Weekly Photo Challenge: From Above

This is a relatively easy challenge to photograph from above, and a pleasant task indeed! It leads naturally to taking pictures of plants and interesting food dishes, as well as clouds and the ground from airplanes or high, elevated areas. The results are more predictable, perhaps, than the photos of the previous challenge “Up”, but very enjoyable.

Spring has arrived by now in most of the States, and many of us are involved in gardening. This small rhubarb was embraced by my pink garden shoes while I was taking this photo. The dark, rich soil is characteristic of gardens in New England. I took this photo a year ago while visiting our place on Cape Cod. This fleshy plant grows well over there, but it is not at all suitable for our Tucson’s dry land.

Southwest plants are not very huggable, yet they are beautiful and amazingly capable to strive in poor soil conditions. I adore them for their “spikiness” that represents their feistiness and strength.

Oleanders are grown in many areas of this country and are popular in the Southwest, as well. These decorative plants are easier to approach since they are relatively soft and not thorny. There is some danger of being poisoned by them, and that’s why they are not always welcome in private yards. Personally, I love them in any color— from red and hot pink to pale pink and white.

This photo I dedicate mostly to men who love to tinker in their garages and other spaces cluttered with tools, pipes and cords. One can find beauty in any place!

Here are my two FOOD photos – a very healthy pizza followed by my favorite dish of scallops.

This small baby pomegranate, which I named Weston, is a very promising little tree, especially after being transplanted into the ground. Soon it will be covered with many flowers like this one and, hopefully, produce fruit that is known for being handsome and healthy.

This very simple and elegant rose is a new addition to our patio. I have chosen it to celebrate the coming Mother’s Day. This rose is delicate and tender, yet very strong and resilient – just like mothers are.

Have a great and affectionate Mother’s Day!

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Last year at this time, I wrote a post titled Mother’s Day Reflections:  https://alicjamann.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/mothers-day-reflections/

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Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

Weekly Photo Challenge: Lost in the Details

I have been so lost in time lately, absorbed by the detailed work of finishing an important publishing project, that I almost missed today’s deadline for this photo challenge (by Word Press). Actually I found the title and description of the challenge a bit confusing and decided to interpret it as Lost and Found in the Details.

Here is how I see it:

Silver Beach, Cape Cod

Walking on this familiar beach after the high tide you can see the dark clumps of seaweed on its sand. They are not very attractive and soon will be removed to make the beach more pleasant for visitors. Those clumps are not attractive at first, but there is some beauty in them that I tried to capture it in this photo.

Sea Offerings

The seaweed entangled with the shells, the color, the texture, and the feeling of some mystery attracted me enough that this photo, in a large format, hangs in my studio as a reminder of my visits with the ocean.

Charm of New Orleans

The minute I walked into the New Orleans streets, I was charmed by that city’s ambiance and its characteristic architecture with the decorative iron work. The detail of that ornamental work represents for me the essence of that New Orleans charm – visually.

Detail of the ornamental iron work

The above examples of details were sought by me intentionally, but sometimes one can stumble on such detail accidentally. That was the case with a photograph I took in my native Warsaw (Poland) a few years ago. I was attracted to the balcony full of flowers on Nowy Swiat (New World) street and only much later discovered the very attractive decorative details of the building on both sides of the balcony.

Warsaw balcony and flowers

It is so nice to have flowers around us in many forms – they bring smiles to our lives.

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Text and photos copyright © 2013 by Alicja Mann

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Delicate

Delicate – delicate fabric, delicate flower, delicate touch, delicate feelings….

Delicate is not robust, but sensitive, tender, and can be easily damaged. Yet delicate butterflies are strong enough to travel miles and miles to their destination point.

Delicate is vulnerable and fragile. The joyful side of delicateness is its delight. But it also can have a whisper of darkness – a fear of destruction and even death.

The flames of the candles that I arranged on my studio table are delicate and can be extinguished easily with a whisper of the wind—just like the lives of 20 children were extinguished with the deadly power of the gun in their school last Friday. Seven lives of adults where destroyed as easily. The fragility of life is no match for the power of a gun.

Tears like drops of water are delicate, but hold the vision of a powerful river if in numbers.

Let our tears fall, again and again, not into the pool of forgetfulness and acceptance but into the river of change. Let them unite us in a powerful movement with determination to change.

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Please take action at these links:

http://www.demandaplan.org/stories

Share your personal message of condolence with the families of Newtown, Connecticut.

You might want to read my earlier posts:

Violent Imagery Shapes Our Reality

https://alicjamann.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/violent-imagery-shapes-our-reality/

American Tragedy in Tucson

https://alicjamann.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/american-tragedy-in-tucson/

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Text and photos copyright © 2012 by Alicja Mann.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons

I was born and grew up in a country that has been celebrating the four seasons for centuries! Spring was always beautiful with little flowers peeking from under the snow, and so was autumn with nostalgia of the falling leaves in Warsaw. Majestic winter, generously spreading its white fluffy blanket, could beautify anything. But my favorite season was summer! It represented freedom from school and a lot of fun with friends on the Baltic shore. The warmth of the sun was unforgettable.

