Archive for the ‘photography’ Tag
Every person has the ability to create almost anything. That’s a simple statement that I’ll bet most people would disagree with. I can’t begin to tell you just how many people over the years have told me they have no creative ability. To those people I can only say "I’m sorry". I’m sorry that no one ever gave you the confidence to discover those abilities that you have. I’m sorry that people weren’t there with you when a little push was all that was needed to lead you to a life of creativity and self satisfaction. It’s a damn shame that many really creative and talented people are sometimes convinced early in their lives that they didn’t have what it takes. How many potentially great artists, poets, and writers have been lost to us?
Your probably asking yourself what exactly prompted that last paragraph and why I’m on my soap box about it. Let me explain. Over the past months I’ve had the privilege of watching a small baby begin to grow and turn into a real person. I watch him closely when we’re together and have been intrigued by his interests and curiosity. I can see his mind working as he builds fantastic block creations without prompting from any of us adults. He’s experiencing true creative freedom and seems to be enjoying it immensely. Fortunately for him his parents and family are people who will recognize his efforts and encourage him in any way possible. He’s a lucky young man who in the future will come to appreciate that fact as he artfully paints, writes poetry, or sculpts a masterpiece. Maybe he’ll be a teacher or maybe a ditch digger but he’ll always have the freedom to sit quietly and create something new and exciting and to appreciate the feeling of satisfaction it provides.
For years I’ve watched my better-half talk about creating this or that but never seeing it happen. She’s spent many of her formative years being a Mom, raising three children, and working hard to give them every advantage in this world. It’s paid off in a big way and she should be proud. She’s one of those people who has immense reservoirs of creativity that up till now have been used to create three well adjusted and intelligent human adults. She’s proud of those accomplishments but I don’t really think she’s see that as being creative. She’s wrong!
In recent years I’ve begun to see her slowly developing a different outlook about many things. She’s finally discovering herself. I’ve watched her create beautiful flower gardens without giving it a second thought.
She has the innate ability to plant them in certain ways that is more than just a little pleasing to the eye. She does it without thought and again doesn’t consider it being creative. Again, she’s wrong!
I’ve spent many hours with her wandering around this state taking thousands of photographs. She has a photographer’s eye and has taken some breathtaking photos. She doesn’t count that as creativity, she’s just taking pictures. Once again she’s very wrong!
Oh, I forgot to tell you she’s addicted to sunflowers. So I have hundreds of her sunflower images in my archives and their all gorgeous. But as she’s told me many times “I’m just taking pictures of things I love”.
She’s slowly losing that fear that other people won’t really like the things she creates. Once that fear is defeated the gates will open like never before. I watched her yesterday as she sat totally focused for over an hour and took bits and pieces of sea glass she’s collected for years and with some effort created a rather unique mosaic on a large pot. At some time in the future that pot will be filled with flowers and have a special spot on the deck.
Watching her was very similar to watching her grandson as he plays. She was in that special moment of creating and she was excited and mesmerized by the experience. It did my heart good to see her beginning to really appreciate the talents she wasn’t sure she had. I look forward to more of her creative projects and intend to encourage her at every turn. She’s about to become a much happier and confident person and will grow creatively just as her grandson is.
I’m the lucky guy who gets to watch the two of them growing together.
I’ll start off to day talking about consumerism. I didn’t realize just how much of a consumer I actually was until I began tracking my purchases and saving every receipt. I’ve been doing that for years now and every so often as I’m entering that end-of-month information into a spreadsheet I’m forced to admit my somewhat excessive consumer issues. Once each month I find myself standing next to a trash can filled with receipts and that has to tell me something.
That being said as I was reading yesterday I discovered that in comparison I might not be as bad as I first thought. I noticed that as bad as we American seem to be when it comes to crass consumerism the Japanese make us look like a bunch of amateurs. Here’s a collection of tidbits on the Japanese and their quirky approach to retailing and consumption.
“In Tokyo, Japan there are vending machines that dispense frozen meat, jewelry, and even dating information.”
“A company in Kyoto, Japan, makes waterproof books for students who like to study in the bath.”
