Scott's is celebrating Spring!

Welcome Spring by taking advantage of my limited-run Print Sale! “A Warm Spring Rain” is on sale this week – offering 25 signed prints at $75.00 each, sized 12x18. Email me at scottsnyderphotography@gmail.com to order by Sunday, April 6. Feel free to share this post if you like. ~Scott Snyder

Early Spring

Lines Written in Early Spring
by William Wordsworth

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played:
Their thoughts I cannot measure,
But the least motion which they made,
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

~

I love this poem and its sentiments, though it is nothing like Spring here. Still deep in the throes of winter, it seems. But I can imagine. I do wish Wordsworth had not ended on the dismal note though. I love the line, "I heard a thousand blended notes."

~Ally

Signs of Spring

1. Judy and O'Reilly want to go outside a million times a day.
2. The wind is blowing.
3. Dust flies in the windy streets.
4. My allergies are acting up.
5. I want to take walks.
6. The sun is shining!!
7. Townspeople choose to walk, rather than drive, to their destinations.
8. Flower buds are popping up through the ground.
9. Easter baskets have replaced Christmas wreaths.
10. New Englanders are griping about rain instead of snow.

Yay for Spring!

~Ally

Good Things

1. There is a beautiful cemetery nearby where I hope we can have Dad's ashes placed, in a family plot, so I have somewhere to visit him. I went there the other night to talk with him, even though his remains are not there yet. The place feels right and it is comforting.

2. My grief group has been so encouraging and I really appreciate getting to know those people.

3. Facebook has been fun for reconnecting with old friends and finding out what they're up to.

4. Hillary and baby are doing well and we are glad baby is still in the "oven" for the time being. Though an uncomfortable Hillary might disagree.

5. The crazy cat, O'Reilly, tried hard to burn his tail but putting it right over a burning candle - for about 20 seconds! - but his tail, despite singed hair, is no worse for the wear. Silly kitty!

6. Scott and I are doing well on the baby-making plans, and enjoying the, uh, process. ;)

7. I have a part-time job now and though it's not a lot of money, it gives me a schedule and regular time in an office to keep my skills up. It also gives me a chance for social interactions, which are very helpful to me.

8. Mom is taking me to visit Grandma Dorothy in about a week and I am very much looking forward to visiting her. It's been way too long and I've missed her. I will also get a chance to visit our old neighbors and go to Mom's writing group in Fargo.

9. Scott has found a beautiful dog for us and it's the kind I have been hoping for: an English Setter!

10. Chocolate. Brownies. 'Nuff said.

11. We are working on a trip to include visiting Hillary once her baby arrives, and seeing Scott's Mom and Dad in Alabama. Spring is for visiting Snyders this year.

12. Lauren and Benjamin bought the house they have been wanting for years! They are well into renovation projects already.

13. My women's group starts on Saturday and I am very excited!

14. Judy the Cat has become my snuggly bunny and she just loves her mama. Meow.

How are you?
~Ally

Clouds

Now these are all strangely colored, too dark and grainy, due to the ole cell phone camera, but I still think the fantastical formations the clouds have been making lately are interesting. Do you like any of them?








Many of the neighborhood flowers have fallen off the trees already! I gotta get my real camera out this weekend and take the Spring pictures I have been meaning to share with you. This weekend! Happy Memorial Day Weekend, by the way!
~Allison

Murphy's Law

[This cartoon is by Dave Walker.]

Remind me to keep my big mouth shut!

Every single time I say something like, "Oh, things are going so well for us right now. I am so grateful. Everything is going right," everything turns to shit. You too? I find myself sometimes driving along thinking, "Scott and I don't really fight anymore." Pull into the driveway, walk into the house, have big fight. Or, "It's such a relief to be able to pay all my bills now and have a little extra money." Open mail, huge unexpected bill and no way to pay it.

This week, I was driving along thinking, "Boy, Spring is so beautiful. I haven't been sick in a while. It's so weird how people get Spring colds. Why would you get a cold in the Spring? I feel great." Within ONE DAY, I was totally socked with a sinus infection from inhaling massive amounts of pollen, and now for the third day, I can't breathe, my throat is killing me, head has been pounding, my nose won't stop running, I am sneezing, and generally feel like shit.

Seriously, Allison, shut the heck up!!!!

Achooo!

Oy, Spring

Umfh. My head is in a drowsy fog and at the same time, swelling inside like it might explode. The loverly flowers and blooming trees, the sparkling this and pretty colored that - they are all killing my ALLERGIES!! My head is a sinus fountain with pressure and fuzz simultaneously. Anyone else experiencing the onslaught of Springtime? Not that I'm complaining, just a little mild suffering.

I wanted to alert you to some delightful movies I have watched in the last week:

1) Juno -
This is a great film about a saucy but endearing teen - very modern, very hip in a not-hip way - who gets pregnant and how she deals with it. Most of the film centers around her giving the baby up for adoption and the complicated, interesting couple who become the "chosen parents." All the characters in this film are well-developed, quirky and intriguing. Prepare for major rewindability - there are lines you will want to hear three or four times. It's a very Millennium teen pregnancy movie, not the teen pregnancy of yesteryear. They do a great job of developing the young mom's changing emotions, her needs and desires for her life, and the beautiful way adoption can turn out. Not to mention the delight of seeing Jason Bateman and Michael Cera (who star together in Arrested Development, most insane TV show of all time) plus the great Allison Janney. I loved it.

2) Dan in Real Life -
Well, if you love Steve Carell as Michael in the TV hit, The Office, you're in for a treat. He's his cute, lovable self but without the assholery you see on the show. He's actually more real - you get the feeling the actor may be more like Dan than Michael. Dan is a single dad raising three precocious and sweet girls. He hasn't been in love in quite some time, having lost his wife to illness. Much of the movie gives you a raw, fresh look at dating as an adult - it's hard and often painful. Dan has a cloak of depression hanging over him like nobody's business, and yet he keeps on keeping on. This movie is VERY real life. Add in a crazy nutso family full of love (reminiscent of Home for the Holidays or maybe The Family Stone, but without the edge), and a pinch of twisted up complicated romance (lots of good tension and a feeling of will it-won't it happen??). Great movie. Sweet and redemptive and not at all sappy. Cool interrelationships throughout.

Let me know if you like these. I certainly did!

~Allison

Spring in Concord

A few pics from my cell phone, at work - to show you the Springtime in New Hampshire. We've had some beautiful days!This is a beautiful tree near my office building. It has the most striking pine needles and cones.
And everything is flowering now - pear and apple trees, crab apple trees, and weeping cherries. White blooms, pinks, magentas.
The warm sun feels so good these days. Even the rain is not awful. It refreshes all the plants and keeps us allergy-laden folk from suffering too much. Today I saw a row of red, yellow, and pink tulips blooming from the earth, in a perfect row in front of Robin's house. She stood in front of them in a royal purple silk blouse with her flaming red hair. The scene was alive and fresh, like an explosion of jewels on the earth. Thank you for new life, Universe. Spring has arrived.
~Allison