Day 20----A Dinosaur Returns

      A rock in our yard called the camera and the macro lens today.  One shot after another and there seemed to be no real reason to photograph this rock.  Suddenly it appeared!  It is a dinosaur masquerading as a rock!

Just like people, I guess objects are not always what they appear to be on the surface.  

Day 19---Sometimes It Does Not Work

      I even had a name for the photo my idea was going to produce, "New Life Bathed in Light".  Well, that is not quite true.  I had no intention of naming it anything, but that was the idea.  I kept looking at the results, I kept playing with the processing, and it just did not work!  
     So I simply took a large picture and cropped away until it was a small picture. 

The patterns found in nature are always interesting to me, so it was not a total loss. It is not always easy to let a well thought out idea go.  Maybe I will try it again, and maybe I won't.  

Day 18 --- Guaranteed?

A few years ago on a road trip to Taos we purchased three steel art sculptures that caught our eye.  Since we pictured them on the outside walls of our home at the beach, we questioned the artist about rust.  He assured us that the fired and shiny finish provided complete protection from rust.  Living in New Mexico, I guess he did not understand the power of the salty air that blows from over the Pacific Ocean onto land.  

The finish has been the first to go.  Some day I fear they will be in pieces, but the steel is thick and it will probably be many years before Mother Nature is victorious.  Meantime, we still really enjoy them.  

Day 17 ---- Christmas Thoughts in June

There are far fewer Christmas decorations brought out every year and the tree has grown much smaller over the years.  And still when the time comes to pack everything away, it seems there is always one thing that is overlooked.  Last year it was this guy hanging from a lamp.  

It is June and I am glad a bit of laziness has kept me from moving everything off the trunk that houses his companions and packing him away.   His message keeps me smiling and reminds me that family, friends and those in need should be remembered all through the year. 

Day 16 --- Concerned and Preoccupied

     As we wait for the phone call to see if her blood count is high enough for the final Chemo treatment, our little Maggie Mae is the sole occupant of my mind.  Our little rescue mutt, with her under bite and a tongue too long for her mouth, is our precious baby.
     Four months have passed since the anal cancer was discovered as she was prepared for knee surgery.  Good news--knee surgery recovery is complete---she is free to run free.  And we are thankful that the anal gland cancer was discovered early as it is an aggressive malignancy.

Poor Baby loves to go bye-bye but then pees all over when she arrives at the vet hospital where we have to leave her for her treatment.  We are very hopeful that we will have her for many more years.  

Day 15--- Confusion for the Future

Our retirement investments have recovered from the depths of despair.  It is time to reconsider this retirement money thing.   It might help if we knew exactly how limited our future will be.  Then again, I really don't want to know, I just want to live.  Closely following the stock market can be very confusing.  

All the conflicting information clutters my mind preventing a clear vision of the best path for us.   Then there are the low-information, agenda-driven, tea-party members in the Congress who could put us back into depression with their debt ceiling nonsense.  Think I will take a walk.  

Day 14 ---Holiday Chaos

     Warm weather holidays bring chaos to our normally quiet beach town.  I usually stay home as age has reduced by tolerance for crowds.  It feels like the pilings under the pier.  At first they appear solid and orderly and them seem to slip into chaos.  

I rapidly retreated back to the mental safety of my home.  Tomorrow will bring quiet and sanity back to this town.  

Day 13 ---- The Flaming Chalice

     A youthful search for a religion and a church that seemed to fit who I was, left me with a determined dislike of all organized religion.  Accompanying friends, I experimented with many religions.  One day the nun teaching a catechism class told me I was not ready to attend those classes as I asked too many questions and I needed to learn to just have faith.  Blind faith, how easy that would be, but it does not work for me.   

It was not until middle age that I found this...

     I have heard it said that Unitarian-Universalism is not really a religion as there is no dogma.  Perhaps the belief that truth and spirituality is individual, and that all human beings have inherent worth can be considered dogma.  It is just not that simple. It is a complicated and difficult religion.  It involves a continual personal search for meaning and truth.  

     It was a good day visiting the UU church that is home to this beautiful mosaic. Thank you John for introducing me to this religion.    

Day 12 -- Panic

Panic, when the heart pounds fast and hard, the lungs gasp for air, and the body fitfully twitches, is not a good feeling.  Panic comes to me once a day and always about 15 minutes after I have fallen asleep.  Awakened quickly to this fearful state, my mind feels like the fan above our bed.    

Only a dog or the bathroom calling disturbs the balance of my sleep.   

I may never know why the panic, but I am pleased it only happens once a night and never interferes with enjoying the days.  

Day 11 --- What Good Neighbors Are All About

Today I borrowed our perfect neighbor, Apollo,  as I really needed some pictures of him.   He agreed, but then would not hold still, and kept moving out of the best light in an attempt to eat the camera.  Yet while only 5 months old, Apollo is the perfect neighbor.  He works hard at getting along and cooperating with his neighbors. There is not a selfish, self-serving, or evil bone in his body.  

