Have Some Pretty Pictures!

As you know, I don’t really have much time these days, and when I do find some time, I try to read (I’ve recently read The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante and loved it). Still, I manage to take some pretty pictures from time to time, and it’s autumn, so, have some pretty autumn (and kitty! and dog!) pictures!

Winter Wonderland — with Pics!

The snow has been falling for a few days now; needless to say, it tends to make things difficult, especially if you actually have to go somewhere (say, to work, or to pay bills, or to purchase groceries….).

If you have a car, it might look like this:

It’s a car. Really!

Or like this:

You can’t just get in and drive.

If there’s sun, you might see something like this:

I’d say they meant to clear this up… Someday.

With no sun, it’s more like this:

Still looks fun to play in!

Or this:

The trees don’t seem very happy.

If you’re not driving, the path is on the right:

It’s trickier than it seems.

But before that: do you go left, or right?

Choose your path.

After that, there’s this:

Uneven and tricky — perfect for straining your ankle.

Fortunately, there are bars on the side. In situations like walking this, they’re very useful.

Just grab ’em.

Not everyone is unhappy with the snow. Some people really love it, if they don’t have to go far. Some kids and plenty of dogs are quite happy to play in the snow (because of the snow and the low temperatures situation, schools won’t be working this entire week). Cats don’t seem to mind the snow, either — the one on the picture below is as friendly and soft-furred as usual:

Pet me or I’ll bite!

How about you? Do you have problems with the winter and the snow?

Pics Or It Didn’t Happen

To take a photo or not?

I know people who take their cameras wherever they go. Sometimes I get the wish to do the same — hey, who knows, I might run into something great and regret not having my camera with me! — but, in most cases, feel too lazy to actually do it. It’s not that my camera is big or heavy; while it’s not one of the fancy thin ones, it’s not a big huge pro thingy either. It’s just that, big or not, it can feel like a burden, and taking photos can be way too distracting from truly experiencing things. It even happens that I do take my camera with me, and then don’t use it.

I know people who feel, if they go somewhere, they must see and photograph absolutely everything there, otherwise they feel like they haven’t really seen the place. It could be a generational thing, since all the people I know who feel that way are at least seven years younger than me, but for me, it’s the opposite: if I photograph everything, I feel like I haven’t really seen it, because too much of my attention went to making good photos and too little went to experiencing it.

On our first trip to Egypt, Significant Other and I made tons of photos, some great, some mediocre, some lousy; it was our first trip abroad together, and our camera was brand new, so it was all a novelty for us. In that one case, making tons of photos didn’t feel like too much of a distraction, it was a shiny new thing and a part of the experience. On our later trips, making so many photos wasn’t such an exciting new thing anymore, so we didn’t do it, and we never regretted not doing it.

Don’t get me wrong: I do love making interesting photos, and sometimes I will take my camera with me and try to capture something funny, pretty, informative, or in other way interesting. But most of the time, I leave my camera at home, and just enjoy experiencing things.

Pics or it didn’t happen? It did happen, whether I have a photo to show or not; and if I didn’t make photos, I might be remembering it better than if I did.

How do you feel about taking photos and about Pics or it didn’t happen way of seeing things?