I love, love, LOVE weddings--I got married twice myself. (Same husband--a ceremony with all the friends and family, and six years later, a small, traditional Jewish wedding after I converted.)
But I'm at an age now where most of my peers are married and I don't know enough "kids" who are old enough to tie the knot. So, it was with particular pleasure that I attended a wedding last weekend at Arrow Park in Monroe, New York.
A small group of us gathered in the woods, late afternoon sunlight streaming through the branches. At the edge of the clearing, a string ensemble played familiar classical pieces. "That's your song," whispered my son when the group began playing Pachelbel's Canon. (Was there ever a prettier piece of music for weddings?)
As the bride and groom exchanged vows, golden twilight was shimmering through the bride's veil like a halo.
The reception was in the elegantly rustic lodge at Arrow Park, a century-old mansion.
As we walked back to the car after the reception, the woods were dark and the stars were bright. We could hear the tree frogs singing their boisterous songs to each other. The air was soft and cool, scented with that fragile, glorious, giddy hopefulness of a wedding.
"Blue makes my heart go mellow..." sings my eight-year-old daughter in lullaby-style from her bedroom, where she is playing with a selection of her stuffed animals, pretending to be their mother.
I've always loved it when my children make up their own songs and sing them without knowing or caring if anyone is listening. I remember my son singing long ago about "a monkey walking down the street in his monkey pants with a monkey belt." And my daughter singing "squirrels in the trees like to nibble, nibble, nibble." These spur-of-the-moment songs are like a secret peek into their busy brains as they're making sense of the world, or making up new worlds entirely.
In the middle of my work, I pause to listen to my daughter's little song (and to melt). What a lovely turn of phrase: "Makes my heart go mellow." It makes me think:
What else makes my heart go mellow?
Seeing an elderly couple holding hands.
Whenever my velvety-eared dog (already a heart-melter) lets out a deep, contented sigh, right before settling down for a nap.
The heady scent of lilacs wafting on a spring breeze.
A baby's "Ritz Cracker" hands (you know, with those little dimples at the knuckles) and pudgy "Flintstones" feet.
The Collected Tales of Beatrix Potter. (And I love, love, love how Beatrix Potter spent her author royalties on buying up woodlands in England to save them from development.)
Remembering my gruff grandfather, who had a soft spot for me when I was very little and let me put sponge curlers in his thinning hair while he watched the Yankees and smoked cigars.
Coloring books, paper dolls, wooden pull-toys.
Typewriters--the very oldest ones with circular keys.
Looking through boxes of old photographs, curled at the edges and yellowed with age, of my parents and grandparents--and their parents, too.
Remembering so many furry friends who are no longer with us.
Last few days to sign up for my brand-new online photography course "Beyond Auto Mode: How to Really Work Your DSLR Camera." Join students from around the world--just a few spots left! For all the course details and registration, click here.
Time to remember that beneath the snow-white world, there really is a color called "green."
Time to remember there will be water that isn't frozen solid.
And there will be a time for T-shirts and shorts again.
Hang in there--spring will get here, I promise!
[Please share this message with any poor souls who are losing hope as well as mittens and all feeling in their fingers. Consider it your good deed for the day.]
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I'm happy to be back here, tap-tap-tapping away at the keyboard. The holiday break with my extended family was the longest break (actually, the only break) I've taken in blogging since opening up shop here in July 2012. I love my little corner of the internet, but it was good to step away from it for a bit and really, truly focus on the people I love whom I don't see often enough.
Sometimes, you really have to give yourself permission to rest.
I remember reading a thoughtful post called Extremely Important Priorities from Tammy, one-half of the brilliant blogging team at The Great Jollyhoombah (one of my all-time favorite blogs, which is sadly no more), about how we often concoct these long to-do lists for ourselves, chockful of tasks that (if we're really honest about it) we don't actually NEED to do.
Yes, it might have been beneficial for me to keep on posting away through the December holidays, as the third session of my nature photography e-course was starting in January. (It started yesterday and I'm loving my new students already!) But as I watched more and more of my blogging friends sign off until the New Year, I felt a little twinge of envy, and it just felt right to join the holiday parade and hang up the "CLOSED" shingle for a while.
But as I said, I'm happy now to be back. Refreshed. Recharged. Revved up to go again!
That's the whole point of vacations, isn't it?
While I was "on leave", I took LOTS of pictures (no surprise there), especially first thing in the mornings. I haven't quite figured out how to work a camera while wearing gloves, so my outdoor photo shoots would usually end when my fingers and toes went numb. And then I was doubly thankful for a toasty-warm house!
