The First of the Year (1/1/11)

Today I had more of that marvelous toast with orange marmalade along with my morning tea. My water cup was resting on the table in the dining room, directly in the path of the sunlight that was streaming in from our south-facing window. I looked down, mid conversation with my mom and distractedly forgot what I was saying as I looked for my camera. The light was hitting the glass perfectly so as to splay the bits of orange, yellow and red glass that patterned the outside, across the table.

I have really enjoyed being quieter at moments and just looking at the world. Sometimes we overlook the absolute beauty in the simplest of things because we are used to them or maybe because we haven't ever seen them for what they really are. Shadows are, in my opinion, a spectacular example of just that. So often we look at the more solid form of something and don't even notice the shapes that shadows take on under different conditions. Once you open your eyes to the beauty in the everyday things that you overlook you see more of it. Just as I was done photographing this water glass my gaze grazed over the floor as I turned to leave the room and I realized the shadow of the stool was so brilliantly contrasted in comparison to the type of shadow and refraction involved with the glass. The colors of the light wood floor and the dark, almost opaque shadow of the dark wood stool made for beautiful composition.

I have re-discovered my love of photography this past year with a renewed passion.

After breakfast and my impromptu photo session, my parents and I went for a hike in Stony Brook at the Avalon Preserve. When we first arrived I was surprised to see the pond literally swarming with waterfowl, but with very little diversity! There were hundreds of birds but they were mostly mallards, Canada geese, and a couple dozen pigeons. People must feed them from the street-side path because that was where they were most densely gathered.

It was certainly loud with all the squawking and honking going on, especially when the Canada geese decided to take off in a large gaggle to some unknown destination.

We took the trail up to the labyrinth, which was not able to be seen because the snow had covered up the winding pathways to the center. We saw a statue though, that was built onto a boulder that was pretty cool.

The statue at the site of the labyrinth at Avalon Park and Preserve in Stony Brook.

We took a snow-covered trail that wound another 2 and a half miles through the woods before ending back up at the pond. This time, as we walked on the boardwalk we saw a miniature snowman that someone had built just off the trail. It stood at around 9 inches tall but was very nicely put together. I had to get down close and take a picture of it. I instantly liked whoever did this.

The mini snowman at Avalon Preserve.