Valentine's Day

St. Valentine’s Day…the day designated for the celebration of love and affection.

As a child, I loved this holiday. I knew that when I got up on Valentine’s Day there would be a red heart shaped box of candy and a card waiting on my breakfast plate; a gift from my father. A lot of people think this was weird, but for me it was special for two reasons. First, it was candy, and I could eat it for breakfast if I wanted to! The ONLY holiday we could do that. We even had to wait till AFTER church to dig into our Easter baskets and if you know anything about being Catholic, you know how lllloooonnnngggg Easter services can be. They blessed everything from the rafters to the foundation and every pew, hymnal and statue of Mary in between. The second reason I loved Valentine's Day was because this is the only gift Dad gave us all year that was specifically from him. He left all the other holiday stuff to Mom. So, I think this was probably Dad’s favorite holiday.  He always got Mom a really big heart and a card thatgot kept and not thrown away!

It was also a fun time during elementary school. I remember getting a paper bag and we had to put our name on it and we could decorate it however we liked. This was our “official” Valentine’s Day mailbox. Anytime we got to cut, paste and color was a happy day for me. I learned early on that cutting a heart shape into the front of the bag created a serious design flaw-one that allowed all your Valentine’s to fall out! My project management style has not changed much since those days-do first; alter later. And yes, for all you left brainers-I know it is better to spend a little time planning, but I can tell you from experience-it’s not near as fun!! And if memory serves, I think I punched the boy who made fun of my faulty mailbox in first grade. Guess my temper has not changed much either!  I don't think I got a Valentine from him either! 

As an adult, my passion for it has definitely waned. I think it is because the minute the stores are finished with Christmas they start pushing Valentine’s Day stuff. It used to be just candy and cards, now it’s just a bunch of “stuff” with candy and the cards bringing up the rear. And my favorite retailer (NOT) whose name I refuse to mention even had the audacity to put Easter candy right next to the Valentine candy. Really? You couldn’t wait two measly weeks to put the Easter candy out?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

I decided to try and get a little bit more enthusiastic this year and make a photo assignment about Valentine’s day. I took pictures of the obvious-those cut out red hearts and glittery ornaments. They do make a nice contrast to an otherwise dreary mid-winter window display. I also wanted to incorporate images of hearts that nature provided and that I have been lucky enough to find this past year. I find that when I look for them-they are illusive, but like most of those great "ah-ha!" photos, you find them when you least expect it.

So this Valentine's Day I will carry on my Father's tradition. Everyone in the "penthouse" at work will be getting a little surprise goody bag to celebrate Valentine's Day. Look at this way- any holiday that is celebrated with giving people candy, can't be all bad, right?!

Yay! It's a brand spankin' New Year!!

Another year has come and gone.  And like most years there are good things and bad things; regardless it’s all part of the grand scheme of things.  My hairdresser asked me if I had made any New Year resolutions and I admitted that I did not.  I think I’ve pretty much given up on that notion.  I told her that I’ve worked for the State long enough that I now think in fiscal year instead of calendar year.  I think she will be bugging me in July to see if I’ve made any resolutions for the upcoming fiscal year.  ‘Fraid not!  Every day is a new day that gives you the opportunity to do the right thing and be the best you can be.



Reedy Point Bridge, near Delaware City



 

 

 



The coolest thing about this picture is not the house...



One thing I will definitely work on this year, whether fiscal or calendar year is my pursuit to be a better photographer. There is a really nice website called Digital Photography School that I learned about on facebook and because I “friended” them, I get frequent updates on new techniques and ideas. It’s just that nudge I need to sometimes get out of a rut and maybe look at things from a different angle. One area I need to get a handle on is managing the umpty ump photos I have taken in the last 2 years. My external hard drive is starting to choke so I think I better do some housekeeping. I’m praying for a couple of snow days that will force me inside to make that odious task happen!

