Happy New Year – This is the first time we are posting in 2018.  I had a very busy start to the new year, rushing around showing our visitor the sights.  For downtime, while they were all sleeping, I took my macro lens and headed off to the wetlands.  I just wanted to do some walking and see how much I could manage.  Walking is slow.  My feet still hurt but I did manage to get all the way around the wetland – about 1.5 miles.

The wetlands are rather quiet and the macro is useless for bird photography so I played with light and tried to see what I would come up with.

This is a circle blog and I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has got up to this month.  Follow the link here to see what Mindy of Orange Moon Photography has for you this month, Don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages.

You can also find me on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Google+ and Viewbug.

Can you believe it –  we are almost at the end of January.  This has been a busy couple of months for us.  Amy came back from her 2 years with the Peace Corp and along with her came her boyfriend, Daniel.  So since mid December we have been trying to show him something of South Florida.  Today I am going to share my 30 minutes plus a few extra of our time visiting Kennedy Space Center in January.

Believe it or not, in the 17 years that we have lived in Florida, we have not been to Kennedy Space Center.  Cameron and Amy may have gone with school or with friends but Richard and I have not.  I was a little nervous as to how I was going to manage the walking.  And it was a fair amount but rests in-between did help.  We decided to head out on the bus tour straight away before the crowds arrived and we had long waits.  So my share today is from the Apollo/Saturn V Center.  It was very interesting to hear the history and to see this incredible piece of machinery.  However, I have to say if there is a cable problem I would not like to be the person fixing it.

Some of the images were taken during the video presentations and some of the rocket display. On that note I will say I love the Canon 6D with its amazing low light capabilities – no flash was used to take any of these photos.

After watching the video on the history of the Apollo/Saturn V we then meandered into a huge open area where the rocket was housed.

After walking through the rocket display area we took in a short presentation on the landing on the moon.

Last but not least, I could not resist taking this “Christmas” image of the two of them.

There were areas of great interest and some areas that I felt were a waste of time.  I am not a big fan of waiting in long lines especially with sore feet and it was good to sit down and watch a 45 minute movie and rest my poor feet.  That said Daniel enjoyed his day at Kennedy, and that was all that really mattered.

Thank you for joining me for this month’s 30 Minutes in Life.  Please take time to visit my friend and fellow blogger  Stacey of Stacey Markel Photography and see what she has for you this month.   Keep following the circle of photographers to see what the other photographers, from the US and around the world,  have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages.

You can also find me on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Viewbug and Google+

Welcome to the 2018 series of Share Six.  I am so looking forward to spending another year blogging with these wonderful ladies and to seeing their amazing images.

Lynne is our newest member, joining us at the end of November.  She chose the theme this month and I cannot wait to see what everyone shares.  Her choice was {Winter Light}.

This past week Richard, Amy and Daniel went for a cycle ride in the Loxahatchee National Park and I ended up meeting them there so capture the sunset.  This is the winter light in South Florida.

Thank you for joining me for this month’s Share Six.  This is a circle blog.  From the sneak peak images I have seen, you are going to want to follow the circle.  Please take time to visit my friend Tori from Roots and Twigs Photography and see what she has for you this month. I know that she has been traveling.  Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month.  Don’t forget to leave a little love on their page as well.

You can also find me on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Google+ and Viewbug.

Now it is your turn. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook at Share Six and come and share your images on the theme {Winter Light} throughout the month of January.  A new theme will come out on February 6.

Remember you can follow us on Instagram at @sharesix  and tag your images #sharesix_winterlight.

You can also find the Share Six webpage at http://www.sharesix.wordpress.com

We look forward to seeing your images on the theme {Winter Light}

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.” 

― Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay

As I take time out to reflect on 2017, I cannot help but think that the last 3 years have been challenging for me.  Spending 3 months of each year post surgery on the bed healing and learning to walk again has been tough.  This year was no different, except maybe a little bit more challenging initially.  I had surgery on both feet which made it difficult to move about, difficult to find balance and difficult in the sense that I felt extremely frustrated.

Once again Richard stepped up and did what he needed to do to assist me.  He was there to make meals, take me to the doctor, check in and see if I needed any help.  Sims was also my constant companion.  What I did find was the time was lonely and I was grateful for the few friends that stopped by and for my Facebook friends who kept me upbeat when I was feeling down.  The upside of this surgery is that the healing seems to have got better quicker.

My view for 3 months

This year settled into a simple pattern of trying to heal in time for the next surgery.  Walking was a challenging and I was pretty excited when I was able to walk a mile after 8 months of limping around everywhere. It was good to get out in nature again.

We did very little traveling since I was keeping my vacation for surgery.  I did a road trip with the office to Columbus Georgia for a conference.  It is a beautiful city and the time with my colleagues is always special.

Pedestrian viewing bridge over the Chattanooga River in Columbus Georgia.

