I’m calling this post Copper Pot Therapy because that pretty much sums it up.  In this post, you will see my copper pot and I’ll share the story behind the copper pot.  This post also serves as a bit of therapy for me, in a few different ways.  (typing, thinking, reading, moving) I’m having a bit of a pitty party today and I am forcing myself to do something… anything.

I signed up for an online photography class because I figured it’s something I can do while I’m on “activity restriction” and waiting for my brain to heal.  I had been saving my birthday money for fabric but decided to use it on a class instead.  The class is on finding and using light in photography.  I thought this would be a good one for me because it’s always dark and gloomy in the Pacific Northwest and I struggle to get the pictures I dream of in my head.  The lesson for this week is to take a picture of something from 5 different angles, really thinking about what we like or don’t like about the light. The story about the copper pot will be at the very end, so if you don’t want to read about photography you can scroll all the way down.

First off, we have a picture from the top.  I think this is my favorite. I have always liked pictures taken at this angle.  I would LOVE to get one of those tripods that holds your camera over the top of items.  Now that balance is a huge issue for my stroke-brain, I don’t foresee myself climbing on chairs and tables to get the perfect shot.

The next two pictures are facing the windows.  I didn’t want to see the neighbor’s house or my son’s car out the window, so I blew out the windows a bit. Not my favorite pictures, but I see how it could work if you had to have windows in the background.

I really like the next two pictures but I almost think I should use my 50mm lens and blur out the background.  One of the things I hate is having clutter in the background. Yes, I could clear off the clutter but I wasn’t feeling like adding extra work. Remember… I was just trying to get myself out of my pitty party.

Ok, now onto the story of the copper pot.

I’ve always been deathly afraid of going to Mexico.  I would hear scary stories of drug lords on the news, or hear of people being kidnapped.  Everyone I know, who has survived their Mexican trips, always has stories of getting sick and spending half of their vacation near a toilet.  Nothing about these scenarios appealed to me.  Well, my kids’ friends would always post their awesome Mexican adventures on social media and the kids finally wore me down.  I agreed that we could go to an all inclusive resort that had to be in one of the areas I had read about being “safe” and they had to use filtered water to wash all fruits and veggies and make ice.  Once at the resort, we were not allowed to leave.  My family rolled their eyes and agreed to my terms.  Well, it was a bait and switch!! Once we got to Mexico they told me about the sight seeing they wanted to do!  The resort assured me that if I stayed in the areas my family wanted to go that I would be safe.  (I’ve never seen so many armed guards in my life!)

We took a giant van, because we were with another family as well, to two different cities.  I can’t remember their names because I was a complete stress case.  We went to a little market where people begged us to buy things.  We ended up with a hammock and a hanging chair, and I had no idea how we were going to get those home.  On the way home from the second stop, I spotted a guy on the side of the road selling copper.  So. Much. Copper. I couldn’t resist and I begged my family to let me stop.  I asked my husband and the cab/van driver to come with me.  I really wanted the copper kitchen sink, but my husband said I was being unreasonable.  I ended up with a really heavy copper pot (the one pictured) and another bowl that was a bit smaller.  I bought the big pot for $40 and the small bowl for $15.  I was giddy.  I got back in the van and suddenly, I loved everything about Mexico!

The tricky part was finding a way to get the copper pots home.  We ended up putting the pots in my daughter’s carry-on and the hammocks and chair in my son’s.  Then, all we had to do was figure out how the kids were going to get their clothes home.  We couldn’t put the clothes in the big suitcases because they were already at the 50 pound limit.  So, my kids had to stuff all of the clothes from their carry-ons into the teeny tiny backpacks they bought at the market.  Needless to say, they were suddenly cursing my copper pots.  After we got home, I told everyone who stopped by about the copper pots and my new love of shopping in Mexico.  The kids would just roll their eyes.  I’m sure they will be fighting over who gets the big copper pot someday.  I guess I’ll have to put it in my will.

Ok, I think my pitty party is over.  Photography makes everything better.

Happy picture taking!