Beach Buddies

Wilson's Woman on Wordless Wednesday

Saturday Selfie

Out for a walk the other day, the super-reflective wall of my neighborhood's "sports pavillion" caught my eye. It is almost a mirror, albeit one that needs a good cleaning. While I don't think I would ever post a phone selfie that provides that close-up of one's face at a funky angle, I don't mind the occasional odd reflective portrait.

These reflective windows are actually the walls of the huge indoor swimming pool. From the inside it is a clear view out. I bet the swimmers wondered what the heck I was taking a photo of!

Birthday Selfies!!!

For those of you who have been following this blog for a good while, you know I do not like being in the pictures. It's very rare to see me in these posts! Having so much spare time on my hands recently, I decided to head down to our condo at the beach. The rental season is over, it's time to do the deep cleaning, and as a bonus, I could spend my birthday at the beach! Since I headed down by myself, I needed to be inventive to get a birthday portrait. Fortunately, our balcony doors create the perfect mirror! A nice reflection, but the details are vague!

First up is a sunrise selfie. I find it telling that you can see the coffee pot through my silhouette as well as the coffee cup on the table next to me. I'm not a very nice person until I've had that first cup of Joe. LOL!

Then we have a midday selfie. You can see Jimmy and Wilson are there with me, so I'm still within the bounds of this blog! And, yes, I was drinking alone. You can do that on your birthday, right?

Now, a really long term blog follower will be able to tell me which birthday this one was? Any educated guesses?

Monday Mischief: Photo Bomber!!!!!

So we were up in the mountains (well, what poses as mountains here in Virginia. Certainly not the gorgeous mountains KB shares with us!) on Saturday. Thanks to a couple of glasses of wine, I was in the very rare mood to have my picture taken with the boys. We were in a very quiet corner of the orchard, but even that wasn't enough to keep the background free of a photo bomber!


And here's how it was supposed to look...............

Meet the Blogger - Stepping Out from Behind the Camera Is Scary!

Where to start? Where to start......Let's first start with a big Thank You to all of our hosts for this blog hop. It truly is a great idea....


For many of us I imagine this blog hop will have us stepping outside our comfort zones. I know it's a stretch for me. I've hidden from the camera and center of attention my whole life. I never graduated from high school, skipping senior year to go straight into college. No pesky graduation pictures or party to deal with! College graduation was from a large university that used the football stadium for the ceremony. It rained that day so I skipped it and got my diploma in the mail. I've never had a wedding, so HUGE center of attention bullet dodged there. Whew! And I don't have a job that puts me out in front of people. No, that would never do. The only place in my life where I push the envelope just a tad is with my agility competitions. When I first started training, I remember thinking I could never get out there and compete with all those people watching! Well, with a bit of agility trial experience under your belt, you quickly learn 99% of the people are NOT watching your run. They are busy chatting, playing on their tablets, napping, whatever, but they are very definitely not watching me.

So the anonymity of blogging suits me just fine!

What are some of the things you may or may not already know about me? Let's see.....

My name is Taryn.
I live in Virginia within easy driving distance of Washington, DC.
I own two Cardigan Welsh Corgis. (Duh! That goes without saying....)
I love to take photographs, primarily of said corgis.
I love the game of agility, probably a bit too much.
I've got a home-away-from-home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
I love the water, beach, and ocean!
I hate having my picture taken! I avoid it like the plague!

This past summer at La Tourelle Resort in Ithaca, NY

Now, let's move on to some of those questions that were suggested to get the conversation (however one-sided) going......

What makes you feel fabulous? As mentioned above, I am an agility addict. Coming out of the ring after a well done run on a challenging course, where Jimmy and I were truly in sync, is an incredible high! I'm grinning ear to ear, and my heart is singing!

Photo Credit: Victor Steel

Photo credit: Jim Poor

What do you like to do in your free time? It's quite simple really...... Be outside!  I am oh-so-grateful for my excellent job as a web application developer, but it truly hurts to watch gorgeous days go by through an office window. Knowing it is a day you can never get back really bothers me. I know working now is the price we must pay for freedom/retirement later, but sometimes I really rue all those lost days.

