Monday, January 31, 2011

January's Summer Days


These are the days of summer, that arrive in the middle of our winter. Most of January has been sun filled, warm, bright. The sky has been as blue as July, and friends have been sharing their beach pictures on the social networks.

We are lucky.

Max and Maria put up the tent, in spite of Ferris' help. Then they invited friends over for a Nerf battle-Dungeons and Dragons-Giant Pizza-Poki-Sleep-over. Lucas and Eric accepted the invitation and the revelry commenced at sundown, Saturday night.


Ferris did not wait for the sun to go down. His fun began two minutes after his rescue from his earlier adventure. He was crazy-happy about the tent! He kept running under the tent, then Maria would go in after him. Inside the tent, Max was laughing as his wild cat ran, then bounced off of the tent walls. Ferris wore himself out so thoroughly that he was panting, like a tired dog.


In this picture I can tell Ferris is not tired yet. Max is the only one who can get away with holding Ferris this way, and when Ferris isn't feeling wild, he submits contentedly to Max's snuggling embrace.


You know it's an easy day, when you find the time to stretch out on the lawn and photograph weeds. I am earnestly trying to learn about aperture and exposure. This one seems to have come out alright, but I have two hundred images that suggest I need to keep working at it.


It turns out that this was the last full day of summer. Sunday morning was nice too, but it got progressively cooler, windier, and then last night it was raining! Makes me glad we all had a day outdoors. Sanka too! She enjoyed her visit to the lawn, the apple slice Maria gave her.


She enjoyed sticking her nose to the ground, finding some good earth to inhale.

Then she overheard us discussing Groundhog Day, our plans for celebrating, the possibility of six more weeks of winter!


She might have been worried about more winter days... but when winter is like this? who can honestly fret?


So, yesterday summer left, again. And now it is cold(er), and gray. Everything is damp.


Okay. About Groundhog Day... the tent is still up, so the boys can sleep out, like they did last year. We have plenty of whole grain pancake mix, so we could whip up some Groundcakes! I think it would be the ideal day to plant our little GIANT Sequoia tree.

We were discussing all the possibilities and my favorite suggestion came from Alex, who said, "We could go Groundhog caroling!" Glorious! I love this idea. And please, if you know any traditional Groundhog carols, or other appropriate ditties, we would very much appreciate knowing about them. Now that summer is over, we are ready to welcome and embrace winter's return!

14 comments:

nikkipolani said...

I'm not sure this is a very nice post for Tracy (Norway) to see.... But I certainly enjoyed seeing Ferris free and frolicking. Love that shot of his arm under the tent.

Whatever you are doing with your camera, whatever you have learned about exposure, however you are getting the images -- I think you're doing a fine job :-) Just keep snapping. What I've learned is that it doesn't matter if you can figure out what went wrong with an image if you can't quickly adjust your camera. With cats (and I'm sure with kids), sometimes there's just no time to get a "good shot" or get "any shot at all."

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

You're right. Tracy, we are sorry. Warm (((hugs!))) Nikkipolani, any photo praise or advice from you is most truly appreciated. I am enjoying learning about aperture and exposure, but I agree with you... there is no chance to tell a kid or cat: "Hold that pose!"

Janece Moment said...

Wow, I'm feeling a little jealousy looking at these pictures. The skies are a featureless flat grey today. I actually don't mind no sun - but I like at least a little texture to the sky. ;)

Thanks for sharing the little piece of sunshine and heaven that lives in your backyard.

As for aperture and exposure... I keep working on those too. I'm told you keep at it and suddenly it "clicks". I'm still waiting for the click but trusting it will happen. In the meantime, thank goodness for digital and the ability to keep trying. :)

Miriam said...

Grass, happy bunnies, beserker kitties, sunshine, flowering weeds, blue sky. That all looks about perfect to me - please send some my way!

ArtyZen said...

Gorgeous! Warming me up nicely here in chilly Andalucia...and your photography is wonderful! Miriam has said it all. Axxxxx

warren said...

I would love to have 6 more weeks of your style winter! Holy cow I am tired of the snow and cold here!

Good that you are celebrating GHD. It's my favorite holiday of all!

judy in ky said...

Wow! January looks very different here. I love to see it looking so warm and green there.

Jennifer said...

Hmmm. Weatherman, by Delbert McClinton, the theme song from the movie Groundhog Day, is the only tune that comes to my mind, but I think the possibilities are wide open for original compositions....

ArtyZen said...

Re-read your post in the light of understanding more about Candlemas and Groundhog day and note your reference to another six weeks of winter! Makes sense now and nice to link to what's happening here too!! Love Axxxx

judy in ky said...

I can't think of any Groundhog Day songs. How about "Muskrat Love"?

Susan said...

Hey, even professional photographers take hundreds of pictures so they pick out the very best ones! I love the close-ups of Sanka. He's so cute with that little sniffy nose!

I really enjoyed seeing your sunny days and the kids' sunny faces.

@Judy--Muskrat Love, hahahahahaha! :)

Susan said...

Oh, BTW, I love your new format! Really makes the photos POP!

Oiyi said...

I am jealous of your January! We have been having snow storm after snow storm. Sigh.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

This morning the outside temperature was 43 degrees, which is not horrible, but Alex did ask,"Don't we have a furnace?!"
When I went outside, I noticed that it felt really warm outdoors, compared with indoors! So, it would seem that in the house we are colder than 43 degrees. Yikes.
Ask my mother, and she will confirm: We need to find our furnace, and turn it on.
Thank you Susan... it was a technical error on my part, but I am warming up to it.