Day 19: Myself, one year ago.

This project has made me realize that I don't really take pictures of myself. I haven't been able to find pictures of me a year ago. At least not of my face. My daughter took some pictures of me driving from her car seat while we were driving last November. The best thing about them is that they show very different landscape that we used to live in! Trees galore.

Warmer Days Are Here Again, For Now

I know that there will be another cold snap, it's inevitable. I think of March as the coldest month, though it seems in recent years that has not always been the case. We have been having beautiful weather here. On Monday my daughter and I went on two hour-long walks. Tomorrow I have plans to finish off that 36 roll of slide film so I can stop posting these slacker digital pictures. I had a particularly stressful time with these pictures since I was unable to control focus, but I love these ribbons on this tree. I'm assuming they are left over from a wedding, but not positive. The gardeners have left them up for awhile and they were still there on Monday, faded. Perhaps they will still be there tomorrow.

Tonight, my husband is at a UNCG basketball game and my daughter fell asleep early, so unexpectedly I have the house to myself. I'm not sure what to do, I have not been alone at night in a very long time. I feel as though I should be doing something very monumental to maximize this time, but I can't think of anything. So, instead I am watching the Carolina basketball and perusing the internet. Not to bad.

And Suddenly It's Winter

The temperature seemed to drop very quickly. Cold weather seems to have taken over North Carolina. All the leaves are on the ground now, even the deep red ones. It was also freezing cold in Atlanta where we visited for Thanksgiving. Usually, we spend the day after Thanksgiving visiting a museum or local attraction and this year we were planning on the zoo. Unfortunately, the weather did not permit for time outside. It was rainy, cold, and gray, putting everyone into moods to match. Somehow we redeemed the day, but shopping. The thing about the day after Christmas is the crowds seem to subside after noon. We only went to Target, Trader Joe's, and CVS, but it was fun and not as stressful as it may have been three hours earlier.

When we returned to Greensboro on Saturday (after a stop in Charlotte to visit Ikea) I rested for the night so that I could get up the next morning to prepare for second Thanksgiving. It has been a long time since I have not had my sister with me to listen to Alice's Restaurant for our Thanksgiving celebration. It is odd to be the only one to know (relatively, it is a long song) all the words and want to dance around. My grandmother did a good job though and we tried our best to get my daughter to dance, which she did for a bit and then got bored. Afterward, we ate Tofurkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and an apply gingerbread upside down cake. It was a very good second Thanksgiving.

On Sunday after we have recovered from dinner we put up our Christmas tree. Growing up I always had a real tree, but my husband really wanted a tree with light already on it. Putting lights on the tree is not his favorite thing to do and he feels passionate about it so I gave in a few years back. I have to admit it does make the Christmas tree easy and it is so nice when you plug it in and the beautiful light fills the room. It's so nice and suddenly it feels like Christmas in just a matter of minutes, with no struggles over the tree. I have to admit I'm starting to appreciate the artificial tree.

As soon as I have film developed I will post some Christmas-y pictures, but for now enjoy the last memories of fall.

Gone With the Wind

This weekend all the leaves were beautiful and it was sunny, warm, and perfect. We went on a lovely walk and found a new park for my daughter to play. Now, the week has gotten windy and rainy, which causes all the beautiful leaves to fall off.

Yesterday, in the morning a noticed my fig tree was still covered in leaves. When I looked at it again that evening it was completely bare; the wind and rain had taken off every single leaf! I always hate it when this happens and it seems to happen every year. Even though we seem to have lost an inordinate amount of leaves yesterday there are, luckily, many of the leaves have held on. In Greensboro there is a street (West Market) that has a picturesque canopy of trees arching overhead as you drive under. They have all changed colors and it so beautiful. Even on a day like yesterday when you drove under the light was amazing as if filtered through the leaves. Today looks to be shaping up to be better, at least the sky is blue!