Many people think that there is nothing worth taking pictures of this time of year.  To me, there is never a bad time to take a picture!  I am learning to keep that camera with me ‘cause you never know what you may come across or when there is going to be a spectacular sunset.  Just last week I was returning from a “hen” party and had to take a picture of a business for my friend’s retirement party.  I decided to take the long way home and was delighted to find a field chok-a-blok full of boisterous snow geese just ripping it up and doing what snow geese do…in this case a lot of honking, fighting, eating and pooping!  It was a spectacular site to see such a huge amount of them rummaging through the remnants of a cornfield on a back road not far from the house.  They were quite close to the edge of the road and were not very intimidated by me or my camera.  They did scoot away from the edge when a car came by, but they quickly returned to their raucous mission of feasting.  A portion of the group would fly up and quickly settle a few more feet into the field; they created their own little windstorm with the flapping of their wings and I found myself picking a few downy feathers out of my hair later.  I am grateful it was only feathers….  They made an awesome display of migrating wildfowl against a very cool January evening.  I feel my pictures failed to capture their wild beauty but the pictures in my memory are perfect! 

 

I’m not sure where my next “off season” photo shoot will be.  My photo buddy is hoping for some frigid weather so that we can go shoot pictures of ice.  Given my knack of mishaps when out in the field, I’m sure he will be asking for insurance and next of kin information before we venture out again.  Whoever said, the journey is part of the adventure wasn’t lying!  We may not have gotten the greatest shots on these outings but we sure won’t forget me tripping over my own feet and sliding down hills on my keester!  And strangely we continue to go on these outings…Perhaps I should start charging for entertainment!

Falling temperatures, falling leaves, falling tripod

Fall is officially here…but the pretty fall colors are not! At least not in abundance. It seems like forever ago that we had trees full of color. I’m not sure if it was the hot dry spell or the late very wet spell that did them in this year. I did find spots of color and as usual I found other things to photograph along the way.

I spent a few hours on this lovely creek off the Susquehanna River just north of the Maryland line. A dear friend introduced me to the spot and it has been one of my favorite spots ever since. It’s a nice little creek that winds up the hillside and there are several waterfalls that afford some great photo opportunities. I think it’s so special because I learned a new photographic technique and it really clicked. One of those “ah ha!” moments. They are few and far between for me, but when I get, I got it!

My tripod met an untimely end on that trip, but I’ve talked myself into believing that it was a sign from above that it is time for a new tripod! That’s better than the constant mental kick in the pants I’ve been giving myself since we parted ways for just being plain stupid!

I found a few interesting things to photograph at Redden State Forrest which is just a short trip from home. I love it there because I can take Gidgette and put her on her trainer leash and let her run. She loves it and I get to rummage through the leaves, listen to the wind in the loblollies and smell that luscious pine smell and take pictures while she is off exploring or rolling in something dead or rotten! There is an interesting house on the property that I think is now used as the ranger’s office. It gives me the heebeegeebees when I walk past it, but it’s like a train wreck-I just want to check it out anyway!! I’ve left nose prints on the windows more than once…before I noticed the surveillance cameras!

I’m sure there will be more nice days of all ahead and I hope more photography adventures. Whether I take the next greatest photo or get Gidgette’s leash wrapped around my ankle again, it will be fun and time well spent!

Marie Pritchett Worthington

Mom Mom at the Greensboro Restaurant

It’s hard to believe that she has been gone three years and not a day goes by that I don’t think about her. She was a treasure and I feel so blessed to have known her even if it was for a rather short portion of a remarkable life.

When we first moved to Lincoln, Jim and I had a chance to introduce ourselves to our new neighbor. We shook hands across the rusty ole page wire fence that divided our property. Mrs. Worthington looked me right in the eye and said, “you’re from ‘round here”. Then she looked at Jim and said, “where are you from?, you’re not from these parts” I knew right then that I loved her and we would get on “like a barn on fire”. Shortly thereafter I asked her if I could call her Mom mom and we were thick as thieves after that.

Jim and Mom Mom

I can’t remember exactly how our bonding began. When we first moved in to our home in 1993, she was still a very mobile widow, zipping around on her riding mower or tooling up the highway (which was only 2 lanes then) in her ’63 (I think it was a '63)  Ford Fairlane, on her way to Hardee’s to the drive thru to get a fried chicken dinner.



Mom Mom at Christmas with her Acme tea bags!!