Because I like to give experiences instead of stuff, as a Hanukkah present, I took my two teenage nieces out to dinner and then out for a shopping trip. (Yes, I know, the shopping part negates the non-commercial aspect, but they're teenage girls--I can do only so much green-preaching! And I admit, I did have fun scoping out makeup with them.) I love my nieces to pieces--funny, sweet, and whip-smart girls who have somehow escaped "Sullen Teenager Syndrome."
Our uncle treated us to an afternoon in New York with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore" at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. It was good ol' silly fun! I hadn't seen a G & S show since childhood with my dad.
I also saw some very good movies, including "Into the Woods"--twice! That's always been my favorite musical. I saw it on stage in London ages ago (oh my, the set designs were GORGEOUS!), and then I saw the taped Broadway show with Bernadette Peters. I loved the movie (obviously--I saw it twice), and Johnny Depp ROCKED IT as The Wolf (no surprise there), but here's a crazy opinion for you: I didn't think Meryl Streep was as good as Bernadette Peters. (There, I said it!) Don't get me wrong: Meryl Streep is amazing (naturally), but she missed the comedic timing of Peters. Lines that had the audience roaring with laughter in the play with Peters were met with near-silence in the movie theater. (It was a little shocking, I must say!) So if you liked the movie, look up the Broadway version with Bernadette Peters and let me know what you think.
Lastly, I played "Master Chef" with my kids a whole lot during this break, whipping up yummy things like french toast, Chinese broccoli, fresh breads, and cookies. Life is really too short for bad bread, so once you get the hang of making homemade bread from scratch (I promise you, it's not that difficult), you won't ever want to eat the bland stuff in the cellophane bags again.
All in all, 2015 is off to a very yummy start!
How 'bout you?What has kept you happily occupied lately? Let's hear it--I'm all ears! (Email subscribers: Click on the blue title of the post to get to the main site; then you'll see the comments section at the bottom.)
I hope your holiday season has been warm and wonderful so far! (Mine has involved too many cookies!) We have a caravan of relatives on the way to stay with us through the new year. Eleven of us under one roof--luckily, we all genuinely like each other! I want to give them the love and attention they deserve during their stay, so this is the last time I'll be writing to you in 2014.
I just participated in Susannah Conway's "Find Your Word." (So much fun!) She led us through five days of creatively pinpointing the one thing we most want to focus our efforts on during the year ahead. On Day 4, it finally sunk in that I needed TWO words. One that focuses inward -- contemplate -- and one that focuses outward -- radiate. And because I'm visually driven, I needed to translate my words into pictures.
For contemplate, I chose a picture of the woods behind our house because I contemplate best when I'm simply looking out at the woods, letting my thoughts wander wherever they may. I keep a sketchbook in hand to jot down whatever comes to me--pictures, words, dreams, and a fair share of nonsense. It's important for me to take time to be mindful each day, instead of rushing from one thing to the next.
For radiate, I chose a picture of ice on branches, ice being melted by the morning sun. I like the idea of light and warmth, and embodying both, sending the positive energy outwards.
So, here's my end-of-the-year wish for you: I hope that you find yourword for the year ahead, something to ground you and guide you, a little bit of magic that will lift you up and let your soul sing its sweetest note. Happy, happy, happy 2015!
Last month, I presented a special exhibition of pictures created by the students in my "Art of Photography" e-course and it turned out to be one of my very favorite posts ever. Not just because I'm crazy-proud of my students (which I am!), and not just because their photographs turned out beautifully (which they did!), but because I remember where each of those students began.
Every one of them had taken my first e-course, "How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You." Some had a little more experience behind the lens than others (in fact, a couple were true beginners), but all of them had a common thread: A keen interest in photography mixed with a wonderful willingness to learn how to improve their skills.
The fringe benefit of the courses (which even I didn't expect) is that we've all become friends. We're still in touch, sharing our work and our journeys. So, I'm happy to share some of my friends' work with you here. And I chose today to share it because...
The Early Bird discount (to save $15) expires tonight (December 10, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. EST). You can still enroll up until the day before the course begins, but after tonight, it would be at the regular pricing.
As with the first exhibition, it was extremely hard for me to "curate" the collection, narrowing it down to just six photographs for this post, but I'm betting you'll agree that the following examples are beautiful choices! Here they are...
How stunningly pretty were those?! (All amateur photographers, mind you!)
Before I close, I want to tell you six things that might surprise you:
1) You can have a full-time job and still take this course. That's one of the best things about taking an online course instead of a "classroom course." The daily lessons are emailed to you in the morning, and you post your photographs into our private online classroom whenever you can--even at 2:00 a.m.! Or, catch up on the weekend.
