Celebrating in Living Color

Today marks the first anniversary of my photo blog, "A One-Pic Pony." By posting a different photo every day for an entire year, I've proved to myself that I'm better than that girl I used to be, the one who started projects but often failed to complete them. Oh, that girl still lives, I'm afraid, but this time the old woman who inhabits the rest of my body has prevailed.

My interest in photography came late in life, when I was already 64 years old, and I never would have imagined that it would turn into such a passion. My love of taking pictures was born with the purchase of my first digital camera (the one I still use), which gave me the freedom to screw up as many shots as necessary in order to get one good one. That was six years ago, and I still take pictures almost every day.

How I envy today's young moms who have digital cameras and cell-phone cameras at the ready to capture photos of their children. Sometimes we owned a camera when my girls were young, and sometimes we didn't. Even when we had one, we used it sparingly, because the cost of photo-processing wasn't always in our budget. I cherish the snapshots I do have of my children, but there were so many other priceless images of them that linger only in my head.

I can still see a tiny girl bathing in the kitchen sink as sunlight flows through the window behind her and frames her silhouette in golden light. I see the profile of another small girl, her short blonde hair falling in soft curls around her face. Dressed in bright, primary colors, she squats close to the ground and gently extends one chubby hand to touch a puppy's nose. I wish I'd had a digital camera to capture those images.

I do know I'm not nearly ready to give up on the photo blog, even if there are days when no one sees it but me. The process of selecting, editing, and posting a daily photo is a joyful experience, and I've become addicted to that little rush of pleasure. I shoot up--and down and all around--in living color, and it's a habit I can live with.