the show

I apologize for my little blogging hiatus. It was an incredibly busy week between work and getting ready for the show. A number of people have inquired as to how the Charlie Project did at the festival...so I thought I would include a short post about the event.


the Charlie Project table from the festival

It was a great two days. I had a number of people sign up for a photo session for their dog who loved the idea of a printed plaque for their home (the offline version of the online essay) and the concept behind the project was very well received by everyone I talked to. It was wonderful to meet so many people who wanted to help raise money for such a worthy cause. I was also approached by the local humane society to do some photography work for them at their upcoming walk-a-thon...which thrilled me to the core as I was hoping to add a shelter/rescue component to the project. But there was even something more....


plaque version of the online essay and notecards

As I was explaining the project to folks that took the time to stop by the booth, many people felt compelled to share with me a story or two about their own dog....especially those who's beloved friend was no longer with them. And their face would light up as they told me about a favorite trick or about an adventure they had shared with their dog....and I could see, once again, the remarkable power of dog love. How it stays with you....how it makes your heart glad.....even once they are gone.



Hearing all the stories was the best part of the day....if the Charlie Project slows the world down long enough, even for just five minutes, to let someone remember how the soul of a dog made them smile....then I have succeeded in my task.



I will be back to visiting all my favorite blogs and participating in Sunday Stills this week...I've missed everyone. :)

the courage to share

I am hosting a booth at a local festival this weekend to showcase the Charlie Project. I am hoping to find some more participants for the project, to sell some notecards a friend and I created, with some of the canine photos I have taken, to raise money for the OVC Pet Trust and generally to create some awareness for this wonderful charity. And I am butterflies-in-the-stomach, knees-shaking, nervous.



I have found that sharing one's creative work...whether through blogging, through writing, through photography, through any medium...takes a lot of guts. You are putting yourself out there...and many of us can often feel that our work is too inadequate to be worthy of sharing. I can remember working on my first post for this blog...I actually felt a wave of nausea pass over me as I pushed the Publish button. But I am so glad I did...because what a wonderful world I found...a world of encouragement...and a world of inspiration.



All of my blogging friends are people who are put themselves out there every day...with every post they write, every photo they share. And it is all wonderful, creative, diverse, personal work....it is work that truly shines. Every additional step I have taken in my creative path has come from the encouragement that I have found here through blogging...through all the kindhearted people who take a little time each day to visit Sophie and I and who give me such inspiration through their own blogs.



I realized that it doesn't matter if your photo is perfect or if your writing is publisher-worthy....what is important is that you share it. So thank you, fellow bloggers.....for giving me the courage to share.

wanting it all

My photography has taken on a little life of its own these days....in a warm and wonderful way. I am scurrying to get caught up on the other things in my life, such as writing and visiting all the blogs that I love, as much of my time has been spent either behind the camera or in my "digital darkroom".



I spent Sunday afternoon photographing a beautiful group of children at my nephew's birthday party...something a bit new for me as most of my "live" subjects are the four-legged, shaggy kind. I am always eager to explore new avenues to improve and broaden my photography skills. I have included a few of the photos in this post and the rest can be viewed here if anyone is interested.



Based on the shots from the party, a few of the moms have contacted me to see if I would be interested in spending some time shooting some additional family photos for them. It is an exciting and nerve racking direction for me....one, to photograph people (outside of my immediate family and friends) rather than dogs and, two, to have expectations built into my craft. I have only ever taken pictures for myself....my love for photography was built upon that and it's important to me that I don't lose it along the way.



But I am happy that my photos are speaking to people...are making them smile and helping to capture some joyful moments for them. I am eager to see where this path may take me....but it's a path that I am not willing to compromise other things for....because, you see, I want it all.



I want to give a devoted mother the perfect picture of her beautiful baby girl. I want to meet more wonderful, soulful dogs and keep building the Charlie Project. I want to write...articles, personal essays, memoirs and even a children's story I have been mulling over. I want to blog and spend time on favorite blogs.



I want to read with Elora cuddled in my lap. I want to sit in the summer sun on old wooden docks with old cherished friends. I want to hear the sound of my family's laughter mingle with the northern cricket's song and float into the night sky. And I want to be with Sophie....in the moment, on the trails, with nothing in my thoughts except the love for this great dog.



And what I want most is to try...to try to have it all...and see what wonderful things Sophie and I can find along the way.

sunday stills - yellow

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was the colour yellow.



One of my favorite colours...I love every shade....

who's that boy?

I received many emails from my last post asking me who the cute little boy is. I am proud to say that's my nephew Ben, my brother's son...the first grandchild for my mom and dad...and today he is two.



And, oh!, how our lives changed when he arrived. To see the world, new and fresh, through the eyes of a child...there is nothing quite like it. To see my brother become a father...it is still quick to bring lump to my throat when I watch them together. To see how this little boy's face lights up when his mother, my sister-in-law, walks into the room...it is a love that is palpable.



The joy he brings to our weekends together at the cottage is tinged with recollections of our own childhoods. My brother, sister and I have fond memories of another time, another cottage and another summer spent outside...running with the wind, dancing with sun....exploring trails, lakes and forests with a great dog named Jed, that belonged to my Aunt.


I can feel my brother wishing for those kind of memories for Ben...for his son. That he hopes Ben will look back, thirty years from now, and have a snapshot in his mind of his own summers at the cottage when he was little boy....and how his Aunt had a great dog named Sophie who was his faithful companion on all of his sunshine and wind adventures.



Happy Birthday, Ben.

defining moments

I realized, over the weekend, just how much viewing the world from a behind a camera begins to change how you see the events and the people that surround you in life. How there are moments that mark the essence of something...and that those are what you want to capture through your lens. So rather than shoot a group of people, sitting around a table smiling for the camera...which could be any group of people, at any cottage on any rain-filled weekend, I sought out our moments...the little things that I felt defined the weekend...and I found:

A Border Collie, reunited with her lake, enjoying her first swim of year...



A wondrous sky after a dark storm...



Raindrops nestled in the beauty of late spring....






A little boy's adventures told through his smile...






Dazzling sunshine in the smallest of fragile places...



And, the thread of family, woven tight and strong.







These are the moments that I will carry with me...always.

gone north

The first long weekend of the summer at the cottage...there is nothing sweeter.



Sophie and I will be back on Monday...with photos and a story or two to share.