I think what drew me to her was that she was a walking, talking history lesson. Born before the Titanic sank, she could remember when they made “Mr. DuPont’s road” (what is now 113), she remembered walking to a one room schoolhouse, she remembered taking the train to Atlantic City and so, so much more. Anytime I wanted to know something about the local area, she was my go to girl and I usually ended up learning way more than I bargained for. We spent many an evening at her kitchen table drinking her infamous sweet tea, made with Acme teabags ONLY, and playing Kings in the Corner. She was a more reliable news source than CNN and liked to check in with us often to make sure we were in “the know” with the neighborhood happenings. She also loved National Inquirer and kept me up to date on the going ons of the celebrities. I remember taking her to Wal-Mart one day and on the way there she brought me up to date on what PDiddy was doing these days.

Mom mom loved to eat. Skinny as bean pole, she could store some chow! She anxiously awaited the opening of the Milford Dairy Queen every spring and one of my favorite memories is taking her up there frequently for her treats. I could count on my phone ringing about 7pm on summer evenings and hearing her ask if this was a DQ night. I’d take her up there to get her favorite sundae; vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and with nuts. She always told me that she got the nuts because they would get under her plate and she’d have a little somethin’ for later! After she polished off her treat we would often take a ride down to Slaughter Beach and she would point out to where she and Earle had their house on the beach. The storm of ’63 tore it down and they never did rebuild on their lot. She told me that not much of the house survived the storm, but the phone was still on one of the remaining walls and she was able to dig out of the sand, 7 out of 8 ice tea spoons from a set she kept at the beach. Before she died she gave me that set of 7 and they are one of my prized possessions.

She had been widowed almost as long as I had been alive and she was quite capable of taking care of herself, her home and yard and enjoyed doing for others.   At one time she had worked down to Duponts in Seaford (as she called it) and she even was part owner in a clothing store in Milford.  She kept herself busy with cleaning her house, talking with her family and friends and knitting. Her specialty was Christmas stockings and she knitted these year round to make a little “pin” money for herself. She made one for Jim and me and even on for our Lucy and also for Gidgette. There are many of those stockings that are sprinkled around Delaware and beyond and I hope when they are hung every Christmas that the owners think of Mom Mom and remember what a treasure she was.

Whenever Jim and I left on a trip, Mom Mom was the last to wish us well on our trip and the first to welcome us home. On one trip we came home to see several cars in her driveway when we got home; my heart was in my throat as I rushed over to check on her. She was sitting in her favorite chair in front of the TV, wrapped up in her house coat and covered in afghans, drinking tea and giving orders. I breathed a huge sigh of relief at the sight! She looked a little scuffed up and slightly askew. I asked her what happened and she told me that she had taken a tumble down her cellar steps. She somehow managed to get herself back up the steps to call for help and fortunately did not break anything, not even a fingernail. She later told me that she knew she was not dead when she hit bottom because she remembered looking up and seeing her cellar ceiling and thinking, “I know heaven does not look like my cellar ceiling!”.

Mom Mom with my Godson-Connor

One of the greatest things about Mom Mom was she could crack a joke and take a joke. We went to the Post Office one day for stamps only to find that they had closed already. We had to use the vending machine in the lobby and the change was dispensed as the “new” gold dollars featuring Sacajawea. I think she thought she was getting some funny money at first, but I explained to her that they were the new gold dollar coins. She was okay with that, but wanted to know who Sacajawea was. I explained that she was the guide for Lewis and Clark on their expedition. She hummphed and said that she didn’t remember hearing about her in her history class when she was in school. I just looked at her and said, “That’s because they hadn’t left yet”. She just looked at me over the top of her glasses and told me that I had just lost my trip to DQ for that crack, but she did laugh and off we went to DQ anyway!

I have so many Mom Mom stories that I think I could write a book. It has brought me such joy to reminisce and share my tales with whoever I can get to listen. The best thing about Mom mom was that she always made me feel like I was her girl. On Sunday evenings when I do make supper, I sometimes have to stop myself from going to the phone to call her and tell her that dinner is on the way. She was always happy with whatever we were having and I loved being able to do her a small favor. She meant the world to me and I thank the good Lord for the time we had together and I thank her family for sharing her and letting us be part of her life. I know she looks down from heaven, waiting on the day I join her for a glass of sweet tea, a game of Kings in the Corner and a trip to DQ!

