Side A And Side B

"What's meant to be will always find a way."

~Tricia Yearwood

 

With the exception of the Leaf Of The Day, the pictures in this post are from 2016. I took them on vacation, on a spur of the moment trip in our new backyard, the California Central Valley. While we moved here in 2015, the summer and autumn of 2016 was the first chance we had to check out our new hometown, and the surrounding area. 2015 was a very busy year, and it had some demons in it, but things had calmed down by this point last year. The struggles I had last year were mostly about being tired, and still unsure of our financial situation, having just bought a new house, for the first time, in our mid 50's. Let me tell you, buying a new home is terriying, when you have been a lifelong renter. I never really appreciated the difference between renting and paying a mortgage. I do now! 

There are good and bad sides to that story! The good, is knowing after a hard day that the place you come home to is yours! The good is being able to put your unique fingerprint on it, as far as painting and landscaping go. The good side is the money it actually saves you. Believe it our not, you do actually get to keep a lot more of your own money, and if managed well, owning a home makes you feel much more secure about your old age! I have second guessed our decision to purchase many times, because of the circumstance that led us to purchase, but I am more sure now than ever that we did the right thing. The downside... oddly enough is also financial, in that I worry about whether we will be we able to fix the roof, should the shingles go flying or what to do if a mouse should find it's way into the wall, which as it turns out, it did one night!

The mouse story is actually pretty funny, but I will share that in a different post. This post is about owning a house, and the stress involved. And again, stress has different sides. Something can be extremely stressful, and funny as hell at the same time! Like going to a horror movie, that is unintentionally funny! Anyway, last year I was all over the place in my state of mind about my my personal life, and then I was pretty much freaked out about Trump, and the possibility that he could actually win the presidency. With both my waking worlds in turmoil, I think my photograhy suffered. I found solice out in the world with my camera, but I definitely wasn't seeing the world as instinctively as I had in previous years.

But it's a year later, and autumn, and I am heading back out with the camera, and yes, I took a decent photo or two of the full Harvest Moon, and I think, that so far, my Leaf Of The Day project is coming along okay, but I am fighting full on depression this year, so how will that be reflected in my photography? Will I be seeing only cynical darkness? Will the colors look different? Will it actually make my photography better, because I will have to make a greater effort to not just go out and take photos, but I will need to make careful plans to do so, sometimes forcing myself to complete the goal? Our vacation officially begins next Thursday, but I am going for a short ride to the small towns of the valley later today. It will be a chance to stretch that photography muscle. I don't know what I will come home with, but I am just going to load up the cameras, and hope for the best! What else can I do?

 

 #7 Leaf Of The Day

October 7th, 2017

Stockton, Ca 

Mood: Hopeful

~Me :) 

Marching On

"It was one of those March days

 when the sun shines bright and the wind blows cold:

 when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

~Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

It's the last few weeks of winter, but you wouldn't know it. The hard rain of this past few months has finally let up, although we are due for a small storm this coming Sunday! The rain has been healing both for my moods, and for the drought damaged Central Valley! Everything is a beautiful green, or if in full bloom, pick, purple, white and a dark pink! It's pretty, and it inspires me to grab the camera and search for beauty. I didn't photograph much of winter, I just wasn't in the mood, but as my mood thaws, so does the earth, and it's just too much beauty to not embrace.

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Haunted Houses

"It's easier to dismiss ghosts in the daylight."

~Patricia Briggs

Dragon Bones

Alan and I have begun looking for a house in Stockton. We saw 5 yesterday, all of them had something going for them, and all of them had some quirk that made them not exactly right for us. You know how it is... no house will be exactly perfect. At the moment we are just happy that the houses in our price range, also happen to be in a pretty good part of town! Stockton has a reputation for being, well, dangerous. In fact, according to one study, it is the 6th most dangerous city in America! But like with all major metropolitan areas, it also has a side to it that is lovely, and quite inviting! And, as I said, we can afford that part of town!

We looked through some lovely single story homes, mostly 2 bedrooms with huge backyards. That seems about right for us, in that we are coming up on retirement age, and we have no children or grandchildren to raise. Still, having a little extra room after having lived in a small cottage for as long as we did is an attractive idea! And boy did we ever find a house with a lot of room to it!

 A charming old Victorian, circa 1905!

4 bedrooms. A large Great Room. A full, gorgeous cherry-wood bar, with Tiffany lamps and window treatments, and old fashioned bar stools. A basement. A Study. A kitchen with gourmet oven and stove. Two bathrooms with a gorgeous free standing deep tub. It is really something to behold! Alan and I both fell in love with it, and at $189.900 it is well within our budget, but is it practical for just the two of us? Should we worry about practicality? It is a dream house, and a bit of a nightmare rolled into one!

My first impression was that it reminded me of the "Murder House" from American Horror Story. But it also has a "Coven" vibe from season three! It's quirky, but that appeals to us! We hate to pass it up because when would you ever have another chance to get a genuine Victorian for this price? But again, would it be better suited for a family who could get a lot of use from a 4 bedroom house? I don't know. But it is on my mind as I write this. I know I saw something unusual yesterday as we walked through it. I saw it's spirit, and felt the ghosts of dwellings of my past.

Does that make sense?

Life Takes Courage... right?

Mood: Thoughtful

~Me :)