• Candid Portraits,  coffee life,  coffee shops,  gratitude,  haiku,  Holidays,  People/Portraits,  writing/reading

    Day of Thanksgiving

    November 24, 2022

    with hands of gratitude
    wrapped around coffee cups
    they share morning time together
    a simple conversation
    sometimes without words 
    on this day of thanksgiving

    ms

    Since Mugs at the Oval was closed today I went to Mugs in Old Town. Streets were busy as they were having a foot race called the Turkey Trot. Being a people watcher I noticed a couple sitting across from me with their coffees. I was taken by their hands. So, I asked for and was given permission to take a couple images of their hands. Thank you, Scott and Michelle, and may you two have a wonderful day and life together!

    I have much to be grateful for in my life. I regularly journal a gratitude list and that is what I will do throughout this day. I find it a great habit and can place me in a better mood when I list what I have rather than what I don’t have (or think I need). I put on a crock pot of andouille sausage and vegetable soup that is good for a cold day as today. Have reached out to family and friends through text messaging and calls letting them know I love them and they are on the lists! The sun came out so I got a walk in and burned some calories. No pie for me this year but an apple fritter made it to my plate.

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  • moon,  Rumi,  shadows,  street photography

    A perfect day for reading

    November 10, 2022
    Full moon at the bus stop on my way to the coffee shop

    “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

    Rumi

    It’s been cold, windy and gusty today. The sun has peaked in and out of a cloudy blue/gray sky. And, when the sun does break through everything lights up, glowing brilliantly. I found it to be a perfect day for reading. I’ve gained enough wisdom to know I’m unable to change the world or the people in it but I’m only able to change how I interact with the world and the people in it, which is far more important. It also follows that when I change, the world is changed in some small way.

    Those who are dealing with the power of Nicole please be safe.

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  • Black and White,  Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits,  quotes,  street photography

    A couple of questions to ponder…

    October 20, 2022
    New York City – 2008

    “I’m a child of God, and being a child of God, I’m essential, and no one has the right to limit, or the power to limit, my ability to be somebody.”

    Ruby Sales

    “What would our world look like if everyone believed and were given the ability to be somebody?” Please spend a bit of time with that question. Which then leads to the next question, “Does our inability to believe we are essential lead us to think of others as inessential and treat them as less than?” I find it important to ask myself those questions and then how do I live the answers to those questions? Sorry but I actually asked three questions. 😁

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  • Documentary/Street,  lifestyles,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    I’m okay with that…

    December 16, 2021
    Ice skating in Old Town

    “To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.”

    William James

    Even at my age and with the knowledge that fears are mostly bogeymen, they still creep in. Some fears seem quite easy to overcome and face while others can paralyze me. I like how James suggests that we be willing to change our belief system. Seems to be a lifelong process of willingness and I’m okay with that.

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  • Black and White,  coffee shops,  Documentary/Street,  Mary Oliver,  poems,  sunrises

    Broken World

    March 23, 2021

    it is a serious thing
    just to be alive
    on this fresh morning
    in this broken world.

    Mary Oliver

    Violence never brings peace nor does it solve problems in our world. It’s insanity when we think fixing a broken world or disturbed mind can be accomplished through violence. It’s insanity when some keep trying it again and again. It’s insanity when we encourage such thinking. It’s insanity when we fail to speak up against it. There is another way.

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  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  sunrises

    Sunrise Outside the Coffee Shop

    March 6, 2021

    Yes, I know, this is a strange image for sure not natural. It’s an image that did not come out the way I wanted so I played around with it in Lightroom, moving the texture, clarity and dehaze sliders to their extreems. At first I thought it could symbolize someone’s view of the world prior to the first cup of coffee. Or, how the world looks for someone whose inability to focus on the morning because they imbibed in one too many scotches, or wines or beers. But, after looking at it for a while it brought flashbacks to some life experiences of mine sometime in 1970 or 1971. 😳 Anyway it’s just a fun image, something I don’t post very often. Have a great weekend 😀

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