Summer Then Fall

Just before the death of flowers,

There comes a festival season

When nature is all aglow.

Author Unknown

Last week Fall arrived officially. Not for us. It was 100 degrees. Today Fall arrived. It dropped down to the 70s. But it is the kind of day (even though it will get summer warm again here) that let's you know that sweaters can come out soon, you think of pumpkin pie (bought the ice cream flavor at the store tonight), you smell smoke wafting out from fireplaces and you know the change is really coming.

Getting ready to go on my photo trip this weekend, I realized I had some others photos I hadn't really worked with and found the contrast between summer beginning to end and fall beginning. So here they are. Also spent some time listening to an incredible woman who plays a Camac Baby Blue Electric Harp. I know what harp I want next. I'll be including some of her stuff from some work she did with the Grand Rapids Symphony a few years ago....

Deborah Henson-Conant with the Grand Rapids Symphony, "The Nightingale":

Light Studies with the Harp

Her thin fingers, moving

In the thin, tall strings,

Were weav-weav-weaving

Wonderful things

Edna Vincent St. Millay

I was working with my harp late this afternoon and the sun came through our new blinds hitting it. Enthralled I grabbed my camera and shot a series of light studies. I cannot say that I thought out the shots greatly, I just shot intuitively, much the way I live life. I was pleased with what came out.

It's a great warm up for the photo trip I'm taking next weekend to the Eastern Sierra Nevadas. This one is on my own. Just the camera and I getting some in-depth time together that we haven't had for a few months.

In about three weeks, I'll be going to get my "forever harp" that I had Triplett Harps build for me. Finally, I've been waiting since March for it. Another harper I admire, Lisa Lynne also plays Triplett Harps so I'll share some of her work...

Lisa Lynne and Friends, "Celebration 2009":

Tuesday....

early on Tuesday, we could be driving, we could be far away from here

Jesse Cook

Ever wake up with an urge to go somewhere instead of work? Today was that day. It was the call of the beach...I just wanted the ocean. Instead I had to go to work (happy to have it in today's world, but...) for many meetings in a windowless conference room...I'm still having the beach siren sing to me, so may have to go for a drive this weekend.

Isn't it great to be somewhere where I'm an hour and a half from the ocean and two from the mountains.....

Hope everyone else is doing well out there....

Jesse Cook, "Early on Tuesday":

When I'm Up...Life is Flowering

She is happiest who hath power to gather wisdom from a flower

Mary Howlitt

Sometimes a theme forms in a week. This week the theme was music and trips. Over the next two/three months, I'm going to be a busy girl. Found out two of my favorite Canadian artists, Jesse Cook and Great Big Sea are coming for concerts. Having seen Jesse here where I live I wasn't going to miss him again. Then I found out Great Big Sea will be in Petaluma in November and having waited 10 years for my schedule to intersect with theirs, I was determined to go. So I have a hotel room and ticket as it's a couple of hours from here, so I'm making a photo weekend out of it as the Point Reyes National Seashore is also there.

I'm also heading to Bodie and Bishop at the end of the month to photograph on my own as the last time was with groups and I didn't get to do what I really wanted to do. I'm also going to be going to the Central Coast to pick up my new Bubinga wood harp and to photograph the folks at Triplett Harps sometime in about a month or so. And I'm returning to Michigan/Canada at the end of October.

So I'm looking forward to getting my phototrigger finger shooting and my toes tapping...

Great Big Sea, "When I'm Up":

Dad's Packard Clipper

I'm not old, I'm just a classic

Seen on a T-Shirt

My dad has an original 1955 Packard Clipper Custom. I never appreciated classic cars so much as I have since I started photography. Although he didn't have his Packard styled up for a shoot, I took a few shots and intend to take some better ones when I return next month.

Ironically this car came from California and only has 46,000 miles on it with all the original options/paint. He found it some years back and said he had never fallen in love so fast. He brought it home and it has been with him ever since. He occasionally takes it to classic car shows and he said he has to wipe the drool off from the car from guys who are enthralled with it.

So on this Labor Day Weekend here's to Dad, who in his retirement from the automobile industry has a car he can really enjoy after all those years.

Because Steel Wheels is one of my favorite Rolling Stones albums and this is great version of my most loved song from it, not to mention it's a awesome driving song....

Rolling Stones, "Mixed Emotions (12 inch version)":

A Festival + Friends = Fun

Over hill, over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough brier,

Over park, over pale,

Thorough flood, thorough fire,

I do wander everywhere.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2. 1

I owe a great debt to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Stratford Ontario), it introduced me to live professional drama. My sophomore year, the high school drama teacher took a group of us to see George Bernard Shaw's "St Joan". It was done on the Festival Theatre's thrust stage and the rest was history as they say. Since that time I have returned on many occasions including two in which I had the pleasure of introducing my niece and then nephew to what they had to offer.

In recent times I have been to see an actor perform whom I became acquainted with 13 years ago. This year he was to perform in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Ceasar and Macbeth. Geriant Wyn Davies. So when a group of friends decided to go my birthday weekend in August it was the perfect opportunity to share a hallmark birthday and to see some great drama.

We saw 2 plays on my birthday. Macbeth (Ger played Duncan) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (his role here was Bottom). Macbeth was the disappointment. In fact I fell asleep in the act just before intermission! I felt guilty as I've never fallen asleep at a production until I found 2 others in our group had dozed too. A Midsummer's Night Dream was the opposite in the evening. I laughed until tears rolled down my face. It was the first night it was performed and I loved it. Wish the critics had as much as our group, but what can you say it's not often that audiences and critics find common ground. On the second day we saw Julius Ceasar (Ger played Ceasar). It was well done, but not my favorite. Then on Sunday we saw Phedre another well conceived/acted production.

In between all of the plays we ate great food, met wonderful friendly people and just relaxed. We were staying at a B&B called Serenity run by an older couple who were a delight. Originally from the Netherlands (I believe), they fed us and took care of us like we were long lost children. We didn't want to leave.

I'm excited that I will see the closing performance of "A Midnight Summer's Dream" since I have to return to Michigan in late October. I would encourage anyone to go to Stratford. They have world class productions and rival anything I've seen done on Broadway or the West End in London.

Even though I didn't like this production of Macbeth, this was the only clip I could find that included Ger...

Stratford Shakespeare Festival 2009, "Macbeth":