It would be nice if all of our neighbors in both of our home towns   could be like Apollo; I guess the dark side of human nature keeps some from ever being like Apollo. 

Day 10 ----Don't Throw out the Old, Please!

     The local barber shop is being renovated and the owners requested that I follow their progress with some pictures for them.  I saw something there that I have never noticed before and I love it!

I inquired about the future of this old object.  They assured me it was staying which made me quite happy.    I am finding that having a camera in hand improves my ability to see my surroundings.  And, it just isn't right to eliminate all of the old in favor of the new.  

Day 9 --Save the Rain Forest

  Today's assignment was, grab the macro lens, walk 10 steps into the living room and find a subject.  Sitting on the desk was the little bird carved from a tagua nut that we bought in Ecuador about 15 years ago.  The vendor assured us that we would not be depleting the rain forest because the tagua nut is plentiful and renewable.  So, we made the purchase---besides, the little bird was really cute.  
     But I now question as to does it cause harm or not?  Should I feel guilty or not?  
     So today, I decided to return the little guy to someone's rain forest. 

Just for fun as he looked so lonely on that desk and a very sore back kept me from wandering around too much today.  On the other hand, the destruction of the rain forest is a major concern---it does not return.  

  

Day 8 ---- Hidden Designs

    Today I went out to look for something with a nice texture to shoot close-up with a regular lens as wide as distance would allow.  I  read that this might produce some interesting effects.  
     I found it----an ordinary fat palm tree.  I love the designs and textures found in nature.  
    Much to my delight, during the processing of one of the pictures I found a person, a sheep and a pig head hiding in that palm tree.  There may be more--I am still looking.  

It made me smile to discover designs I never expected to be there.  Mother Nature is full of so many surprises.  

Day 7 ---Sad and Just Plain Wrong

    She appeared to be in her 60s and her face was twisted with agitation.  It would have been wrong to point the camera at that troubled face.  Today, maybe her face is not important.  She is a member of the growing homeless community that society pretends not to see.  
      Perhaps the California State Mental Institutions did need reform, and many of the patients needed to be on the outside under outpatient Community Care.  But then the budgets were slashed, the institutions closed and the Community Care centers grossly underfunded.  Thank you ex Governor Ronald Reagan for your balancing the budget efforts; today many of the mentally ill and addicted either are enjoying a prison cell, or sleeping under the bridges alongside the growing number of poor and underserved vets.
  

But all is not lost---Exxon still receives government welfare.  Will we continue to "balance" the budget on the backs of the poor, the sick, the old, and the children?  Society's priorities just seem immoral.  I had a very different photo plan for today---maybe it will happen tomorrow.  

       

Day 6 --- Frustration

     Being a self-imposed shut-in today there seemed to be way too much frustration in all the computer projects I was working on.   
     Then there was this photo journey thing.  Ah, a beautiful dove landed on the fence outside my window----I can work with that!  But the dove had little patience while I changed to a telephoto lens.  Before he flew away, I managed one shot.  A fuzzy bird was not going to work.  Besides, I was struggling with my thoughts.  The dove could not get through my frustration. 
     Standing in frustration, I remembered the weekly photo assignment from a free photo tip program to which I subscribe.  Sadness.  OK, I will do sadness!  My camera and I tried to force sadness on to a rather ragged looking rose peeking above the fence----sad because the neighbors who planted it have moved and it no longer receives tender loving care.  Not a chance.  Those friends now live full time in Baja and are VERY happy.   My recycle bucket now holds many awful pictures of one yellow rose.  More frustration. 
     So here is a picture of frustration.  At times my little dog appears frustrated when she just cannot get comfortable----she digs, scratches, and tosses around whatever dog bed is a available.  

Trying to force things just does not work and my mind looks like that bed.  Self I said, "Relax, wait for things to jump out and speak, take more breaks, keep moving, and now it is time for a very long walk.

Day 5 -- A Special Friend and Fear

     Today I looked at our beloved Tommy Dog watching what we call Doggie TV---staring out the front window as the world passes by.  I wanted to experiment with capturing this behavior while minimizing the back light. Multiple meter and exposure settings were tried. I am not totally pleased with the results;  I will keep experimenting. 
     As I was watching my beautiful friend, he was suddenly grabbed by fear; a navy jet flew over the house.  We live near a training area and he was very used to that sound.  Then came the trip to the Eureka Dunes in Death Valley.
     At the Dunes, Military Jets were flying low and close to the surrounding mountains as they needed that practice.  But one self- absorbed idiot decided to terrorize the tourists.  He did a VERY low direct fly over.  As the plane is not heard until it is overhead, it was a sudden, very frightening experience.  We all ducked.  Reaching up and touching the plane seemed possible, and our ears were aching.  
     As he had never done before, a very panicked Tommy Dog jumped out the window of our vehicle running as fast as he could to parts unknown.  Fortunately, a woman with a group of hikers from Bishop, Ca was able to grab his collar as she openly swore at the pilot.  She visits there often and knows the standard flight procedure which does not include extremely low direct fly overs.  Pilot Boy did it one more time for good measure.  
     In support of all of our troops in harms way, I have hoped that they would all return home soon, but this jerk made me question my hopes.  

