August Break 2013 – Week One (short)
August Break 2013 – Day 1
“Breakfast”
The big picture…
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” ~ Lewis Carroll
NOTE: As the day was drawing to an end, I found myself doing a bit of light reading and I found this… which I couldn’t rightly pass up capturing in a photograph. 😉
August Break 2013 – Day 2
“Circles”
So. When I was thinking about circles yesterday, I had a mind’s-eye image of balloons in the sky… My eldest has been hinting about getting a helium tank for balloons, and we were having his cousin over for a sleepover, soooo… I decided to get some helium and play. And I am SO glad I did!!!
Of course, after I was done with my photo shoot, the boys dove into the balloons with gusto and began to play their way. Amidst squeaky voices and fart noises, we made a Batman figure fly (15+) balloons, and used a play Indian Jones whip to assist with several balloon “rescues”. But when it was time to wrap things up, I didn’t want the balloons to go to waste. So…
The boys and I brainstormed some positive messages…
… we tied them to the balloons…
… and we got into the car and drove.
As we were driving Monkeyboy Jr.’s cousin home, whenever we would see somebody on the sidewalk, we would stop and offer them a balloon.
Most people were quite happy with the surprise, although about 1/3 of them flat out refused the offer, and a handful asked “What’s the catch?” or something similar. “No catch. Have a nice day!” we would reply.
Near the end of our trip, we had run out of people just walking about, so we headed to a nearby market area to hand out the last of the balloons. The boys were SO excited about this project, and said that it made them feel really good and happy inside to do something nice for others.
By the end of the exercise, we had lost only one balloon – caught by the wind as the car door opened… but we had made several people smile. =) It was a good day.
“Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.” ~ Albert Schweitzer
August Break 2013 – Day 3
“Yellow”
I didn’t get around to taking any photos until later in the day, and I wasn’t sure I’d have much time… so first I shot this “flower in a bowl” as my “safety shot”. Then I headed out to play…
Last night, as I was thinking about what I might shoot for “yellow”, the first thing that popped into my head was that song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” sung by Tony Orlando and Dawn. (Funny… when I was younger, I used to think that “Tony Orlando” was two separate people rather than simply a guy.) Anyhow. I wasn’t even sure whether or not we had oak trees growing where I live… so first I researched that, and apparently we do. I recalled some trees that looked like the Burr Oaks I found growing at Monkeyboy Jr.’s school. So, I picked up some yellow ribbon and headed down there.
Not completely thrilled with the results, I headed out to the prairies in search of a canola field…
I found a few close to town, but none of them worked really well in terms of the setting sun light / angles / subject matter… I mean, they’re okay, BUT…
Well… I decided to drive home. As I was doing so, I went over the prettiest rise and stopped to take a photo of the setting sun…
It reminded me of the quote:
“There are painters that can change the sun into a yellow blot, but there are others, that due to their talent and intelligence, can change a yellow blot into the sun.” ~ Pablo Picasso
And with a little “filter” painting, I had my third beloved yellow shot for the day.
