Today is one of the few days of the year I have almost no work obligations I had big plans to clean my apartment start some of my books but instead sat on the couch watched tv and pared down my photos as my phone reminded me I have too many photos on them. So I started deleting and found some cool ones I wanted to share. It helped me cheer up a bit as I find on a whole New Year’s Day to be kind of depressing for no particular reason.

The first photo I took in Maine this past October at one of my favorite spots on the Marginal Way. If you look closely you can see me in the shadows. I had not noticed it until today. I’m next to my favorite house and tree in the shadows. Maine’s beaches are so different to the ones here in Maryland.

The next two pictures share my chasing the sun today though in the third one I was lazy and took the picture while still in bed. The second picture was sunset tonight which was kind of pretty.

I changed the fourth picture from color to black and white and really like how it turned out. The ladies were watching fill their water troughs. Sometimes I find black and white photos to be pretentious but sometimes I really do like them. The sheep are great in black and white.

The final picture is a piece of artwork NYC sent me for Christmas. I love all the colors and the busyness of the painting. It remind me of my life and my loves. I try so hard to live simply and modestly after staying in some people homes who live like that I however have found I need lots of books, art, pictures, candles and music to surround me to feel at home. All the magazines, gurus and others have been banging the drums about living simply. I try but I find my mind needs stimulation of things to look at. The monkish way of living though I admire I find I cannot conform to.

So even though I have pared down my photos and some belongings I still have stacks of books everywhere in my apartment, artwork on almost every inch of my walls and resting on the floors and color all over my place. I had mentioned both and here and on Facebook that I was kind of depressed today but writing sure does help me out. I feel better at the end of this post than when I started it.

I hope 2015 is happy, healthy and peaceful for everyone. As always I thank everyone for reading, communicating and just checking out the blog.