2) You can live anywhere in the world with computer access and take this course. The previous two sessions of this course have included students from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. As long as you can understand English, you'll be fine.
3) You don't need a fancy camera to take this course. Many of the students use their smartphones.
4) You don't have to be "in class" at a certain time. (That relates back to the first point.)
5) Your growth as a photographer doesn't stop when the course is over. I'll continue to give you advice and guidance on your work in our online classroom, which will stay open so you can stay connected with me and with your classmates.
6) Once you learn how to take better photographs of nature and the world around you, you'll start to notice more beauty, more depth, more color, and more details than you ever noticed before. (And that, to me, is the very best part!)
Ready to see what beautiful images you can create? Sign up today to join me in January!
P.S. If you're giving this course as a holiday gift, please let me know the name and email address of the student in the "comments" box of the Paypal checkout.
P.P.S. Very special thanks to my students for letting me share their work with you here!
The older I get, the more I think about the connections I've made through the years--personally, professionally, with nature, with photography, with the people who are still in my life, and with the people I knew for too short a time. The following posts are all about making meaningful connections. I loved them and I hope you do, too! (If you stop by to comment on these posts, please tell the writers I sent you their way.)
From Tales from a Happy House (because storytime is my current favorite time of day--or rather, night--and these photos capture the moment perfectly): Night Light.
From Life with the Crew (oh my goodness, that baby and that bunny--how sweet are they?): Reconnecting With Nature.
And lastly, it might seem odd to include one of my own posts, but I couldn't have an edition about connections and not include my very first post on this blog, the true story of my deep connection to the woods of my childhood, and more importantly, to my father, who shaped the person I am today: Beyond the Back Yard. I hope you like it.
This week, when it seems like you're churning through your tasks, take a few moments to just gaze out a window, take deep and restorative breaths, and be thankful for a room with a view.
Photo taken at Edith Wharton's house, The Mount, in Lenox, MA, in February 2014.
In case you haven't had the pleasure of noticing, this year is particularly spectacular for fall foliage. Every walk with the dog is a sense-heightening snap-crackle-and-POP! I feel like I've stepped right into an oil painting at a museum. Really, like the city of Prague, it's a photographer's dream--everywhere I look, another gorgeous view.
We have good friends visiting this coming weekend from the city, so I'm crossing my fingers that the windy weather stays in check and keeps a lion's share of leaves on the trees for them to oooooh and aaaaaah over. They will be in swarming company. Just like my little hometown in Connecticut attracted (and still attracts) "summer people" to its beaches like ants to a picnic, this area of northeastern New Jersey is able to lure even the most jaded of city citizens over the bridges and through the tunnels, on an autumnal mission for pumpkins and freshly picked apples. Usually, we can spot the out-of-towners: They're the ones with grumpy guys holding up their girlfriends who are hobbling around the cornfield mazes and pumpkin patches in their stilettos, complaining about the mud stuck to their good shoes. News flash: Jimmy Choos and hayrides don't mix.
Saturday brought us to Hacklebarney Cider Mill for their homemade cinnamon donuts and fresh-pressed cider ($8.00 a gallon--!!!--but worth every expensive drop), followed by free "forest bathing" at Hacklebarney State Park. Forest bathing (or Shinrin-Yoku, as it's known in Japan) does not usually involve water, although my daughter did take an accidental slip off a leaf-covered stone into the stream. I swear, it's not a complete trip to Hacklebarney Park if one or both of my children doesn't take an unplanned dip!
On Sunday, my son and I picked out brand-new birdhouses to host our feathered friends through the winter. Most of our birdhouses didn't make it through last year (thanks a lot, Hurricane Sandy!). If I were a bird, I'd hope that my real estate agent would show me one of these fine properties...
I also cleared out the last of our summer greenhouse plants and moved a few lucky ones indoors to bask in the warm sunshine of the living room window.
Our scenic trips around the area this weekend reminded me that I really need to put some classical music CDs in the car, because if I were making a soundtrack for this particular fall, it would definitely include some of Bach's cello suites and Chopin's piano pieces--both perfect accompaniments for crisp days of golden leaves gently raining down with each breeze.
I also started reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe to my children, which got me excited for the winter wonderland around the bend (minus that nasty White Witch). But for now, we are reveling in this autumn wonderland, which is lovelier than any words I can write at the moment, so I will end with this picture that perfectly captures our Saturday.
Your turn: What are your favorite ways to celebrate fall? (Football? Hearty soups? Cozy fires?) Please share in the Comments section below, and feel free to link to your own seasonal post. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own. (Don't forget to click the box for subscribing to comments so you can follow the conversation.)
(c) 2013 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com. All rights reserved. Photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Site licensed by Creative Commons.
