watching whales

On Friday, the National Marine Life Center had a whale watch out of Plymouth, so my lovely sister and niece, Adriana & I decided to go. What a great time. It was chilly, but sunny, and relatively calm for one of the first whale watches of the season. We saw 4 whales, the first was a fin whale - very cool, then two humpback whales together that kept going on deep dives, and therefore showing us their gorgeous tails... and then as we were ready to head back to shore, we came across this gorgeous humpback who was putting on quite the show - breaching, head breaching, tail breaching, flipper slapping, waving (okay, maybe that's not exactly what the scientists call it) having a grand old time in the waters off the Cape... was even so kind as to make sure we got the Pilgrim Monument as the backdrop of our shots! ...what a day...

Happy Earth Day...

So although I'm very political, and very opinionated *insert wry smile here*, I try to stay very mellow on my blog... but today's Earth day and I have something I need to share.

Everywhere I walk throughout my neighborhood, and everywhere I drive across the Cape, I see hundreds of little yellow signs that tell me to keep me, my dog and my child off the grass.

There are 100 million pounds of pesticides used every year on lawns.

I just want to share a couple of facts with you. A child that lives in a household that uses pesticides on their lawn faces an almost 7 times greater risk of leukemia, a dog in that house faces an almost double chance of lymphoma. Of the 36 common lawn pesticides, 14 are detected in groundwater, 6 have the potential to leach, 11 are toxic to birds, 21 are toxic to fish & aquatic organisms and 12 are toxic to bees. My house is the one all the birds hang out at, no wonder really!

One of the scariest to me, is a study done by the EPA which found 23 pesticides in dust and air inside homes, many of which had never even used pesticides on their yards! Another study found 26 different chemicals in the dust and 19 in the air in Cape Cod homes. So although I don't, would never, can't conceive of, using pesticides on my lawn, I bet if we tested the air in my home they would find these toxins because most of my neighbors (who live here 2 months out of the year) do.

I think we should focus more on a green earth than a green lawn.

Do something good for the planet today.

Ryan & his buddy Maxx

so Ryan's 3. How cute is he? and his buddy Maxx... what a beauty! We had so many giggles this session... of course, not everyone will wear, well truth be told - just about anything, on their head! I think we both looked divine wearing parts of my photo equipment on our heads! Maxx didn't get to wear anything, maybe that's why he's giving me that 'what, where's my silver helmet?'...

They just grow so darn quickly, it's a funny business, not only am I watching my daughter grow at the speed of light, but all of these clients who somehow every time they come back have aged a a few months or a year or even two! yikes.

I love photographing kids. I love their laughter. I love their smiles. I love their silliness. It keeps me young. Thanks for sharing their gorgeous little faces with me!

sharing

I've had a fun couple of weeks, I spoke for Cape Cod Art Association's Camera Club on portraiture - it was such a blast! They were a great group, and the feedback was all positive, so I thought that was good! Of course, I had to keep reminding myself to not talk too fast, and to stay focused (neither of which I'm very good at!). In a couple of weeks, I get to see what they did with the information they learned, and judge their 'portrait' competition. I can't wait! I love photography, love looking at other's work, love faces, so it can only be good! Sure I'll get inspired by looking at all of the different portraits I'll see.

Then there was the Art Foundation's Creative Collaborative, where I was on a panel of successful artists. We all shared tips and ideas with the crowd of over 200, it was also pretty cool. Afterwards I caught up with a friend I knew back in the days of field hockey & yearbooks (mine!) in CT., so that was a bonus. There are some super creative people 'round these parts. I got to meet Salley Mavor, she's so rock star! She creates these amazing 'wee folk', it was awesome to meet her in person after adoring her work so...

I'm trying to meet my goal of not running around like a crazy soul this year, we'll see how that works out for me! Might mean I'll actually post photos once in a while! Or maybe that senior slideshow... hmmm... For now, I'm enjoying my tiny tour of the speaking circuit!!

nesting

I decided as it was spring and we'd been learning about wildlife, I'd make bird's nests with my Brownie troop. After a lot of searching, I came up with no good ideas, so I decided to have them create nests using covered wire, twine, wool, twigs, moss, and varying little bits of thread & fabric I had around... The nests the girls made were beautiful, they were all so different, but the common theme was all of them wanted the nests to be comfortable, how lovely!

I had a date with some of my wonderful friends, and decided to share my project with them, what a treat that was. They all embraced the idea, and again each nest was completely unique to the person who made it, and again comfort was a common element.

How amazing it is that birds are able to create their nests using only their beaks! Truly a miracle.

Speaking of miracles, I'd like to wish you all a lovely Easter. Enjoy!

(my husband asked if he should be worried that I'm nesting!!!)

a mini Mina post

I'm not sure why I'm running around like a crazy woman, it's March. I can't seem to get it together these days, my creative brain is going crazy wanting to do nothing but wear slippers and create books and jewelry, the images are filling my head, and then there's rugs to braid (my winter goal) and all of those things... real life is not leaving me enough time - think I need to get up earlier!

So I finally met Mina, my dear friends Mouse & Dave's babe, what a sweetie... adorable... Of course I was planning on taking all of these amazing portraits, but it was cold or she was sleeping or eating or it was dark... you know how life sometimes gets in the way of our plans... This is a sweet family moment, on a chilly day in Brighton. Seems forever ago now, miss them so.

Here's a mini peek at Mina. Look at those eyes - wow! Too cute! More soon...

1000 greatest places in Massachusetts

The office of tourism is having a contest for the 1000 top places in Massachusetts, Historic, Cultural, Natural and doesn't quite fit into one of those categories... Got me to thinking how many great places we have here in this state, how many are on the Cape... the National Seashore should certainly make the list, as should the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Heritage Plantation, Sandy Neck, Provincetown (the whole town should just be one entity...),so many places come to mind... it's amazing how many very cool places we have right here...

Voting is only open until April 1st, so pick your favorite spot in Mass. and share it. Vote here!

(My Brownies have Peace flags that we started a couple of years back, and added to at tonight's meeting, I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes, and the one that adorns my flag made today. "We must be the change we wish to see in the world" - Gandhi)