One last NYC picture

There's something about the Essex House that I've always loved. I'm not even sure the significance of it, but I love the way this picture turned out.

Merry Christmas!

This was one of my first pictures taken with my camera after getting it last year. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Wishing I was here...

New York City, at sunset. I can almost smell the hot dogs and roasted nuts.

My Boy

Some of my first few posts were of some of my dogs (yes, I have 6).  This is Bosco, the most spoiled, Momma's baby there is. He's my snuggle buddy.  His ear looks a little matted in this picture... it's just Wally's saliva. He has a thing about hanging from Bosco's ears. Which, if you look at them, they are pretty dangle worthy.

The Land of Chocolate

Arial view of Hershey Park, taken in July of this year. In the background, you can see Hotel Hershey. One of the best vacations ever!

Don't you want to sing Kumbaya?

Obviously taken at Camp Wyldewood and once again fulfilling a camp fantasy that I've always had. The only thing missing was Jason.

Summer Camp

This is the entrance to Camp Wyldewood in Searcy. My daughter attended for the first time this summer and I thought this was such a perfect, movie-like camp scene.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty...

My daughter jokingly struck this pose last night, as we were taking pictures for the Holiday Ball. I love everything about it!

Just another day on the plaza

Another generic picture that I love... everyone going about their day and it was such a great mixture of locals and tourists.

Pretty as a picture

I loved how generic this picture turned out, with the skaters, fall colors and skyscrapers in the background. My husband keeps telling me that I need to put it on iStock.

Twisted

I started out trying to get a shot of all the colors when I noticed this tree. It took everything I had to keep my daughter from climbing (and me too!).

Fall over again

The weather in NYC was very mild, which meant gorgeous fall colors in Central Park.

Proud to be an American

I don't consider myself especially patriotic, but there's so much about New York City that makes me feel so proud and blessed to be an American - between Ellis Island and the stories of immigrants to the site of the World Trade Center, it makes me see the flag so differently.

Liberty Island

Brooklyn Bridge

Quiet Reverence

I'm in NYC this week and have so many pictures to share, but I couldn't wait to post this one from St. Patrick's. It was such a moving experience - this picture literally speaks to my soul.

Teamwork

I caught the perfect moment with this shot at my daughter's basketball game. The ball almost looks photoshopped in.

Follow the bouncing ball

I was feeling a Sixth Sense vibe with this one (red door thing, not dead people), so I used picnik to make a small enhancement.

And for a little animal trivia - did you know sea lions use their whiskers to do this and not their nose?

Hangin' Around

I got some great shots of this little guy swinging and playing on his rope. At one point, he assumed this position and just sort of hung out... like it was the most natural and comfortable thing in the world!

Rich

I am drawing a blank on what this is called, but I'm pretty sure it's not "Hey Mom - look at this colorful Chinese duck thing!"  The colors are amazing though.

Todays color is... RED

As in... the Red Panda. Our weather has gotten gray and dreary again, so I'm going to focus on color for the next few entries. I loved the green of the trees contrasting with his red fur, not to mention that sweet little white face.
I was actually quite proud to spot him. The first thing I noticed in the enclosure was a sign telling visitors to look in the trees for this animal.

The Colors of Fall

We spent the weekend in Memphis and went to the Zoo on Saturday. The trees were so amazingly gorgeous and I couldn't wait to come home to post new pictures.

The good news... I have a lot of new pictures.
The bad news... I have tons of animal pictures again, but I got such good ones!

The Walkway

I use this walkway every day when I go to work. I took this on Thursday, when it was so horribly cold and rainy. I'm not really sure what I was going for, but I ended up liking the dull color with the other colored buildings. I'm hoping this weekend to take some bright, colorful pictures. This drab theme is getting.... well, drab!

I'm bringing Monkey back...

I know, I know... I've really been digging in the past files lately, because I haven't been taking many pictures. I have thought about posting this one for a while now, because I love the look on his face (click on the picture to view it in better detail).

And look at me - pretending I have an actual audience for my blog!

Colors

Things have been dreary around here, so I needed to brighten things up with a little color. This was taken at the LR Zoo.

The Log Cabin

No matter how many times I've been here, I always think it's just a little cool.

In the window, out the window

I thought this ended up looking kind of neat - I took it at Burns Park, standing outside of the log cabin, looking in one window and out the other. Confused yet?

Rain Rain Go Away

With all the rain we've had lately, I felt like we needed something pretty & sunny.  This bridge is by the covered bridge at Burns Park. I had never seen it, but then again, it had been a long time since I'd been that way. I love the sunlight, along with the lily pads in the water.

A Fungus Among Us

Sometimes it's the littlest things that catch my eye. On this day, I was fascinated by this log and the funk that was taking it over. Of course, I had to take a picture.

Lily Pads

It could be just me, but something about the contrast in the dull, muddy water and the bright, vibrant Lily pads appealed to me.  I almost expect to see a fish peeking up from the water.

My daughter liked this one best. She said the reflection of the covered bridge (see yesterday's photos) made it look like the Lily pads were swimming in paint.

Bridges of Madison County... or Pulaski County

Our mission this weekend was to help my daughter with her bug collection, which meant I got to get out and take a lot of pictures. Our first stop was the covered bridge in Burns Park. I used to be so afraid of this bridge. I'm not sure if it was The Legend of Sleepy Hollow association or something else, but now I think it is simply beautiful.

I love the reflection in this shot. It was a great location overall - we found several bugs here!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Why did this picture make the blog when it was taken on an iPhone and it's just some building? Because this is MINUTE MAN! Yes, MINUTE MAN! Apparently the only remaining Minute Man in the state. If that means nothing to you, then I'm sorry. That means you've never experienced the deliciousness that is a #4 with fries.

The "Easter" Lily - or so they'd have you think

I debated whether or not to post this, being that 1) it's Autumn and 2) it's no where close to Easter, but then I figured, since my Easter Lily blooms in June anyway, I don't have to be seasonal.  I like how the white part (aka petals) looks in this picture and how you can see the pollen in detail. Click the picture to enlarge it, so you can see what I'm talking about.

Oh what a beautiful morning!

I didn't have my camera with me today (gasp!), but I had to capture the incredible rainbow we saw when I was taking my daughter to school. This was taken with my iPhone. Every color was perfect, the arch was perfect... it was surreal!

Some days you just want to pull the covers over your head and hide away from the world.

The orangutan from the Little Rock Zoo felt the same way the day I took this.

Moo Moo Mr. Cow (or - Rural Arkansas, part 2)

When I finished my class on Friday, I walked out to my car and saw that behind the building I was teaching in, there were big, green, rolling hills with cows grazing all over.   I have always had an unnatural fascination with cows, so I did what anyone else would do... I drove behind the building and started taking pictures!

I decided it would just be weird to try to hike over to them in my work clothes, so I just used my zoom lens.

Rural Arkansas

I've passed this barn hundreds of times on Hwy 65. There's something about the land and it's location that I've always liked.
(Yes, I did pull my car off on the shoulder of the road to get this picture.)

What is this guy's problem?

Ok, I'll admit that I got this from another blog I read, but it still cracked me up. (You can Kanye any website here.)

I'm traveling today, but I did take time to pull over for a minute to get a picture of a barn I've always liked on Hwy 65 that I'll post tomorrow.

Feeling squirrely?

I will forever be amazed how, when you're in Mexico, iguanas run around like squirrels. And no matter how many I saw, I continued to squeal like a girl each and every time I saw one.  Speaking of girl, does anyone else think this one looks like it's wearing lipstick? (click on the picture to view it up close)

Ok, I actually took this picture at the turtle farm on Grand Cayman, but both times I've been to Cozumel, I saw tons of iguanas... or is the plural iguana?

She Sells Sea Shells

Judging from this picture, you'd think the entire beach was covered in shells, but in actuality, there was a strip right before the water's edge that was full of shells.

Again with the lighting...

We spent Labor Day at the beach, so the next few posts will be beach pictures. I thought about spacing them out, but these pictures are a good reflection of where my mind is right now.

Going out for one final swim, before the sunlight fades. I love how they're almost silhouetted, with the light reflecting on the ocean behind them. 

 

The sun continues to set...

I think this is my favorite - the colors on the water are just beautiful!

It's all about the lighting.

These pictures were taken in the same spot, on the same day - first thing in the morning (well, around 9 am) and then the last thing in the evening.

Solitude

I feel like today's post should be something profound and patriotic, but then again, when am I ever profound and patriotic? I've been sick for 3 days now and this fit my mood.
I took this at the Little Rock Zoo. There were other monkeys around, but this one had climbed up by herself to get some alone time. I think she's just taking it all in.