Last Saturday, I woke up with a headache and a mood to match. But I got up and got moving, only to find that we were getting our first real snowfall of the season.

My husband and I went to the winter farmer’s market nearby to get some eggs and a Christmas arrangement for above the fireplace. It is held at a local artisan dairy and when I saw a little girl outside the barn door making snowballs, I knew I had made a big mistake in not bringing my camera.

My mood was beginning to lift.

After arriving home, I knew that I really needed to go out and photograph! Heading out in my car with Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run Radio (Sirius/XM 27 until mid-January) playing, I started feeling lighter. After stopping at several places in my neighborhood to take photos, I headed over to Eagle Creek Park.

35 photos later, I was a new person.

The photos weren’t stellar, but that wasn’t the point. I was outside. I was alive. I was connected!

It’s a pretty good rule for photographers that out of a roll of film, you’re lucky to get one good image. This was the case for me.  I did get one photo that I like or at least made me think.

For many years, abstract images of nature have been among my favorites. To me, they blur the edges of our separation. This whole world ecosystem we live in is like one vast nervous system, with every single part serving a purpose and connected to every other part. This is what this image, which looks like a tapestry, represents to me.

Tapestry – a fabric consisting of a warp upon which colored threads are woven by hand to produce a design, often pictorial, used for wall hangings, furniture coverings, etc.

It’s important to know what inspires you. How do you shake those moods and get a little dose of inspiration?