You Are My Mate for Life

My friend Alison loves geese. She has numerous art prints of them hanging in her home. She told me once that she loves them because they mate for life. I thought that her honest enjoyment in them was so special that it engraved in my memory. So, being stuck in my apartment due to a North Carolina snow that shuts down EVERYTHING, I was all about killing the boredom. That usually entails me dragging out my camera and driving my dogs crazy. The first day of the snow was grey, overcast, hazy and just downright dismal. The second day gave me exactly what I wanted: sharp, bright sunshine on crisp snow and brilliant blue skies that remind me of the way ice tastes. The Canada geese that had spent the night sleeping and floating on the pond outside my windows were brave enough to walk fairly close to my patio. I was also trying out a new lens...okay, so it was new to me! I took these fotos and immediately called Alison, so excited I could barely be understood...in fact, I think she asked me to repeat myself about 3 times at least! I really enjoyed the results of this snow-stuck day. And I hope Alison enjoyed them just as much, too.

All The Pieces Together...Form a Family

Family. What does it mean? Is it the people you are related to? Is it the people who take care of you? Family....is the people who love you. This family is creating their own family. They asked me to do their holiday fotos and I was excited about getting to know all of them a little better. Both the girls and the boy are Mom's...but the baby-on-the-way is theirs together. The girls personalities remind me of my sister & I when we were young...just because we were sooooo different! Just the ways they stood together showed their own attitudes. And I had to ask them to stand closer together....I received the typical teenage eye-rolling. Go figure. I loved the fotos with mom & the girls, "The Boys" and the 3 kids together. But, I think my favorites were the ones with Dad & Mom together, arms wrapped around her tummy, cradling the new family member with love's embrace.

Meet Me in St. Louis!

St. Louis. How do I describe a trip that was as fascinating as this one? I stepped off a plane on the day after Christmas, after a 5 hour snow-bound, forced layover in Chicago O'Hare Airport to meet a friend whom I had never met face-to-face. She & I had been friends via email for 3 years...shared family stories, tears and frustrations. We were on our respective cell phones as she told me how to navigate Lambert Airport. I remember walking thru the hallway to leave the airport and screaming into my cell as we both realized that I had found the right exit. She laughed because she said "I know where you are! The guy in front of you just turned around at the same moment I heard you yell!" We hugged and laughed...and so started a really awesome trip. All the places we went to...they didn't cost a thing. The riverfront, the Arch (we did NOT go to the top...it was sold out), Anhueser-Busch Brewery tour, Union Station. We hung out, grilled out, visited the local watering holes, friends came by to meet me because they had all heard about my trip and drove around A LOT! I made new friends, celebrated my birthday and brought in the New Year of 2010 in Fenton, MO. It was a trip that I wouldn't have missed for the world. *Tipping up my glass to all the great friends I now have in STL!*