Category Archives: Weekly Photo Challenges

W^2 – great hall(s)

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, August 13, 2025

The Great hall – Union Station, Chicago, IL Sunday, August 10, 2025 5:10 CDT

Summer break is finished. Every year when I get to this point, this day on the calendar, and I ask myself the question,

Did I do enough?

This year, I can answer yes.

Of course there are things I didn’t do, but I did a lot.

This past summer I passed through several train stations – Paddington, Swansea, St. Pancras, Gare du Nord, Amsterdam’s Schiphol, Central, and North, and this past Sunday – Chicago’s Union Station.

Sunday, I used public transit to attend a baseball game on the southside. It was a good game and getting to the city and back was easy and efficient.

After the game, I sat in the Great Hall of Union Station waiting for my train and mind wandered and I thought of another great hall, the main hall of the Musée d’ Orsay, which was once a train station. As I sat and took in the hall, I went back to look at the photos I took when I visited Paris. There were similarities.

Musée d’ Orsay main hall, Paris, France July 17, 9:50 GMT-1
Union Station, the Great Hall, Chicago, IL August 10, 2025 5:03 PM
Musée d’ Orsay the main hall Paris, France,July 17, 2025 9:55 GMT-1

While the Musée d’ Orsay is significantly larger the two stations were built in similar time periods at a time when train travel was the only way travel long distances.

Musée d’ Orsay, Paris, France July 17, 2025 10:00 GMT-1
Union Station, Chicago, IL 5:14 CDT

I wondered what these stations might have looked like in their heydays.

Musée d’ Orsay, Paris, France July 17, 2025 10:07 GMT-1
Musée d’ Orsay, Paris, France July 17, 2025 10:07 GMT-1

I am partial to the black and white, which do you prefer?

It’s the last day of summer break and I am going to finish strong and be ready when the alarm rings early tomorrow morning. Today is going to be like the last sixty-nine days have been – AMAZING. I know it and I can feel it, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, especially when a last day leads to a first day.

How do you do with “last days?”

W^2 – selfie

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 23, 2025

This is going to be the last post from Europe. It has been fun and we’ve seen and visited some amazing places in London, Swansea, Paris, and Amsterdam and places in between.

Me in a selfie with Van Gogh’s ‘Almond Blossoms’ in the background

We visited five art museums while we were exploring Europe. I saw lots of paintings, drawings, and I saw several of the thirty-five known Vincent Van Gogh self portraits. Neither of us created the selfie, it was around long before either of us. We just did it. Many years ago my friends ribbed me for the one-eyed selfie I would use with my social media posts.

One of the things I learned while wandering the museums and looking at paintings is that often the artist wasn’t painting a painting, they were practicing their craft. Yesterday, we arrived at the Vincent Van Gogh Museum to see the collection. I learned even more about Van Gogh while we toured the collection, then I found this – Vincent Van Gogh and the self portrait.

Seen at the Musee D’Orsay in Paris… Tuesday, July 15th
Seen at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, July 20th

Sunday, while touring the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, I was feeling a little silly and thought I’d capture me with Vincent Van Gogh so I took a selfie, with a selfie. I did it again yesterday.

The first selfie with a selfie
My second selfie with a selfie
Self-portrait, Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, July 22nd

It’s the one-eyed selfie! Actually, the photos are edited to show more of Van Gogh’s work than the original photo.

“The only time I feel alive is when I’m painting.”
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

I read the quote in the Van Gogh Museum and it made me think. Really think. It was sad really, he was brilliant, creative, and deeply troubled. There are so many of us who look like we’ve got it together. I think sometimes making the days count helps me focus on the times when my days were a minus, not a plus.

These past couple of weeks have been awesome. Today we fly home, tomorrow morning I will awake bright-eyed and bushy tailed at three or four in the morning and spend a couple of days getting over the jet lag of a seven hour time change.

Today is going to be an amazing day, so I’d better jump up, jump in and seize the day. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, unpacking, and putting away my suitcase. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, reflecting on being better every day, even a little bit.

What’s going to make your day?

W^2 – Pont Neuf

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 16, 2025

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday,  again. A week ago I was stumbling around on a couple of hours of jet lagged sleep through London. Since then we’ve been around London, traveled by train and car to Swansea and back, taken the second to last train to Paris, and tromped around the French countryside and several iconic places around Paris.

