SouleMama

Week of Spring :: Monday

Well, that wasn't what I was expecting - I guess I forgot to consult the weather before I made all those grand plans for planting. There was none of that, only a lot of spring rain and spring fevers (literally). Instead though, it was a nice (minus the fevers), cozy, lazy, rainy spring weekend spent inside watching the outside turn green before our eyes.

A weekend full of scouring for the last bits of the year's wood supply, and then huddling by the wood stove; lots of reading, play dough, and knitting; a lot of Leonard Cohen (I can't help myself when it rains, thankfully my loves oblige); and day-long grazing on WHO Bread, tea, and rice pudding. Ah...a wonderful and momentary pause before the busy work of spring. On Sunday night, I was reminded of this beautiful poem by Mary Oliver. And on Monday morning, we saw what the rain had done. Oh, Spring. Imagine the long and wondrous journeys still to be ours.

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me

Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,

what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again

in a new way
on the earth!
That's what it said
as it dropped,

smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches

and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing

under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,

and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment

my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars

and the soft rain -
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.

-Mary Oliver, from What Do We Know

i heart film #4

Late summer at the farm.

(You'll notice few pictures of the boys here - because, you see, I can never find them at the farm.)

I heart film #3

I'm not ready to say it's the end of the season yet, but this is my little goodbye ode to the end of August - a la old school film. It's been a really good month. 

Enjoy, and thanks for sharing in some of our August journeys!

I heart film #2

Thank you so much for your enthusiasm (and preorders!) for the book!! Oh, it is so fun to share this journey with you here. I'm very eagerly - and as patiently as I can - awaiting March 11th when I can actually hold it in my hands. Until the book has it's own website (must figure that out soon!), you'll find book news and a link to the Amazon pre-order page sitting quietly over there in the right sidebar.

Last week on our little vacation (which ended up being more home-bound than originally planned, but when 'home' means the beach? There was little complaining.), I continued my little love affair with film. I brought the camera along with us on our fourth of July beach visit. Every shot in the roll was overexposed or otherwise funky technically. But I don't care - every single one makes me so happy. I can't stop fussing over the magic of film, especially when it's not my 'everyday' method of taking pictures. There's so much I love about it - the one chance, the waiting, even the sound of the clicking camera. Anyway...here are a few of my favorites. A few more are on Flickr in my film set, if I haven't over saturated you with beach photographs yet (oh, there are still months yet to go!).

Happy Monday, friends. It's nice to be back!

film, film, film

I've been shooting exclusively in digital since Calvin was born. In six years I haven't picked up our film cameras once. But having watching Maria, and then Hannah play so beautifully with film, I've been thinking about our old camera - packed away in the attic. Our trip North last weekend seemed the perfect opportunity to visit it again - no crafting came with us into the woods, but our trusty old film camera did, and I was so excited to play with it.

It took a bit to get used to the whole 'one shot' deal again. I think that was a good thing. With digital it's so easy to just shoot - gobs of photos - and end up with the best shot. But with precious expensive film, well, a whole different story. I found myself really framing shots, paying attention more, slowing down, and thinking about what I was shooting more than with digital.

There's nothing like the anticipation of picking up a roll of developed film. Ah, so fun. And a bit of magic, really....versus our instant "let me see it!" that we're used to on the digital LCD screens. My 35mm lightmeter is completely shot, but I think we managed okay. I shot in 200 speed, and was expecting (hoping) for a bit more grain, even. Still, I'm pleased with the results. (They scanned a bit darker than they actually are).

These pictures make me very happy. In a quiet sort of way, which I can't really explain. I suppose I don't need to.

I think it's caused me to give a little more thought to how I shoot digital- maybe just to slow it down a bit. And while I have no intention (or budget!) to shoot lots of film, I do think it won't be packed back into the attic. The next time we head into the woods, it will be coming with us. There's something organic about shooting film that feels like a pleasant match to me with time spent in the quiet, slow, and calm of nature.

I've posted a few more of my favorites over on Flickr. You can find them in the Film photoset.