MUSICALLY INCLINED, 31/365

Our favorite guitarist joins her pals, The Woodstove Flapjacks, onstage at their CD release party. Who knew those years of dusting the mostly unused piano and insisting on flute practice before going to the mall would produce a young woman who is "Musically Inclined," Theme #193.

9 a.m., 30/365

The weather earlier in the week forced a reschedule of a job interview. Today brought a gloriously sunny but still ice covered morning. I allowed extra time to get to my 9:30 appointment, arrived early and was able to explore the nearby countryside . The sun through the icy trees was brilliant around 9 a.m., Theme #2.

LOOKING DOWN, 29/365

Filled the feeder, placed my camera on the tripod, sat near an open window until my fingers were numb while I watched the birds and the squirrels come and go. Turns out the photo was below the feeder. An icy, snow covered tail there with the icicles. I should have been "Looking Down," Theme #177.

TRIO, 28/365

Yesterday's four inches of snow-turned-into-last-night's-half-inch-of-ice-turned-into-today's-five-more-inches-of-snow. In the early hours of the morning I could hear the dear crashing through the frozen woods and the ice breaking as they crossed the small creek. They must have given up the risky creekway because this Trio, Theme #339, was spotted casually strolling along the railroad corridor late in the day.

FRUITS OF THE SEASON, 27/365

No, it's not my lunch. I'm strictly a meatasaurus. Well, to be honest, I did suck the chocolate off the almonds before I threw them in the bowl. This is a little high energy bird attractor I've mixed up for the feeder. Grapes, bananas, dried cherries, blueberries, peanuts, almonds, dried cranberries. A little (not the recalled brand) peanut butter.

It's my snowy-winter-weather-you-birds-need-a-boost-and-I-want-some-pictures mix. Here in the depths of winter this will bring up the colorful winter feeders from the woods...cardinals, the titmouse, bluejays, juncos, woodpeckers. I like to think of it as the "Fruits of the Season," Theme #114.

ANTIQUE, 26/365

At the top of the curvy hill, right on the last bend in the road, is one of my favorite places. On autumn weekends the place is crawling with urbanites who've ventured out for a rural experience with the hope of scoring a treasure here at the trading post/antique store.

Antique, Theme #12

CURVY, 25/365

A couple of inches of snow can bring life to a crawl here. It really cracked me up when I first moved from an area where snowy winters are expected--and then I get back on these rural roads, in the nooks and crannies, up on the hills and deep down in the gorge areas and I realize why what I consider a dust of snow is enough to close the county.

It's steep and "Curvy" out there, Theme #72

LOCAL LANDMARK, 24/365

The Murphy Theater. Built in 1918 by Charles Murphy, then owner of the Chicago Cubs. Apparently Mr. Murphy desired a memorial to himself in his hometown. These days it's been restored and is used for concerts, holiday shows and other local features.

With it's bright lights, big city feel the Murphy is a Local Landmark, Theme #174

SUNRISE, SUNSET..., 23/365

Winter returned today. Cold temperatures, snow flurries and dreary gray skies ruled much of the day. The sun broke through the clouds as we headed home late this afternoon. Thankfully Mr. L. is pretty game about chasing the light and shadows with me these days so he didn't skip a beat when I hopped out of the truck in the final moments before the sun disappeared.

"Sunrise, sunset," Theme #311

CIRCLE, 22/365

Looks like some far away galaxy but it's just the ice on our little water garden. The circles are caused by the moving water of the recirculating pump down below. Even yesterday's little blast of warmth was not enough to thaw this one.
"Circle," Theme #50

ABANDONED, 21/365

I remember watching last spring as this nest was being built. And then early in the summer, watching the baby birds make their first flights.

Being empty nesters in the truest sense of the word, the parent birds have moved on.

At least somebody got out of here for the winter.

This little summer home is "Abandoned," Theme #5

RED, 20/365

I think I know why my first inclination is to take my camera out of the house to get a picture. It's easier. Really it is. Indoor lighting, shadows, cluttered counters...all of these things work against me in the house.

I liked the REDness of the apples I was peeling tonight. Their brilliant REDness was a noticeably cheerful point of color in a winter filled with day after day of endless gray.

Indoor shots are difficult for me because I'm essentially a lazy photographer. My usual mode is see it, like it, shoot it. Planning doesn't usually enter into the equation so deliberately attempting to capture the REDness of the apples was a stretch for me. I'll continue to practice this skill.

