zone
Posted: October 19, 2011 Filed under: 365 Yoga Challenge, Adventures in Life, Autumn, Earth, family, goals, nature, Photography, Spirit, travel, yoga | Tags: Elaine St. James, fungi, Lancaster County, Lancaster County Pennsylvania, Leisure, Maple, mushrooms, nature, Pennsylvania, Photography, postaday2011, unplugged 15 Comments
Mushrooms under the purple maple tree.
The need to make wise choices encompasses every area of our lives. Since we have time for only a limited amount of stuff, we need to choose wisely what stuff we’re going to allow to take up that time. Since we have only a limited amount of time to spend with friends or to engage in leisure activities, we need to choose our friends and our activities wisely.
~Elaine St. James
289: More from Shenk’s Ferry Wildflower Preserve
Posted: July 9, 2011 Filed under: 365 Life in the Bogs Challenge, Adventures in Life, Earth, family, Flashbacks, goals, hiking, nature, Photography, Quotes, Spring, Summer, travel | Tags: Bliss Carmen, Hiking, Joseph Wood Krutch, Lancaster County, Marlyn Doan, Outdoors, Pennsylvania, Photography, postaday2011, quotes, Robert Browne, Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve, Trails, Wildflower 21 Comments
I dream of hiking into my old age. I want to be able even then to pack my load and take off slowly but steadily along the trail.
~ Marlyn Doan
87: So much to do
Posted: December 18, 2010 Filed under: 365 Life in the Bogs Challenge, Adventures in Life, Autumn, Emma, family, grandparenthood, holidaze, home, Photography, Spirit | Tags: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Porter Furniture 14 Comments
(The Knight of the Exit Door.)
Poor guy. He’s the Earl of Sandwich, in between mattresses, trunks, cabinets, and an old console television. Looks like he’s a little tired too, the way he’s leaning. I bet it gets exhausting watching the door all the time.
One of the things I like about this photo is the glove on the door of the cabinet. I didn’t notice it when I took the shot. Hard to believe. It really stands out now when I look at it.
By the time M and I were able to visit Porter Furniture, things shown on the internet that we were interested in were gone. I suspect most of the really good stuff was hauled off in the first day or two of the going-out-of-business sale.
We did not leave empty handed, though. There were still a few things to be had that we were interested in having. We found a pair of andirons for our basement fireplace. We needed a new pair and they had several pair to choose from.
(Walkers, crutches, and shower chairs, oh my.)
We looked at a bizarre lamp that was huge and black and shaped like some strange alien insect. We thought it might make a nice sculpture for the new patio. Alas, we couldn’t figure out a way to transport it.
I found something that I think M the Younger will like. I don’t know how I’m going to wrap it up for Christmas. Maybe I’ll just stick a bow on it. I would tell you what it is but it’s possible he might actually read my blog once in a blue moon and with my luck, this would be the once.
I’ll have to tell you more about it tomorrow or maybe Monday. My family is arriving tomorrow and we’re meeting with a friend this afternoon and well, there is so much to do!
(Today’s view of the pond.)
I did fit in my outdoor time. However. I have to be honest. I wasn’t there. My mind was busy with to-do lists and planning and wondering if I forgot something and apalled that I was outside (WASTING TIME) when I could be indoors getting more chores done and what about that salad I was supposed to make today???
What’s funny about it all is that I decided I didn’t have time to bundle up in the usual way. So there I was without my snow pants or the several layers or the cozy mitten-gloves, thinking, “Wow! It’s warm out here!” and that’s when the other thoughts shut off for just a moment, long enough for me to take a few deep breaths and appreciate that the sun was shining on me and we were having a heat-wave of 28 degrees.
(A patch of blue sky above the snow awning.)
Time to run. Did I mention we’re meeting a friend today? Off to Akron we go…
86: Introducing…
Posted: December 17, 2010 Filed under: 365 Life in the Bogs Challenge, Autumn, Blog Business, Earth, friends, home, nature, Photography, snow, Spirit, Walking, water, weather | Tags: Blog, guest blog, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Porter Furniture, self portrait 7 Comments
(Bundled up for the cold. Self portrait.)
… Me. 🙂
I know. Some of you already know me. But there are some who may be visiting today who don’t know me or didn’t know me until today. You see, I was honored to have been asked to do a guest blog post over at Kathy’s blog, Lake Superior Spirit. If you’ve been a regular visitor to Life in the Bogs you might recognize Kathy as the person who inspired me to commit to stepping outside every single day for a whole year.
Now that we have an appreciable amount of snow and plenty of cold to go with it, I’m not sure if I should thank Kathy for inspiring me to such craziness or not. I’m kidding. Of course I am thankful to her. Each day has been an adventure of some sort and I have now gotten to the point where I look forward to stepping outside, even in the cold.
Go on over to Kathy’s place and Meet Robin! While you’re there, look around. Meet Kathy, too. (Take your time. I’ll wait.)
(Porter Furniture.)
Today’s self portrait was taken at Porter Furniture which is:
Unique is a great word for it. M and I visited Porter Furniture on our last trip. The man who owned it spent 65 years collecting all sorts of things and filling up this old cigar factory with the things he collected. I’m sure he sold much of what he collected over the years which is, obviously, what kept him in business. Mr. Porter has died and his sons are now trying to get rid of everything (4 floors worth of stuff) by the end of this month.
Porter Furniture is the interesting store I mentioned in this post. If there isn’t one of everything ever made in that store, I’ll be amazed. It was packed with all sorts of things from fire place mantels to trunks to wringer washing machines.
Oh, and this:
How cool is that?? There were actually two knights in the store, one guarding an exit door. I’ll show him to you sometime this weekend.
There was no heat in the store, hence all the bundling up in the self portrait. The lighting was interesting and I took a bunch of photos. I’m still sorting through them and hope to bring you more soon.
Today’s walk
Today’s weather has been a mix of clouds, a little sunshine, and snow flurries. They say the flurries won’t amount to much in terms of accumulation. Maybe a quarter of an inch or so. It’s another balmy, 26-degree day.
I did not take the camera with me today. The snow was flurrying when I went out and it’s best to give the camera a break when it’s like that. Plus I need to sort through the photos I’ve taken since the trip to San Diego, including some from San Diego. That’s how far behind I’ve gotten.
There’s not much to say about today’s outdoor experience. It’s cloudy. It snowed. The birds are loving the food I put out.
Life is good. 🙂
Life in the Bogs 