If you could change one thing about your life what would it be? Where I live. I grew up in the country with lots of pets and the space needed to have them. Becoming an adult meant getting a job, and that eventually led me to the suburban areas of a good job center. While the cultural life is wonderful in the DC metro area, many other aspects are very stressful, traffic and way too many people being at the top of the list. I would love to return to the simpler life in the country with more trees/animals and less people. I am sure I would miss the convenience of a grocery store on every corner and an abundance of good restaurants, but such are the trade-offs.

Other than blogging, what are three things you do that bring you joy? Reading, exercise, and photography...

What’s one thing you have to do every day? Brush my teeth! Kidding aside, I truly need to get a good dose of exercise each day. I am just one of those oddballs that loves to exercise. It doesn't have to be a formal gym workout, just a long walk will suffice. I am very disciplined about staying fit so going to the gym is actually enjoyable for me. It makes all the difference in how well I sleep at night and helps keep the grouchy tendencies at bay. In the words of the Hulk, "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry"!

If you didn’t have your current pets, what pets would you choose to have? If I was told I could not have a dog....my next choice would be a horse. I pretty much grew up on horseback. From the time I was a 7 or 8 year (and even before with the help of my dad), catching our gentle mare for a bareback/bridle-less tootle around the pasture, to my teenage years when I would disappear on horseback from sun up to sun down, horses were a huge part of my life. I miss that deeply.

I will stop this narrative here. That was more than enough soul-baring for me, and there are lots of posts you need to go read. I hope you have enjoyed this peek behind the camera lens! Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away in the comments....

I leave you with one last photo, a recent professional/work photo...with a close-up like this, you will now be able to recognize me should we pass on the street......

Oh, BTW, I didn't use this blog hop as an excuse to skip my Wilson's Wordless Wednesday post. Check it out!

Monday Mischief - Swimmin' with Da Fishes

Yesterday was a hot and steamy day so if the boys were going to get any exercise, it had to be swimming! We took them to a tiny beach on the Potomac River. We rode the jetski to get there and it was remote enough Jimmy could bark his fool head off without bothering anyone. Well, almost no one, as some fishermen were nearby and I am sure they could hear Jimmy's big mouth!

I brought along my little point and shoot camera and decided it would be fun to get a picture of me swimming with the boys. Here's where the mischief comes in....I grabbed their lifejacket handles and swam them away from shore, much further than where they go to fetch their floating toys. They were pretty darn positive I was going to drown them! You know, make them Swim with Da Fishes!

 Here's what it looked like on the way back in....

And there are even some video tidbits....











And of course the day ended with just a bit more mischief from me....Both boys got bathed when we got home. When you swim with da fishes, you don't smell so good later!

Here's to a Wonderful 2013!

 

Wishing you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Very Rare Sighting Indeed!

I am very comfortable behind the camera, not so much when it is pointed at me! But occasionally, I feel the need to be in a picture for, you know, posterity. When my 80 year old self looks back at these photographs, she'll be wondering how I ever complained about wrinkles now :-)

If you miss today's post, it will most likely be a  long time before something similar happens again!

A small enough image I am not really identifiable. Good!

Swimming with da fishes! Really I just had to pee.....just kidding!

Self Portraits

I love to take photos. I find it fun and challenging. However, I HATE to be the subject of a photo! It is VERY rare that I see a photo of myself that I like. Cameras just don't seem to like me. They make me uncomfortable and I am sure that gets reflected in the picture.

The sliding glass door on our condo is very reflective. It might be coated with something to help keep the sun out, I don't know. I have often noticed how well it reflects the ocean scene behind me if I face in toward the livingroom. So, I decided to experiment with a self portrait. Of course you can't really see me in clear detail, which I like! But it gives some suggestions. The first one here includes my ever so loyal buddies.

This second shot catches the ocean behind me, and I do so love being at the ocean. But also, I think it is neat how if you look inside of my reflection, you can see John sitting indoors. He's right where my heart would be, and that's pretty darn appropriate since we have spent the last 20 plus years together!

Anyway, these are my attempt at being artsy :-)