Weekly Photo Challenge: Layers

Commonly the word layers is associated with layers of rocks or bricks, layers of sweet tasty cake, or layers of clothes – especially now when cold days are on our horizon. However, there are several meanings of this word. Here is one of them: layer – “a hen kept for egg production.”

Here are my photos of “layers of layers” traveling or rather being transported to their new destination – perhaps to lay more eggs or…perhaps not.

During one of my visits in Amsterdam (several years ago) I was stunned and mesmerized by colorful layers of bicycles waiting patiently for their riders in specially designated places – right in the heart of that big European city.

Many European cities are bicycle-friendly. Amsterdam is in fact super friendly. Consequently, the Dutch can eat their layered cakes without feeling guilty or fearful of gaining weight. Our cities should be full of bicycle-envy and follow Amsterdam’s path.

 

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit

There is a natural readiness in us to label our habits as bad or good ones. They are also difficult to photograph. For instance, my good habit of religiously wearing a seatbelt while driving is not very photogenic, nor is my bad habit of misplacing sunglasses and frantically searching for them – a few moments before leaving home.

My custom of drinking wine on the patio at sunset I consider a very pleasant and definitely photogenic habit.

Ever since we built our large, sunny patio that connects and embraces the house, my studio and a beautiful mesquite tree, we have had the custom, an end-of-the-day routine, to sit on the patio and enjoy the last warm rays of sun. The fact that the sun goes down right behind my studio is a nice coincidence for me. I welcome that soft announcement of the end of the day and, perhaps, the end of my work…. A glass of wine is a must!

I offer a toast to the gentle, late warmth of Tucson’s sun, since most of the day that very same sun is hot and harsh – even in the middle of November.

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: Horizon

This photo challenge arrived at a perfect moment for me. Being absent for three months from these pages, I was having a hard time to get back to them. Why? Many doubts, many worries, lack of time. So I welcomed “the horizon challenge” photographically and, even more so, metaphorically.

The boundary between earth and sky, as the horizon is usually defined, is easy to visualize. The synonyms of horizon – range, perspective, limit, scope, reach – are also familiar. My favorite is “a field of vision.”

Here is a photo that I took this past September while visiting Cape Cod.

The minute I noticed these birds’ synchronized sitting, I knew that I had to capture the moment! I was afraid that they would fly away the minute I touched my camera. This time I was lucky – they did not! I was even able to take a couple more pictures of them.

The field of vision differs greatly for each bird. For this one, it is a dark field.

And for this bird, it is a very bright field – almost blinding.

The same horizon, different fields of vision! This is also how we, people, perceive our horizons, our vistas, or our dreams…very differently!

The darkness arriving with the night or heavy dark clouds covering the sky affect greatly our visions, our perspectives. And that’s what has happened to me recently. The huge dark cloud of grief and disappointment engulfed me and blocked my vista.

For birds dark clouds will be blown away by strong winds. For us, people, that seldom happens. So I know that it is I who has to move that dark cloud away– inch by inch– till the horizon appears again, clear and crisp….

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: Masterpiece

This masterpiece was created by ocean waves challenging the sand and weeds on the beach. I was enchanted by such “paintings” during my walks on Solana Beach, California, this past June.

And here is another one!  The sand of Solana Beach is characteristically gray in comparison to the light beige of other sands I know on Cape Cod and Florida. It is that wide range of grayness that makes these images from Solana Beach so strong and unique. Their beauty and temporariness evoked my desire to make them a bit more permanent – with my photographic lens.

Children love to play with sand on the beach, regardless what are the circumstances. I took this photo a few years ago while watching a formal wedding ceremony on Silver Beach (Cape Cod). This little Flower Girl just had to play with sand the minute her work of throwing petals was done!

Children seem to recognize instinctively the hidden beauty of seemingly ordinary things. Fortunately some adults do too.”Every grain of sand is a jewel waiting to be discovered,” according to Dr. Gary Greenberg of Hawaii who combines his knowledge of science and art of photography with amazing results. Thanks to my friend Valerie, who introduced me to Greenberg’s photography, I can share it with you.