Jim, Mom Mom, Naomi and Leonard Lorsong on an outing to Woodland Beach

Summer is winding down......

The shadows are getting longer...even for Gidge!

Wow! What a terrible blogger I am! I guess the nagging and guilty conscience of starting something and not finishing it has finally persuaded me to get ‘er done. Thanks, Dad…all your seemingly endless supper time lectures about finishing what you start were not totally wasted! I think what has really done me in, is Flickr. Ever since I got an account with them, I just plop the photos in and I’m done. That is just lazy and like I tell Jim, that is an excuse, not a reason for not doing something.



Pretty soon the frost will be on the gourd..oh wait..it's on the punkin!

Here we are close to the end of another summer. For most people that is a sad thing, but I’m not usually too sad to see them go. This one had some very hot days and I don’t think too many of us enjoyed it. Thank you Delaware Electric Coop for not giving me a stroke when the bill came in this month! That poor AC was a chugging along nonstop several days last month and it was still 85 degrees inside! So, I will not be sad to see that kind of weather go. I know we are not out of the woods yet, but every day brings us closer to fall and cooler weather.







Oh how I wanted to pluck this last, lonely beauty from the tree!

Finding interesting things to photograph this time of year can be a challenge.  It's kinda of in between the verdent landscape of summer and the awesome colors of autumn.  That leaves us with dying plants, harsh shadows and bugs.  Bugs make great photo subjects but trying to get a good shot is like trying to get a good shot of a toddler!  And I'm convinced it boils down to one thing...dumb luck!  So, I figure if you keep trying you just might get that one awesome shot and if you don't, keep trying anyway!

I finally got that kayak I wanted and have so enjoyed going out and paddling around some of Lower Slower’s ponds. It has afforded me time to just think and relax and reflect on things. I’m not a particularly busy person but it seems that my mind is always in 10 different directions; thinking about what needs to be done right away, tomorrow or 3 weeks from now. I also spend a lot of time thinking about the next vacation. Sometimes you just need to “be” and relax and quit trying to force things into those compartments in your mind.

I do enjoy this time of year even if we do get a few more toasty days. I always looked forward to going back to school and meeting up with friends again. I didn’t get to see too many of them during the summer; only the one that I could ride my bike to and luckily she was only a couple of miles away. I always looked at the new school year as a fresh start, a time to try and get it right this time! I think I have still carried some of that with me into adulthood. Labor Day is kind of my, take inventory, clean out the closet, see what is working well and what is not and get off my butt and fix what isn’t time.  I know most people do that at New Years, but hey, what can I say, it takes me a while to get with the program!





pretty soon we will see more of you!

It’s been an interesting year so far. I’ve met new people and developed deeper relationships with people I have know for a while. And like most things in life, some of it has been good and some not so much, but regardless it is a very important part of life. Those experiences create who we are. I always am curious as to what makes a person tick and I want to know their “story”…’cause good or bad, we all have a story. I firmly believe people come and go in your life for a reason. Some become part of your life and some are just passing through. I don’t want anyone to just pass through my life. I want to hang on to them and find out how they are supposed to fit in my life. I liken it to how my Mom used to holler at us kids when we kept running in and outside to play, slamming the screen door with each pass. “Either stay in or get outside!” I want everyone that comes into my life to be a “stay in”.  They have to be in my life for a reason, so sit and stay a while and let's figure it out!  The best part could be just around the corner!

The upcoming fall and winter gives us that down time to think and reflect and remember what is important in our lives.  And to dream about what the next great adventure might be! And what cool pictures are out there just waiting to be taken!  Bring it on!!!

better not fiddle too long, winter will be here before you know it and the ant is already way ahead of you!!

