The passage of time

The passage of time often makes me sad.  I've been aware of it as long as I can remember, but since I've had kids, it's become bittersweet.  I've never been more conscious of how fast it's flying by, and how impossible it is that a single second of it can ever come back.

One of the things that makes me feel better is taking pictures.  Taking pictures can be like freezing those perfect moments in time, so that you never forget them even though you can't relive them. That's why so many of my favorite photos are of clocks, unfolding flags, flowers at peak bloom -- moments that don't last.  But photography also can make the passage of time more apparent -- by allowing us to focus on one thing as the moments pass by.  

I'm not an expert at time-lapse photography and I don't have a tripod, so I can't do this perfectly, but I've been trying lately all the same.  Enjoy these photos of changing things!

First, the moon.  I wanted to take more different phases, but we've had too many cloudy nights!  I got some good ones, at least.

The other series is of my plum tree blooming.  Every year it seems to happen so suddenly -- just overnight, we have blossoms!  But in reality, it's a slow process that's subtle at first, so you don't see it coming.

Happy Spring!