weekly photo challenge: names

Sunday, January 8: The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge encourages us to post photos that contain names.

As my maiden name was Cathy Birdsong, I have often used the name “catbird” on my blogs.  I was in New England a couple of years ago when I came upon this aptly named studio – one I’m sadly not at all associated with.  If only I had such a studio!

catbird studiio

Last year in Chincoteague, I came upon this sign that carries part of my youngest son’s name.

Adam Dutch

My oldest son’s girlfriend is named Ariana.  I found her namesake restaurant in Philadelphia – a restaurant featuring Afghanistan cuisine.  Sadly, we didn’t try it out.  And we could have had 20% off with a movie ticket!

Ariana

Unrelated to any of my family, I found this boat in a Maryland marina a couple of summers ago, an ode to Miss Betty.  Berthed beside Miss Betty is The Other Woman.

Miss Betty (and The Other Woman)

And at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, MD, I found the gravestone of Elijah Jefferson Bond, creator of the Ouija Board. 🙂

Elijah Jefferson Bond – Creator of the Ouija Board

the Ouija Board on the back

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weekly photo challenge: edge

Today’s Weekly Photo Challenge asks us to share our interpretation of “edge.” The challenge: Take a photo from an actual edge, like a balcony, a window, or a seaside bluff (wherever you are, stay safe!). Focus on a sharp angle or object, or show us the outer margins of a building, a face, or a book.

These photos of edges are from our recent trip to Iceland.  You can read more about my trip here: in search of a thousand cafés where I write about my travels in Europe.

Siglufjörður on the edge of a fjord and a mountain in North Iceland

Standing on the edge of Godafoss

Waterfalls tumbling off the edge of the mountain north of Seyðisfjörður, in East Iceland

The edges of glaciers that have calved from a larger glacier and end up at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in South Iceland

weekly photo challenge: curve

Saturday, June 18:  This week’s Photo Challenge asks us to get inspired by the curves around us, from curves in architecture to bends in nature to man-made undulations.  I had a fun time looking through my happy memories to find photos for this challenge.

Curvy arches at ruins in Oman

arches in Cordoba’s Mezquita

Lotus

sunflower

the Li River near Yangshuo, China

The Longji Rice Terraces in Guangxi, China

a curvaceous flag at the cowboy museum in Oklahoma City

curving staircase at Creek’s Edge winery in Virginia

Curving grasses at Chanticleer Garden in Philadelphia

weekly photo challenge: pure

Sunday, June 12:  The Weekly Photo Challenge asks us to show something pure:

• not mixed with anything else

• clean and not harmful in any way

I love these peonies I found blooming at Meadowlark Gardens in May.  They seem the perfect embodiment of pure.

peony in pink

luscious peony

peony heaven

peony side view

 

weekly photo challenge: numbers

Sunday, June 5:  I love anything that promises a journey, like the distances to exotic locales shown on the directional signs below — found in Fenghuang, China.

Numbers telling distances to exotic locales – Fenghuang, China

Too see more from the Weekly Photo Challenge: Numbers, click on the link. 🙂

weekly photo challenge: spare

Friday, May 27: Today’s Weekly Photo Challenge asks us to share photos representing spare:

(adjective) Additional to what is required for ordinary use.
(adjective) Elegantly simple.
(verb) To refrain from harming.

I’ve chosen some photos representing minimalist landscapes.  First, on a drive to the beaches on the south of Crete, I found this spare rolling landscape.

Southern Crete

Anacapa Island, one of California’s Channel Islands is one of the most spare and desolate landscapes I’ve seen, except for the multitudes of seagulls dotting the horizon.

Anacapa Island off the coast of California

Weizhou Island in the south of China has some lava beaches that look pretty spare, yet elegantly curvaceous.

Weizhou Beach in the south of China

And finally, the marshland of Chincoteague Island in Virginia is spare, but beautiful.

Sea grasses on Chincoteague Island

weekly photo challenge: jubilant

Saturday, May 21:  Jubilant is an adjective: showing great joy, satisfaction, or triumph; rejoicing; exultant.  So says the Weekly Photo Challenge: Jubilant, challenging us to “end this week on a high note, with images that say jubilant.”

Here are some jubilant moments from my life:

In Hanok Village, Jeonju, South Korea, some jubilant musicians inspired all the English teachers to join in with the festivities.

jubilant Korean dancers in Hanok Village, Jeonju, South Korea

As we took a day-long drive down the King’s Highway in Jordan, my Japanese fellow traveler Minako and I felt jubilant at different spots along the drive.  Me at the Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve and Minako at Karak Castle in Jordan.

Me at Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve

Minako at the Crusader Castle of Karak

The traditional dancers in Siem Reap, Cambodia showed a more subdued kind of jubilation.

Traditional dancers in Siem Reap, Cambodia

I celebrated my 57th birthday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at Yod Abyssinia Restaurant, probably the most jubilant celebration I’ve ever had.

Traditional Ethiopian dancers

And finally, on my month-long trip through Spain and Portugal, I was inspired by the jubilant flamenco dancers at Jardines de Zoraya in Granada, Spain.

flamenco dancers at Jardines de Zoraya in Granada