Well, one certainly doesn't have Internet access when one forgets to bring the computer! And, really, that's not such a bad thing: we spent four days unconnected--no Internet, no TV, no radio. During the day, we hiked and biked and poked around Woodstock. In the evening, we sat at the campfire and later did some reading in our little trailer. Saturday night, we had friends over for chili. All of life's stresses just unwound.

It does leave me with some catching up to do. This is the photo for Thursday, April 16. While my husband was hitching the camper to the truck, I was on my belly on the lawn, taking pictures of daffodils. I'd never looked at the back of a daffodil before. I loved the way the morning light lit up the centers. Using the Colorful Centers effect accentuated the flower's natural glow.

Daffodils are my favorite flower (well, them and Lily-of-the-valley); and we wait for them for SO long here in New England...so I couldn't resist one more photo. This was taken in our yard, where they have burst into exuberant bloom. I really didn't think that the original needed anything, but for the sake of the project, I played around with filters anyway. I like the Sumi-E played up the color and luminescence of the flower.

The weather is still raw and rainy; the daffodils outside haven't dared to bloom. I cut one to put in the little wall vase in the kitchen. With warmth, it promptly opened. Using a flash blew it out, but there's too much yellow in the original shot. The Colorful Center effect sowed up the flower's inner glow.

With the real spring only in the distant future here in New England, we often need to create it indoors in order to raise the spirits. These tiny tete-a-tete daffodils do the trick.