These past seven days are exactly why I need a project like this shake-it-up series. Every day was filled with things to do and tasks to accomplish but working through each item that needed my attention meant I had very little time for creativity. Usually I end a stretch like this feeling grumpy about the lack of any fun time but this week I took a different approach so instead of spending 10 minutes complaining about how busy I was I spent 5 minutes standing still looking for something interesting to photograph. Even though I know I live in a pretty part of the world it’s hard to appreciate what you have in the middle of a crazy day and this project is shaking up my old habits, reminding me of the great things I might be taking for granted.
The week started with another sunny dog walk compliments of the warmest winter I’ve ever experienced in the Pacific Northwest then Monday morning I snapped this photo of some pretty red lanterns celebrating the Lunar New Year. Tuesday was a big day for our family as Ryan and I sat down to fill out his High School registration form. I can’t believe he’s almost 14 but after we finished he asked if we could go down to the waterfront and watch the sunset together so I know he’s still my little boy at heart. Wednesday was a true test of this project as I only had a few minutes before an evening meeting and realized I didn’t have a photo for the day but instead of giving up I walked through the front yard and saw new green growth one of our mini mugo pines.
Every spring I buy new primroses for our pots and every summer John pulls the faded plants and throws them in the compost bin so we can replant with annuals. I think it is a waste of perfectly good plants however it looks like this cheery yellow flower survived the carnage and graced us with a flower Thursday morning. Friday saw me back in Downtown Seattle and since I didn’t want to take another traffic shot I decided to step into the bus tunnel running underneath the center of the city. I like to think this huge ticking clock counts down the hours until the end of the workweek. Saturday’s photo is an image that didn’t come out as I hoped but I like it anyway. These long, curving branches are covered with moss and in our early morning light they remind me of giant arms reaching out from the ivy covered tree trunks. I don’t think I would have deliberately processed this frame in black and white but now I quiet like it… I’ll just have to go back another day to capture all the green.
Each photo is straight from Hipstamatic’s “shake to randomize” function and posted without any additional editing. If you like a particular combination and want to try it at home just click on the image to see the lens and filter used. I’ll be back next Sunday with 7 new photos and maybe even a few new favorites!
Northwest Frame of Mind 
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