“Kanebo, a cosmetic company in Japan, has developed a line of panty-hose that are embedded with vitamins and special scents that are released when worn.”
I know you thought I was kidding, right! Those crazy fun loving Japanese will merchandise and sell just about anything.
Next I’ll address a subject that has always fascinated me. Synchronicity! I’ve firmly believed for most of my life that there are no such things as coincidences. As a former extensively trained investigator it’s been proven time and time again to my satisfaction. Unfortunately there have been a few random times that "synchronicity" has reared it’s ugly head and I had no logical explanation.
Two days ago my better-half and I were taking a walk near our home when a passing motorist stopped to tell us about a large turtle she saw crossing the road. She was concerned it might be hit by a car and had turned around to check on it. I walked a short distance and found the turtle scrambling from the highway and helped him along in his travels to get off the road.
We returned to our house and I sat down at the computer to check on a few things on-line. On Facebook I found an entry from my step-daughters husband who was traveling for work and happened upon what else, a freaking turtle on the road. He posted a photograph of himself parked along a highway and assisting the rather large turtle to cross the road to avoid the dangers of oncoming traffic.
A synchronistic moment to be sure. I’ve had a few other startling incidents like this during my life for which I have no reasonable answers or explanations. Just saying.
Lastly, I finally finished the renovation of my wine-making area. I’d been wanting to complete this job for years and finally was able to get it done. It should make bottling and handling of my wine a much easier process than in the past.
That’s all I have for today but I thought I’d pass along a few tidbits of wisdom from Jeff Foxworthy. In the Army we called this process “Knowing Your Enemy”. If this offends anyone out there just remember I’m just doing my part in adding a little humor to a humorless situation. So get over it.
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Have you ever wondered why it’s OK to make jokes about Catholics, the Pope, Jews, Christians, the Irish, the Italians, the Polish, the Chinese, the French (including French Canadians) etc., but its insensitive to make jokes about Muslims? We need to level the playing field for the sake of political correctness . . .
Jeff Foxworthy on Muslims
1. If you refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to liquor, you may be a Muslim.
2. If you own a $3,000 machine gun and a $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can’t afford shoes, you may be a Muslim.
3. If you have more wives than teeth, you may be a Muslim.
4. If you wipe your butt with your bare hand but consider bacon to be unclean, you may be a Muslim.
5. If you think vests come in two styles: Bullet-proof and suicide,you may be a Muslim
6. If you can’t think of anyone you haven’t declared jihad against,you may be a Muslim.
7. If you consider television dangerous but routinely carry explosives in your clothing, you may be a Muslim.
8. If you were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs, you may be a Muslim.
9. If you have nothing against women and think every man should own at least four, you may be a Muslim.
10. If you find this offensive and don’t forward it, you may be a Muslim.
THERE YOU HAVE IT!
Another Father’s Day has come and gone. It was great day primarily due to my better-half. I was able to spend an hour or so early in the AM finishing my project for my man-cave. It’s now complete and after drying for one more day it’ll be moved into the cave once and for all.
“The Finished Product”
We initially decided to fire up the grill for a meal of corn-on-the-cob, steaks, and a fresh garden salad. The garden is growing so fast that I actually ate my first radishes yesterday. Take a look.
All of the recent rainfall has accelerated the growth of almost everything. I especially love the bright green colors and the lushness of the garden at this time of the year.
Now, let’s get back to my Father’s Day celebration. My better-half and I after a few cold and refreshing alcoholic beverages decided to cancel the home cooked meal and head for Old Orchard Beach, a local tourist trap and amusement park. She was in deep withdrawal due to a lack of greasy chicken wings and I was looking forward to some good old amusement park junk food. To hell with the weight loss program for this night.
The place wasn’t overly crowded but the tourists had definitely arrived in force. People watching in the park and a walk along the beach gave me my first “big butt” beach picture of the season.
I was really hungry so as the better-half waited for her chicken wing order at the Chinese hole-in-the-wall I discovered a new entry into the food competition right next door. Lo and behold a Mexican food stand had magically appeared and I was drawn to it like a gigantic black bean craving magnet. My black bean and rice addiction kicked in and I was hooked.