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My life in this country started on Cape Cod where I settled for “quite a while” raising my two sons and working professionally. All four seasons marked the rhythm of our life there. Again, summer was my favorite and compensated for the grayness of winter.

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It was on the Cape that I defined the color of my parachute. And that is how I landed in Tucson, Arizona, a place where summer never ends…well, almost never. Actually, there are some changes of season here in Tucson. And that is the point of this photo essay.

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Southwest plants are blooming all year round – just different ones in different (calendar) seasons. With the flowers, the blue sky, and the warmth of the sun, every day seems like a summer day.

 After the hottest days of June the monsoon season is greatly anticipated. Dark clouds signal its arrival. The heavy, warm rains are welcomed and celebrated.

Even in December the patio plants look as if it were summer.

I know it is winter when our neighbor, Joe, decorates his orange tree with large, colorful lights to celebrate the Holidays and keep the tree warm at night. That is the sign for me to be ready to cover our plants to protect them from the occasional touch of frost. It also is the time to hang the Holiday wreath and acknowledge the arrival of winter.

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Text and photos copyright © 2012 by Alicja Mann.

Happy Name Day!

It is very seldom that something nice comes “out of the blue” for me, but this time it did happen! And the timing could not have been more perfect. I was not in the greatest of moods. It was very hot in Tucson, and my name day (which is the day this post is being published) did not look very promising. If you wonder what a name day is, please see an explanation at the bottom of this post*.

My name day was coming within hours when I got a terrific e-mail from my friend Connie, who got it from someone else. She forwarded to me a collection of music to share. It made my day! I shortened the list to focus on well known musicians and music groups.

For me it was a gift of music instead of flowers for my day. I want to share this gift with you.

Click on an artist or group name, enjoy the music, and share with others.

1) Elvis Presley 2) Roy Orbison 3) Beatles 4) Abba 5) Bee Gees 6) Michael Jackson 7) John Lennon 8) Celine Dion 9) Frank Sinatra 10) Creedence Clearwater Revival 11) Julio Iglesias 12) Queen 13) Neil Diamond 14) Paul Mccartney 15) Rolling Stones 16) Pink Floyd 17) Bruce Springsteen 18) Elton John 19) U2 20) George Harrison 21) Cliff Richard 22) Tina Turner 23) Bob Marley 24) Andrea Bocelli 25) Dire Straits 26) Barbra Streisand 27) Eagles 28) Madonna 29) Simon & Garfunkel 30) AC/DC 31) Bob Dylan 32) Dean Martin 33) André Hazes 34) Tom Jones 35) Eric Clapton 36) John Denver 37) Eros Ramazzotti 38) Deep Purple 39) Led Zeppelin 40) Rod Stewart 41) Status Quo 42) Louis Armstrong 43) Fleetwood Mac 44) Bryan Adams 45) Jimi Hendrix 46) Barry White 47) Nat King Cole 48) Santana 49) Michael Buble 50) Gipsy Kings 51) David Bowie 52) Adriano Celentano 53) Robbie Williams 54) Charles Aznavour 55) Metallica 56) Doors 57) Shakira 58) Beach Boys 59) Cat Stevens 60) Bon Jovi 61) UB40 62) Joe Cocker 63) Whitney Houston 64) Phil Collins 65) Enrique Iglesias 66) Ricky Martin 67) Ray Charles 68) K3 69) ZZ Top 70) Van Morrison 71) Ringo Starr 72) Stevie Wonder 73) Gloria Estefan 74) Supertramp 75) Jethro Tull 76) Black Sabbath 77) Marco Borsato 78) Guns N’ Roses 79) Neil Young 80) Chuck Berry 81) Billy Joel 82) Sting 83) Kinks 84) R.E.M. 85) Laura Pausini 86) Genesis 87) Who 88) Monkees 89) Animals 90) Simple Minds 91) Prince 92) Aretha Franklin 93) B.B. King 94) Iron Maiden 95) Pearl Jam 96) Christina Aguilera 97) Alice Cooper 98) Depeche Mode 99) Nirvana

*What is a name day?

Well, on many European calendars, days are marked with names, showing that different days are identified with different names—for instance, a day for Thomas, David, Martha, or Ann. It all started in ancient times with the days named for saints. In contemporary Poland, however, that is no longer the case. There is no saint Alicja and yet I have my day on the calendar and share it with Alojzy (for saint Alojzy). So on the 21st of June all Alicjas are celebrating their day. It is the longest day of the year and usually is the first day of summer. I always loved that day — full of sunshine and flowers!

