2009

At the start of this year I decided to run a project, to post one photograph each month on my website, representing that month in some way. (To view the images, see: http://www.annerogersphotography.co.uk/gallery_214916.html)
Now that we are about to step into 2010, I thought it a good time to take a look back at 2009.

January: January's picture was this one, of the star which shone on the top of Faringdon's Folly. The Folly is a symbol of Faringdon, visible for miles and a welcome sight after a long journey - especially with a light on top during winter's dark times. Maybe there's something to think about there - the hope and welcome a simple thing like a light can bring.

February: 2009 has certainly been a year for snow. I don't live in an area normally known for snow, but we certainly got plenty of it in February, and again in December.

March brought the first of my regular work trips to the USA. Michigan in early spring is a chilly place, but I am lucky to work with some great people there who give me a warm welcome. This time around I had a free afternoon so wrapped up and went to look at the impressive and beautiful sculptures in the Meijer Gardens. This horse is the centrepiece at 24' tall and 7 1/2 tonnes in weight. I could have gone back to a warm hotel room rather than set off to a place I'd never been before. But what I would have missed if I'd gone for the easy (lazy) option!

April arrived with the spring flowers in full bloom. What a joy to see them after winter. Am I the only one who loves the variety of our seasons (even when the weather is 'varied' indeed)? Or who finds it reassuring to know that despite the cold & bleakness of the winter, the bulbs, shrubs and plants are already readying themselves for spring as I write. Yes, there are already a few green spikes in my garden, although they've been frightened off a bit by the recent plunge in temperature.

May is the month of my birthday and I am thankful every year for the friends who celebrate it with me.

June included another trip to the US. I'd planned to spend some extra time there on holiday. But the weather once again interfered, stranding me in Chicago O'Hare. One of my bigger disappointments of the year, but really only a minor inconvenience in the overall scheme of things. I was far sorrier for the poor girl trying to get to a wedding, and another young mum who had already been stuck in an airport for 48 hours with a 2 year old...

July was the month of my first photography exhibition. I seriously underestimated how much work, planning, effort, cost etc etc it would be, but it was all up in time, and it led to some good opportunities which may not otherwise have come along. Not quite sure when I'll be doing the next one, or how it will be structured, but (I can hardly believe it) it is already in the discussion stages...

August provided another challenge. This time a physical one as I took part in the Great Capital Run. A short event (only 5k/3m), but faster than I'd ever run it before. There were world class athletes running in the same event. OK they finished in about half the time it took me (no kidding), but there aren't many sports which can be so inclusive as running, & so enjoyable even for slow runners like me. So much is about completing, challenging yourself, and not being discouraged by other faster runners in front. Celebrate your own achievements, and don't apologise that they aren't as big as someone elses! To you they may be bigger, relatively. There's no point in thinking about others in a race - you have to focus on your own plan, fitness and ability. There are plenty of other areas of life which I ought to approach in the same way, I think.

September was the 'challenge month' for mum. She set off to cycle around Holland, raising money for the Sam Beare hospice who looked after her partner Bob in his last days with compassion and dignity. Mum worked a LOT harder than I'd done the previous month, and I went out to Holland to cheer her on and join her for the return journey. Isn't it great to be able to help other people achieve their dreams and ambitions, big or small? How can we do this more for those around us?

October was an extremely busy month which included another run - this time the Cricklade 10k (6m) but the highlight was attending the wedding of my friend Jo who married Marcus in Chester on a wet but joyous day. What a privilege it is to share peoples' celebrations.

By the time we got to November I was badly in need of some time off, & so I went to Jersey for a few days. It was wet, cold, and the days were short but I really enjoyed the time away, and I met some people from the Jersey Photographic Club who were very welcoming to a visitor from the UK.

December has been full of all the usual pre-Christmas busynesses with work, and illness immediately before Christmas which was a bit miserable. But Christmas itself, despite some last minute changes of plan, was still a time of memories, rejoicing, traditions, and hoping.