Three tacos covered with jalapeno vinaigrette and hot sauce were just what the doctor ordered. I threw in a fresh fruit cup for good measure and to help ease my guilty diet-conscience. The food was excellent and fresh but suffered from tourist pricing. No big surprise there.
Not too bad for amusement park food. We snapped a few pictures and did some window shopping and people watching. All in all it was a great night filled with good food and better company. Happy Father’s Day to me. I saw this shirt and I almost bought it. If it’s still there on my next trip I might be forced to make the purchase and regift it to a certain friend.
I’m feeling somewhat so-so today. I’ve got the blah’s for some unknown reason and it’s making me a little crazier than usual. I have a number of small projects to do but my motivation has disappeared. It shouldn’t be this way but it is. Even though the weather is beautiful, the house, garden, and yards look as good as they ever have, I’m still blahhhhhh.
Todays title is mish/mosh and it’s the perfect descriptor of where my head is at. Todays posting will contain almost anything that crosses my mind with no rhyme or reason. To start off this list of so-so crap will be today’s celebration of a stupid flower. For years my better-half and I wanted to find and to grow white iris’s. We have hundreds of blue or purple iris’s but white ones seem difficult to find. Last summer we stumbled on a white iris plant that we purchased, gently planted, watered, and babied hoping against hope to see a bloom this year. Our wish was granted this week when this bloom made it’s first appearance.
I can’t believe I actually became excited by this but such is my life these days. Every little special moment must be celebrated no matter how lame I may have thought things like this were in the past. With that in mind here are a few updated photo’s of the garden and yards now that the weather has warmed and the plants are really taking off.
As you can see I have chives growing every where. The main reason is exactly what you see, gorgeous blooms throughout the garden. Later I’ll harvest them and have dried chives for cooking next winter. It’s just a beautiful plant for those of us who love beautiful flowers and the always delicious taste of onions.
Over the years our herb and vegetable garden has changed dramatically as we experiment with plants that can be easily stored, canned or frozen for our own use. Most of the herbs are culinary with the exception of the catnip, apple mint, spearmint, and peppermint. The catnip is permitted only because it’s removal would really piss off the neighbor’s cat if he couldn’t stop over for a buzz every so often. The mints can be used for tea or potpourri when dried but we don’t use them all that much. They just supply a wonderful aroma as you walk through the garden.
There you have it, another posting of my disturbingly blah day. The better-half and I have an upcoming day trip to Kennebunkport, Maine which should make for a few interesting photographs of the harbor and surrounding area. That should make my next posting a bit more interesting . . . or not.
BLAH ! ! !
We’re having a rainy, gray, and gloomy day today with little or no chance of sunshine. It’s an inside day where I can catch up on a myriad of small tasks that I tend to ignore so I can go out and enjoy the nice weather. Honestly it doesn’t take much for me to blow off these tasks but unfortunately the list keeps getting longer and longer until I’m forced to do something.
I’ve been in the process of redesigning my man-cave which requires a few large tasks and many smaller ones. Sometime ago I ordered two wooden wine boxes. They arrived two weeks ago and were immediately stored away and pretty much forgotten. Today is their day.
Yesterday I made a short trip to one of my favorite retailers, Michael’s. My aim is to line both boxes with felt and to create brackets to hold many of my glass wine making tools. They include a small collection of hydrometers, a large thermometer, vinometer, and a wine thief. The hydrometer is used for measuring the sugar content of the wine during fermentation. The thermometer is a long one that is used to measure temperatures of the "must" in the earliest stages of fermentation. The vinometer is a small glass device that uses small samples of wine to determine alcohol content and proof. Lastly the wine thief is just a glass tube used to extract samples of wine in the final stages of fermentation to test the flavor and finish. I added a spray adhesive to my purchases along with four sheets of royal blue felt and two pieces of balsa wood. I was ready to get to work.
“The Finished Product”
In years past I’d been forced to replace these delicate devices due primarily to my clumsiness during moving from place to place or during general use. Hopefully this small project will keep future damages and costs to a minimum. I returned home and began pulling out old file folders from my archives looking for a collection of old and unique wine labels I’d collected many years ago. A perfect decorative addition to these boxes.