The nice thing about name days is that there is no problem to remember them, because the names are printed on all calendars and are announced on the radio and TV stations at the beginning of the day. For instance, if it is Joseph’s day and you have a friend by that name, you better run to a flower or liquor shop to purchase something that Joseph likes, and go to celebrate that day with him.

The best part for the celebrant is that he has a lot of attention and nobody talks about his age, as happens here on birthdays.

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Text (except music list) and photos copyright © 2012 by Alicja Mann.

Spring Fever

Ms. Spring by 6-year-old Beatka from Poland

Ms. Spring has definitely arrived where she should arrive by this time. In Tucson she has been spreading her charm with flowers for a while already — yellow and pink ones dominating. She also brought me the yearly fever – Spring Fever that is! You might have some symptoms of it too. Here are mine — a hard time to concentrate on any creative work (like writing) that confines me to my studio, restlessness, the desire to garden, to walk, to bicycle, to watch birds, to shop for a new patio umbrella, to visit with friends, to do whoever knows what!

She is very demanding and insists that I be with her — outdoors of course! So the idea of spring break is very attractive to me, and I decided to take one. I hope you can do it too.

Zorba the Tree and Flowers

Spring Work

Ready and Tempting

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Copyright © 2012 by Alicja Mann.

Celebrate Women, Books, and Flowers!

March is painted with flowers and books for me, and I wish this to be the case for you too. That is why this post is about flowers, women, and books.

Spring is definitely in the air in March! Oh, I know, snow is still on the ground in many places (not in sunny Tucson though!), but buying flowers just to enjoy them is irresistible! They can beat the winter’s blues. Some very dear Pisces (beginning of March B-day people) in my life here deserve flowers this month, and my memories of March when I lived in Poland are filled with flowers. Both of my parents had their name days in March, so our home was full of flowers given to them. In Poland men receive flowers just like women do. Flowers are sold on the corners of many streets of Warsaw and other cities. The custom of giving flowers for a variety of occasions is an important part of the culture. I miss that here, and I buy flowers for our dining table quite often. Also, in our yard here in Tucson Mexican Poppies are in full bloom at this time of the year.

I could count on getting flowers every year on the 8th of March when living in Poland. Not because it was my birthday, not because it was my name day, but because it was International Women’s Day. And what is International Women’s Day? It is a day celebrated in many countries around the world since 1911, the date having been chosen in recognition of an 1857 demonstration and march by women textile workers in New York City. So when I first came to this country, I was surprised that most American women were not aware of International Women’s Day.

Things are different today. International Women’s Day is slowly becoming a women’s culture month in this country. It brings attention to their achievements in the arts and sciences, as well as other areas of public life. I addressed this in the “Red Carnations“ essay in my book Looking at the World Twice. This brings me to the subject of books and publishing.

It just so happens that the month of March is also celebrated by independent publishers as Small Press Month.

Here is more: this coming weekend, March 12 and 13, Tucson is the place to be to celebrate books, authors, and publishers. For the third year, the Tucson Festival of Books will bring thousands of people to the University of Arizona Mall. There will be plenty of things to do for individuals of any age, as well as for entire families.

Now you can see that being a woman, a writer, plus a small independent publisher, I have some reasons to celebrate this month. So I decided to tell you a bit about a book with a title that fits this month perfectly — She.

She was written and illustrated (with photographs) by Amy Rowling. The subtitle explains the purpose of the book: Creative Journey to Self-discovery for Women of All Ages.

The minute Amy presented her manuscript to me, I knew I wanted to publish it and so my Word Studio did. I love this book and I am proud of it. In 2007 it won the National Indie Excellence Award in the women’s issues category. The book deals with a wide variety of challenges, fears, and concerns faced by many women today.

The writing is a collection of poems with complementing photographs, each addressing a different issue. Near each poem a journal space is provided with questions to encourage reflection, writing and discussion.

She is like a gentle friend — always ready to listen, to talk and guide you to find your own path.

Here are two glimpses into the book:

Within One Frame  She cannot bear The ordinary And yet it is what She craves Two caught Within one frame She longs to go She longs to stay … These two Could remain And share One body Without judgment Without shame

Back up from the Mirror  Back up From the mirror Don’t look so close You’ll find the flaw You look for It is there And will grow … Age Acceptance of loss What was What might not be Only the spirit knows Age and wisdom Will find each other Put the mirror down

Have a happy March — celebrate it with books and flowers!

SPECIAL INFORMATION: I am exhibiting She and my Looking at the World Twice at the Arizona Book Publishing Association (ABPA) booth # 259. I will have my signing time at that booth on Sunday the 13th of March from 4 – 5 pm. Please stop by and say hello if you are at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend.

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Poems and black-and-white photographs – copyright © 2006 by Amy Rowling. Text and other photos copyright © 2011 by Alicja Mann