Feisty, Fickle, Beautiful and (almost) Five

I have a difficult time choosing one single favorite of anything.  I find decision making to be an excruciating process (which incidentally played a significant role in my failure to be a good chemical engineer).  I find all flowers to be one of God's most wonderful blessings on this earth.  But if you held me up against a wall at gun point, I'd probably be able to say with confidence that the Peony is my very favorite flower. 

The previous owners of our house had planted some peonies at the corner of our patio the Springtime before they departed.  It was awesome to watch them sprout through the earth mere weeks after we moved in, and then burst forth with four blooms.  Yes, just four.  I had no idea that wasn't typical and was thrilled with my four stems.  

The next year we had a few more blooms.  Each of the subsequent seven springtimes we've enjoyed our peony plant (apparently there are more treelike peony plants, and some more shrub or bush like plants.  I wouldn't call ours either... just a bundle of weak stems poking out of the earth...), it has granted us with more and more blooms.  This year our harvest was bountiful.  I only wish they bloomed for longer than a week, so we could enjoy them better.  We had five vases on our patio table, filled to bursting with blooms.  But oh, what a lovely table we had.  (I don't bring them inside because they are covered with tiny ants. )

Shawn was about to mow the grass and I went out to make one of the last cuttings of ready blooms off the peony plant.  There weren't many left yet to bloom.  They were so perfect, so beautiful, so lovely... and I was out of vases.  It was that beautiful time of day with the beautiful sunlight...  that our mature trees block in most places.  I bribed the Little Lady with the promise of an ice cream sandwich if she let me play with my camera.  The Lady is a sucker for ice cream sandwiches.  (Lucky for me we actually had two left!)

I collected those freshly cut and newly opened peonies into a little mini bouquet and ran her off to a lone spot of sunshine in our neighbor's yard.  I shot a few images.  And then I remembered video on my new camera.  I remembered how I'd wanted to play around with it... make a short little video compilation.  So we played a little more.  We eventually moved to our front yard... across the street into another neighbor's yard... We had an absolute ball playing with those peonies.  And then the Little Lady and Little Buddy enjoyed their ice cream sandwiches while I cleaned up from dinner.  

Never could I have imagined that little round of playing would culminate in this video.  I love it so much, so deeply, so profoundly that my heart was racing out of my chest when I finished creating it.  I'm not kidding.  I confessed this to a fellow photographer who has entered that world of video creation and she knew.  She knew exactly what I felt, and she called it a rush.  Wow.  That's it.  Precisely it.  What a feeling.  

This could not possibly capture her little almost five year old essence and personality any truer.  This is her.  Totally her.  What a priceless treasure this is for me.  For us.  

(above is the HD version.  If you are mobile, click here to see the mobile friendly version)

Again, I selected a song of Mindy Gledhill's to be the soundtrack to her video celebration:  "See the Good.".  The lyrics seem to fit her like a glove. (find the lyrics at the end of the post)  Boy, is she Feisty.  Fickle.  Not quite ladylike.... yet.  But in the song, what a wonderful reminder to always see the good in her, to see the good in her strong willed personality, and know the good she will do one day because of it.  And to realize the impact the comfort of the knowledge that those around her love her unconditionally makes.  May we always seek to See the Good in all others we encounter.

"See the Good" by Mindy Gledhill

I am quite the feisty thing

No I'm not the kind of girl you'd bring

To meet your mom and dad,

But honey I'm so glad

You choose to see in me the good and not the bad

There are times when I forget

My p's and q's and lady-like etiquette

But you don't get uptight

No you don't get mad

Because you see in me the good and not the bad

People come and people go

About a dime a dozen, row by row

They're here today and gone tomorrow

And I don't want just anybody,

I want someone who's gonna love me

For the fickle person that apparently I am

Mine is not a perfect past

I've made enough mistakes to last me

For my whole life through

But all because of you,

I try to keep my chin up when I'm feeling sad

Because you see in me the good and not the bad

I shot these with my Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f1.8
Nikon 50mm 1.4D
Sigma 30mm f1.4
Video created in iMovie 11

you anchor me back down

I have always believed that imagery and music go together, like white on rice... like peas and carrots... like pie and ice cream... like popcorn and coke.  I would also include salt on watermelon, but apparently I'm in the minority on that one.  Both music and a photograph can invoke emotions in our hearts.  Yet when you combine the two, the emotional impact is more than doubled, more than the sum of its parts.  Our heart strings are given full on assault, and oh, how I adore that feeling.

As I sifted through the 162 way too many images I photographed of the Little Lady dancing with bubbles in the golden light, and submitted to the failure that I am at culling, I realized that these worked together to tell her story.  Yet that story wasn't complete without a soundtrack.

I wholeheartedly adore the music, lyrics, and voice of Mindy Gledhill.  Her works of art combine so masterfully with imagery, which generates a piece that holds such power.  As I clicked through the bubble images, the lyrics to "Anchor" came to mind.  The world spinning around.  Restless souls.  Thought strange, told to change, and yet, wouldn't have me any other way.   Accepted.  Loved.  Adored.  Anchored.   I feel like this song describes the Little Lady so very, very much, so very, very well.  I do hope you enjoy the slideshow/video.  I enjoyed creating it and relishing in the beauty and joys of that evening, all over again.  

"Anchor" by Mindy Gledhill

When all the world is spinning ‘round 

Like a red balloon way up in the clouds 

And my feet will not stay on the ground

You anchor me back down 

I am nearly world renowned 

As a restless soul who always skips town 

But I look for you to come around

And anchor me back down 

There are those who think that I’m strange

They would box me up and tell me to change

But you hold me close and softly say

That you wouldn’t have me any other way 

When people pin me as a clown

You behave as though I’m wearing a crown

When I’m lost I feel so very found

When you anchor me back down 

[Chorus]

When all the world is spinning ‘round

Like a red balloon way up in the clouds 

And my feet will not stay on the ground

You anchor me back down

I shot these with my Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f1.8
Nikon 50mm 1.4D
Sigma 30mm f1.4
Video created in iMovie 11