MOT: Optical Illusion

As it's highly unlikely I'll stumble across anyone flying a kite in December, I'm swapping out that theme for this one. This building in downtown Chicago presents quite an optical illusion. Is this one building, or two? Does the center stack of windows point in, or out? You decide...

Favorite things

Being outdoors and playing with my camera rank pretty high up my "favorite things" list. On this cold, gray December morning, I decided to post some shots from a day trip we took in late May to Starved Rock State Park. You may remember this waterfall from a February blog post. Back then, it was blue and frozen. On this day, it was running freely.



On the way back from the waterfall, we crossed a little bridge. Looking upstream, we get a view of the just-budding leaves. Seems like a long time ago.

Hats off to you!

(Insert witty caption here...)

Can you find seven?

Had to crop this photo from my summer stash to make seven. Woke up today to new snow and a dentist appointment...so I don't think I'll be snapping a fresh photo for the day. Hopefully the bright colors of these unusual flowers will brighten your day - seven times over.

These are from a garden in a Bed and Breakfast we visited in Utah.

Minimalism

Raindrops on the trunk of my car, with a nearby light post reflected in each droplet.

My inspiration

Today would have been my mom's birthday. This is an old photo, taken by my stepdad just a few weeks before she passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Her grace, good humor, and kindness served as an inspiration all of my life, but never more so than when she fell ill. I miss her daily, but a little more today, on her birthday.

A paradox?

Although I really don’t like winter, I have a passion for a certain winter sport…

Here’s one reason why:

This is from the top of Keystone in Colorado, from my March 2009 ski trip. I swapped out a nearly-white sky using my favorite sky replacement technique, courtesy of Karen (alibony).