Week 7 & 8/52

Oh my. Busy. In one week I have the penultimate draft of my senior thesis paper due. La-di-da. Guess who hasn't started writing yet? Yeah... That would be me. Research: yes. Writing: a resounding 'no'. Also, I have made my topic ultra challenging for myself by exploring an extremely narrow area that I have no expertise in. Because my life isn't crazy enough. Pauvre moi.

In other news, I am ready for spring. It is tantalizingly close. Some days it is pleasantly warm, and I get my hopes up, and my early bulbs begin to sprout. And then I wake up to snow and freezing temperatures, and all my hopes are dashed (along with my bulbs). It is getting old. Please, Spring, come quickly.

But as much as I am whining about winter, for the last two Project 52 assignments, winter is exactly what I have photographed. 

Week 7's theme was 'Open Your Heart'. It was pretty much dragging out the valentine's theme. (What is with that? Am I the only person who thinks valentine's day is lame? Do you know what pagan ritual it actually stemmed from??) Needless to say, I avoided photographing hearts for a second week. Success! I decided to 'open my heart' to finding beauty in winter. As lame as another valentine's theme? Why, yes, yes it is.

Next up, Week 8. The theme was 'View from Here'. I couldn't figure out if it was supposed to be construed as THE view from here, or an instruction to view from *here*. I decided against the latter, and  spent the week wondering what on earth I could photograph. Apart from the mountains, everything around here is pretty flat. Now that I look at that sentence it seems kind of dumb. We'll try that again. Utah Valley is surrounded by mountain that seem to spring up out of plains. No gradual build-up. Just *boom* and they're there. Getting to a high enough vantage point at this time of year presents a problem in a non-4x4 car, too. I did not like the thought of our car hitting some black ice on the way up Squaw Peak and careening off the side of the mountain. Well how about a window view? Power lines. (And dirty windows.) Kid's view? Dog's view? Bug's view? All of them tempting, and especially since they allowed me to stay inside our house where it is nice and warm. But I actually ventured out into the snow, to an orchard nearby. And found some deer. 

Same spot, different focal length. (Uhh... I want need a telephoto lens.) This was late Friday morning. We woke up to about 5 or 6 inches of snow. By the time I took this most of it was melting, and by the late afternoon it was all gone. Maybe I like this kind of snow... deep enough to make the effort clearing the car off worth it, and to give everything that nice 'snow blanket' look, but it doesn't stick around long enough to make driving/functioning a pain in the a**. Plus it was warm enough for me to venture out without a coat. Bonus.

And, Spring? Yeah, I wasn't kidding earlier. You are welcome to come. Anytime you feel like it. Just so long as it's... now.