Wilder Pictures + Musings: A Few Things That Make Me Happy (and) On The Pursuit of Happiness

 

Years ago, when my family still had a kid's table where we young ones would mash together all of our thanksgiving dinner and call it dog food, I asked a question. I asked each family member what they were thankful for. I don't think this was a ground-breaking exercise, and I'm sure there are many tables across America on Thanksgiving where people do this. But I love that it brings us back to the reason we're all gathered together on a Thursday in November in the first place. It also allows each of us to be more honest than we would be in casual conversation; I learn something new about people I thought I knew very well each time we go around the table.

So this year, I'm bringing the tradition to this internet-table. I want to share with you what I am grateful for. And I hope, in the comments following this post, that you will do the same with me (after the jump).

Wilder Style + Musings (+Wilder Archives): Winters in Jackson Hole (or) Tsumori Chisato Gondola Pullover

In honor of the winter's first snowfall here in Boston, I want to talk about Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and this Tsumori Chisato sweater (if it isn't the best thing I've seen in a while, I don't know what is). When I was a little kid and newspapers still had money, the NYTimes would send my family to Jackson Hole because my mom wrote for their travel and leisure section. She managed to find ways to take new story angles each year (she even wrote about a sled-dog race, an article for which I ended up sleeping in a yurt and mushing a team of huskies at age 8--it was one of the better adventures I've been on) so that they'd keep sending us out there (more after the jump). 

Wilder Pictures: Fall in Black and White

 

This weekend I took myself on a Sunday photo outing. It was a beautiful day, sublimely fall-y, and I was driving back from Concord; I pulled over on the side of Baker Bridge Road, grabbed my camera, and hopped the stone wall into the field. I love the chilly fall crunch of leaves over grass--the way you kind of sink into the earth a little bit with each step. I was drawn to the texture of the field, of the trees, of the contrasting lights and darks, so I thought I'd shoot in black and white. I also took some color photos, which I'll put up later (more after the jump).

Wilder Pictures: Fall Foliage Pre-Sandy

I feel like I have to tell you the truth about where I took these pictures. They are not, as they probably lead you to believe, in the middle of some glorious wood or beside a lovely lake, but rather in the parking lot of an office park outside my gym (I mean, technically it is next to a reservoir, but separated by a whooole lot of asphalt). Behind these bright orange leaves and vermillion stems are some huge-ass office buildings with a whole lot of reflective glass and ugly cement. The pavement around the trees was full of cars (more after the jump).