A few hours later I had one box completed to my satisfaction and the second coming along nicely. I should have the second one completed tomorrow and then I can move on to the next task on my list. The bigger tasks of building a new siphoning table and shelving units can wait until the better-half has vacated the premises and is on her way to the left coast.
A day-off was really becoming necessary after the last few hectic weeks of gardening and lawn clean-up. Today was the day. The better-half was also on a day-off so we slept in a little, loaded up on coffee and breakfast, and then jumped into the car and took off. It was a semi-beautiful day but the cloudiness was going to make taking pictures a challenge.
We drove east towards the shore and the traffic was light. In two more weeks the tourists will arrive in force and make traveling a little more interesting in these beach areas. We drove up the coast for a few miles and stopped briefly in a small cove used primarily by local lobstermen. I snapped of a few photo’s of them at work and a few of the birds covering the nearby rocks. Neither seemed too happy about my picture taking but I persevered.
It was breezy as hell and the temperature had dropped just low enough to require a hoodie if you planned on walking around. We returned to the car, turned on the heater, and warmed up a little. As we proceeded north it was great to see everything struggling to become green again and the sun finally decided to make an appearance. We stopped briefly at the Portland Head Light which is one of the most visited and photographed lighthouses in Maine. It guards the entrance to Portland harbor.
As you can see it’s just a place made for photographers. It’s almost impossible to take a bad picture there. Normally this place is mobbed with tourists but we were lucky to get here before the Memorial Day madness.
Our trip continued north as we entered the city of Portland. If you you’ve never visited Portland your missing something special. It’s a small city with a small town feel. It has a colorful waterfront as you can see and if you like the ocean the aroma of low tide here will enchant you.
My better-half has a overwhelming desire for beer at almost any time so I decided to make a quick stop at Three Dollar Dewey’s, a local ale house and restaurant. It’s located on Commercial Street in Portland, adjacent to the harbor. It’s a charming area with fish markets, micro breweries, and some serious parking issues if you visit in season. We try to stop at Dewey’s whenever we’re in the area for a quick cold one and a large order of fries. They are just what the doctor ordered.
We finished our fries and drinks and then walked around town for a few minutes of people watching. Everyone was out in large numbers enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. Check out this little project someone created along the street. Snap a padlock of some sort on the fence and write your name on it. I though it was pretty cool so take a look.
It was mid-afternoon and time for us to depart. We enjoyed this relaxing break from our normal lives and were ready to head home. Tomorrow is another day.
“Spring Has Definitely Arrived”
Yesterday was one of those days I look forward to every year. My better-half and I both love this time of the year regardless of the work involved. It was a day spent traveling around southern Maine visiting nurseries and buying the plants needed to complete this year’s garden. We like making a day of it and we visit as many nurseries as necessary to find the plants we’ve decided to grow.
For many years now we’ve shopped at a small nursery or what once was a small nursery along the border of Maine and New Hampshire. In the intervening years that nurseries reputation has spread and it’s no longer considered little. Healthy plants should be the goal of any nurseryman or woman and these people are the best. We tend to find their plants healthier and produce better than those purchased elsewhere. We spent at least an hour roaming through their greenhouses and making our selections. We picked up a few jalapeño and cayenne pepper plants and a selection of herbs to replace many of the ones that didn’t survive the winter.
We found some beautiful cherry tomato plants that should keep us in salad tomatoes until Fall. Those kind of tomatoes are also added to our vegetable mixes and canned. There’s nothing like having a selection of tasty garden veggies in the middle of a cold and snow covered February.
“The Rhubarb is Up”
We purchased a number of pickling cucumber plants that should deliver many dozens of cukes for making our Bread & Butter and Dill pickles as well as sweet and hot relishes. If this year’s production is as good as last year we’ll be very busy come September.
One of the items my better-half desired was a licorice herb. It’s leaves have a heavy licorice scent when heated. I personally like fennel or star anise for that flavor but I’m keeping an open mind for now. It would be a nice surprise if this new plant were easier to grow than the others and tasted better. We found the plant at our fourth nursery we visited and were very pleased. That plant can be difficult to find but certain nurseries are known for carrying the more unusual plants and we know them all.
