a beautiful day in the neighborhood

For a while, I didn't really pick up my camera. I didn't shoot, I didn't edit, I didn't blog. Now that I've decided I want to keep blogging, I find myself having a hard time putting my camera down.

One of my favorite subjects to shoot is a still life. It's not normally the type of thing I find myself gravitating towards but this is a special exception. It's a vase of flowers--some silk, some dried--on the windowsill in my mom's bathroom. That window always has the most glorious light and I find myself shooting the window and its flowers frequently. They're never the same twice.
I decided to put my nifty fifty on my camera and just take a few shots.







Once I had finished in the bathroom, I thought I would take advantage of the gorgeous sunlight and shoot a little bit around the neighborhood. As I walked out, I realized that it was raining. A beautiful golden hour sun shower... that's the making of a rainbow.









I saw a stain on the sidewalk and stopped to take a picture of my bag in the cloud. When I looked up, I saw a full rainbow spanning the sky.





I kept following the rainbow, trying to find a new perspective and make as many shots as I could before it faded away.





Eventually the sun went behind a cloud and it was back to watching it rain.

But oh, how lovely indirect sunlight can be!


I had forgotten how much I love this. I really did miss taking photos and I'm glad I'm back. After all, someone needs to appreciate beautiful (rainy) days in the neighborhood!

Relay for Life

I don't have words for Relay for Life. It was an amazing experience but it was also really, really HARD. At the Plantation Relay, they take it very seriously and someone from each team has to be on the track at all times. But it was worth it. Words cannot do this event justice. Images really don't either but I can try.

The survivors' lap




My reasons to Relay:

My Uncle (2 year cancer survivor), my aunt (his caretaker) and my grandpa (who took care of my grandma)

The luminaria ceremony






Having great friends makes it easier to stay awake and on the track all night


The Mr. Congeniality drag lap

(Everybody "awww" with me at the littlest competitor)

Of course 'Diana' won. We <3 superheroes! It was a long night and there were many times where I just wasn't having fun and wanted to pack it up and go home. But I didn't. And watching the sunrise as I walked those lonely laps, it was nice to reflect on how rewarding doing Relay for Life really is.







By closing ceremonies, everyone was exhausted but happy



Surprisingly, I didn't take too many photos during the 18 hours(!) we were there.

I'm back with no tales to tell

It's been a while since I posted and I feel like One Thousand Words Home has been in a bit of limbo. I didn't announce I wasn't going to be blogging because I didn't plan to be gone. I hope that some of you stuck around and checked occasionally for an update.

I lost my love for blogging a few months back. I also haven't really been shooting much either. Work's been time-consuming, I've been knitting like a fiend, and Relay for Life prep has been eating away at what little 'downtime' I have.

I don't know how frequently I'll post or what caliber my posts will be but I love this blog and I want to keep it alive. I'm coming up on my 4 year anniversary here at OTWH and I'm proud of that.

I didn't want to just jump back into the swing of things with Relay so you're getting these instead.


On Easter Sunday, a Mickey Mouse balloon drifted into our backyard and that's where he stayed as he slowly deflated.


Before I gathered him up and tossed him, I decided to take some photos of 'Crime Scene Mickey'.