Maybe I'll try a shot of the apple pie when it comes out of the oven.

For now, though, I want to end the day with some color. I'm tired of the shades of gray that have been this winter, tonight is "RED," Theme #255.

FENCES, 19/365

Having found companions who seemed to share my disgust with the weather, I lingered at the pasture. Sun, snow, sun, snow...the day just couldn't decide. Bringing home a collection of mostly bleah shots was a little disappointing but I liked the way the fence row seemed to come out of nowhere across the back of this photo.

This weather has me feeling fenced in so I'll go with that thought and post this one under "Fences," Theme #98.

HOW ABOUT THIS WEATHER, 18/365

One of those snowy, sunny, shiny, dull, all in one kind of days. Mother Nature is apparently feeling undecided today. We had a thick frost and the first hint of sun coming across it was enough to beckon me and my camera. Being a fickle temptress, though, Mother Nature reverted from beauty to beast in short order. As the clouds eclipsed the sun once again, this horse seemed to share my 'what the heck' response.

This sparkly-frost-covered-turned-dismally-snowy-scene asks our question, "How about this weather," theme #153.

OUT TO LUNCH, 17/365

Even an offer of lunch in town couldn't entice me to leave the house today. Too cold. But this crow didn't feel the same. Some discards from our refrigerator were enough to lure him "Out to Lunch," Theme #218

DRIVE THRU OR TAKE OUT, 16/365

Buckley Bros. Drive Thru Barn. My favorite stop for birdseed, shelled corn and peanuts. It's a model of efficiency. A one stop shopping trip to feed everything on the farm. Except people. You can feed your cow, your pig, your duck, your horse, your chickens and your llama at Buckley's.

But don't come hungry yourself. Unless you like kibble.

Buckley Brothers Drive Thru Barn is my pick for Theme #80, "Drive Thru or Take Out."

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE, 15/365

I expect to see a lot of this theme today. Overall, we're lucky here in southwest Ohio. At -8 we are by no means as cold as many places reported on TV this morning. Our hometown in Indiana showed -18 at daybreak.

We are thankful for the safe warmth inside today because "Baby It's Cold Outside," Theme #18.

REPEATING PATTERNS, 14/365

I liked the look of these lights in tonight's snow. It was too cold, though, to dig through the back of the truck for the tripod so I perched the camera on the edge of the open window.

With the paned glass showing from two sides, this goes in "Repeating Patterns," Theme #259.

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?, 13/365

Supper tonight in our house. Used the leftover ham for ham & beans with cornbread. Still in the recovery process from cancer treatment, Mr. Lorri was more inclined towards strained chicken soup.

But, being a patient and tolerant soul, he insisted I go ahead with supper as planned.

And, yes, I do know what a good guy he is and how blessed I am.

This is "What's for dinner?" at our house tonight, Theme #357.

ON THE ROAD, 12/365

I love these signs.

Why 5 1/2 MPH? Why not 5 or 10? Even 6 MPH?

And the speed bump? I peered over the front of our truck. Got out of the truck, drug my foot back and forth across the white line on the road. AHA! There is a bump under there. I can feel it now. More white line, than bump, but it's there.


Someone either has a great sense of humor or takes themselves way too seriously. Either way, I love it.

Speed bumps and road signs come in tonight under "On the Road," Theme #208.

OOPS, 11/365

Sometimes I have brilliant ideas. This wasn't one of those times. It wasn't really even a case of a dumb idea masked as brilliance. Pure laziness. I didn't want to dig through the stack to pull out a baking sheet. So I convinced myself (that part was actually quite easy; I'm very impressionable) the bread would bake just fine on the wire cooling rack. Better even than a baking sheet.

It baked to the wire rack. Right down and around those little wires like a tree growing with a rope tied around it. I actually inverted the rack (and attached loaf of bread) for the photo. If I had a spare hand I would have shown the nifty way you can hold the wire rack in the air with the loaf of bread securely attached below it.

Normally my kitchen faux pas are a tightly held secret. But in the interest of making it easier for cooks everywhere to come out of the pantry and admit the souffle that fell, the popovers that didn't pop and the doughnuts that had to be passed off as bagels, I am going public with this one.

