(Originally posted October 5, 2012)
I always think of daisies in general as cheery or happy flowers. This picture reminds me of some flattery too…
A few years ago, my husband was thinking of pursuing a PhD in his field and Penn State has the top-ranked Geography department in the country. What better excuse than that to take a long weekend in State College, PA during the fall!?
My husband had a bunch of meetings with the Geography folks during the day, so that set me free to spend an entire day taking pictures to my heart’s content downtown and on campus.
I snagged this shot of the late-blooming daisies on the west side of campus near Rec Hall and the Nittany Lion Shrine. Knowing I’d be trekking all over the place, I was dressed comfortably and my short hair was in pigtails to keep it out of the camera’s way. (Hats + camera usually don’t work well for me.)
While taking this shot of the daisies and other things in that part of campus, an older gentleman stopped and asked if I was working on a class project. If only! I explained that it was just a hobby (as it was at the time) and I was getting a break from my usual daily grind. That’s when the said that he thought I was a student, thus his inquiry. Considering I was on the other side of 30 at the time, he made my day! I probably didn’t thank him nearly enough for mistaking me for a student!!
So, this little photo session was fantastic on two levels – I got a lot of great shots that day and someone thought I looked young enough to still be a PSU student. Outstanding!! Now the trick will be to keep that youthful mojo going for the long haul. I think my photography will go a long way towards keeping me young.
-JC