So 2009 like each year has had it's ups and downs. But we move into 2010 looking at the old year with thankfulness, and as my grandmother used to say 'simply trusting' for 2010.

Happy New Year.

'Nativity'

My last post referred to elements from a Christmas poem. Here is another which I especially like. It's called, simply, 'Nativity'.

When God decided to be bones and skin and blood like us
He didn't choose a palace, nothing grand - no frills and fuss.
He slipped in through the back door, with the straw and hay and dust.
He just became a baby with no choice but to trust.
And love us without question, as every baby must.

But Creation knew the wonder of this tiny newborn King.
The crystal depths of space were touched, the air itself would sing.
The Word is flesh. The silence of the glittering stars is shattered. Heaven rings.
The sky blazed wild with angels, whose song was fire and snow.
When God lay in his mother's arms two thousand years ago.

Jan Dean

What an amazing thing this poem reminds us of. Emmanuel, 'God with us', a helpless baby. Born to a seemingly unremarkable young girl in a stranger's stable. And the sky 'blazed wild with angels', announcing His coming. God's gift to a world suffering then and now - and a heavenly host sent to announce His arrival. Can you imagine how incredible it must have been?

Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men

I love Christmas poems, as you might have noticed from the quote I've used this month on the home page of my website.

Henry Longfellow's poem 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day' was written in 1864, during the American civil war, but the fourth verse:
"For hate is strong and mocks the song, Of peace on earth, good will to men" rings just as truly now as it did 140 years ago. How many Christmases since then have approached with hatred mocking the call to Peace on Earth?

Yet we come into the season looking past the neon Santas and rushing crowds, to the very basis of Christmas - the birth of a baby whose coming would change the world. So we can echo the final verse of Longfellow's hymn: Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."

Amen, may it be so.

People and Places - photography competition

A couple of months ago I entered this picture into a competition run by The Sunday Times and The National Trust. Last week I heard that I am a finalist. There are 125 finalists, so quite a few of us, but I am pleased to have got this far anyway as there must've been a huge entry for a national competition like this! Final results on 6 December...

Update: I didn't win! But never mind - I am still very pleased to have made it so far.

Thanksgiving (The Glad Game)

If you've ever seen the film Pollyanna, or seen the UK TV adaptation, or read the book, you will know all about 'The Glad Game'. It's a game Pollyanna played with her father, when she needed cheering up, and taught her to see the positives in the things around her.

I work with quite a few Americans, and as it is Thanksgiving today, I thought it would be a good time to make a list of 10 things for which I am thankful, and which make me glad.

1. I am thankful for my family.
I am glad of my mum's spirit & determination. I am glad I inherited my dad's ability to be comfortable alone. I am glad my brother is working, even though he lost his full time job some time ago. I am glad he married Diane, whose fun, humour and love of horses all make her easy to like. And I am glad they had Ben - now 10 years old. Ben has to be the world's greatest nephew. (What do you mean I'm biased...) Because of him I am a proud aunt and I hope and pray for nothing more or less than that he should be happy in the choices he makes for his life. I probably don't tell any of them enough how much they all mean to me.

2. I am thankful for my friends.
I've been quite a solitary sort all my life and have never been especially comfortable in big groups, so I've never had masses of friends. But the ones I have... well... they're quality! Quite seriously, I know they would go extra miles for me, as would I for them.

3. I am thankful for my work colleagues.
I have a great assistant who makes me glad about something or other almost every day. I work with great people in my department. We don't get on all of the time about everything, but I know each of them has integrity, committment and concern for their fellows. That makes me very, very glad. And I know that there are lots of workplaces where this is not the case. I work with great people internationally, some of whom have become friends as well as colleagues. So I am especially thankful.

4. I am thankful to have been able to travel worldwide.
I am not a risk taker or an adventurer, but my job has meant I have travelled to many wonderful places. I've done some travelling 'just because', but I've done far more 'on business'. It has been hard work, but it has also meant I have seen a whale while sailing off of Cape Town, I've seen the sun set over Lake Taupo in New Zealand, I have seen the Sydney Opera House, I have met some wonderful people - and here's the rub: mostly it has been because other people saw potential in me, and pushed me. Pushed me into taking scary job changes. Twice. I am very VERY thankful to have had people around me whose belief in my abilities has changed my life.

