I finally faced the fact that my poor tulips had seen the end of their time with me.
But as I went to throw them away, their shriveled petals caught the sun, and I simply HAD to spend a few more minutes with them. These were all taken with my 50mm lens with a magnifying filter, no flash.
May we always see past the shriveled and sunken to see the beauty.
What do you do when your husband has been diagnosed with dangerously high blood pressure and a sleep disorder, you have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, your lower lumbar disc starts bumping your sciatic nerve again, and two of your children are going through testing to get to the bottom of chronic gastrointestinal issues, all in the span of a four week period?
Well, you allow yourself to be pathetic and feel sorry for yourself for five minutes…
And then you count your many blessings, say a prayer of thanks that it’s nothing worse, blow your nose, and get on with the task of adapting to the new normal.
My family has been going through a Bad Patch.
However, there are things we are grateful for:
1. Zan’s high blood pressure was diagnosed before anything terrible could happen, and it is already back down with medication and a diet overhaul. And hopefully he’ll be able to sleep well again in the near future which would be a totally new and welcome experience for him.
2. All my lab tests, including blood tests, heart tests, and artery tests have come back normal…a great relief following some scary experiences and a dramatic increase in migraine headaches.
3. The diagnoses of Fibromyalgia, albeit unwelcome, explains a lot of problems I’ve had throughout the last year. Thankfully I do not have some of the crippling symptoms of depression and anxiety that some experience, and my case is considered mild to moderate. My body simply feel 90 years old…it could be worse! 🙂 At least now I can be proactive and take steps to manage it.
4. If we have to go Gluten free, Wheat free, Soy free, or Dairy free for my kiddos, at least there are innumerable resources and foods available to help us do that. We will hopefully know more when their lab work comes back next week.
5. My damnable slipping disc is at least giving me a warning signal by bumping my nerve, rather than dropping me to my knees immediately. I can take steps to heal it while still able to move around.
6. My wonderful parents have been available to watch kids and give rides to appointments when necessary while we go through all this stuff.
7. We have each other, and our world has not been shaken apart. All this can be managed.
I thought I had better disclose this saga, as I’m sure there will be posts related to our new directions in the future, as we seek to change our lifestyle to adapt to our new circumstances. Maybe even some new recipes as I seek healthier alternatives for me and my family? I am actually quite excited about this book coming in the mail. It will look pretty next to my copy of their original “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.” You’ll be hearing more about that one, I am sure. 🙂
So enough about poopy things.
I leave you with evidence gathered when I was in Newport that spring really is approaching. When passing through the dark of winter, one must always keep sight on the light of spring.
I spent three days with these flowers getting up close and personal with them…with flash, without flash, flash on the camera, flash off the camera, with extension tubes, without extension tubes, using each different lens and various angles, different times of day so the ambient light in my dining room was different.
I must say, I enjoyed every second I spent with these lovely flowers…they were a welcome escape from all things distressing. (And a big thank you goes out to Scott for giving me a well timed opportunity to practice my off camera flash skills.) 🙂
A small selection of favorites…
And a black and white version for good measure:
So, nearly two years ago, my friend Anywho and I escaped for a Mommy weekend away. We didn’t venture far, but felt like new women when we returned home to our families. We decided to do it again, so with our husbands’ blessings (they practically shoved us out the door!) we ventured a bit farther and took two fantastic nights away. We headed down to Newport, Rhode Island on Friday night, arriving late at night in the misty dark. Unwilling to simply go to bed when we were footloose and fancy free, we decided on a 9:30 pm dinner at The Brick Alley Pub. Oh, my YUM! We were so hungry by then that I could’ve eaten the napkin, but I’m glad I abstained…Being a Lenten Friday, I ordered the scallops. My meal was SOOO good, I felt a little naughty, feeling it was not a sacrifice at all.
We luxuriated back at the hotel after dinner, drinking wine and reading trashy gossip magazines without a single care in the world. (I lie…I wondered about my family the whole time—but let’s not discuss that, shall we?)
We woke up to this view out our window in the morning:
What a way to start the day! We headed down to breakfast, expecting a day filled with shopping, mansion touring, and eating, with an end of the day appointment at Belcourt Castle for their Ghost Tour. (That experience deserves it’s own post.) Our expectations changed a bit when the gentleman at the front desk wished us a good day and said, “Are you heading down to the Parade ladies?” Our response, “What parade???” He chuckled and informed us that Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day Parade Day, quite an event in Newport. As we looked around the lobby, it should have been apparent to us since everyone was in green. He informed us that driving would be impossible downtown and gave us some tips on avoiding the chaos should we wish to. We decided, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, and chose to enter the Parade throngs for the spectacle. We parked a little outside of town at the beginnings of Bellevue Avenue (Mansion Alley) and walked back into town and did some shopping while waiting for the parade to start. Lots of neat little shops with such diversity! Although I had a light coat on, it was extremely windy and cold, so I had to break down and buy myself a fleece, scarf, and gloves…all green of course! I really didn’t want to lug around my camera with the 18-200 mm zoom lens because it is so heavy, so I chose to attach the 50mm and go. I was quite limited in my ability to get some shots I would have wanted, but got a few good ones nonetheless.
If you look closely in the top left corner of the next photo, you can see me in the reflection, wearing my warm green fleece and mittens. 🙂
Things started to get a bit wild toward the end of the parade…drunk crowds of twenty somethings at Noon Thirty isn’t my idea of a good time, so we headed out of town toward lunch and some mansion tours. We only had time to see The Elms and Marble House. All the more reason to return at a later date, so we can see the others! Since photography wasn’t allowed (Curses!) I don’t have much to visually share, but here is one photo taken outside The Elms.
These mansions were used as “summer cottages” by the rich and famous in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, left to be auctioned off or demolished over time. The Newport Historical Society has bought several of them and maintain them as museums of sorts. They are quite stunning and the historical background is fascinating. To read more about them you can click here and here.
After a short drive partway along the coast…
…we ended the day with a Ghost Tour at Belcourt Castle which, again, will have it’s own post.
After a long day of walking and standing, we were ready to relax in the hotel lounge over a glass of wine and a bite to eat, and woke on Sunday morning anxious to get on the road to see our babies and husbands again, after one last shot from our hotel window:
What a gift the weekend was! I’m feeling like a new person.
This time up CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY.
Check it out! 🙂
A Half Hour a Day 