Signs of Spring and Sources of Inspiration

Every year the same thing seems to happen. After months of the dreary cold, white nothingness that is winter, spring finally pokes its head out of the snow. And there is much rejoicing as I marvel at the beautiful colors of the flowers and trees. You see, growing up in Texas meant that I only experienced two seasons: hot and hotter. There was very little difference between winter and summer, and while more flowers certainly bloomed in spring, it was nothing like what happens here in Pittsburgh.

And yet, every year I’ve failed to take photos of the lovely flowers. I keep telling myself–“Oh I’ll take my camera on our next walk.” And then the next walk comes, and I don’t feel like hauling it along. And so, every spring I’ve missed the beautiful colors. Well, this year I was bound and determined to get at least some photos of spring. So, when Jay and I took our Sunday afternoon walk with Astin this last week, I dutifully brought my camera along.

So, that covers the first topic this of blog post. And while this next topic is completely unrelated, I’ve managed to pull them together with my alliterative title. Right?

After I came back from WPPI, one of my goals was to clean out my google reader subscription and leave only the blogs that really inspired me. I’d like to share a couple of those blogs that I’ve kept in my subscription. The first is called Iconic Photos, and it’s basically an insightful combination of history and photography–or rather, the history of specific photos. I don’t know much about the author of this blog, though I’ve gathered he/she is British and currently living in France (my guess), but their posts are generally a fascinating account of the story behind famous and not so famous “iconic” photos. But, I must give some warning: many of the photos may be rather graphic (war related) in nature, so I wouldn’t recommend it to the squeamish or young. However, if you enjoy history and photography, I think you’d find it interesting.

Another blog I’ve kept in my reader is actually authored by a childhood friend of mine–Vern (which is a nickname). She not only inspired me to pick up photography–and is an incredible artist herself–but she is also a gifted, humorous writer. And to top it off, she’s hiking across the Pacific Crest Trail this summer and blogging about her experiences as she goes. Talk about inspiring… If you’d like to follow an entertaining writer and photographer from Mexico to Canada, definitely check out Vern Takes a Hike. And since she’s only about two weeks into her journey, you don’t have a lot of catching up to do!

Now that I’ve successfully melded those two unrelated topics into one post, I’ll share the rest of my spring photos.