Signs of Spring

There is always some date in February when the urgent call of spring renewal defeats the leaden desire for inaction, baked goods and pasta. And when I heed that call, I am compelled to spend some time outside walking and engaging with like minded plants and animals. February 23 was the day this year, when I needed to and had the energy to slug off a long hard winter hibernation.

This is what I saw.

Can you identify my garden plants from their sprouts?

 

One bird’s love song is another birds dinner bell. The hawk was waiting for dinner to be served. The barn bird had a nest hidden beneath the loose shingle. You can see the buds on the trees in the hawk photos.

 

It was nearly 60-degrees when I went strolling. Many neighbors shared the roads and pathways with me. Ultimately I put in about 3 miles and was energized more than tired by the excursion.

There are white birch in the woods behind my house, but this one is the one that ventured farthest from the other clusters and closest to our property.   And well, pussywillows, need I say more. The barn is the home of many wild birds and once I saw a raccoon had made its home inside as well, but that was when the farm grew more corn.

 

 

All photos and text (c) Alison Colby-Campbell.

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The Faces of Haverhill

“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard.” Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz

While I can’t condone, never moving beyond your backyard, I can recognize the value therein. Thank you Haverhill, Massachusetts, your fabulous geographic diversity has been my photography muse for five years, now, the source for my The Heartbeat of Haverhill Blog and The Heartbeat of Haverhill Facebook Page, and a resource to draw from for myriad marketing opportunities, contest entries, and calendar pages.

I typically spend less time photographing the urban areas of Haverhill because the urban areas within the City  represent such a small percentage of it’s total land that includes vast expanses of suburban, rural, agricultural, park, waterfront and open spaces, but as the City brings new vitality downtown, this area becomes more and more of a focal point.

In my career as a freelance marketer, we just put to print a 12-page pitchbook for Haverhill’s Planning and Economic Development department. The project was co-funded by the City and the Greater Haverhill Foundation. I was contracted to lead the project, of course. because of my marketing acumen but that was enhanced because of my photographic library. Ultimately over 20 of my photos (city, land, river, and business scapes, even my portrait of Mayor James Fiorentini were placed in the book. Billboards and other marketing materials to come! It’s too soon yet but I will provide a link to the digital version as soon as I get the “okay” after the book is presented to City Council.

A new gorgeous waterfront apartment building just contacted me for another photo or two and my random “just walking through the City” photo of perhaps the prettiest commercial street in downtown Haverhill was selected for the cover of the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce Directory.

Haverhill has been very good to me, and I like to return the favor by promoting just what an amazing 35+ square mile city Haverhill is. I mean where else do you have a winery (won a regional contest with a photo from there, a castle (took first place in a regional photo contest with a photo there), a residents’ beach, a river (photo of the urban end of the river took first), and a ski/board family oriented resort. I read a statistic long enough ago that I can’t remember where that said Haverhill had more photographers per capita than most Massachusetts communities. Once I started cataloguing the City’s unique features, it was easy to understand why.

(c)Alison Colby-Campbell