The Art of a Crisp Night

Breathe. Just breathe . . . I had to tell myself that a few times this week. Work was stressful, my husband was out of town for a couple of days (leaving me with the boys), and I have just been feeling generally un-restful. Well, today is Friday. Thank God. Seriously.

So tonight as we got home, I stepped out into the night and took a long deep breathe. Ahhhh. It was one of those winter nights where you feel like you could throw a couple of logs in the fire pit and sit outside as if it were summer. True, it's only about 30º (if that), but there was a mildness in the air. Spring? No. Not yet. This IS Minnesota. But something about the color of the sky and the brightness of the moon just took over. It was so crisp, the air felt so clean. Breathe.

But, back to reality, as the kids are yelling to take baths and play with the Legos. At least the moon is still bright outside my window, and the promise of another crisp night is around the corner.

Cat Eyes

Toward the beginning of this blog, I posted some shots of my kids' eyes. I'm still really fascinated with the beauty of these orbs that nestle in our heads that grant us so much every day. I know I still take a lot of things for granted that I see, but I'm really trying hard to see the beauty in every little thing lately. From the light that glints off my dash, to the reflection on my water bottle, or the shadow that is cast by a fence as I drive down the street. How amazing are our eyes? And then you see the eyes like the ones above. I'm not sure if our cat sees like we do. Most likely a lot better. And the color... oh my the color of her eyes. So green and pure. What a great match to her silky, smoky coat. I wonder if her eye color has any affect on her vision? Ill have to research that...

p.s. The second shot was taken with a plastic Diana lens I picked up a while back, thus the softness. I really love how the gray of the concrete, along with the texture, plays with Chuck's coloring. See the white edges around her feet? (Yes, the cat's name is Chuck, and it's a girl... long story for another post... I'll have to have a post on the art of naming your pets some day.)

Indulgence

For Christmas I got an iPhone. An indulgence, no doubt about it, but worth EVERY PENNY. I use that handy gadget non-stop. It's my very critical musical lifeline, my social media connector, my Ebay-out-bid-you-tool, my Amazon-looker-upper, and more. And oh, yeah, it's my phone. But I did miss one important little tool of my iPhone. The camera. That's how I took the photo above.

Speaking of the photo, this photo encapsulates 2 of my other favorite indulgences. Coffee and reading. I sat for about 10 minutes in the Mom-Van before I picked up my little spunky guy from daycare and just sipped my ultra hot Mocha and lost myself in my book. Ahhh.

Art in the form of indulgence. I certainly have more, but on a day like today, little things meant a lot. And the combination of photography, coffee, and a good read were just what I needed.

p.s. This is straight out of the iPhone. Handy little app I bought makes me look good.

Cold White Stuff

I've been on hiatus. An Art Each Day sabbatical if you will. How stupid was it to do that. I mean, the one thing I looked forward to so much every day, and I go and toss it to the side. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Well, let's just say that if there is any time of the year we all need a little inspiration, it's surely now. The cold weather, the lack of activity, the broken resolutions... all of these make me feel a little inadequate. Well, more than a little actually. So, I hope that these meager photos can give others in my same situation a little pick-me-up. Again, the whole point of this blog is to see art in the everyday. Where you least expect it . . . granted, sometimes it is a neon sign saying, "Hello! Look how gorgeous I am! Take a picture, silly!"

So, either way, take that extra minute and look at that cold, white stuff out the window . . . on the window . . . on the floor . . . in the air . . . heck, it's everywhere, you get my point. It really is pretty cool.

Kitty cat tracks in the white stuff.

In honor of the Olympics in Vancouver, my Minnesota mini-mountain.

My mom-van-that-I-rock-out-in crushed the ice in the parking lot.