Author: PeepSideshow Darkward

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Golden Hour – The Suns Slowly Fades In All Of His Glory

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Sunset over New Polebarkia

I was happy to see this week’s photo challenge, “The Golden Hour”, since I have been doing a lot of sunrise and sunset photos lately. Living on an island makes that a no-brainer. And with unlimited windlight settings, it is easy to create the golden hour, regardless of the time of day. Cheating, maybe, but that is one of the perks of inhabiting a virtual world. So sue me 😉

I took this shot looking west from outside our home. While I love the coolness of the sunrise, it is the glorious warmth of a sunset that speaks to me most. The glow of the sun reflected on the clouds and the water is a reminder to me of the accomplishments of the day. But it is also an admonition that when tomorrow comes, it will be time to forget the achievements of yesterday and make our mark – no matter how lofty or simple – in the dawning of a new day. As the sun rises again to travel his path toward the fading of his glory once more, make the most of whatever your goals may be.

Please click the link above to view the other entries in this week’s photo challenge.

Living Up To My Name

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Have you ever sat gazing out at the world, oblivious to anything else going on around you, never realising someone might be looking back at you? That your very private life might be of interest to the person across the street or just passing by? I’m not talking stalkers here (although that is a very real and frightening prospect for too many people). I mean the casual observer who is only curious about something – or someone – that catches their eye.

I admit to keeping an eye on the lady who lives across from me. She does laundry. A LOT of laundry. And she hangs it on clothes horses on her balcony to dry. I admit it has become something of an obsession with me; is it towels today? Pajamas? The myriad of house dresses she wears in summer or the pant suits she wears in winter? And I am perplexed by the plastic grocery bags she washes and hangs out about once a week. (In case you’re wondering, they seem to take much longer than clothes to dry and it’s best to double-peg them so the crows and magpies don’t steal them from the line!)

This is not a prurient interest. Nor is it meddlesome or intrusive. I don’t sit on my balcony staring and taking an inventory of her wardrobe. I just take a peek out the kitchen window as I’m washing dishes or filling the tea kettle to see what she has washed today. And I’ve come to the realisation that she either doesn’t wear underwear or she dries it inside.

Too much information? Well, I come by my name honestly. Peep just sounded better than Nosy 😉

Taking A (Virtual) Mental Health Break

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I took a little break from blogging. It wasn’t so much that I was burnt out from my 30-day challenge, but more that I was burnt out from SL in general. I have never made it a secret that I am fully immersed in our little world and the people I am closest to have links to Second Life. I am very much a “Virtual Girl”.

I think one of the best parts (or maybe the worst) is that when the drama or circumstances get to be too much, you can just check out. I guess not logging in to SL is the real world equivalent of taking a “Mental Health Day” from work. You know the one…when you aren’t really ill but you just need a day or two to recover your mojo. It works in SL, too. I had tried taking photos, but I just wasn’t “seeing” them. The angle, the lighting, the location just weren’t right, no matter how many different versions I tried. So, I did the only thing I could think to do; I took a Virtual Mental Health Break.

I’ve spent my time away working on other things – skills that I can use in either world, although it remains to be seen just how successful I will be. But I’ll keep learning, trying, reflecting on what I need to do. And hopefully, sharing what I have discovered.