Some days things crowd up so much that it becomes difficult to breathe - literally. One has to sit still then and take time to savor each minute that goes by. And such moments are when I turn to the easiest stress-busters of all that are right here on my computer: old pictures.
Take this one, for instance:
This was taken on a serene evening in Coorg back in 2003. DH and I were on our first trip together after our wedding. I remember sitting in the city park. We had taken loads of pictures of every beautiful vista on terra firma when we discovered that we could just sit on a bench, point our camera upwards and capture several masterpieces from the show above us. Somehow, I like this series much better than any picture we took on that trip!
Now this one was taken in Detroit, in fall 2005:
We were billeted at an extended stay hotel for 2 months and were desperate for a library membership. In front of the library was this gorgeous maple in the full yellow and red glory of fall. It had also carpeted most of the lawn in front of the library with its largess. We plonked Kunjunni right in the middle and started snapping like crazy. It's one of our favorite pics of our first-born.
Now this picture - although it looks like any touristy snap in front of the Niagara waterfall...
...reminds me of how thankful we should be for having arrived safe and sound in Niagara on that Thanksgiving Day.
We started from Detroit early in the morning when snow was being removed and soon drove into a bitter snow storm even before we reached the Canadian border. We had no snow chains and saw quite a few vehicles that had turned all the way around and were stranded in our lane and on the other side of the divider.
Halfway along, DH felt a craving for some chewing gum which, unfortunately was stowed in the boot. We were driving very slowly and DH eased the car on to the shoulder of the highway - or at least that was his intention. We ended up yards away from where we had intended to stop and were poised precariously on a downward slope in a heavy snow drift!
Panic set in and we thought of calling emergency services when I suggested that we should try reversing the car. To our relief, the came back up, I retrieved the gum from the boot and our trip was henceforth uneventful. While we unwound at our hotel, I turned on the TV to find out that there had been scores of accidents on that stretch of highway that morning and we were part of the luckier ones who came out unscathed.
We started from Detroit early in the morning when snow was being removed and soon drove into a bitter snow storm even before we reached the Canadian border. We had no snow chains and saw quite a few vehicles that had turned all the way around and were stranded in our lane and on the other side of the divider.
Halfway along, DH felt a craving for some chewing gum which, unfortunately was stowed in the boot. We were driving very slowly and DH eased the car on to the shoulder of the highway - or at least that was his intention. We ended up yards away from where we had intended to stop and were poised precariously on a downward slope in a heavy snow drift!
Panic set in and we thought of calling emergency services when I suggested that we should try reversing the car. To our relief, the came back up, I retrieved the gum from the boot and our trip was henceforth uneventful. While we unwound at our hotel, I turned on the TV to find out that there had been scores of accidents on that stretch of highway that morning and we were part of the luckier ones who came out unscathed.
This picture was taken in 2006, in Duluth MN. It's one of the most beautiful places I have visited on this big, blue marble. It literally took our breath away when we found that even at the end of May, the wind that blew off Lake Superior was very chilly. We hadn't packed any warm clothes, so had to buy some! It was one of our best road trips to date. I can't imagine how cold it would be in mid-winter in Duluth. But in summer, she was magnificent!
There, I feel better already. Thanks for coming with me on this trip down memory lane!
An organizing tip for digital pictures: The path to one of my typical picture folders looks like this: Photos -- 2012 -- 0329MeenaBharani. From this I can easily find out the pictures we took during the Meena Bharani festival of 2012 in this folder and can make out that it was on the 29th of March that year. Naming this way also means that the folders are arranged in chronological order too. All I have to do to maintain this is to spend an extra minute to think of the date and an appropriate name for the folder when I download pics. On my comp you can find years from 2002 to 2013 in the same folder format. It makes finding pics super-duper easy! Hope this tip helps!
We also name our photo folder in a similar way :-)
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