“The Sprinkler’s are Installed”
It made for a really pleasant day and we returned home tired but happy to have found everything we were looking for. We should also have an excellent selection of herbs to harvest and dry this year to fill our requirements for the winter. Another week should get us past the danger of frost for this year and all of the new plants will be planted and left on their own to flourish for a month or two.
Our last purchase next week will be a large number of really fragrant marigold plants. We’ve learned over the years to plant them in and around the gardens to keep the critters away. Apparently small animals and even deer have a real aversion to those flower and their strong odor. If that doesn’t work then I may be forced to go the high-tech route. I have a neighbor who installed a system last year that has a motion activated sprinkler. If visited in the middle of the night by deer or other animals the sensors detect the animal and shoot a blast of water at the trespassers to scare them off. It sounds too good to be true but I’ll keep an open mind. We’ll just have to wait and see.
This morning is rainy and gray but the plants need the water and I need some time to loaf. We’ll be back at it soon enough. A few hours on the X-Box today should clear my head nicely.
Needless to say the Spring garden work and yard cleanup continues apace. The only part of my body that’s not sore or aching is the tip of my nose. Everything else is shot to hell and letting me know about it every time I move the least little bit. Fortunately all of the hard work is finally paying off which is rather satisfying for so early in the year. The better-half who is in charge of the flower gardens is already seeing amazing results as you can see by these pictures.
It occurs to me that the plants in Maine understand what a short growing season we have and make the most out of every minute with whatever rain and warmth they can find. The grass can look like a field of dirty dead plants one day and within a week it turns into a lush green carpet that very quickly needs to be cut. I added the first mowing of 2014 this week along with all of the other chores I had on my To-do list.
The herb garden suffered a little more from the winter weather than I first thought. The neighborhood cats will be highly upset when they discover the huge catnip plant has passed away. Our garden was a regular stop in their travels where they could roll around in and eat some catnip. It was like the town’s feline opium den. I suppose I’ll be replanting it once again even though my cat Stormy is unaffected by it’s influences. I made enough room in the herb garden so that a larger than normal patch of parsley can be planted. We use a great deal of parsley through the winter and we ran a little short this Spring.
“Asparagus”
The asparagus roots have been planted and hopefully within the next two years we’ll have a thriving patch to harvest from. I love it with my meals but it takes such a long time to establish before we can use it. It’s recommended that we don’t harvest from this planting until early in 2016. Patience for this I just don’t have.
The lettuces were planted yesterday as well. I’ve put in three varieties this year along with spinach and two varieties of kale. The kale is freezable and my better-half tells me that kale chips are in my future. They don’t sound all that appetizing but I’ll withhold final judgment for now.
“Spinach/Lettuce”
I’ll be waiting at least another week or two before putting in any plants that could be killed by a frost. I’ve gotten ahead of myself in past years and been burned when a late frost wiped out a large number of my plants. I guess gardening is a great way to learn patience but it’s not something I’m known for.
This garden is much smaller than most people think when they see the results each Fall. The excellent level of production takes good planning, crop rotation, great compost, and plenty of good old sunshine and water.
I consider this a modern version of the old WW II Victory Garden. It takes a little hard work and investment of time but growing and eating your own crops makes sense to me. I know what I’m eating without fear of spoiled plants or diseases and it’s fresh and tasty. It hasn’t been sitting somewhere in the back of a truck or warehouse for weeks before the store displays it for sale. Enough of my preaching, it’s time for me to climb down off my soap box and go accomplish something.
Another week of this and I’ll be all out of a gardener’s best friend, Ben-gay. I should start buying it by the case every Spring based entirely on how my butt and legs feel this morning.
The weather has finally begun to change for the better here in God’s country. Over the last week the snow has disappeared and I’ve been able to get outside and breath some fresh air without a parka, hat, and gloves. But as well you know everything in nature is a balance. You get some good and right along with that you get some bad. Now begins the actual work of cleaning up after Mother Nature once again.
