mobb hill romp

We have a common theme going on here: Tom and I playing hooky for fun afternoons spent in the snow. Bad habit? Not when there is over three feet of snow to run through and your neighbors happen to have "the day off" as well. The four of us drove out to Jericho, one of my favorite places lately, to trek through Mobb Hill. The snow was so heavy that it was stuck to the branches of all the trees which made for some added entertainment as you'll see in the photos below. Other than entertaining, the snow made for a perfect, beautiful Vermont day that made my qualms about moving back up here seem to melt away. No pun intended. Ok...intended.

Are all you city folk jealous yet? (My blog is secretly a brag forum for all my Vermont ventures if you haven't picked up on that. The photography is really just a front. So far no takers for a move up to the Green Mountains but if anyone knows me, I'm extremely persistent) :)


Joe pointed out this gorgeous apple tree absolutely draped in snow. That's Tom and Bear trucking along in the deep stuff.


Poor Kenz - Joe and Sarah are busy picking the snowballs off her little poodle fur. She's a tough cookie especially since her breed rarely sees the "real world" outside of kennel shows and grooming parlors. Ha!


Sarah gave this branch the slightest tug...and yes, that's Tom beneath completely frozen.



Yes, Tom is still in there.


Oooooo he looks cold.


Bear plods through our snowshoe tracks while Tom takes a breather on a nearby log. We bushwhacked our way off trail and managed some pretty tough terrain.


Off trail and through the woods looking for the river and waterfall. Never found it.


Tom's beard in 10 years....ok, maybe 30.


Perfect.

snow day!

Tom and I had a snow day last week when we got dumped with over two feet of snow (and then some!) Bear was suffering from a major case of cabin fever, so the three of us got out and played in the fluffy stuff. Forgot how much I missed these snowy winters...



Tug of war.



My Bear happy as can be.



Playing a little King of the Mountain with Tom.



Close inspection.

ice ice baby

Well, to coin a phrase from the legendary Vanilla Ice, it was certainly an ice ice baby kind of day. Our friend, Joe, popped over the other afternoon after a really cold, rainy night and suggested we head down to Oakledge Park downtown to grab some shots of the inevitable frozen wonderland. Hmm slipping and sliding over icy rocks with a nice collection of bruises to show afterwards? Absolutely. Here are some of my favorites. The dogs faired better than we did on the ice, but it made for some really fun moments including me splitting yet another pair of pants.



Frozen twigs and moss made for some great color on an otherwise bleak day.



Frozen pine needles kinda look like little E.T. fingers. Phone home?



I thought this looked like the mast n' sails of a ship - maybe not, but made for a cool shot regardless.



Tom having a whimsical moment in the ice. Good job.







Almost looks like the water is running - nope, still frozen.



Lake Champlain's version of a coral reef.

the kiss.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody! I'm not one for the sappy gestures that come with this particular holiday. As it is, Tom and I are avoiding the throngs of Valentine's Day goers at local restaurants and are opting for a nice cozy dinner at home over a bottle of wine. But, I make an exception. Below is a clip from one of my most favorite films, Cinema Paradiso. If you haven't seen it, this clip may not make too much sense and it may be a spoiler - but if you have seen the film, isn't it just one of the sweetest movie moments? I love it.



...and for more great multimedia Valentine's fun, please check out Jeff Scher's "Tulips" piece on the New York Times website. I wish they had an embed (come on guys!) but a link will have to do.

Happy Kisses!

cloud nine.

I've been neglecting my blog for the past several weeks, but with reason. I've been on pins and needles awaiting the final word from The Burlington Free Press and word has come: I'm their new staff photographer! Woohoo! It's still pretty surreal and I can't believe it came when it did. Moving up here in June I was just happy picking up freelance work when I could, but to be able to score a full-time gig? No way, not in the cards. Well, 2008 is bringing some pretty sweet moments and I can't wait to see what else it has in store for me. To celebrate I'll post my latest multimedia project about a really cool dude and his stone work. This was a pretty mundane, run-of-the-mill assignment but the people were really fun, the lighting was great and I picked up some neat audio. Let's hope the format jazzed it up a bit...enjoy!