I’ve been trying more macro photography and I seem to have hit upon a new realm….weeds.  These are fairly unremarkable until you look through the lens.

I just do.  This is a weed but with the right treatment, it’s actually very pretty!

Two, actually.  We had them come out because we are thinking about doing a “select cut” of our timber.  The forest rangers will come out for free – their services are covered by our property taxes.  So two guys come out and we got to tromp around our property for about an hour and a half on a beautiful day!  I didn’t know this, but we have all kinds of trees – red oak, white oak, hickory, poplar, loblolly pine, ironwood, sourwood, sweet gum and probably some others that I’ve forgotten. I was glad to learn that sourwood is favored by honey bees – I know the bees have been hit hard lately with bee plague and all. We have several big trees that are over a foot in diameter – here’s one that actually grew *around* some barbed wire:

One of the trees looked like it had been drilled 100 times – it’s from woodpeckers looking for grubs:

Right now there’s not much color out there, it being the dead of winter and all.  About the only green is some holly, and there’s some honeysuckle that’s blooming early due to the weird and mild temperatures.  Here’s a shot of one of our cleared property lines.

All in all, the forest rangers recommended we thin out the woods.  The trees are too crowded, and some of them have fallen over due to high winds and a relatively shallow land composition (lots of clay about 2′ down that prevents roots from going deep).

I’ve been experimenting with night/moon shots.  Here’s my latest effort:

So I trek out behind the greenhouse to start clearing out some junk.

I notice a branch on the ground.

There’s some weird-looking bark on it.

Let’s look a little closer, shall we?

Now that’s just cool!    (Thanks, Bruce, for the tripod!!)

P.S.  Here’s one I took at work.  This looks like ribbon, but it’s really metal shavings that were in a dumpster.

And we’re started Phase 2 which will be electrical, insulation and dryway, omg.  !!

Slab has been poured – framing starts tomorrow!

I just love these colors.

I love my bed.

I love my dog!

This Thanksgiving, I seemed to hit a new low. I was just hating the fact that once again, another holiday would pass where I wouldn’t get to see my own family. (Didn’t matter that logistically it’s challenging, not to mention damn expensive, for my own family to get together, given that my nearest relative is about 1,000 miles away.) The worst moment came when I realized I’m not sure if I can remember what my parents sounded like. After all, they have been gone for 14 years.

I don’t really care for this holiday. I can pretty much take or leave the traditional Thanksgiving food, and it just seemed like a burden to have to endure yet another holiday meal, table loaded down with food I don’t really like, while missing my own nutty family all the while. I just couldn’t take it, and I was teary-eyed a lot. The thought of another holiday hot on our heels wasn’t too thrilling either, since there are no surprises and it’s really rather lame.

Wah, wah, wah. I just felt like a complete failure. Really?! 14 years and still having trouble coping? What the hell. I felt like an ungrateful, whiny bitch and couldn’t seem to pull myself out of it. I’m not sure when the pivotal moment came, but somewhere in all that wallowing around in self-pity, I realized I could either be miserable or be happy.

I choose happy.

I’m still not sure how I’m going to pull it off, but the grey miserable shit seemed to lift. This year, when I put up the tree, it will be for me. I like my collection of little wooden German-style ornaments, and I’ve always liked the mini lights. This year, when I buy all the gifts, I will give them gladly without any expectations. It’s time to stop feeling all put-upon – to just stop.

Peace on earth begins with peace in our souls, so I say let’s go.