Pam's Week 25: Strawberry Fields Forever

Oh, what a week.  I'm not really sure what it was but it just seemed like there was not nearly enough time all week to do what I needed to get done.  I would blame Sharon for making me stay up past my bedtime 3 nights in a row but I don't think it's entirely her fault.  I think part of it is just all the activities winding down in anticipation of summer.  Now if only the weather would cooperate....

I should warn you in advance that I am not overly thrilled with some of my photos this week.  Some of the problems were with inspiration but I think execution just ended up being the biggest problem.  I ran out of time so just shoved some pictures into the topics even though I really wanted to retake them.  Some of them were taken the wrong week as Sharon tricked me into taking Fireworks photos with her this week when it's actually next week's topic.  Anyways, without further ado...

I'm going to put the photos a little out of order this week.  As Sharon pointed out - it's my project and I can do what I want to!  (Did you read that in song?  That's how I wrote it!)

Starts with X

Obviously the first words that came to my mind were also x-ray, xylophone, x-acto knife, x-rated.  I then had an a-ha moment - xenophile:  a person who is attracted to foreign people, cultures, or customs.  I decided this could describe Robert and I but with his crazy schedule these days, there were no opportunities to take a photo of the two of us.  This week, though, a guy my brother went to Sunday school and maybe highschool with a number of years ago was visiting with his 2 kids.  His family was here a couple of Christmases ago and our kids got along really well.  His kids were excited to see mine again so we got together on Thursday night.  The plan was to try Disc Golf but Mother Nature thwarted those plans so instead we headed to McDonald's and then onto Elliot's Ice Cream.

These kids are all the products of xenophilia.  My kids exist because a Canadian woman and a Filipino man fell in love.  Kenji and Kaede have a Canadian father and a Japanese mother.

Silhouette

This ended up being more of a semi-silhouette but Sharon assured me that is a thing.  Just so you know - getting Riya to sit and stay while I squat in front of her and point a camera at her is no easy feat.  Multiple treats were involved in the making of this photo.

And yes she was sitting atop a picnic table to get her high enough to make the photo work.

A Field

Since the title song kept floating into my head every time I read the topic list, I decided taking a photo of a strawberry field should be my goal for the week.  Last night after dropping Danica off at her Brownies campout, I decided I should head to Thomson's Strawberry Farm on my way to Sharon's for Games (aka Blah Blah Blah) Night.  The problem - on the way to Danica's campout location, I picked up a large drink at McDonald's and proceeded to drink it.  As I arrived back in town, I contemplated stopping somewhere to use a bathroom but decided I could hold it.  I drove all across town, still thinking I should stop but didn't really want to, and to the farm.  I got out of the car to take a couple of photos but quickly decided one of them would have to do as there did not appear to be any place I could cop a squat and relieve myself and I was heading towards an accident.  As soon as I arrived at Sharon's, I jumped out of the car, ran past her and into the bathroom (thankfully Levi got out quickly as he heard my desperation as I explained to Sharon why I was being so rude).  It took me much longer than the 8 seconds Sharon has informed me a woman's pee should always be...

I thought I wanted one without the buildings but I liked the blue sky and white fence in this one.  (Geez - this was the first one I took - I could have saved myself some pain had I jumped back in the car right here!)

Swirl

It was clear to me that this had to be a photo of ice cream.  Luckily Sharon had a birthday and therefore needed an ice cream date to celebrate.  This is one of the photos that I imagined quite differently.  It lost something in execution but ice cream isn't particularly forgiving and sometimes you just have to make do...

Jump

As we dropped Duncan off at my parents' last night en route to Danica's campout, I made Danica get out of the car and jump a little for me.  I'm not going to lie and pretend I spent loads of time trying to get this to work.  As soon as I got a photo of her in mid-air, we were on our merry way.  Looking at it now, I realize that it's blurry and I should have tried again but I am now kid and dog-less and now about to take jumping selfies...

Bark

Yet again, I thought my idea was brilliant, my execution, not so much.  I decided to take a photo of Riya barking.  Did you realize how quickly a dog's mouth opens and closes during a bark and how difficult it is, at least with a point and shoot automatic camera, to capture that movement?

Wildcard

I have the same creepy ship in the fog and the rolling fog photos as Sharon but decided to go with this one instead.  It was taken out at Pointe Des Chenes as we searched for silhouettes.  I liked the bright orange tree in the middle of all the green, the reflections in the water, and the lilypads.  I just wish the blue sky showed up properly and didn't white out.

And that is all for this week.  Now I should go shower as we will be leaving shortly to head to Mount Pleasant to see Journey.  I'm just a small town girl.....he's a city boy.....we aren't going to Stop Believin'!