See awesome masterpieces of nature under our feet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2_eKX9iVME

http://www.sandgrains.com/

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Golden Hour

The “golden hour” – a relatively short time when the day meets the night or when the night meets the day. A truly magical moment filled with a soft sunlight and its gentle power of evoking tranquility and stillness. That special energy negates the turbulence of the day or restlessness of the night.

Those are some golden moments I captured last year on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

This post will be published late in a “wee hour” of the night rather than a golden one. I think it is better late than not at all.

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: Companionable

I hesitate greatly to reveal my secrets, but this weekly photo challenge calls for it … so here you have it – my favorite companionable friend is… my shadow! By stating this I might upset some of my dear “flesh and blood” friends, but yes – I truly like my shadow and enjoy its companionship a lot! We walk and hike together; we sit together and think about thousands of issues and wonders of the world.

My shadow is very patient and flexible – never complains or argues. It follows me everywhere, disappears tactfully when I go to sleep, and is ready to go at weird hours in the morning. What a great companion in the very late hours of the night since it is never tired! Youthful, reliable, and very loyal. This is truly one of my best “for better, for worse… till death do us part” relationships!

Shadow on the patio

Shadow on the deck

And here is another secret of mine. I learned to pay attention to my shadow many years ago and I learned it from my 4 year-old (at that time) son Leo (not his real name but an astrological one for my writings). I do remember that day so well, as if time had not passed at all since then!

It was the quiet morning of a sunny spring day on Cape Cod. My toddler Leo was playing outside all by himself; his older brother was in school already, and no other friends of Leo were around. Being a bit concerned, I walked outside and asked, “You don’t have any friends to play with today, Leo – aren’t you feeling lonely?” “Oh no, Mommy,” he responded, “I am playing with my shadow!”

What a terrific concept! I was stunned and deeply touched, my eyes became misty.

From that day my shadow and I started a good friendship as well. That relationship became even more significant when I began my photographic endeavors. In fact, after several years, I honored my shadow by making it the trademark of my photography. Some of you who have read my blog for a while might have noticed that already, especially since my shadow is placed in the header of this blog.

My shadow – my trademark

I love to travel in summer, and so does my shadow. Every year in June Tucson is under a strong and very uncomfortable spell of heat. What a pity! June is a lovely month elsewhere. So I followed the call of the ocean as indicated in the previous post: https://alicjamann.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/weekly-photo-challenge-curves/

This time an attempt to escape the heat took us, for a short time, to the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California. Del Mar was the destination, but Solana Beach became my favorite spot.

Entry to Solana Beach

Solana Beach

On that line

What a treat it was – I wish everybody who needs a small break could have it!

My shadow and I took late afternoon walks on the beach (usually empty at that time) following that line where the hard wet sand and the water touch each other in the rhythm of the ocean waves.

I love dancing, and I never had a better dance partner than my shadow. The day before returning home, we made a perfectly synchronized dance in honor of the monsoon which was supposed to arrive in Tucson any day.

The dance was effective – there was some rain in Tucson upon our return, but it did not last long. Perhaps the dance was too short. Perhaps we will have to repeat it over here in the desert. Perhaps more people should dance to bring down the rain – just like Native Americans do. I wrote about that in my post: https://alicjamann.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/monsoon-report-from-the-patio/

Have a nice Independence Day holiday!

Please do some dancing for rain or for sunshine… or for whatever you wish the dance will bring.

Alicja

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

Fun with curves! That is what this photo challenge is about. After all, there are curves around us in great abundance, probably more so than straight lines.

Curves are sexy, mysterious, how can we not love them? There is a softness and charm in curves. Like the charm of a curving road and the gentle wave of the mountains in the picture below that I took a couple of months ago while driving from Amado to Tucson – a place not very far from the border with Mexico.

