The Magnolia pods are just about done. I started watching them a couple of months ago, but never got around to shooting one. (The tree is right outside Daughter’s kitchen window.) Given the dreary light, I was looking for something with just a bit of color to play with. The red seed attracted my eye. So, while the Girl did her morning doggie-duties, I played with the light.
A few weeks ago the Girl and I went out for a geocaching run. We visited John C. Rudy County Park in York County, PA. There are supposed to be five geocaches in the park. But, we found only one. Still, one is good.
But, far beyond that, we had a beautiful day for a four or five mile hike, lots of beautiful foliage, and the park was not very busy. It was a very good day.
Although I have not written about it (yet), I upgraded my mobile phone from the HTC One M7 I used for the last year or so to an iPhone 6S. It’s a story that reflects how my mind jumps around… or perhaps it’s that I’m am a Gemini… or maybe that I’m a scanner. Regardless, I tend to bounce around quite a lot, I have too many interests, and I have too little focus. Meh…
I woke this morning to a dreary day. One of the things I love about having an iPhone again is that all my favorite photography apps are again available to me. The iPhone camera might not be amazing, but it’s solid. One of my commitments is to get out and make one good image a day. This morning, this is probably that image.
I made this capture more than ten-years ago. Wife and I were on an outing to the Barnes & Noble in Lubbock — it was still in the strip mall where Circuit City and other stores were magnets — and having a great day. We were sitting near the big windows near the front of the store, looking at books or magazines or what-not. It doesn’t matter. We were together and we were enjoying the time out.
Of course, I had a camera on me. She caught me in the act of capturing her candid portrait. I have another capture from that morning of her entire face. But it was these eyes that captured my photographer’s vision. I also adored her eyes. I’m so glad I have this image in my collection.
Yesterday was her birthday. She would have been 63-years old, had lymphoma not taken her from us.
She died early on a Saturday morning. I know I write about this too often, but it is my reality and it’s my weblog. Saturdays will always be a little hard on me. While everyone else is looking forward to the beginning of their weekend, I have that little reminder in the back of my mind that pokes me now and again to remember that Saturday morning. No, it’s not morbid; it is, though, a reminder of my loss and a part of my history.
So, the weekend was a downer for me. I remember celebrating her birthday, if not with family and friends, then with each other. I used to tease her about being married to an older woman… or about robbing the cradle… or about being a cougar. Sometimes I teased her about all three. Then I’d catch a bit of Hell on my birthday when I “caught up” for a few months.
I am thankful for all those years we had. I wish we’d had more, at least a couple of them. Near the end, that’s all I wished for… a couple more years so we could celebrate life together for just a little longer.
I still weep a bit now and again. The memory of Wife remains close at hand. Some tell me that they’re proud of me for being strong, for doing what I need to do to continue moving forward. Perhaps… More likely I’m just surviving for the moment because I have no idea where the path goes. I don’t know if there is one path before me or a countably infinite number of them. Maybe that doesn’t matter either. Maybe my task is just to put one foot forward. Maybe clarity will come from that.
I don’t know.
What I do know, however, is that I miss Wife and that yesterday was her birthday. Happy Birthday Old Girl! I still miss ya!
At Older Grandson’s game last Friday, the sun came peeking out just before sundown and provided some nice light for a few minutes. I took advantage of the light to shoot some action. Although I was too far away for the best view, the Panasonic DS40 has a lot of reach for a compact camera. That’s one reason I have the little camera — it has more reach than any of my current stable of lenses for the X-T1. The Fuji makes much nicer images, but without the reach much interest would be lost.
So, I take the compact camera to games and sometimes come away with a few nice captures.
Time here with my family is healing. It’s good to spend time with them, even if I’m just watching TV with them or watching them play video games.
Hrmmmm… I thought I posted this frame some time ago. Well, no matter.
A few weeks ago I wandered out of my room and noticed Daughter nurturing Youngest Grandson. It is her way of waking him most mornings and a part of their interaction. It was such a sweet, tender moment and screamed for a shot. Neither can be identified from the frame, so I feel safe in posting this.
What I see is A Mother’s Love, which is something that is deeply embedded in us. I can’t recall the number of times I watched Wife with the kids. Her relationship was not the same as Daughter’s is with her family, but yet it is. That means that their behaviors are different but the meaning is the same.
It is about two months and change since I arrived here. It has been good for me to be around Daughter and her family. The craziness of family life is nothing new to me. No, I have not forgotten what it was like. It might have been years ago, but the recollection is still close at hand.
My prayer is that my presence does not disturb their family. I worry that it might, but I am not yet ready to move on toward whatever it is that God has in mind for me. Perhaps that’s fear. I am not yet sure. But I am sure that I love being around this family — my family.
With the shortening days, the best light falls earlier and earlier each day. Before the main practice of Young Grandson’s began, three boys were working out on kicking at the extra point distance. There was still enough light for me to use the compact camera (which has the most reach of the cameras with me), so I got it out and made a few captures.
On our regular walk/run route there are a couple of woodpiles. I’m not certain why the fuel has not been picked up (I would certainly pick it up if I had a stove). The texture and pattern of wood fascinates me still. The texture of tree bark fascinates me. There is a combination of regular and random (or pseudo-random, or chaotic) nature to the texture that I find interesting.
We were walking one evening and the light was decent, if a bit flat. However, sometimes flat light brings out the texture in an interesting fashion.
On our geocaching adventure last weekend, the Girl and I paused for a few images of the rock climbers on Chickies Rock before finishing our logging of the Chickies Rock Earthcache. When we returned later to visit with one of the guides, Katy, we learned that this was a group of students learning to climb.
Yesterday, 11 October 2015, was International Earthcache Day. I decided to celebrate by traveling to a nearby park and finding at least one earthcache.
An earthcache is a particular kind of geocache that is peculiar in two ways — it does not have a container and it is focused on one of the earth sciences, usually geology. That means I love them because there is something to see and something to learn. I am still all about science and geology is one of my favorites.
So I was excited to get out, see if I could find and log at least one earthcache, and also to enjoy a beautiful fall day with my Girl. We headed east from Daughter’s about 1130 hours and drove east to Chickies Rock Park adjacent to the Susquehanna River. I parked the geocaching 4Runner in the area around the Breezy Overlook, got my gear, and let the Girl out. We hunted around for a virtual cache (Breezy View) near the parking lot, but I couldn’t find the answers to the questions so we headed down the trail.
The hike down to the Heritage Trail was pretty-darned steep (technical term), but we managed. The Girl has all-paw drive and a high strength-weight ratio so steep doesn’t bother her. This old man was happy to have his hikers on because there were slidies (another technical term) on the path. Regardless, we got down to the trail without issue. It was only a short distance down the trail to the Henry’s Clay Furnace earthcache. We greeted numerous other walkers/hikers along the way and paused at the site to read the description, collect the answers to the questions for the log, and explore. I came away with a couple of nice frames of the ruins and a fascinating glimpse into the local history.
After a few minutes, one of the other guides (the lead) came over to visit and give some direction on capturing some video of the climbers. So, I bid them farewell and the Girl and I headed back toward the trail up the hillside and back home. It wasn’t a long hike and the climb up wasn’t as steep as I thought. It was enough to get my pumping, but I wasn’t tired when I reached the top.
At the top, I was also able to find what I needed for the Breezy View virtual cache, so I collected my information and then we mounted up and headed home. The round trip (boots on ground) was shy of three miles, but it was still a good day.