5. I am thankful for my home.
It is not my 'dream home', but within its walls I am sheltered, fed, warm and safe. I'm glad that it's small and compact because it means I have an affordable mortgage. I'm glad it's a 'house in a community' and that my neighbours chat to me over the garden walls. I'm glad it's somewhere my friends can come and feel welcomed.

6. I am thankful for my education.
Most of all, I am thankful that I can read. There are too many reasons to list as to why this is so important to me.

7. I am thankful for photography!
I'm glad I can take time to look at things with a 'photographer's eye'. I'm glad I have some creative goals to work towards. I'm glad of all the things I've seen which I've found beautiful or interesting, because I've been out with a camera.

8. I'm thankful for music.
The CD changer in my car often has a very weird mix of CDs. But that means I can almost always find something to suit my mood. I'm glad of all those who've influenced my musical tastes over the years. And I'm glad of those piano and cornet lessons. Although I play neither instrument now they taught me a lot about music. So did singing in choirs.

9. I am thankful for my faith, and that I have the freedom to believe, and to express that belief.
I grew up going to church every week, and I made my own decision to believe when I was about ten. The shape of my faith has changed over the years. So has the way I express it. Sometimes I've asked hard questions. Sometimes I've struggled. But I end up still believing.

10. I am thankful for 'cult TV'!
Yes, I'm a sucker for those old TV series which get re-run on out of the way digital channels. Stuff like 'Touched by an Angel' which makes me think, and laugh, & sometimes cry. Stuff like Cadfael, because I love the storytelling & character interaction. Stuff like Merlin, for the same reasons. And pretty much all the BBCs 'Austen' adaptations - I love period dramas! And I am glad of DVDs and PVRs which mean I really have no excuse for watching total dross (ok, ok!), although I do watch too much TV generally...

So those are my ten. Some serious & some less so. Not in any particular order. And I've probably gone on a bit. Sorry about that.

Question: What is the one thing you are most thankful for at this moment?

REVIEW: La Haule Manor Hotel, Jersey

I recently took a few days holiday in Jersey, and I chose to stay at La Haule Manor in St Aubins. This attractive hotel - or rather, very upmarket B&B - has recently been extended, and I stayed in the new wing (which has been perfectly blended into the main building). My sea view room was beautiful. Spacious and well appointed with pretty and comfortable furniture, and with one of the best hotel bathrooms I've ever used with a free standing bath and a separate fabulous 'rainhead' shower. There was also a bathrobe and slippers provided - always a nice touch.

Breakfast is served in the newly refurbished breakfast room (with some nice photographic canvases of Jersey on the walls) and is very good quality with lots of choice from simple cereals to full English. The Jersey yoghurts with fresh fruit were especially delicious, as were the omelettes! Hot breakfasts are cooked to order and the various options are all very tasty and well presented.

La Haule is well situated on the edge of the village, within easy walking distance of shops and a variety of restaurants as well as the Harbour Gallery which is well worth dropping in to.

There is a bus stop very close to the hotel, and the buses from and to St Helier run frequently and are inexpensive. Buses on other routes can be much less frequent so if relying on buses, as I did on this trip, you will need to have a copy of the bus timetable.

The staff are very friendly and helpful and the one minor hiccup of my stay was resolved within 10 minutes of my bringing it to their attention. Their kindness to another guest who had had a minor accident during his stay was evident and clearly genuine.

It is easy to see how La Haule earns it's five star status. It was a pleasure to stay there, and I plan to return. For more information see the hotel's website: http://www.lahaulemanor.com/

A thought on the cost of freedom

"Liberty is bought with a price and preserved only by self-sacrifice."
Field Marshall The Rt Hon Jan-Christiaan Smuts
Rector of the University of St Andrews, Scotland, 1931-1934