Thinking about this photo challenge last night, I decided to focus on curves that are around us in our home. Well, there is a good reason for it – it is very hot in Tucson lately and not much fun to be outdoors – we are still waiting for the monsoon to arrive….

So I took some photos to honor the curves that are often unnoticed and taken for granted in our busy life, yet they define the charm of that daily life. Here are just a few of them:

Fuzzy Curves

Stacked Up Curves

Great Companion

Light in the Hallway

Sea Shell

The shell in the last photo is a small treasure connected to my writing life. It sits patiently on the bookshelf most of the year, but in summertime (and it is summer here!) in the evening when the house is calm, I can hear it whisper – “Go to the ocean, go to the ocean….”

I might just do that…

Alicja

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting

OK, fleeting, passing swiftly, not lasting…. The clouds on our famously characteristic blue Tucson sky are seldom present and are very welcomed but…fleeting.

Pink and fluffy clouds

At dusk

Brief shower

Gathering for the monsoon

Clouds bring the promise of rain so badly needed in this part of the country, especially now when temperatures are repeatedly 105 F daily, and the official beginning of summer is still 10 days away. They come and go and often nothing happens – till the monsoon arrives. Oh, and then what a relief! These heavy rains are worth waiting for, and they are celebrated with joy! So far we are waiting, we are waiting….

I wrote a special post about the monsoon – please check it out. Here is the link:

https://alicjamann.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/monsoon-report-from-the-patio/

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Sign Says

Signs are all around us – warning, informing, communicating, decorating, and often irritating. They seem to be more visible when we travel by car.

I looked through some of my travel photos and made a choice of just a few, but with signs that differ greatly.   

This huge rooster is welcoming visitors to the small village of Hatch (population less than 2000) in New Mexico, located 40 miles north of Las Cruces. This village is proud of its bountiful chile crops and the annual event – The Hatch Chile Festival. The village is known as the chile capitol of the world!

Warm hospitality is part of the charm of Hatch and will stay in my memory as strongly pronounced Americana sprinkled with the chilli powders that I purchased there.

While Hatch is a small village and there are so many small villages worth visiting, I had no idea that it is possible to have an official town of population 1… till we stumbled upon Lost Springs while driving along highway 20 West in Wyoming. So there it was – a green official highway sign stating just that: POP1.

I took this photo in 2010, not being aware that Lost Springs had a lot of media attention due to its demographic uniqueness at that time. Today, I learned, Lost Springs lost considerably its attraction since its population grew to 4 in 2011. Oh well… some gains and some losses.

This Sherwin-Williams Paint truck took my attention immediately. The Cover the Earth slogan reminded me of a political joke from the Cold War times when the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States also generated a strong competition in the exploration of space. Although in reality the Soviets did not land on the moon, for the sake of this joke they are placed there together with the Americans.

The Joke

Two teams of astronauts, one from the Soviet Union and one from the United States, were sent to the moon. After their landing, the Soviets immediately started to paint the surface of the moon with red paint – the color of their flag and symbol of Communism. Concerned, the Americans called Mission Control and reported that. They were advised to ignore the Soviets’ action.

When half of the moon was covered with red paint, the Americans called Earth again asking, “What shall we do?” The answer was, “Wait and do not worry!” So they did.

After a while, the American team called Earth again – this time with great urgency. “Look, the Soviets have already covered most of the moon with their paint – the whole world will see the moon in red!  What shall we do?! “

Mission Control now gave them an order, “Wait till the Soviets have covered the entire moon with red and then paint in huge white letters Coca Cola.”

The End 🙂

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

* * *

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: In the Background

In the Sparkling Background

* * *

“In the Background” – an interesting challenge! I think that at least one of my past entries of the Weekly Photo Challenges—titled “Beyond”—relates to this challenge as well.

https://alicjamann.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/weekly-photo-challenge-beyond/

Let me know what you think about it.

* * *

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to it. Thank you!

* * *

Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann