For this particular project – geared to photographers and travelers – there is a weekly theme. A few weeks ago, I contributed some photos of DOORS for that week’s theme.  Today’s theme is SKYLINE.  The theme is usually pretty open to interpretation, so you can go the traditional route of cityscapes and twinkly lights or something more natural.  That’s what makes it fun! Here are some of my contributions this week from various travels over the years:

Chicago 2007

San Diego 2009

Juneau, Alaska 2010

Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite 2011

Hashtags are powerful little tools.  They can be quite useful metadata tools, but can be easily manipulated – like so many things on the web – by commercial interests and spambots.  If you do participate in social media circles, however, hashtags are a great way to meet new people with similar interests.  Using #FriFotos are an example again: I share a photograph from this year’s trip to Yosemite National Park.  When I tag it, everyone can see that.  PersonX just got back from Yosemite and has a photo to share that is very similar.  Shared interest and common bond.  Added bonus when I see that PersonX is also into the same kind of music as I am.  New acquaintance and new thread in the web of life – all because of a hashtag.  From there, it can just keep on going.

Another hashtag that I particularly enjoy and participate in each week is the #FridayReads group on Twitter.  While they have been mired in a bit of controversy lately, the fact remains that it is a community of readers who like to talk about books.  Each week, I report which book I am reading and attach the #FridayReads hashtag.  The moderator (@TheBookMaven) calculates how many people participate just for fun, and when you click on the hashtag, you can see what everyone else is reading.  Maybe that book that you have been meaning to pick up? something long forgotten? or an author that you like that has a new piece out?

While the concept sounds so elementary, social media really just comes back to community building and engagement. How do you meet new people? how do you interact? The hashtag for #Socktoberfest on Twitter was really fun this year with several updates and interactions.

As the tweet above suggests, I have been reading up a storm lately… I’m planning a little Reading Year in Review post soon. Stay tuned!

I met up with my friend Isel and we had the best time talking to the farmers and vendors, feeling the yarns, and planning some knits. All the farms represented were Maryland farms, so it was a great way to support these local businesses. We both had a good laugh over the two alpacas with pop culture names: Bad Romance and Hot Toddy. Their owner was telling us that they are just over a year old.  They were communicating with each other with these little hums and grunts.

There are two types of alpacas: the Suri with their silky locks and the Huacaya with the fluffy pillowy hair.  Both are native to the Andrean regions of South America. They are a domesticated camelid, but smaller than the llamas and camels you see – some only about 3-4 feet tall.  Their wild ancestors, the vicunas, still roam in the Andes.  The alpaca was domesticated long ago, with their fiber prized for its silkiness, and hypoallergenic qualities.

Isel dabbles in spinning, so she brought home some roving and some lovely green yarn.  I happened upon some burnt orange yarn that was hard to pass up.  It’ll be perfect for a cardigan…

We had planned this trip for months – it was the first big “together” trip for my family since our family has grown by marriage and babies. Along with my youngest sister Sarah and her husband, Andrew, we decided to visit Yosemite National Park first, and then rendezvous with everyone several days later in Lake Tahoe. Extension to Yosemite was worth every second. As you know, Kris and I love hiking and photography, and Yosemite is a paradise for both.

We stayed outside the southern entrance to the Park; each day we drove in with plans to hike new trails.  We technically hit the Park in its off-season, so the crowds were down.  That was a nice perk on many of the trails and in-roads so we could take our time and stop whenever we pleased.  Kris and I should have made a sticker for the back of our rental car: Vehicle Makes Frequent Stops to Photograph.  Our feet were the best mode of transportation though – with the vast trail system, we were out and about every single day.

We hiked with all of our camera equipment, which made the hike a little heavier, but worth the effort after seeing the processed photos.  Long exposures, HDR, and macro photography – all things that I had the time to play with and the scenes to shoot.  If we had had more time and the appropriate gear, I would have jumped at the chance to do some back country camping and backpacking.  However, this trip focused on the highlights – Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, Mariposa (Giant Sequoia) Grove, the various falls, Tuolumne Meadows, and the glacial lakes.  Maybe next time on the backpacking?

[Full Set of Yosemite Photos on Flickr]

Since we took over 20 gigs of photos in the Park, I have many more to add to this photo set… it takes time to go through them all!  As you can see, we had beautiful weather and clear skies – a perfect combination for memorable hikes and photographs.

The mums were part of their Autumn Colors display and a foretaste of the chrysanthemum spectacular that is still going on now.  Mom and I had a lovely time at the Gardens, and I look forward to seeing this place again – the beauty of the garden is truly in its ever-changing nature from season to season.

Further evidence of fun in PA – a great yarn shop!  Mom and I stopped by Slip Knot in Newtown Square.  Aside from the helpful and friendly staff, this store offered some beautiful yarns.  Two skeins of Madelinetosh Light later… This yarn didn’t linger in the stash for long, because I already started on a project with it! (More details on that to come later)

]]> http://lollygirl.com/blog/2011/10/27/pennd/feed 9 http://lollygirl.com/blog/2011/09/19/mr-jefferson-i-presume http://lollygirl.com/blog/2011/09/19/mr-jefferson-i-presume#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:49:18 +0000 lolly http://lollygirl.com/blog/?p=3525 Living in this area for 14 years, I have compiled a list of top daytrip destinations.  The #1 seed on that list has always been Charlottesville, Virginia, and more particularly, Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello.  It wasn’t until this last month that I was actually able to get to Charlottesville for this special day.  If you know me and have read my blog for any amount of time, you know I what i like:  Plants. Architecture. History. Books. Photographic Opportunities.  Monticello ticks off ALL of those interests in excess.

