January Photo Challenge: Black and White

PJ’s photo challenge prompt for January is Black and White. While the obvious comes to mind in photography, when we stop to think about it, very few things in life are black…and/or…white—metaphorically speaking. Most of life is made up of various shades of gray. Issues and topics are nuanced and steeped in gray areas, despite what our political tribes tell us. But that’s a post for another day.

For today, I take a little lighter approach and share five photos depicting black and white.

Black and White 1
A literal representation of black and white, my “L” mug has lived in my cabinet for years; a gift from an intern when I worked in an ad agency. It’s a large mug and gets to come out when I want a very large cup of hot chocolate—like on this day when we woke up to a white world outside. You might ask why there are chairs set up waaayyyy out in the yard? See my next entries.

Black and White 2
The black and white world came in overnight and left about 3 inches of the white stuff on everything. This shot is not converted to black and white. To celebrate, we had an impromptu bonfire party with the neighbors to burn all the tree trimmings and garden clean up that had been piling up throughout the year. Hot dogs and s’mores were on the menu…and some adult beverages to keep us warm-er while socializing outside.

Black and White 3
Just a couple days before the winter wonderland scene, Cabo and I were walking in 50F weather! I love seed heads that are on the down side of their life cycle. In color, this one has the setting sun in the background on the left. When converted to black and white, the focus is more on the detail in the seed head.

Black and White 4
A black and white tea towel that has never been used as such. It appropriately hangs on a cabinet pull above the cabinet where we keep bar glasses. True words….physically and metaphorically.

Black and White 5
No photo challenge would really be complete without Cabo. The day before our impromptu bonfire party, he had a spa day and a lot of his natural coat was taken off to keep from getting matted (as doodles tend to do). This is why he was sporting a handsome, flannel doggie coat during our time outside in the 10F weather. He probably didn’t really need it, but I think he looks adorable.

Black and White Bonus
After the hours spent outside in the cold with the bonfire party, we spent the rest of the evening curled up in a warm house.

Those are my contributions to PJ’s Black and White prompt. Please visit his site to see how others interpreted the January prompt.

I leave you today with this music video appropriately titled Black and White. As a teenager of the 70s, I grew up on a steady diet of Three Dog Night. Despite the identity politics being shoved at everyone now, I believe this is more in keeping with how the majority of people of all colors feel about the topic.