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Sunday, March 08, 2009

Revisiting the past

Update 3/14/09: I've edited the photograph to get rid of the blue. Here is the before and after picture if you are interested. Let me know what you think, if you like. I'm learning! :)

Tool Shack, Photographed in Sonoma County, March 2009.

Since we had our first nice week-end in a while, I decided it would be a good time to break away from everything, so I jumped in my car and drove out to the Wine Country where I used to live, a long time ago.

Comme il a enfin fait beau ce week-end, j'ai décidé que ce serait une bonne idée de m' éloigner un peu de tout, alors j'ai sauté dans la voiture et suis allée faire un petit tour à la campagne, dans le "Pays des vins" comme on l'appelle ici, ou j'ai habité il y a bien longtemps.

Everything looked really green, thanks to the rain we've had in the past couple of weeks.
Tout avait l'air bien vert à cause de la pluie qui est tombée depuis 2 semaines

When I lived there, I didn't realize how pretty the area really is. Sometimes you have to get away from something to really appreciate its positive points.

Quand j'y habitais, je ne voyais pas vraiment combien l'endroit est joli. Des fois il faut s'éloigner des choses pour mieux les voir.

The California Wine Country is often compared to Provence, this cute area in the South of France. If you drive up there in the Spring when everything is blooming, you will see why.

Le "Pays des Vins" est souvent comparé à la Provence. Si vous y allez au printemps, quand tout est en fleurs, vous verrez pourquoi.

For some reason, most of the pictures I took that day did not come out very well, but I like this shot of a tool shed, taken towards the end of the day. It was photographed a few hundred yards from the Jack London State Park up in Glen Ellen. I guess I could have framed the shot a little better, but as I recall, there used to be a spirited and unpredictable dog living around these parts and roaming free, so I didn't spend a lot of time hanging around for a better picture, even if part of me knows the dog can no longer be alive...

La plupart des photos que j'ai prises ce jour là ne sont pas bien sorties, mais celle ci m'a plu. C'est un hangar à outils que j'ai photographié à quelques centaines de metres du parc Jack London, à Glen Ellen. C'est vrai que j'aurais pu le cadrer un peu mieux, mais je n'étais pas tres rassurée car il me semble me souvenir qu'il y avait un chien pas commode qui vivait dans le coin et se promenait librement, alors je ne me suis pas trop attardée, meme si je me doute bien que ce chien n'est probablement plus en vie ...

Probably a good idea, too, since I ran into this lot of wild turkeys only a few minutes later. Sorry about the quality of the picture, but these birds are huge, not particularly friendly, and scare me 1/2 to death to tell the truth; plus I've seen them before, they usually travel by group of 10 or more up there, so I snapped as quickly as I could and ran out of there FAST! ;)

C'était sans doute une bonne idée, car quelques minutes plus tard, j'ai rencontré ces messieurs... Désolée pour la qualité de la photo mais ces oiseaux la sont énormes, pas tres sympas, et me font une peur bleue pour dire vra. De plus je les ai déja vus se promener en famille, tout une bande de 10 ou plus, alors j'ai pris ma photo en vitesse avant de prendre les jambes à mon cou! ;)

The excursion out to the country was beneficial, since it allowed me to relax a little and take a break from my silly, stressed-out city life. But came back somewhat nostalgic because it can be difficult to revisit the past.

Ca m'a fait du bien ce petit tour à la campagne, car cela m'a permis de me relaxer un peu et d'oublier le stress de la ville, mais cela m'a aussi rendue quelque peu nostalgique car il est quelque fois difficile de regarder le passé dans les yeux.

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12 Comments:

Blogger Patty said...

If that old shed could talk, I bet it has a few tales. As for the dog or the wild turkeys, I think I would have been more afraid of the wild turkeys. LOL

10:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's a cool shot. Evokes a coldish day. Makes me wonder what's inside...

1:59 PM  
Blogger claude said...

Désolée, ma petite Tomate mais pas le temps de m'attarder, j'ai trop de travail. Je pensais que c'était la maison du garde-barrière. Je repasse plus tard.

10:23 AM  
Blogger claude said...

Cela me fait la même chose, mais en sens inverse, quand je vais à Paris,. J'ai tellement la nostalgie que je suis triste quand je m'en reviens dans ma campagne.

9:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In a few months I will be able to visit "Provence, this cute area in the South of France." I hope the dogs will be leashed. :D

11:03 AM  
Blogger AphotoAday said...

I think your photo looks fine -- the composition is o.k., and the bit of blueness (white balance) can be fixed in something like Photoshop...

Yep, I can't think of a prettier place than Glen Ellen in that part of the world...

I lived in Sonoma County for a year or two too -- in the tiny burg of Hessel, sort of southwest of Sebastopol...

And I know what you mean about nostalgia... I grew up on the Monterey Peninsula, so when I go down there now I get rather weirded-out... When I see a kid walking down the sidewalk in my old hometown I can easily imagine that the kid is me, all those many years ago... (Fortunately, it can be argued that I've never grown up, so the experience of being a kid lives on)

Anyway, I enjoyed hearing about your weekend in Sonoma -- and yeah, watch out for those wild turkeys in large groups -- they're so dumb that they're probably pretty dangerous...

9:58 PM  
Blogger Tomate Farcie said...

Patty: You're right, I'm sure it knows a few stories! The house on the same property is over 100 years old, but of course, I don't know about the shed.

Brad: Guess we'll never know for sure ;)

Claude: I know what you mean about Paris. I feel it too, when I leave. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, uh? ;)

Cali: You are lucky! If you go before they harvest lavender, you'll get some really neat pictures. Not sure you can bring back lavender to California, I think they take it at the airport nowadays, but maybe just a little bit in a souvenir bag?

PhotoADay: Thanks for the tip about "white balance." I will try it this WE and see if I can repost the results. I was disappointed with the blue but I guess that's the way the light was under the trees up there. I'm sure the little program I have would help my pictures a great deal if I knew how to use it ;)

Thanks all for your visit and comments! :)

10:57 AM  
Blogger claude said...

Ma pizza à la sardine avait un peu trop le goût de sardine mais n'était pas trop salé du tout.

11:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

“When I lived there, I didn't realize how pretty the area really is. Sometimes you have to get away from something to really appreciate its positive points.” That is so true! And in a way, it goes both ways; “you sometimes need to get away from something to realize it was bad for you.” I’ve felt that way when I left Paris… ;-) Anyway: I have been to the Wine Country several times and I love it; such a beautiful and peaceful place…

10:43 AM  
Blogger Tomate Farcie said...

Anthony: "sometimes you have to get away from something to realize it was bad for you." That is SO TRUE, too!!

Another thing is that when you visit a location, you tend to only see with what meets the eyes. When you have to survive there, it can be a completely different experience.

1:12 PM  
Blogger AphotoAday said...

Oh cool, you worked on the image.
Ten points and a gold star!

7:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I like your blog!

5:04 PM  

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