Jill Kerttula
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Finding fun in winter

2/20/2014

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After watching the Olympics for days now, I decided to go check out some of our home grown skiers and snowboarders. Tyrol Basin is right up the road from us, and so I drove up there to see what is going on.

This hill has been around since I was a teenager, and it continues to provide great recreational opportunities for the winter. We don't have mountains here, so this hill has to do. It wasn't very busy, and the sun was so warm, it was gloriously relaxing sitting there watching people of every age out for a ski.

There was a group of snowboarders that were really fun to watch. They had the swagger down, if they didn't have all the moves yet! The last picture shows three of them on the ramp at once... they were coming down in a line, and went down like dominoes, when the first one fell, and surprise the second when he came over the hill...then came the third. Didn't seem like a great idea to me. But I am old and know my bones are brittle!!

I really went there to take my daily challenge photo - "S" + transport = where else could I go!



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Because of the lack of elevation, Tyrol tends to be populated by beginners and snowboarders. They seem to have a lot of bumps and slider (or whatever they are called) for the boarders, and there were multiple lessons for the beginners. Note the aforementioned triplets on the snowboard hill in the picture below.
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If you can't beat 'em; join 'em!

2/17/2014

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It is snowing all day again today... again...at times almost white out conditions. There is a trail across from our house that is my walking trail for three seasons, but in the winter it becomes a highway for the snowmobiles, so I usually stay away. Today I decided to use them as my models! I wanted to check out the trail in this pristine snow, and I was pretty sure they would be showing up. The walk to the trail was daunting! I have a whole new respect for all those snow sports I have been watching from the comfort of my chair. The snow was powder and deep and took quite the slog to make it to the trail. The trail was a bit easier, and really beautiful.

During the summer, I share the trail with bicyclists. They are a quiet crew and often take me by surprise as the come up from behind. The snowmobiles give lots of warrrrrrrrrrrrrrning and the buzz can be heard for quit a distance.
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I am sure they are having fun, and I wish them well, but I would rather just walk and see the details around the trail.

It was fun to visit my trees; some of which have become true friends over the last 15 years of walking this trail.
I can see through the woods to the abandoned train bridge, and the grasses and growth that I watch during the warm months, have left their winter skeletons to contrast with the snow.
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White and Light.

2/14/2014

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It has been a long cold winter here, and for the first time in my life, the white is getting to me; Maybe because I am older, maybe because I am noticing more as I photograph, maybe just because there really has been a lot of it. I am starting to understand that old tale about the native people of Alaska having fifteen words for the color white. Because, as I write this, I realize it isn't the white I am sick of, but the monotone. While the sky is blue and the snow sparkles, it is beautiful. The deep blue to violet shadows are what has moved pleine air painters throughout the years, but we have had day after day where the sky and the fields are virtually the same no-chroma hue. During mid day they match, at other times the sky is a bit darker, and then sometimes the ground is a bit darker than the sky. Only the orange traffic cones and yellow yield signs stand out. The tree silhouettes were once intriguing, but are getting just a bit "been there, done that" by now.

Late yesterday afternoon I took a trip to the Post Office, then decided to cruise around and look for some photo ops in the area. As I was driving, I noticed a crack in the gray. a pinkish glow started appearing on the horizon, breaking the line between the sky and the ground. It was a subtle change, but one I welcomed with open arms and shutter. I took the shot and got back into my car and drove a short way up the road for a different perspective.
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As I stood there (avoiding the splash of snow and slush from passing cars and trying desperately to keep my fingers from freezing) the sky started to change. The heavens opened up...literally. I could almost hear the angels sing (or maybe it was just NPR on my car radio). There was blue and pink added to the gray,  and pattern to the sky and texture came out with the shadows. And within moments it had changed to this:
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I have stood many times looking at the Monet haystacks in the Chicago Art institute, and marveled at this pioneer of impressionism and light. One of my favorite places on earth is the badlands - the vast minimalist landscapes there change with every cloud or hour that passes. Light changes everything. There is a white barn down the road from us. It is my haystack. I pass it daily, and never pass without checking out the lighting... here are four of my recent snaps of the "white Barn"
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the jill2day tribe

2/12/2014

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I have been thinking of all my customers (you?) a lot lately (for obvious reasons!) And I will miss the interaction I have had with each and everyone of them (you?). Without choosing a target demographics, I seemed to have found one, and oddly enough they were a lot like me! Women of a certain age (and that might be chronological, mental, or emotional!) who take on life with a grain of salt and a bit of humor and march to a slightly different drum beat.