Today's photo offering has been upgraded from "Baked Goods" to "Oops!" Theme #211.

A PAIR OF..., 10/365

...turtles.

On a far away island of Salamasond

Yertle the turtle was king of the pond

A nice little pond it was clean it was neat

The water was warm There was plenty to eat

Until one day, the king of them all

Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small

I’m a ruler of all that I see

But I don’t see enough and that’s the trouble with me

With this stone for a throne I am too low down

I cannot look down upon the places beyond

So Yertle the turtle king lifted his hand

And he ordered all the turtles onto one another’s back

He piled them high into a ten turtle stack

I’m Yertle the turtle the things I now rule

I’m king of a cow I’m king of a mule

Then down from below in the great turtle stack

Came a burp from a plain little turtle named Mack...

--courtesy of The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dr. Seuss

After years of oppression Mack finally gets his chance to be top turtle. Mack and his pal strike a pose for Theme #4, "A Pair of...,"

BARREN, 9/365

I'm not normally a fan of blah winter days, but sometimes
one comes along and really matches my mood for the day.

A leafless tree on a foggy winter day.




Barren, Theme #22

TRAVELS, 8/365

We typically leave our nativity scene out until after January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. The magi are set up at a distance from the nativity scene and are brought forward to join the animals and shepherd on January 6.

Our neighbors gave us this particular set as a gift many years ago and it's the only full set we kept when we downsized our life in a move last year. I loved remembering those neighbors when I unpacked it this year in our new location.

Today as I was preparing to pack it away for another year, I was thinking about the miles it represents--Joseph and Mary's travel to Bethlehem, shepherds walking miles through the night, magi following a distant star and the connection of a decades old friendship which traveled miles with us to our new home in another state.

This one goes under Travels, Theme #337

CROSSROADS, 7/365

I am directionally challenged. I understand right and left. As a newcomer to the area, the first two or twenty times I came to this crossroads I would second guess myself and go in the wrong direction every time. It's a good thing the town is only a few blocks long in any direction or who knows how long I might have been lost.

This crossroads became the definition of how I felt about relocating at this stage in my life. Where am I? And where am I going now?

Taking the shot at night with a flash had the pleasant result of knocking out the unappealing background objects.

Although there are several possible themes for this shot I'm filing it under "Crossroads," Theme #69 .

SNOW OR ICE, 6/365

Someday I'll show this photo to my grandchildren and tell them about the winter it was so cold that the last hummingbird froze right to the feeder and cracked into tiny pieces.

Since I don't see "Tall Tales" on the theme list, this frozen feeder goes down in history as SNOW OR ICE, Theme #292

***No Actual Hummingbirds Were Harmed in the Creation of this Image***

NOT YOUR MOTHER TONGUE, 5/365

I think I could have used a crash course in local speak when I moved to southwest Ohio last year. There are certain phrases that simply stumped me.

Finding the grocery store that's "a fair piece up the road," for instance. Try plugging those directions into Map Quest.

It wasn't just a language barrier. Berlitz should think about tweaking their cross cultural training program to include regional US behaviors. Maybe offer Berlitz for Localisms. It might explain some Cincinnati-isms to me. Goetta, flying pigs, Cincinnati style chili--it's served on spaghetti, for gosh sakes!

The Berlitz sign covers #201 on the theme list, Not Your Mother Tongue.

NUMBERS, 4/365

Wandering downtown Cincinnati and saw these street numbers on the corner of a building. I liked the look of the numbers just hanging out off the edge of the building.

And we have a daughter turning 30 later this year so I've been gathering images of "30" for a card for her.

Turns out it works for one of the 365 themes too.

Numbers, Theme #203

Law Enforcement, 3/365

When I first saw them, the officer was leading his horse down the sidewalk. The two of them just leisurely strolling. A couple of blocks later I encountered them again, this time with the officer riding. It's not often I see a horse and rider meandering along on a sidewalk downtown.

Puts a whole new spin on window shopping, doesn't it?

This image of sidewalk safety comes in on our theme list under Law Enforcement, Theme #168

BEVERAGE of CHOICE, 2/365

What we keep "on tap" around here. Straight up or on the rocks; it's my Beverage of Choice, Theme #25

EMPTY, 1/365

Fixed some bread and cheese for supper and realized my favorite dipping oil is
EMPTY, Theme #84