365 Picture Today Post

58/365 | Saturday, February 27, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Cone

Picture More | Symmetry | Scavenger Hunt

Here is the list of items we were supposed to find and photograph for the scavenger hunt:

• pine cone
• ice cream cone
• traffic cone
  
• pencil tip
• nacho chip
• tree
• funnel
• party hat
• strawberry

They are all pretty self explanatory, with the exception of the nacho chip.  I chose to use Bugles instead of nacho chips because I had a fun idea for a photo.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

 57/365 | Friday, February 26, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Segment 

Picture More | Symmetry | Radial

I realized that my hubcaps have radial symmetry.

 

365 Picture Today Post

 56/365 | Thursday, February 25, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Meaningful

Picture More | Symmetry

Many of you already know about my love for the LEGO Architecture line, but what you might not know is why I love it so much.  I majored in architecture in college, and I still have some of my models (and all of my drawings).  Some of them are a little worse for wear due to various moves and the fact that my sons were intrigued by my models when they were younger and wanted to look at them.  This model is from a project for a monastery.  The site was somewhere in Texas on a river.  Most of my designs weren't perfectly symmetric but rather they had a sense of being balanced.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

55/365 | Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Window

Picture More | Symmetry

As I drove around trying to decide which windows I wanted to photograph, I noticed symmetry in places I had never noticed it before.  Mundane buildings that I had never really paid attention to before I suddenly realized had great architectural styling and displayed great symmetry.  There's something about arched windows that I love though.  Check out Warrenton Baptist Church for example.

An here is the Italiante-styled Brentmoor (Spilman-Mosby House).

 

365 Picture Today Post

57/365 | Tuesday, February 23, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Incredible

Picture More | Symmetry

This farm entrance was installed in my area a couple of years ago.  The symmetry of the upside down trees is undeniable, but many people think the design is a bit odd or creepy.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

53/365 | Monday, February 22, 2021 | #365PictureToday

2 o'clock (Washington's Birthday)

Picture More | Symmetry | Picture Time

Since 2 o'clock occurs while I am at work, and I cannot take pictures at work due to proprietary teaching materials and student privacy issues, I was stumped about what to do for this picture.  I finally decided to take a picture of the Koch snowflake that I made for work last winter.  Mathematician Helge von Koch created the Koch snowflake based on the Koch fractal curve.  To make one simply start with an equilateral triangle.  At the midpoint of each side, another equilateral triangle is added.  This can continue indefinitely, but the hardest part in my example was cutting it out.  The cool thing about the Koch snowflake is that it encloses a finite area but has an infinite perimeter. 

Fun snowflake facts from the Mathnasium website:

• Snowflakes have six points and are hexagonal.

• Snowflakes have from 180 billion to 10 quintillion (1019) molecules of water.

• They fall at a rate of 3.1 miles per hour.

• There are 6 basic types of snowflakes based on their 3 dimensional shape: flat, column, stars, dendrite, lacy, needle, and capped column.

• The temperature of the air and the humidity where the snowflake forms determines the type of snowflake that will form. Dendrites form when the air temperature is between -8 degrees Fahrenheit to 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Snowflakes do not have perfect symmetry.

• A branch of geometry called fractal geometry helps explain the figures of snowflakes.

 

365 Picture Today Post

52/365 | Sunday, February 21, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Square

Picture More | Symmetry 

The only thing that came to mind today were Lego Architecture models.  Here are two examples that show symmetry.  Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye is a modern example showing symmetry.  Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel is a more traditional example showing symmetry.

 

 An example of a building that expresses symmetry without being perfectly symmetrical is anti-modernist Robert Venturi's Vanna Venturi House seen here:

Not a Lego model and not my photo, but I love this example of symmetry and use it all the time when discussing symmetry.

 

365 Picture Today Post

51/365 | Saturday, February 20, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Present

Picture Color | Pink Week

My husband found these bunny ears when he went shopping today.  I actually asked him to look for party hats.  I realized that since they were pink I could actually use them for today's prompt.  I tried to add in some other pink touches.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

50/365 | Friday, February 19, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Circle

Picture Color | Pink Week

I went to the store and meant to look for some cookies with pink icing, but I forgot.  Instead, I found a pink doughnut magnet on the refrigerator.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

 49/365 | Thursday, February 18, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Down 

Picture Color | PinkWeek

The juncos, or snowbirds, like to be down on the ground instead of up in the feeders.  Bonus picture of a woodpecker.

 

365 Picture Today Post

48/365 | Wednesday, February 17, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Passion

Picture Color | Pink Week

Passion can be defined as an extreme interest in something.  Typically on a Wednesday I might photograph something about bowling, but yesterday my lens ball finally arrived.  So here is my first attempt at using it.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

47/365 | Tuesday, February 16, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Blurry

Picture Color | Pink Week | Mardi Gras

I had an initial idea for this picture today, but first I needed to find some SweetTarts hearts.  Luckily I found some at a store today.  My first idea was to try to drop them in front of the camera, but when I got home I saw that someone had put the lazy susan on the table.  I decided that putting a few, including some pink ones, on the lazy susan and spinning it might work more easily than trying to drop them. Voila!  I liked this image best because you can still see the heart shapes.

