Happy New Year!

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What better way to celebrate the arrival of 2013 than with these two photos of a talented and brave little girl. Her rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner in front of thousands made my heart sing with hope for the future.

Saturday evening, as one of a very small group of Portland Trail Blazers' season ticket holders, I got to enter the Rose Garden Arena 30 minutes early and take a seat court side, during the team's shoot around. Nearby the Blazer stunt team worked out. And in the midst of all that activity, this little girl rehearsed the national anthem. She sang beautifully, unperturbed. Once she had finished, lots of people applauded.

 

Just before the basketball game began, from my seat on the front row of the upper bowl, I took this photo with my iPhone as she sang to the crowd. Loud cheering and clapping broke out as she finished that last note. 

Pretty in pink, at the Race for the Cure

On this particular sunny Sunday, September 16, 2012, I saw lots of pink. Here's the cutest pink I managed to photograph. While walking with Daddy and being out of the stroller held the little girl's attention at first, the sound of approaching Mommy brought her up short, made her turn and walk straight into her mother's arms.

A surprise among the tulips

She bent over, picking up tulips which had fallen to the ground, her shiny, silky tresses mirroring the sheen of each tulip's petals.

I'm guessing those tulips ended up on the ground because a grown-up just might have knocked into the stems while moving along the rows, searching for just the right spot to set down a toddler or two for a colorful photo op.

So, if you haven't already guessed, you're in for a run of photos taken at Woodburn, Oregon's Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's Tulip Fest.

A cute, but cold, Tuba Christmas fan

Look at her pink nose. The cold made it match the color of her jacket and hat perfectly. Cropped and altered at Picnik.

Splattery, splashy, surprising magic. Seen at Saturday Market on June 25, 2011

Here's the sequence as I captured it with the Nikon D50. I love how it appears that this little girl is calling forth the stream of water from the concrete. Do you?