I was visiting my sister in Richmond and we drove over to Charlottesville for the day.  It was a warm day and only a few days after the weird week that included both an earthquake AND a hurricane in the mid-Atlantic.  In fact, we passed the small town of Mineral, Virginia – the epicenter of the 5.3 quake – on our drive towards Monticello.  I made sure to ask the docent who led our tour about any effects at Monticello.  Surprisingly, there were none!  Such a surprise being so close to the epicenter, where areas in Washington, DC had some medium-grade structural damage…  Good news for this landmark, the only historical houses on the United Nations World Heritage Site list!

The house itself is beautifully preserved with many original furnishings, floorings, and decor, but unfortunately, they are off-limits for photography (there are images on the website if you do want to peek…), so I focused my photography on some of the incredible gardens surrounding the property.

Celosia cristata “Pink Spiked” with Monticello in background

Heirloom okra varietal – probably Hibiscus esculentus

“Joseph’s Coat” Amaranthus tricolor

More Photos from Monticello

The true beauty of the garden/natural travel destinations is that you can go back at a different time in the year and have a completely new experience.  We particularly enjoyed seeing these late summer blooms, but the gardens would be spectacular throughout the year.  The day we went was warm and we didn’t get to venture out onto the trails and as much of the surrounding areas, so I am saving those experiences for my next trip – there will most definitely be one, and I’m not going to let 14 years pass before I go again!

Calder’s Sky Hooks

Smithsonian Castle and Gardens

The atrium of the National Museum of Natural History

Roxy Paine “Graft” – National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

Sol LeWitt “Four-Sided Pyramid” – National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

Blue skies over Washington, DC as Kris and I went to the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival (see photoset) last Friday. En route to the National Mall, we walked through the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden.  I hadn’t been in awhile, so the Paine piece above – installed in late 2009 – was a new sight for me.  It is a scene stealer: we had to wait in line to photograph it.  The sun was capture the glint on the steel just right at that time of day!

The last week of June was our annual trip to the beach.  We read lots of books, rode our bikes for several miles, and played miniature golf (twice in a week – which is more in one week than I have played in two decades…)  We had a nice time with the family and enjoyed the lazy days and sunny weather.

After the time away, today is the day back to our routine. Kris went back to work, and I went back to tracking the job boards. I remain optimistic that the right opportunity is out there; this experience is constantly teaching me patience.  In the meantime, I am using my time to be and explore.  The creativity is flowing and good things are on the horizon.

Project Spectrum’s focus shifts to GREEN this June – and what a perfect time to do so.  Over the weekend, I went through some of my photographs from last year’s trip to Alaska.  We took over 1500 photographs while we were there, but only uploaded a handful to Flickr… Alaska offered some amazingly beautiful green scenery, but chances are that you have some amazing greens right outside your door as well!

I will admit that the GREEN themed month is usually my favorite month – it is the easiest for me because for me, “green” is a personal philosophy as much as it is a color in the spectrum.  My friend Andrea recently posed the question on the Ravelry Project Spectrum board about the love of green and the love of nature:  does one love the color green because of nature or vice versa? It was a simple answer for me – my love of nature is first, and nature really does encompass the whole spectrum of colors, although green does play a very dominant role.  I have a feeling that if trees were pink, I would feel the very same way…

Take this photo challenge:  capture some of the greens in your neighborhood, your backyard or the park down the street.  Let me see some of your local green nature!  Link back to this post so I can see them all!

Looking for some green inspiration?  Check out these links:

• Project Spectrum’s Tumblr Page
• Green Gala – curated green gallery on Pinterest
• Flickr’s Green Is Beautiful set
• Myoung Ho Lee’s Tree Series – a photographic installation of trees in various natural scenes – lovely aesthetic

My sister and brother-in-law were great hosts, and little V needed no warm-up time – she hugged me and kissed me right when I walked in to her nursery!  Maryn had some great activities planned while I was there – a farm / farmer’s market, bike rides, walks, game nights… it was the perfect mix of seeing the beautiful area and just really getting some great time with my loved ones. (Being four months pregnant doesn’t slow down my sister one bit!)

“The Farm” – a petting zoo / market / working farm in Salinas.  Maryn and V talking to the goat

We drove down to Point Lobos State Reserve in Carmel and hiked to the lookout spots of the Pacific.  It was a great spot for an afternoon stroll.  We saw some seals, went through a cypress grove.  V was all set up in her stroller and she enjoyed the ride:

Maryn arranged for me to use her neighbor’s bike and helmet, so we rode all around Monterey and Pacific Grove with Baby V in tow.  This was a real highlight of the trip – I love bicycling, and we were able to stop off and explore wherever we wanted to.

I could talk about each day at length and all of the things that we did and explored, but I have to end with our short trip up to Santa Cruz to the redwood forest.  My brother-in-law found some tickets Roaring Camp, which offers a  train ride through the redwoods.  We packed up and headed north around Monterey Bay.  The site was so cute – perfect for outdoor events.  The train leaves from the main part of the camp and travels up the mountain through the forest.  It was an amazing trip.  V was a bit scared of the loud steam engine, but she got used to it and settled in for the ride.

Me, V (in the Owlet sweater I made last fall!) and Maryn at the top of the mountain – thanks for Daniel for snapping this pic – one of my absolute faves from the trip.

It was hard to say goodbye to California and my great family – but it was a little easier knowing that I will see them here next month!

Thank you!

This week, I will be living it up on the Central California Coast
…and most importantly, enjoying my time with these loved ones…

(my sister and niece, Baby V!)

I will be tweeting (surprise!) the trip and the places we go, so if you want to keep up with our adventures, follow me there!