Merry Christmas from the members of the Review This team. We thank you for your support and wish you and your family a happy and joyous Christmas season.
One of my favorite holiday activities is to take photos of all the beautiful decorations. Here are some of my favorites from this year.
Main Street St. Charles Photo Walk
One of my favorite things to do each holiday season is to go to Main Street in an area close to me. This town, St. Charles, goes all out in decorating for the holidays. Here are some photos I took last week.
Holiday Lights- Bokeh
I love using a bokeh effect in holiday photos. A bokeh effect gives the background a warm soft glow and turns lights into soft balls of color. You can achieve this by focusing on a nearby subject using a wide aperture and having Christmas lights in the background. The first photo in this post uses bokeh. Here are a few other photos using that technique.
Here are two using the bokeh effect that I created using AI. I enjoy playing with AI to create different effects. The biggest challenge here is describing what you want the photo to look like.
Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year
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Every Sunday, except for the past six Sundays, I add a review here on ReviewThisReviews.
Each of the ladies and gents who write for ReviewThisReviews makes a weekly contribution, and others fill in when needed. I'm proud to be associated with this amazing, reliable, and kind group of people.
You can be confident that the writers here are real people, living real lives, and most of us have known each other for a decade or more. When you read a review by one of these class individuals, you can be sure it's from a genuine experience or straight from the heart.
Life Gets in the Way
I would like to take this Sunday to thank all the writers on ReviewThisReviews, and especially to those who filled in for me these past six Sundays for their support, patience, and dedication.
All of us live human lives, and that, of course, includes good times and bad. These past six weeks have been my personal nightmare, with my mom nearly passing away three times during that span. My mother may be the toughest lady I know!
My Mother is a Force
Mom has spent her life managing family, working outside the home at times, caring, giving, and disciplining us. She's a strong independent woman who held her own all her life. We call her "small but mighty." She's only small in stature!
Mom has entered the next phase of life. My brother purchased the family home this past month, and mom has moved on to a place where she can get the care she needs. It's a first-class environment with a stunning view of the St. Lawrence Seaway here in Ontario.
She deserves to live this next phase of life in comfort and class. Although mom isn't 'well' by any stretch of the imagination, she's a fighter and currently holding her own in her new place.
I Didn't Think I'd Get Through These Past Six Weeks - And I NEVER Think Like That
Like my mother, I'm a pretty tough person. I've handled adversity many times in my life. Reviewing my life to date, I'd have to say some of the difficult situations I've encountered have been incredible, even shocking to some. We've always gotten through it ... always.
However, this situation with my mom was brutal. Of course, almost losing her was beyond description, but harder than that was my mom having to wrap her head around the fact that she needed a safer place to live and with care.
I was mom's personal PSW (personal support worker) for the entire time, and she knew how hard that was for me, for anyone. Yet adjusting to admitting your body is betraying you takes the greatest amount of courage.
We needed mom to be happy and safe. Solving the problem of her being 'safe' was easier than solving her being happy. In fact, we cannot be someone's happy guru all the time. Probably never. Mom had to step up and handle that part, and so far, she's really giving it her usual tough-gal effort. Perhaps the secret at this point in our lives is to strive for being grateful, then happiness naturally follows?
Thank You ReviewThisReviews
Again, thank you to everyone here for filling in for me, and especially to Cynthia and Pat for all you do. You keep us working together as a team, maintain the site, and along with my fellow contributors, make it the success story it is.
A Video for Mom
Over ten years ago, probably twenty years now, I created this video for my mom.
I'll close by posting it here in her honor - It's called "If I Could Fly Tonight" - If you're reading this via mobile, the link to the YouTube video is here.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
