Seeing Bode Miller take the Gold makes me sad. I’m glad for Bode, but he brings back bittersweet memories of what once was.

In 2002 I sat watching the Winter Olympics next to a whelping box. We had just had a litter of two puppies; one male, one female. I was pretty much a captive audience. Bode Miller made quite a splash that year. I liked his back story about how he was born to kind of “hippie” parents and had lived a pretty bohemian lifestyle. A real laid-back kind of guy. The male pup had kind of the same laid-back attitude and had been born more or less of “hippie” parents (a mistake breeding of Millenia and Sailor due to us thinking Millie was out of season when she really wasn’t), so I named him Bode after Bode Miller.

Bode was a beautiful dog. A good soul. The name fit him as he was very laid-back. And very sweet. My Jo-Jo-Bean, as I liked to call him. Follow this link to Bode’s page on our Bernese Mountain Dog web site which is woefully out of date. Be sure to look at all three of Bode’s photo pages. See what a cute puppy he was? He had certain faults that kept him from the show ring, but in my eyes he was perfect. He had a big plume of tail that he carried over his back (his one major cosmetic flaw) which was always wagging. He was always smiling. I miss that dog.

He had his own mind. Several times at the cabin he wandered off and Rick would find him heading off across the prairie on his own. Where was he going? we asked ourselves. The wrong direction, Bode!

He loved to sit up and gently put his big old paws on you, like this photo taken just one week before we lost him.

He gave us lots of love in his short life. We miss you JoJo! We miss Bode’s sister Daisy too, who passed over the Rainbow Bridge just seven months after Bode. Maybe she missed him too.

Well, I am hardly a “girl” anymore. Maybe you’re thinking that the title should read “Give that woman a camera.” Since I never had any children I still consider myself a girl. So there.

Take my camera away from me and I feel naked. Stripped. Even if I find nothing over the course of a day to take a photo of, the feeling of loss is the same. Rick took my camera to work a few weeks back to experiment mounting and using my lenses with their {company hi-speed} cameras. I felt weird all day long. I sent him at least three or four strident messages by chat in the afternoon. Don’t forget my camera. Please. How can one become so attached to an inanimate object like that where you can feel its loss?

Some people quilt, sew, or knit and they are passionate about it. I knit, dabble with embroidery, and am starting to learn how to hook rugs, and while I enjoy doing all of them, I am not passionate about any one of those things. For me it’s photography. The camera has become my way of expressing myself. Like I’ve said before, whether I’m good or bad does not really enter into it. As long as I am satisfied with my photography results, enough said. I’ve expressed myself in my own unique way. Many of you have been kind enough to comment on my photographs, and to that I would like to send out my thanks to you all. I am glad you enjoy them. I am not a professional. In fact, pretty far from it. I think I might have a good eye, but my skills are sadly lacking for taking photos off the auto modes. I’ve been trying hard to correct that, but when the dogs are romping through the snow, I grab the telephoto and set the camera to sports. I can’t think fast enough to get a good image without auto mode. Is this a bad thing??

What I really should do is take an in-depth class, but instead I rely on a few books. Let me tell you, I am NOT good at reading and acting on what I read. I’d be much better off with a hands-on class but that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Normally those kinds of adult education classes are held at night. I don’t want to go to classes at night since we live so far away from a decent sized city and I don’t do well at venturing out at night. I am a homebody at heart, and I want to be home at night and not out by myself. So, I struggle with myself. Take decent photos on the auto modes or experiment off them? I’m trying to wean myself away, but mostly I find I don’t have the time to compose a shot manually. Lazy, I guess.

I tried using Rick’s old camera with its metering system as a way to help me, but the metering system in those old film cameras is very different from the new digital ones, so the same shutter speed and aperture settings in the old camera did not carry over to my Rebel. So disappointing.

I recently bought this book seeking some guidance and I really like his writing style. What he says just makes sense to me. He doesn’t talk over your head, and at the end of each chapter he gives different assignments to practice what you’ve learned.

I also can’t get rid of any of my old cameras, all of them film. I did gift my first digital Rebel to my friend Carolyn when I got this camera. And when I get my new Rebel for Christmas this year that also takes video (hint, hint, Rick—are you reading this?) I will probably sell this Rebel. At least the camera body but maybe not all the lenses. I have at least three old Minolta film cameras withering away downstairs. How can I get rid of them? They are now vintage!

I have one digital camera, a cross between a point-and-shoot and a DSLR, that I need to list on eBay. I bought it because it was highly recommended by a good friend who is a photographer and it had great user reviews. It was kind of strange because I struggled with that camera. Rick looked me straight in the eye one day and said “You know, I don’t think the photos you are taking with that camera are as good as what you’ve done before.” For whatever reason, that camera and I just didn’t jive. I’m not quite sure why.

This fun little camera and I get along just fine. I got this one for Christmas.

It’s an instant camera made by Fuji like the old Polaraids that are now extinct. It gives tiny credit card size instant prints. We mostly use it for impromptu photos of the dogs and cats when they do something cute, so it sits on our countertop near the phone in the kitchen for easy grabbing. Pull out the lens to turn it on, get your subject in the frame and click the button. Out pops your print from the top of the camera!