 

365 Picture Today Post

 46/365 | Monday, February 15, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Meditative

Picture Color | Pink Week

I saw my Apple Blossom flower this morning, and I was contemplating whether Girl's Weekend with my BFF was going to be able to take place this year during the annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival.

 

365 Picture Today Post

45/365 | Sunday, February 14, 2021 | #365PictureToday

 Treasure

Picture Color | Pink Week | Valentine's Day

Just a few elements of the season: some flowers my husband gave me, some Valentine's truffles, and a pink heart ceramic container I made many moons ago.  "Pink isn't just a color, it's an attitude!" ~Miley Cyrus

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

44/365 | Saturday, February 13, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Resourceful

Picture Style | Landscape 

I had to be resourceful and set up a landscape with Lego since I couldn't get outside to take any real landscape pictures.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

43/365 | Friday, February 12, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Chilly

Picture Style | Landscape

It has been chilly enough for snow here in Virginia.  In fact, we have had several inches fall on two successive Sundays (January 31 and February 7).  Then it snowed again on Wednesday and then again last night.  I had to run to Fredericksburg today, and I thought that the Rappahannock River looked particularly pretty.

 

365 Picture Today Post

42/365 |  Thursday, February 11, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Spectacular

Picture Style | Landscape

It is spectacular that we have been getting a lot of different birds at the bird feeders this winter.  This morning we had a nuthatch and a hermit thrush (we think).

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

 41/365 | Wednesday, February 10, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Petal 

Picture Style | Landscape 

In the spring I am sure that these trees over the Rappahannock Canal will be full of petals.  Right now they are just full of snow.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

39/365 | Monday, February 8, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Rough

Picture Style | Landscape | Macro Monday

 

It didn't take me very long to come up with an idea for today's picture, especially since I knew I was going to be at church for a meeting.  The only concern was whether there would be enough light left by the time I got there since the meeting started at 6:30 p. m.  I love this stone wall and I like the view across the cornfield to the farm across the road.  Just past the farm are the railroad tracks so often that's an added feature.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

38/365 | Sunday, February 7, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Surprise

Picture Style | Landscape 

Surprise! For the second Sunday in a row it snowed.  It snowed most of the morning, but we only got about two inches this time.  By 4:00 p. m. it had all but melted.  I'll close with a quote from The Long Winter on Laura Ingalls Wilder's 154th birthday: "A storm outdoors is no reason for gloom in the house."

 

365 Picture Today Post

37/365 | Saturday, February 6, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Intuition

Picture You | What Makes Me Happy

I've been reading a book titled 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School. Each page is one little thought with an illustration, and many of them are intuitive ideas.  I've been reading one each day and pondering the idea put forth.   Most of them really are things I learned in architecture school but may have forgotten.  Today's nugget is "Just do something."  As it relates to architecture, it suggests that if a design problem is overwhelming, you shouldn't just wait for inspiration to arrive.  Instead, you should just start to draw and that will help clarity to arrive by learning about the problem.  I think this is a great idea for nearly everything: "Just do something."

 

 

 

"for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." ~Proverbs 8:11

365 Picture Today Post

36/365 | Friday, February 5, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Stripes

Picture You | What Makes Me Happy 

It took me a long time to find something with stripes.  I have a cute bowl with stripes, but I had used it in a photo recently.  Then I realized that the edges of my Currier & Ives dishes have a neat stripe pattern, and these dishes have many happy memories for me.

 

 

 

365 Picture Today Post

35/365 | Thursday, February 4, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Savor  

Picture You | What Makes Me Happy 

 It's Girl Scout cookie time!  As a former Girl Scout, I am all too happy to support this project by buying a box or two of Tagalongs to savor.  I thought it would be fun to take a picture with my old Girl Scout sash.  It brings back lots of memories when I look at this sash and my patches.

 

Architecture News: Amazon's New HQ2 Renderings Unveiled

 All of the news outlets have been abuzz with talk about Amazon's new HQ2 design set to be built in Crystal City, Virginia.  The centerpiece of phase 2 is a building dubbed The Helix.  The Helix, designed by architecture firm NBBJ, will have two hiking paths along the outside, which will apparently be open to the public on some weekends.  The Helix will also feature an interior garden.  According to The Architect's Newspaper, construction on phase 2 is set to begin in 2022.  This looks to be a winning design for a sometimes unpopular project.

Amazon HQ 2 "Helix" Article

 

365 Picture Today Post

 34/365 | Wednesday, February 3, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Midday 

Picture You | What Makes Me Happy | Where I Stand

At midday we were just finishing up bowling, so here I stand on the lanes with my ball and bowling shoes.

 

365 Picture Today Post

33/365 | Tuesday, February 2, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Balance

Picture You | What Makes Me Happy

One of the ways I balance my life with a fun activity is to build LEGO projects, mostly architecture themed ones.  This is my most recent project.  It is a model of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright.  For Christmas I also got a double-sided puzzle of the Guggenheim.  I'm really looking forward to putting that together sometime soon also.

 

365 Picture Today Post

 

32/365 | Monday, February 1, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Technology

Picture You | What Makes Me Happy | Self Portrait 

Just a quick selfie before I got into my car, one of my favorite pieces of technology.