A lamppost on the Pont Neuf, Il de la Cite, Paris, France, July 15, 2025 9:21 PM

We are having fun and getting a lot of walking in. The weather has been beautiful.

I am usually the early riser in the family, but this morning I awoke to an empty apartment. My wife had gotten the jump on me and gotten out while I slept late, much later than I usually do.

fifteen minutes later, Il de la Cite, Paris, France, July 15, 2025 9:36 PM

When the body speaks, I should listen.

Last night after a full day of touring, we rode the Metro back to where we are staying.  We stopped to sit on one of the benches along the Pont Neuf. It was peaceful even with the traffic below on the river, the busy road connecting the Rive Droite with Rive Gauch, and the pedestrians going home, going out, or simply enjoying a moment outside as the day came to a finish.

It had been a full day.

We’ve done so much since my last post Sunday night. Monday we traveled to the countryside and explored then Tuesday we explored the city. I have so much to share, but I need time to process everything – moments and images.

Today is going to be another full day, I know it and I can feel it. Today could be a million and six times better than yesterday, but I have to jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the days COUNT, one day at a time, especially when I am on vacation.

How do you ‘vacation?’ Full throttle, slow and easy, or as it goes?

W^2 – outdoor office

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Happy Wednesday! Our heat wave has broken and it is a bit cooler this morning. Last night thunderstorms rolled through dropping almost an inch (2.54 cm) of rain overnight.

Normally on summer morning, I’d be out at the ‘summer office’ listening to the birds and feeling the gentle breeze as the world around me awakens, but the ‘office’ is wet and damp, so I’ll wait for another morning, or late evening to enjoy the backyard.

Sadly these Dahlia’s went north to lake with my wife yesterday…..
…. But I am left with these kind’s of views… a house finch enjoys the sunflower seed feeder

I am going to enjoy the inside office of the breakfast table and my office desk in the basement for today and maybe the ‘summer office’ will be available tomorrow. Who knows? But today could possible be the best day ever, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the days COUNT, one day at a time, getting things done wherever I work.

Does your workspace vary? Where do you find yourself working today? 

W^2 – peonies

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, June 18, 2025

This Wednesday finds me home in my summer office praying the birds I have neglected, return to my feeders. Yesterday, both my wife and I drove home from the lake after spending almost two weeks away. The yard needed mown, the feeders were empty, and there was a package waiting on the doorstep when I arrived.

A yellow peony bloom from the late, Grayling, MI, June 17, 2025 10:12 AM

Summer always finds my days full and it is difficult to wrap my mind around the idea that in three weeks I will be in London. When I traveled to Europe fifteen years ago, I carried my laptop and blogged from my hotel room at the end of the day or wrote at the beginning of the following day. In all I posted six times, with a seventh the day I returned. I think my mom and wife were the only readers at that point. When I go back to see what I wrote fifteen years ago, I cringe, and realize I have grown as a writer. I also realize that my posts have not ‘aged’ well. The photos need to be updated and refreshed and I’ll do that later – but I’ll be using my Mac.

This trip I plan to write and post, but I think I can use my iPad and I am giving it a whirl this morning. I was successful last summer with a post on the trip home from California and a post from 35,000 feet. So this post will be entirely produced with the iPad! Continue reading W^2 – peonies →

W^2 – portage

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, June 12, 2025

Portage means to change from one waterway to another; more specifically it means to unload one boat and transfer the goods to another boat.

During the annual canoe race in late July, the racers must navigate the Ausable River and ‘portage’ their canoes at several spots along the course. For the racers, it means they have reached a dam along the river, and they must climb out of the canoe, pull their canoe out of the river, and carry the canoe to the river below the dam. Then climb back in and continue paddling down river.

Portage is also used as a name for a city. There are five cities or towns named Portage in the United States – Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

the view from our daughters apartment – a great place to enjoy morning coffee

It also is our daughter’s new home. Last weekend we moved her from her college home to a new home in Portage, Michigan. She took a job and needed a place to live; she chose well. It’s a great apartment (much better than my first) and it has a nice patio for the dogs where they can sniff and explore. It’s also a nice place to sit and sip coffee while watching the dogs – Fern and Nova.

