2012: Week 47

2012: Week 47, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

My life philosophy, on a plate. The fact that the plate is holding my favourite pie of salted caramel apple pie is a bonus.

Apologies for the shaky focusing, but it was taken at the end of our Thanksgiving feast, which we celebrated on Saturday. We don't do it on Thursday since everyone has to work. Though our Thanksgiving feast was more low-key this year than in past years, we still managed to drink 1.5 bottles of wine per adult.

We love Thanksgiving. All you have to do is get together the people you love and then eat, drink and give thanks all day. Perfection.

2012: Week 46

2012: Week 46, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

We've started a new family tradition, which involves a walk through Greenwich Park every Sunday morning. As it's a new tradition, I don't know if it'll stick, but I hope so.

This past Sunday was an absolutely glorious morning: Perfect blue sky, bright sunshine, glorious autumnal colour. It was so nice that our 13-year-old was bummed that he didn't get to go on the walk too.

I was glad to capture the beautiful colours still in the park, because I don't know how long they'll last and it's been an epic autumn.

2012: Week 45

2012: Week 45, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

A photo of the Missing Man Formation that flew over Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. for my brother, Col. Michael Stapleton on 9 November 2012. This formation is quite special because it features the two jets that my brother flew during his life: the F-15 and the F-22. As one of his fellow pilots said afterward, "It took a lot of paperwork to do that." I bet.

I think this photo also is a good example of what the 52 weeks project is all about. While I would love for every week to be happy-- with Olympic celebrations and bunting and sunshine and cake-- it's just a fact of life that that's impossible. So Week 45 was sad week for me, as it was for many others who loved my brother.

Please note: For reasons completely unfathomable to me, it says this photo was taken on 19 November, which is when I uploaded it to Flickr. I couldn't change it, but rest assured, it was taken on 9 November.

2012: Week 44

2012: Week 44, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

It looks as though the clouds are going to invade London. Or the Dementors are on their way.

I took this shot on Friday, on our way to taking our son to his very first James Bond cinema experience. I may have also had Harry Potter on the brain, given that we'd been on the Studios Tour last week and have been watching the films incessantly ever since, and this looked like some sort of Dementor cloud.

As it was Halloween week, I thought for sure that I would pick a Halloween picture. But I didn't like any of them as nearly as much as I liked this one, as it reminds me very much of Magritte's "The Dominion of Light", where it is night in the lower half of the picture and day in the top half of the picture.