Launching another year

Ready or not, we're off and running (or advancing more slowly, depending) into yet another new year. It's been a long time since I got excited about New Year's eve, and this year was no exception. We had a small family gathering at a very low-key Jamaican eatery (darn good food, though) , then grandson Mark came home with Jim and I to spend the night here, as has been our tradition for quite a few years now. The high point of the evening's entertainment was to be Mark and I watching the classic early 50s version of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", a film I remember fondly from my own youth. We got the movie underway, but I fell asleep before the main characters were taken aboard the Nautilus. I don't think it was even 10 PM at that stage. Both Jim and I had some sort of mild illness between Christmas and New Year's, of which one symptom was extreme tiredness. Doubtless that caused my early departure from the company of the still conscious that night--or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. And you know, the new year is still there the next morning whether we are up at midnight to greet it or not.

My main recollections of the past week have been of lounging about reading and avoiding dealing with the chaos in the studio, with daily trips to the barn to ride and/or worship at the shrine of the horse. That aside, not a lot notable to report. I ended up today having a much bigger day than I expected to, one way and another, so really don't have a lot of energy at this point to write a whole lot here, thus on to the photos.

Shot one was taken from the front area of the main barn, shooting in very low light towards the old barn and outdoor paddocks. It has a nice peaceful feel to it, and you would scarcely guess how bitterly cold it was from the photo. I was hoping for some nice sunset shots on the drive home, but I was a bit late getting out of the barn and this was all that was left.

Shot two is one of my first shots of the new year, taken from our front door on New Year's day before sunrise. The little crescent moon was hanging low in the south-eastern sky, and there was a bright planet just in the upper branches of the tree on the right, but I had too big a lens on to be able to fit it in.

Shot three features some of the hardy souls who ventured out to the Ebon Stables skating party on New Year's day. It was in the minus twenties with a stiff wind that put the windchill a lot lower, but the participants (and apparently there were a lot more there earlier) seemed well dressed and cheery and were having a good time. The dugout has been cleared for skating activities, creating a classic prairie winter scene that in truth is seldom seen these days. The non-skaters had a cosy firepit set up with burning logs to keep them warm and scent the air with the smell of woodsmoke. You can see them in the lower right, sitting around the fire in their lawnchairs. I give them all a great deal of credit for hanging in there, as I whipped through very briefly with the camera, said hello to everybody, and headed to the warmth of the barn. It was devilishly cold out there. We do have a former NHL hockey pro as one of the "barn Dads" at Ebon, and I was disappointed not to see him out on the ice. Maybe next year.

Shot four shows one of the air exchangers on the south side of the barn. I had a little chuckle when I looked at it, since it looks so much like a cold little face with an icicle beard.

I haven't done much Photoshop work yet this winter, but shot five shows a piece I came up with after the visit to Solar Gardens a few weeks back. I call this one "Calla's Christmas Visitor", Calla being one of the two large and attractive resident dogs at Solar Gardens.

Finally, here is a link to an interview with me that has just gone live online: http://www.creativity-portal.com/interviews/2011/judy-wood.html on the Creativity Portal website, in case you are interested.