Easter 2011

I feel as if I missed Easter this year.  I was doing well until this past week when I came down with a respiratory ailment that has knocked the wind out of my sails.  But the plus side is that it gives me "think" time too!   I enjoy the "prep" work of Lent and especially enjoy attending services during Easter week.  It's as if your homework pays off!  I thought I would wake up dying for a Coffee Coolatta (medium, light, no whip) as that was what I gave up for Lent.  But...I didn't.  I'm sure the craving will hit once I am back at work and my co-worker is out on the road and willing to swing into Dunkin' Donuts for me. 

One good thing about Easter being later in April this year is the Lilacs!  I have been watching them all week and they have come out this weekend.  They are beautiful and smell heavenly.  I was worried that I had pruned them back too hard last fall, but if anything, they seem more vibrant and full this spring.  You were right sister dear!!  

Easter wouldn't be Easter without CANDY!  That is probably why Easter is my favorite holiday!  There is always such a pretty selection of candy starting February 15th!  I like to just go and look at it...and every once in a while, when the devil is riding me hard, I'll buy something.  I'm pretty proud of myself this year.  I only succumbed to that temptation a few times and I had a little help from an office Easter bunny who left things on my desk!  Bad Easter Bunny...you know who YOU are!   

As a child, I loved waking up Easter morning to find my basket that Easter Bunny hid somewhere in our house.  I loved the hunt as much as what was in it.  My mother always put those nasty marshmallow peeps in my basket and they'd get gunked up with the plastic straw.  Yuck.  Every time I see those in the store I think of how they looked in my basket. I usually made a good haul and they never let me have a lick of it until after mass.  Just like at Christmas, no presents until after mass.  And no, it did NOT teach patience!                                      

We used to have this very large old black walnut tree in the yard that was hollow at the base.  Dad told me that was where Peter Rabbit (a.k.a. the Easter Bunny!) lived.  Imagine my horror to wake up one winter morning to the sound of a chain saw cutting down Peter's house!  When I got dressed and went outside, the neighbor was there hauling Peter's house away.  I was beside myself.  How could Dad cut down Peter's house? Dad said that Peter had gone to Florida because the winters were too cold any more. Peter knew his house was being condemned and that he had already made alternate living arrangements at the neighbors.  He must have told it very convincingly because I did believe him...even though I did feel just a bit betrayed.  Peter did find our house the next Easter so I guess it was okay after all.   In later years, Dad and I often had a good laugh about ole Peter.  Every time I see a picture of the farm with that tree still standing of think of Peter and wish him well.

What Easter would be complete without an Easter Lily?  This year I was given one as a gift from a very special friend and it made me stop and think about this Easter tradition.  I remember the church being filled with them at Easter...so many the smell would almost make you queasy.   I also had a friend that gave me one when my dog Lucy died.  I planted it over her burial place in the yard and every year since it has bloomed. So, I would have to say that these Lillie's are about remembrance, both fond and sad memories.   And I love knowing that I will see this pretty white face in my garden again next spring!

This year I tried to stay out of the candy as much as possible during Lent.  And like most well thought out plans it had a few pitfalls!  Like shopping for candy for my Godson and his sister.  I don't know how that coconut nest got in with my purchases...but it did...so I had no choice but to eat it!!!!

ahhh! confectionery perfection!

going...

going....

Gone till next Easter!

South to Yellowstone

I had been to Yellowstone before...several years ago and was looking forward to the trip to see it through a camera lens.  You definitely look at things differently.  Light is SO important. To that end I begged Jim to get up at 430am to view the full moon totally unobstructed by articificial light.  It was SO worth it.  The quiet and crisp air created a moment I'll never forget.  I was happy to stand and at the edge of the pull off area and just be.  It didn't matter that the picture didn't turn out like I wanted, the one in my memory is PERFECT!

We left that area to head south into the park.  Right around sunrise we were at Lake Yellowstone to capture the sunrise.  A very nice time of day, most of the wildlife photographers are not up yet to clog the roads and hog the views.  My goal on this trip was not to get a lot of wildlife photos-I will leave that to the professionals.  I just wanted to try and capture some of the beauty of the countryside.



Instead of my usual wild ramblings I think this post will just be some of my photos from Yellowstone that I thought were good.  I hope you will enjoy them!