I don’t know exactly when I knew I liked taking photographs. Probably after I left my first husband. I spent a lot of time with the old Minolta as a way to fill time on the weekends living on my own. You might have found me at Flatiron Reservoir, up the Big Thompson or Poudre Canyon hunched over some flower or other. I took the best photos with that camera. I entered a photo contest sponsored by our local camera store in Loveland, Colorado (Western Camera) and Hugh (the owner) was sweet enough to comment on my photo and encourage me. It was a photo of a rose growing in my flower garden. My father also encouraged me and helped me grow within this time frame as he was always a good photographer, but as an artist, he mostly took photos so he could paint from them. Not for the sake of photography itself.

The rose photo that started my obsession with a camera, scanned in from original.

I was always drawn to flowers and macro photography from the start. I can’t say why. People don’t really interest me that much, but nature does. Maybe because nature does not pose, nor does it realize you are trying to capture its image. It’s pure; unadulterated.

Some of those early photos I took still hang on the walls of my house, just like they helped to decorate my nearly bare apartment that was furnished with a king-size waterbed, an old couch, and large, empty wire spools that served as end tables and dining table.

When I started this post all I really wanted to say was that I am not complete without my camera, and look at all the other stuff that spilled out as I typed. Things I had not really thought about in years. Interesting ...

While talking to my sister yesterday, she remarked that I hadn’t been doing much blogging lately. She’s right; I guess it’s been a while. It’s not that life has been boring, quite the opposite, but I just haven’t felt the need to write things down. So, this entry will be all about catching up with lots of things.

The dogs enjoyed the big snow last week. Here is Hailey being silly, tunneling in and eating snow.

Alex thinks snow is tasty too.

Of course, Bella and Hailey have to play.

We had a long weekend with Rick being home for four straight days in a row, as Monday was a work holiday for him. Over the weekend we really didn’t do much. We walked the dogs, played many hours of Super Mario Brothers on the Wii (a multiple player game), caught up on all our TiVo’d programs, and had a wonderful Valentine’s Day dinner out with some friends.

On Tuesday he took a personal day off and we went into New York City to the Westminster dog show. Since moving here we’ve wanted to go in to watch our breed, Bernese Mountain Dogs, show and possibly see some old dog show friends. We took the train in (which was a good thing because it was snowing) which is so convenient since Penn Station is right there at Madison Square Garden. Get off the train, walk up some stairs and you’re there!

Did you know that Rick and I used to be into showing dogs? Well, we were. We had a dog, Indy, that was ranked in the top ten Bernese Mountain dogs in the country in 1996 and 1997. In fact, we brought him to the Westminster show in 1997. He didn’t win anything but it was an experience we’ll never forget. We did have a handler but not a big name one, just someone local. Rick did show Indy himself quite a lot though. Here they are:

Showing dogs is kind of an addiction, especially when you have a dog that wins. I think it must be like having a child that is a football or soccer star. It’s an ego rush and very competitive. I do miss the whole dog show thing from time to time but what I don’t miss is the political side of the sport.

Anyway here are a few photos I took at Westminster. This is the benching area where you can view all the dogs. It’s a very packed and crowded place! Thankfully there aren’t too many benched shows anymore. I much prefer to go to a dog show, show my dog at the appointed time, and go home instead of sitting around all day!

We walked down the Mastiff aisle because we think they are cute. Look at the size of those heads!

This one was trying to stay cool, calm and collected in the midst of chaos.

I liked this sign.

And this was the view from where we were sitting looking down on to the rings.

We did manage to meet up with some dog show folks we hadn’t seen in a long while, so that was good too.

It hadn’t really snowed that much in the city, but on the train ride home it was obvious it had been snowing all day further north. A virtual Winter Wonderland passed before our eyes! Here is what we were greeted with on our drive home from the train station.

A wet, sticky snow that clung to all the branches. We could barely get into our driveway because the plow had gone by a few times and really stacked up the snow. So the expected 1-3 inches turned into 5-7 inches!

Other things that are on my mind include deciding which country to move to if Sarah Palin ever becomes President. Mexico or Canada? I need to write all the pros and cons of each country on my hand ...

And the Olympics. I live for the figure skating events, and this year the men’s is on fire! I can’t wait until tonight to see the battle play out for the medals. Will Plushenko get the Gold after his comeback? Or will one of the other two men hot on his heels take it? Then there is the ice dancing to come in three different nights ... can’t wait!

See? Lots of nothing about somethings. I’ll try to do better next time ...

These were taken in the thick of things yesterday. The snow was just beautiful and we were glad to be safe, snug, and warm inside. The snow wrapped up around 8:00 p.m. or so, but the winds kicked up in the middle of the night and did some drifting. Not too bad though. The front steps were buried! My dream of being snowed in didn’t quite come true, but it was a good snow so I am not complaining!

This morning dawned bright and beautiful. Rick cleared the snow that had fallen since he cleared the drive just before dark last night and I shoveled the steps and behind the gate in case it doesn’t melt before we have a fuel oil delivery. I learned the hard way the first year we lived here and the fuel oil delivery man had to scramble over our fence with his hose because the snow behind the gate was frozen solid!

I took just a few photos of it piled up on some of the railings around the yard before the sun started to melt it away.

Believe it or not, I put on my boots and went down into the yard with my camera hoping to get some fun dog photos but I could not entice the dogs down into the yard! Only Bella came and she got bored with me pretty quickly. Lazy mutts.

hey mom ... look

it’s finally snowing

and pretty good too!

Husband home. A fire in the wood stove. Snow falling heavily outside. Life is good even if we didn’t get to carry out our plans to see the filming of CHOPPED. Hopefully we can reschedule for another day.

Thank you, weather gods!