Of course the year was not an easy one for Richard with me flooding the house.  I still gasp when I think of the moment when I realized water was going over the stairs like a waterfall.  When I went downstairs my heart sank as I saw water pouring through the ceiling.  Yikes, what a mess.  How did I tell Richard what had happened?  What was I going to say?  I sent him a Skype message telling him to come home.  And I waited.  He was so good.  I think I would have exploded but he was so calm.  He called the insurance and then we started cleaning up the mess.  We lived with fans in the house for 5 days.  It was like a furnace.  Then once the fans were out the renovations started and what a mess.  The floors had already been lifted, but the popcorn on the ceiling had to come down.  We had agreed on a tile and the old tiles had to come up.  Between those two events I don’t ever think I will get rid of the dust.  New tiles went down, changes were made and the upside of all of Richards hard is that I love the new look.

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Moonshine this year.

Richard and I also did a short overnight trip to Key West a couple of weeks prior to surgery.  We stayed in the beautiful Simonton Court Hotel and took in a sunset cruise.  Obviously walking was not easy but we did manage to get some in.  I always love the Keys and especially the sunset cruises.

Key West

Key West

Of course during my recovery period we had the Hurricane go through.  For a while we thought we were in the cone and then it slowly shifted west.  We still got some pretty bad winds and the palm tree ended up smashing a few roof tiles.  The islands still suffer today with the damage that this crazy weather caused and we will soon see how the Keys fairs when we travel down next week.

I was out of the office from August until the beginning of November and so there was a lot of catch up to do and start finding my feet again.  2018 will bring some additional changes to the office.

December brought the end of 27 months of Peace Corp for Amy and she had to say goodbye to all the new friends she had made and make her way back home.  Coming home with her was Daniel.  We have enjoyed getting to meet him and show him a bit of South Florida.  Sadly he is halfway through his time here and will be heading back home on the 15th.

Cameron and Kathryn are well and preparing to move to a bigger apartment.  It will be all hands on deck the first weekend of the year.  They sadly lost Buster this year, but have a new addition to their family in the way of a Golden Doodle called Cody.

Through all that I managed to stay active in 4 blog groups for most of the year, as well as complete 3 P52’s and a P12.  I also did 3 photo shoots in the month of December which kept me busy editing.  I have really enjoyed the photography year and am looking forward to 2018.

For 2018 we are starting off the year with a trip down to Key West and a sunset cruise so that Daniel can see Key West and we are also planning a trip to Orlando to the theme parks.  Time is short for his stay but hopefully he will have enjoyed it.

I have already planned that I will be doing 4 blog groups and committing to the  3 P52’s and a color chase challenge as well.  Beyond that who knows what 2018 will bring.

As I think of you, I wish you everything of the best for 2018.  May your year be filled with love and laughter, good health, prosperity with humility, the opportunities to reach out and touch someone else’s life. strong family ties, good friendships, communities that make you laugh, and encourage you to be more than you think you can be.

Remember that time waits for now one, so make the most of the time you have now…..

From our Family to yours, Happy New Year!!

It is hard to believe that we are closing out 2017.  I am not sure where the year went.  I know that I spent 3 months on the bed recovering from surgery.  Prior to that I was still recovering from the previous years surgery which took a long time to heal and a long time before I was able to get out and about.  I am excited that I was able to walk my first mile on the 24th almost 3 months earlier than last year.

This time of the year is a time of celebration and reflection, family, friends, goodwill to others.  For us, it has been a special time of the year.  Amy came home after 27 months of living in Macedonia working for the Peace Corp.  Coming home with Amy, was her boyfriend Daniel.  So from mid December, we have gone from 2 adults and a cat to 4 adults and a cat.  Things got a little busier.

It was good for us to be together as a family.  With adult children it is harder and harder to do that but every so often I crave it.  Christmas is always that time for me.  I love to decorate and this year I asked Amy what kind of theme she would like.  Her answer was “ocean”, and so that is where I went this year.  I have done this theme before but used sea sand and shells.  This year I pulled out some dollar store pebbles, sea shells from my bathroom, tiny vases which I filled with sea sand and placed an aqua candle inside.  I created a Christmas tree on an island for each place setting, and put little starfish tags on each wineglass.  I finished that off with an ocean napkin in a silver napkin ring.   It was quick and easy to create.  Ironically I took photo’s of the table but none of the people gathered around the table.  But it was good to have Amy home with Daniel, Cameron and his wife Kathryn and Richard and I gathered around the table.

As we close out this years celebrations today, I would like to take the opportunity to wish you a very Happy New Year.  My prayer is that 2018 will be good to all of us.  May we all be surrounded by family, love, joy, peace, and good health.

Thank you for joining me for this month’s Tell me a Story.    This is a circle blog.  Please take time to visit my fellow blogger  Kim Sidwell and see what she has for you this month. Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages.

You can also find me on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Google+ and Viewbug.

Capturing the year is a group that I first met up with on a Flickr P52.  When that group stopped this group started up and I transitioned over to the new group.  This is the second year I have done a P52 with them.  This particular group works on themes, and so you have to give thought to what images you are going to use.

I have enjoyed this project and look forward to 2018.. Already the first week is up.

To view the images in a larger format please click on the images below.

Sunrise at Lake Worth Pier