The snow cover this past winter lasted much longer than normal which has it’s good points. Most of my perennials in the herb garden survived the winter unscathed. I normally replace twenty-five percent of my plants each year but it appears this year to be much better than that. The downside is that any plant tall enough to stick up through the snow was damaged severely by the long term cold during February. I’ve cleaned most of the debris out of the raised beds and discovered other issues that weren’t easily seen before.
Yesterday my better-half was frolicking in the yard with the grandson and made the mistake of sitting on the edge of one of the raised beds. There was a loud crack and the board she was sitting on snapped in half requiring an immediate repair job and a trip to Lowe’s for me.
We also were able to remove a downed tree we lost during the first snow storm last Fall. It was a struggle but we finally cleaned up the area and removed the branches and trunk to a nearby woods. I may cut it up later for use in our occasional bon-fires since it’s been sitting for a while and dry as a bone. It should burn nicely.
We have a set of steps at the rear of the house that were badly damaged when at least five tons of ice slid off the roof and crushed all of the railings and a few of the steps. Fortunately the main structural beams were unharmed. Another trip to Lowe’s for more pressure treated lumber to make those repairs. Along with the mailbox replacement this has become an annual event and one I’m very tired of dealing with. I’m in the process now of redesigning and reinforcing the steps and hopefully that will resolve the issue for new year.
I took a walk through my garden yesterday and discovered that the deer have found us already and appear to be eating my chives as soon as they sprout. It’s been a tough winter on the wildlife here in Maine due to the heavy snow cover. I’ve been told that the further north you go the worse it gets. The moose and deer have had a rough winter and I ‘m sure many of them didn’t survive. The good news is the small herd that hangs around our house looks pretty damn healthy. As I walked through my back yard I found piles of deer turds everywhere. This just tells me that I’m going to be battling the deer for control of my garden all summer. They’ve been spending a lot of time close to the house which in itself is unusual.
A few weeks ago I was in my man-cave doing my exercises on the treadmill when I looked out the window to see four or five deer casually walking by. They stopped near the house and were standing in the yard as calm as you please. That’s very unusual for ten o’clock in the morning on any day. I’m afraid they’ve become comfortable near the house which will eventually make for a real battle this summer. It’s not only the deer but also rabbits and freaking groundhogs as well. I’m going to be busy, busy, busy.
I was able to run for my camera and snap a few quick pics of those deer before they scampered into the woods. Here they are.
Who needs dogs and cats for house pets when you can have a herd of deer?
I thought today I’d show you a few photographs I took during my travels yesterday. Even though it’s winter and freezing cold with snow piled just about everywhere, I needed to get away from the house for a few hours. I reverted to my old habits, took my camera, and began my search for some old cemeteries.
“A cold and wintery resting place.”
One of the things I like best about living in New England is the number of ancient cemeteries that are scattered throughout almost every community. It seems that every large family back in the 1600’s that owned property maintained a private cemetery for their family members. Almost all of them have survived but most are difficult to visit since they’re away from public roads and on private property.
“This shows how old the cemetery really is. These folks were buried here before those trees existed.”
I became quite the cemetery visitor when I lived in southern Massachusetts back in the 1980s. My ex-wife and I owned a small gift shop and as part of that business I painted landscapes of local cemeteries and sold them in the shop. For a time I could be found creeping around the older of the cemeteries with a supply of T-shirts to stretch over tombstones to do gravestone rubbings. A great many people thought the idea of owning a T-shirt with their family name on it was edgy and cool. They sold like hot cakes. On one occasion I was visited by the local police in a cemetery where they questioned me as to my activities. Fortunately I was able to explain things to them and avoided arrest. Within a week I had supplied one of those officers with his own personalized shirt and was never bothered again.
“The day was too bright and made the names difficult to capture.”
I just love cemeteries, the older the better. It’s a quiet and serene place to spend a hour relaxing and reading old epithets. Yesterday I found a few within a short drive from my home that were accessible and not covered in snow.
“I tweaked this photo with software but still couldn’t get the names readable.”
I can’t wait for the return of Spring and Summer weather so I can search out a few more of the isolated graveyards and add their photo’s to my collection.
everyuselessthing.com 