206: Alternative Energy

Day 4, no power. It's getting old, and we're all pretty frustrated by this intrusion into our lives, this deprivation of our everyday. We're trying to keep our perspective-- it's not especially cold or hot, the days are long and filled with light, we have clean running water, a stove and most importantly, a way to make coffee. But honestly, I'm tired of reading by candlelight, and the laundry is starting to pile up. 

Did you know a bag of ice only lasts one day, even locked tight in a cooler? I really had no idea. As it melts and fills the cooler, it swamps all the containers at the bottom, so make sure the bottom layer is tall and waterproof. All the stores on our side of town can't keep ice in stock, so finding more is no easy task. We're starting to wonder about running out of cooking fuel, also in short supply at the nearby stores. 

Losing power for an evening is no television, conversation by candlelight, resetting the clocks in the morning. Losing power for a week with young children is rearranging your thinking about all the ways you care for your family and your home, planning for a routine that could last for unknown hours or days or longer, trying to maintain a positive outlook but feeling worried and bogged down by the all the minutiae created by powerless appliances. Among the lessons I'm learning in a new, visceral way this week: the freezer and it's counterpart, the microwave oven are truly a revolution in the kitchen. 

205: Useless

Day 3 with no power. I drained these and left them in the dish drainer to dry. This image reminds me a little of Angie of Simulacrum's recent abstract series.

204: Powerless

 

Our second day without power following Hurricane Irene's tour of the East Coast. There's something to be said for cleaning the bathroom with a flashlight.

203: Ribbon

 

202: Repurpose

This wonderful pipe rack belonged to my husband's grandfather. My husband doesn't smoke, but when the pipe rack was offered to him, he knew immediately how he would use it.

201: Nostalgic

200: Whirl

 

This was meant to be a blurry shot, but the blurriness was enhanced by a non-fully-functioning lens. My main lens was bumped a little more significantly than I first thought the other day, and it hasn't been itself since then. I'm coming around to the idea that two to four weeks without it while it's off at the shop will provide more creative impetus. Seems sort of apropos to have a significant hiccup, that is, "opportunity," in the project at #200.

199: Cacophony

The din created by the waterworks at Pocahontas State Park is incredible.

198: All in a Row

197: Bean Counter

 

196: Aviation

My son and I visited the Virginia Aviation Museum this afternoon. We blew two hours here in what felt like minutes.

These first two images are from an F-14 Tomcat, the plane you may remember from Top Gun.

This is a model of the SR-71 Blackbird on permanent loan in the front yard of the museum. This Cold War Spy plane is the largest single-passenger airplane ever built. Of the many fascinating tidbits about this plane, my favorite is that it is made of titanium... from the Soviet Union.

To see more images from our fun and informative afternoon, check out the set here.

195: Where are We Going?

194: Swirl

You can see more images from this series, including one that shows how I created this effect, here.

193: Wave

192: Beach

 

Items to remember on the next trip to Lake Anna State Park or another beach: buckets and shovels, beach chairs, extra towels and maybe even an umbrella. I had the necessities though: sunscreen, snacks, floaties and new distractions for the car ride.

191: Rays

 

190: Stripes

189: Fulton Gas Works

An abandoned gas works near my house. I've always heard it was a Superfund site, but I didn't find it on any online lists.

I did find lots of blogs and photosharing albums of this subject though. I find it heartening to see so many others fascinated by the mystery and rich history of this site and others like it. I love this painting in particular.

You can see non-blue photos from my explorations here.

188: One City Block

 

187: Shark

A collaboration with my son. He asked me to draw a shark, so I pulled out one of his books about sharks and used a drawing of a tiger shark to create this sketch.

186: Library

185: Henricus

The kids and I visited Henricus Historical Park today, along with some other local 365 mamas. This first shot, taken on the drive in to the park, was inspired by Beth of ...the year of the written word... whose side project, "The Notion of Line" has changed my view of power lines as something in the way of a good shot, to something worth looking at it and even capturing in and of themselves. Though you can't really tell in this image, the tower in the distance in the very center of the photo is blue.

This resident soldier of the Citie of Henricus is describing how the metal helmet protected colonists from Native American arrows while providing greater peripheral vision than earlier versions.

We discovered this grouping of reproduction trinkets and artifacts toward the end of the visit. My toddler daughter was fascinated by the colorful beads, making this shot much more difficult to capture than it might appear.

More power lines on the drive home, with no particular blue other than the sky this time. Dominion Power has a coal plant near the park, and each time I visit the area I am dumbfounded by the shear volume of power lines.

You can see more shots from our visit here, and be sure to check out Progeny 365(ish), 365 Days of Me and Snowglobe 365 for more views of our fun afternoon!

184: Folds

 

Just realized that I have a theme of looking up going this week.

183: Distorted Reflection

Another reprise, which seems an appropriate theme for the half-way point of the project. I photographed these tiny bottles early on with the prediction of a return to the subject. This time I captured a reflection of the bottles in the plastic mirror at the end of one of my daughter's board books.

182: Hung Up

181: Replenish

180: Out and About

After weeks of temperatures in the upper 90s and above, the kids and I took advantage of today's relatively "cool" 92 degrees by visiting the playground at Mary Munford, a local elementary school, for the first time today. 

I was excited to see this mosaic weather vane, one of the sources of inspiration behind the four seasons mosaic I worked on earlier this year. The art teacher leading the four seasons project studied this piece as part of her preparation for creating the mosaic panels.

We lasted about an hour in the heat and humidity before we retreated to the air conditioning and cold drinks of a local diner. The dark, mirrored interior and funky lights provided a fun opportunity for Blue photos.

179: Waiting

 

I noticed this reflection as I was making up mugs of coffee for my husband and myself this morning. Can you picture him impatiently tapping his fingers as I took this shot?

178: What's Cooking?