Tommy Dog is now fearful of what was normal for him.  He didn't deserve that, as maybe others elsewhere in the world do not deserve the terror our unnecessary wars bring to them.    

Day 4 -- Symbols of A Violence Oriented Society

     Today my only goal was to take a hand-held pix at three different exposures so I could process it with an HDR program.  I grabbed the camera as we embarked on the exciting trek to replace some slimy, icky, no longer capable of being washed  shower curtain liners with no idea what might catch my eye and my thoughts.  It was Target, yes Target where the new squeaky clean liners were purchased.  
     Why Target, the store that challenged Walmart by having better labor policies and then slipped into the Walmart business model?  Well, that has nothing to do with why.  It is the name, yes the name.  I have no idea why it was named Target----but......
     Violence---there it is in the name Target with that bullseye next to it.  Guns, shooting, street violence and wars are all there!  It is our society.  It is not just the unjustified foreign wars we fight today, but all social ills are battled by wars---the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty and on and on.  It is always a war!   
Perhaps it is in part because our society was created in violence; violence against the colonial power, and total war against the people already living here, I don't know.  It sometimes just feels so uncivilized.  
     Target---yes, there it all was right there.  And while taking this picture, the security guard appeared to question why I was taking a picture.  Many appropriate responses came to mind, but old age wisdom told me to be very polite to the man in the uniform with a badge lest he be one who takes the authority of the badge over the top.  Maybe it is not wisdom but the desire to just not be hassled.     Grunge HDR seemed to fit.  

Seeing the world around me in some new ways.  

Day 3 --Just a Snapshot of the Past

     Cleaning out the clutter equals memories and decisions as to what really is clutter.   So today there was no attempt to make a real photo of anything, just a snapshot of a few memories.  
     The snapshot is what they call very hot; under the current "rules" about photography bright sun is considered next to evil.  It is a rule I often question.  IF one of the goals of photography is to portray the reality of the world, isn't the bright sun an essential part of our reality?    I keep thinking I want to take a series of landscape shots that all represent the HOT world of mid-day and not just the softness of the pre-dawn or what they call the "magic" light of the evening.  Magic?  It is the same sun, just lower in the sky.  OK, those times produce what conventional wisdom says is the best light.  Just some rambling thoughts.  
     Midday when I was in the middle of an attempt at decision making, the memories sent me for the camera.  The WWII History from an uncle who served.  The very old multi-volume jingoistic History of America was from an aunt who shared my passion for all history.   The History of Napoleon written by his personal valet I acquired from I don't remember where.  The book on the bottom, a rather romantic novel from 1901 that made Aaron Burr a hero is something the Burr side of the family enjoyed.  A couple of my 1980s Garfield collection that today, once again, I rescued from the disposable clutter pile---I just love that cat and his family.    Now the wooden candle holder made by my oldest son in high school woodshop should not have been out in the bodega, but there it was.  The mystery of misplaced items.  

The decisions for these things and many others have yet to be made----but the clutter is better organized.  

Day 2 - Noise, Noise and Progress, I think.

     A new small hotel is being built right on the beach just down the street.  It is progress, I guess.  I rather miss the old falling down funky hotel, but they say it had to go.  It is always that mystical "they" that baffles my mind.  And being rather old myself, just how soon will "they" say I have to go.  
Monster machines that dig deep into the ground are now my alarm clock; they begin at 7 A.M. exactly.  I wonder if they will complete the project as much on time.  
     Today I wanted to confront my new alarm clock.  I broke my rule about no cropping; I knew I would.  I wanted to try a certain filter.  It seemed appropriate to use a filter, maybe as a way to filter what is happening.  One of today's rules was to take only what I was committed to use---nothing more.   Serious camera adjustments were needed to use that filter, and as a novice, it was all experimental.  The result created too much noise on the picture.   There was some consideration of  returning to the site, but the rain returned.  Thoughts of scraping the entire idea crossed my mind.  Yet noise in the picture began to feel right as the real time noise is what led me to that machine.  

Lesson---Read More about Settings---Enjoy the new, and don't live in the past.  

Day One - May 17, 2011

Mexican Primroses bring the Spring miracle of rebirth to our yard and to me.  I always smile when I see them, even on a rainy day when the heavy drops reshape their delicate petals.  They seemed like the ideal subject for the beginning of this journey.  


My Rules---at least for today as I could change my mind.  

• No cropping
• Only very minor adjustments and sharpening
• No more than 10 shots to choose from.

It is a beginning!