Lens-Artists Challenge #157 – Getting Away
“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”
Maya Angelou
This week our Guest Host, Rusha Sams invites us to get away from it all, and for me it couldn’t have come at a better time. My husband and I arrived home from a short getaway very late last night. Ms. Angelou’s quote describes exactly what we needed, and with the help of some very good friends we were able for the most part to leave our worries behind. My opening image, captured at the beautiful Getty Center in Los Angeles, symbolizes the long climb with which we’ve been faced, but like the figure in the image we’re hopefully past half-way and headed for the summit.
“Be kind to yourself give yourself a break.”
Bernardo Moya
Speaking of summits, the first stop on our journey was Colorado, which invites you into its mountains with an airport vista (shown above as captured from my airplane window) meant to resemble them. The weather was quite warm and hazy (although of course more comfortable than our South Carolina summer heat), which for the most part hid the actual mountains from view. That notwithstanding, we very much enjoyed our visit with family and the break from SC’s humidity.
“Everyone needs a break to refuel, recharge, and jump back in full throttle.””
Helen Edwards
Our next stop was Carlsbad, California – just north of San Diego. There we visited with good friends who some 20+ years ago were our northern next-door neighbors. Since we are on different coasts we don’t see them often but it’s always as if we’d only seen them yesterday each time we are together. While there we did a day trip to Balboa Park, which we’d not seen before. In addition to the famous San Diego Zoo, the park is home to several wonderful museums (including a terrific photography exhibit), beautiful gardens, and some glorious turn-of-the-century buildings that seemed more old-world European than American.
“Taking a break can lead to breakthroughs.”
Russell Eric Dobda
During our getaway, which we ended with wonderful friends in Santa Monica, we enjoyed incredible floral displays in Balboa Park, at the Getty in LA, and at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. I hope to share more of those images in the coming weeks. At the end of the day, we were reminded that friends are truly the flowers in the life’s garden. Yes, there are weeds, but sometimes we need to take a break from pulling them in order to enjoy the beauty and fragrance of the flowers that are blooming.
Sincere thanks to Anne for last week’s wonderful B&W challenge – we enjoyed seeing the results of your image edits. Thanks also to Rusha for her well-timed (at least for me 😊) challenge. We look forward to seeing your responses. Be sure to link them to her original post here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag. Finally, be sure to join us next week when Beth of Wandering Dawgs brings us her Back Country Roads challenge. Until then, please stay safe and be kind.
Travels and Trifles 
Absolutely loved your interpretation of this challenge, Tina. Really loved your opening shot that encapsulates what so many of us have been going through. I like how in the image you can see a sliver of trees outside – nature and true beauty seemingly is so close yet so far. Also loved how you made the white florals pop in your BW photo. Stunning. It sounds like you had good travels to quite a few places, good views and had lovely company along the way.
Agree with your analogy in the end. There will be weeds in life. It’s important to realise there is much more to life then tending to one thing and putting in the hard yards, and we all deserve some self-care and time off to enjoy all that is around us.
Hope your summer is going well, Tina 🙂
“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”
This made my day! Thank you! 💫
Sorry for your troubles. Photography especially your creative images paired with quotes are a wonderful respite from the difficulties of life.
Thanks Eileen – it’s an excellent diversion for sure.