My favorite subjects

Today turned out to be a gorgeous day, despite forecasts of rain. I was supposed to do a photo shoot of a family, but that got postponed, so instead I ended up taking pictures of my own family. I hung out with my bro-in-law and nephews and we all took a walk to the playground. These boys have so much energy; I have no idea how my sister keeps up. It's always fun to see things through kids' eyes, though. Everything is new and exciting, from a tiny ant to a big tractor truck (or maybe it was an excavator... they know far more than I do about trucks!)

The Big Apple

I spent the long weekend in New York City - always a fun place to visit. We went to the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Modern Art, and of course ate lots of delicious food. I wish I could box up the diversity and excitement of that city and transport it to a place with fewer people and less pollution. You can't have it all, I suppose!


At the butterfly exhibit, a butterfly randomly landed on a visitor's hand.

Stop and smell the flowers

Today I repeated a bike loop I had done on Monday. It was a beautiful day and I got several whiffs of my two favorite smells along the way, freshly cut grass and lilacs. Here are a few of the images that caught my eye.

Country road

I drove to the yoga studio in Dover, NH today to take pictures of one of the teachers there who's pregnant (pictures coming soon). Half of the drive is highway, and the other half country road. I pulled over a few times on the way home. I've been intrigued by silos lately, especially when they're weathered, and then of course I'm always a sucker for cows. I don't, however, moo at them! Maybe I should have though... I was blown away by how jumpy these cows were. This group was close to the road so I pulled over and got out, camera in hand. As soon as the nearest cow noticed me he literally jumped up, turned around, and ran the other way, causing all the others to do the same. So I had to walk slowly and hang out for a while by the fence until they moved closer again. The one pictured below was the most daring of them all, eyeing me from the moment I got out of the car but not running away. Just when I thought we'd made a connection I stood up to get a different angle and poof, off he ran. Ah well.

Time marches on

I often ruminate on something I'm thinking of photographing before I actually get around to doing it. Such is the case with this cool old cupola that is literally sitting on the side of the road downtown. It used to be on top of this old mill and I'm not quite sure when it came down, but it's always intrigued me whenever I've driven by. So today I finally got around to taking some pictures of it. I felt so MacGyver-esque as I slipped past the fence to get a closer view. There's a clock face on each side, each at a different stage of disrepair. I wonder if they'll ever fix it.

After this little adventure I headed down to the public boat access to see what I could see. The sun just happened to peak out for a moment as I took this shot.

The joy of bouncing

Today I took my nephews to the Bounce Zone, a space filled with huge air-filled structures that kids can climb, slide down, and yes, bounce on. They ran around non-stop for well over an hour. They even made a buddy, a friendly middle school-aged girl who happily helped them from one structure to another. After this adventure, we went to Rapid Ray's for hot dogs and then to Martel's for ice cream. I know, not the most well-rounded meal, but it was my birthday present to my oldest nephew who will be 4 in a couple weeks. What are aunts for if not to spoil their nephews every once in a while?


The birthday boy pretending to be a lion.


His younger brother enjoying an after-bounce treat.

The joys of spring

In addition to green grass growing and flowers sprouting, another sign of the change of seasons is when they turn the water back on at the track. This has been the case for a while now, of course, but I took a pic of Paris enjoying it this weekend. Thirsty seems to be one of the key words she actually recognizes, along with hungry, treat, beach, and ride. Ah the life of a dog!

There's a new dog in town

My parents adopted a shelter dog this past week. His name is Gabe and he's a beaut! He and Paris get along famously. In fact, I have to take away this one toy in particular sometimes or they will keep wrestling until they are silly with fatigue. Gabe is some sort of mix of American bulldog and I'm sure there's some lab in there. Who could resist this sweet face?

Flowers, flowers, and more flowers

Following my visit to the cemetery, I stopped at the local nursery, not to buy anything as I no longer have a garden, but just to take pics. Rows and rows of plants and flowers. Winter in Maine is such a hard season to get through, but then suddenly spring arrives and makes you forget all about that dreadful season that just ended. (Don't get me wrong, snow is beautiful, but winter in Maine is just really long.) So it's very exciting to see the promise of a new season all laid out before you.

Right under my nose

I grew up and have now spent several years of my adult life in the same small town in southern Maine. Somehow, amazingly, I never knew there was this incredible field of daffodils that blooms every spring at the far end of the town's cemetery, along the river's edge. Hello? Where have I been all this time? My good friend Kristen took me to see it the other day, and I returned the next day with my camera. It's so interesting the contrast between death and life. Sometimes cemeteries can look so dreary and other times beautiful.