Go Play Outside

We awoke to fog and dark, dull light -- if it can even be called that -- and procrastinating on Blipfoto seemed the best choice for the first part of the morning. A couple of hours later, the fog disappeared, the now-cerulean sky was accented with interesting white clouds, the bright sunshine picked out every bit of dust in the house, and it was time to take Miss Annie out for her morning constitutional. (I was the designated dog walker, as P was playing pickleball at the YMCA.)

As a transitional activity once I was in suitable apparel for a cold morning walk, I tried shooting a few photos of my reflection in the hall mirror, a new experience for me. It took several shots before I grasped the idea that I had to look at the reflection of the camera's lens in the mirror, not directly into the mirror, but I finally got it right.

Annie and I exited the house, took a few steps, and then I saw another photo possibility, this in honor of chaiselongue, who has shared many beautiful shadow images on Blipfoto. The shadow of our bare beech tree on our neighbor's house does not match the beauty of her Languedocian balconies, but it represents a still-new photo direction for me.

I'm finding that taking my camera along on dog walks vastly increases my pleasure in the experience. It helps that our dog is old and generally slow, so there is plenty of opportunity to look around in an unhurried fashion and take photos. Today's walk up on the undeveloped land behind our neighborhood followed its usual pattern -- Annie sauntering reluctantly behind me on the outbound journey, but once we head for home, scampering and pulling on her leash as if she were 14 months old instead of 14 years. In between, I took a series of one-handed photos, and today's blip was the best of them.

This image is now my computer screen saver, in hopes that seeing it will prompt me to go play outside more often. Quoting drmackem's Dec. 3 journal, which I found inspiring, "When will I learn to embrace the good things enthusiastically?"