Pausing...

Three Muses Challenge-"Couple" March 7, 2012

Guest Heart Thursday- March 9, 2012

Park City, Utah -March 3, 2012

A couple of clouds in a winter sunset-

leave just enough room for a sunny heart.

Even the clouds pause sometimes.




`

Before Sunset

Blacksburg, VA- Feb 1 2012

In the year since my old phone was declared beyond repair I have come to rely on my "smart" phone for emails, time, texts, music (hooked on my pandora station), calendar, alarm,  recipes, directions, finding out which direction the United States Flag should be on when it is on a stage, texting or emailing myself reminders and things I want to write about it, AND photos. Lots of photos. Photos like the one above.  It shouldn't be ok for a photographer to be satisfied with an image that comes from a device that fits in the palm of her hand. 

But I am.


`

Lit from all Angles

Hahn Horticulture Garden,Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA- January 1, 2012

Well lit from all angles.

Early evening light can give a great glow to things. This photo is off my cell phone from our walk earlier this evening- these cell phones are pretty darn amazing. I will never be able to blow it up to 18x 30, but heck, it sure is fun to throw it into photoshop; give it a bit of digital love and post it here.

So, I keep thinking it is winter, and I over dressed.  Again. I ended up taking off my hat and mittens, and carrying my coat.  Once home, we had a nice New Years Eve dinner and were about ready to go to bed at about 10:30. It was then we realized our dog had wet the couch. In her defense, she had been run really hard on our walk, and then drank lots of water.  The upside of all this? First I used a bad word- just once and under my breath. Then I was able to attempt to implement use of my new word for the upcoming year.  Oh yes, I have a word, a word I have been pondering for about 3 days now- that is a lot of pondering for me.    Last year my word was balance.  I feel like balance evolved into this years word- pause.

Pause... gives me lots of opportunity to try to get to balance again. 

I thought about using joy - but decided to save that for 2030.

I thought about trust- and decided I was not that evolved yet. 

So right there, with two damp cushions and clueless dog-(she was so sleepy, she was not aware of what had happened.) I was able to pull out my new word - pause. A bit premature -but balance was all used up.  In hindsight, I am thrilled that I did not need to face the word joy at this moment.

Pause, breathe, tug. Tug, tug, tug- pause... breathe. I paused long enough to observe, as the white cushion finally exploded out of the deep brown cover, it reminded me of a milkweed.  After I got the covers into the wash and was tucked into bed, I collected the observation into words- a small stone.

It is the start of January Small Stones over at Writing Our Way Home.    Come join in the fray.

I am indebted to Fiona and Kaspa for offering another way to see- even the messy things in life. Thanks Fiona and Kaspa!

December 31, 2011... 11PM - Small Stones
inside out   by  Teri H Hoover

Stubborn cushion covers
clinging for dear life,
as I try to remove them.

Finally a layer of white batting,
a milkweed exploding
                                                                             in

   all
                                                       directions.   

  Blessings one and all- I am looking forward to a year full of pauses-Pepper, my black lab agrees totally.

Embracing the Mountain

Verbier, Switzerland- Jan 30 2011

By sheer force

the mountain stood  unmoving.

But I maintained the focus

of a cloud embracing a mountain.

But that is not as easy as it looks.

A River of Stones-A 30 day challenge in observation

and perseverance 

(Oh and by the way it is 31 days)

This little stone was absolutely, beyond a doubt the most obstacle filled endeavor in writing in my life.  I have worked for 1 hour just to get into my google account and another hour to get into my blogger account. And now that I am here my spell check thinks everything should be in German... Anything I google also comes out in German.  Or it looks like it is German. 

The lovely group has all arrived and we have commenced to enjoying our first evening together. Most everyone will go out skiing tomorrow- I however will take the day to explore and maybe figure out the computer issues-Can we say internet cafe?

So you say there is one more for tomorrow-- the last one- to complete the 31 day challenge-- yup it appears I was off by a day - I never was very good with numbers.

An Easy Unbalance

Blacksburg, VA- Jan 13, 2011

-words slipped from her mind 

like the setting of the sun in winter-

A River of Stones- a 30 day observational challenge

At my mid morning class as I lay on my back -

I observed my body's unbalanced feeling.

My left side felt grounded and connected.

my right side was tight and unmanageable

Too many late nights on the computer will do that.

Un
balanced

It was suggested to envision an 

intertwining 

of sides while deep breathing.

And to  incorporate asymmetrical poses-

maybe tomorrow-

Sunset Blessings

Getting on I-77 North, NC- Dec 10, 2010

The Perks of the Job

Hilton Head, SC- Sept 30, 2010

The 7 hour drive is so worth it! 

I will be photographing a wedding in Hilton Head this coming Saturday, so I am away from home -again. 

The visit with my daughter last week was extended by a day  (due to the airlines and bad weather).  So I was only home for one day instead of two.  But I did get a bunch of things done- like tennis, laundry, and buying a new vacuum cleaner.  Oh yes my life is filled - I am saturated by blessings and love at every turn. 

Mother nature has been busy too this week- let's just hope she has all that rain out of her system!

The Artist at Dusk

New Smyrna Beach , FL- Sept 13, 2010

 God's paintbrush was loaded 

with some of my favorites tonight.

We found the best seats in the house-

and set our  beach chairs down.

While we ate dinner 

a steady wind off the water 

kept the hair out of our eyes.

Colors disappeared -

And we were surrounded 

by

   the sound

of crashing waves

and

the feel

of the luscious dark wind.

 

Dancing

Hilton Head Island, SC- June 31, 2010

I cannot run-

I must follow 

slowly

I am  dancing

with  the

sunset-

Remain Calm

Long Bay, Cambridge Beaches, Bermuda May 14, 2010 

A boat needs an anchor-