 

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A post shared by Clay Watkins (@makingthedayscount)

This morning finds us at the lake with our son and his family – the grandies. It’s their first visit and it’s the first time we’ve had three generations at the lake in long time. Our daughter will join us late Friday night or early Saturday morning for a full three generational photo. I can’t wait!

It’s going to be an exciting day with maybe a visit to the beach and hopefully some photos. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day or I’ll be left behind. Making the days Count, one day at a time, while watching the dogs, the grandies, or a sunset.

What are you going to watch today?

W^2 – two sunsets

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Lake Margrethe sunset – Saturday, April 19, 2025 8:34 PM EDT

I’ve been meaning to share the sunset photo taken Easter Eve when we were at the lake house for Easter. It was a fun weekend and great to get away with family and dogs. Our daughter met us there. She’s a two-hour drive away at college. It wasn’t until she went away to college that she fully understood the restorative benefits of a weekend drive to the lake house.

I do love a sunset and was able to find this past weekend when we were visiting for the Memorial Day Weekend.

Lake Margrethe sunset – Saturday, May 24, 2025 8:54 PM EDT

No single end of the day is the same. Never, not one.

It’s Wednesday evening, Thursday is a few hours away and there are seven more sunsets before school is finished for the summer. Making the days Count, one day at a time, enjoying a Wednesday evening thinking about sunsets for the summer and beyond.

Where do you go to watch the sunset?

W^2 – Friday sunset

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Friday’s sunset – Seven Mile Bridge, Marathon, Florida April, 4, 2025 at 7:40 EDT

It is Wednesday afternoon, and I am home after a week-long vacation by the ocean for spring break. It was great to get away with my wife and another couple whom we know very well.

We stayed in the same place we have stayed for the past several years; the only year we have missed in the past decade was the Covid spring break when we went to the lake instead. Continue reading W^2 – Friday sunset →

W^2 – Ivy

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, April 2, 2025

She was always down for a car ride, August 4, 2025 at 11:17 AM, location unknown

It is Wednesday and I am by the ocean for a week. I haven’t thought about school in a couple of days or grading papers. The third quarter finished a couple of weeks ago and I was able to square up the gradebook for the work submitted for the fourth, and final quarter, on the last Friday of March before spring break began.

I was reminded of how far I have come in mid-March when we said goodbye to Ivy, our faithful and loving Brittany Spaniel. Ivy was a puppy when I started blogging at MtDC and I know I have written about her adventures with us many times, too many to link. Ivy celebrated her fifteenth birthday in February, and we would’ve celebrated her fifteenth ‘gotcha day’ tomorrow. She was an amazing dog, and she taught us to be better humans.

B, O, Fern, and I surrounded her for her final breath and W had said his goodbye the night before. It was a sad day, but it was time for her and us.

It has been quiet in the house since, and I miss drinking coffee with her in the morning. She was an amazing dog, and we miss her, we miss her a lot.

Today is going to be a great day, an amazing day, in fact. I know it and I can feel it, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, enjoying the sound of the surf, the wind, and sun. It’s what Ivy would want.

How are you making your days count?

I created the graphics below for my daily reflections…. each is from a different time we had with her…..

W^2 – color

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, October 23, 2024

looking straight up from the porch…. my favorite tree in the backyard Wednesday, October 23, 2024 3:46 PM

Yesterday, it rained for the first time in a couple of weeks. It didn’t rain much but our streak of clear skies came to a halt. it’s been a dry summer and early fall.

This morning it was overcast, and I couldn’t see the stars, or Jupiter, when I walked Ivy into the backyard for her morning business. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel well this morning and elected to use one of my sick days. By midday, the clouds had been replaced by a fabulous fall blue sky.

I was on the porch when I leaned back and looked up. This is what I saw.

Amazing, soon these leaves will carpet the backyard before being raked, bagged, and sent away.

The color this year has come late, but it is beautiful.  I am going to appreciate the color before it gone for the season. It’s been a full day, even for a sick day. I am feeling much better, and I’ll be back in front of my kiddos tomorrow. It’ll be a great day, maybe a million and six times better than today, but who knows. In the meantime, I am going to proof, edit, upload, then head to bed. Making the Days Count, when I am sick, when I am well, and every time in between.

How is the color in your world?