I am amazed at the number of teachers who wear my garments to class. Fellow artists and craftsmen liked them. (my jewelry and handbag collection grew at ever show, as I did trades!) Women who knew what comfort brings to our lives wear them, and people who just want to wrap them selves in a bit of warmth, color, or recycled fabrics, bought them.

But what got me most was how nice they (you) all were! In this day and age of snark and vitriol in our entertainment and on-line, and our impersonal lives outside of our homes, it is easy to forget how really wonderful people are. I have been invited to homes, had generous offers for supplies, been graciously forgiven for slip-ups, been entrusted with making memories, and so much more from so many  through the last six years.

Yesterday I ran into a different tribe of these women. In my photo group, we have started challenging each other to take "people photos". So far, if I didn't know the subjects,  I have done this with subterfuge and secrecy, but yesterday I went for straight forward honesty. I decided to go to the Sow's Ear. It is a fantastic refuge in a near by town. Mostly yarn shop, with the added benefits of coffee, bakery and lunch, it is always filled with people who are not in a hurry (those that are, take their coffee to go).

It turns out that there were only a couple tables of people there, so I started with the usual secrecy; get a coffee, sit at a table that is close enough to get a picture if I use a little zoom, and act like I am doing something else. Well it soon became evident that these were ladies of the above description, so I went to say "hello". I gave them a quick rundown of my reasons and intentions, and asked if I could photo them. They agreed, applied chapstick, and worried about the dirty plate on the table - yup these were my folks! They were a mother and daughters (in-law?) laughing, sipping and creating. Even grandma was there - it was the anniversary of her death, and so they had her hand-made sweater draped on one of the chairs!

In the back room I found another huddle of women measuring, knitting, perusing patterns and laughing. I truly think that women - especially "experienced" ones - are a major untapped resource of joy and comfort in our society, and we better start acknowledging that soon because we need more of both those things! Fortunately we have found each other.

I suppose in an earlier age, it was sewing clubs, quilting bees, church groups, and bridge clubs that did it, most of those have passed as more and more women have found independence and are in the workplace, but the coffee shops and knitting stores, the quilting groups, and moms groups have taken up the slack. Even Etsy, with the teams and forums is a meeting place for the like-minded.
Thanks to all of you for the jill2day tribe and I hope our paths will continue to cross. 
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for a couple more pics of the Sow's ear tribe, go to my Daily photo page for today (Feb 12),
My husband jokingly (and endearingly) refers to "the Crones" - my own small local tribe of women who laugh and sip, occasionally travel, make things, hug a lot, and love each other, but also understands how much they all mean to me. He loved to watch me interact with my non-local "crones" at the shows. Usually he would be on a bench near by chuckling as he listened to us "ohh" and "ahh" and twirl and talk and become friends over recycled scraps of sweaters! I know I will miss you all... and I think he will too!
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February 04th, 2014

2/4/2014

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Yesterday we drove down to Chicago to attend a memorial service for a wonderful man. He was my cousin's husband and a gentle, intelligent and compassionate human. One of those good people who just go through life making a huge impact with little fanfare. May you rest in peace, Norm.

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He belonged to a Swedish Mens Choir, and these 16 men sang at the Service. It was beautiful. These tenor and bass voices of mature men resounded through the Chapel and sounded like an entire choir. They sang "You will never walk alone, and "Amazing Grace among others. One of them also played the trumpet during parts of the songs, and it was hauntingly beautiful as well.

The service itself was in the modern chapel annex of the Church, but the original church was open The church is the Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue. It is everything a church should be. Gothic and tall with an immediate sense of both reverence and awe. I have included two relatively untouched pictures on my daily photo page for today. But I also wanted to play with adding atmosphere of all kinds to the architectural photos I took, so here are a few more for your viewing pleasure!
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The courtyard of the church is in such contrast with the surrounding office buildings. I think about how the early churches were such spots of opulence compared to the surrounding village, but now that is diminished by the over towering sky scrapers.
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Here I wanted to change the feeling from an architectural photo, to the light and comfort people find there - even during the midst of a work day.
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The courtyard was actually lovely, but I wanted to illustrate it with the Gothic atmosphere it could have at a more dark and dreary day or time.
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The window, loft and lights were so beautiful and the only color, so I have decreased the surrounding color and focus to enhance them.
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When one enters such a space as this Cathedral, there is an almost immediate feeling of unbalance and other worldliness that I feel. I wanted this one to reflect that sort of tipsy dreamlike state.
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  • Home
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