Life in a Box

Last night I told Kimmy I’d have new pictures posted this afternoon.  By the time I blog about it, it’ll be early evening.  Oh well…..

John Bord left me a comment a couple of days ago, referring to ‘photo trips’ as safaris.  Hmmm…..Hadn’t really thought about it like that.  So John, if you don’t mind, I’m going to begin referring to my excursions as safari’s.  In your honor, of course.  :)

Yesterday, I left the house about 11AM.  Had a little bit of direction in my mind.  But not too much.  So I ended on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’.  As I have blogged before, for those of you who may have followed me from my other Spaces site, we have a little natural wonder here in NW Tennessee called Reelfoot Lake.  Generally, I photograph on the ‘right side’ of the lake aka the beaten path.  Yesterday, I went off to the ‘other side’.  It’s a reserve.  It’s just not like the main attraction.  But oh what attractions I found! 

I took “The Lens” and tripod.  I have to learn how to be fluent in using the tripod.  Sometimes it almost seems as bulky to me and as cumbersome as “The Lens”.  But I got some decent shots.  From turtles in the road, to Heron and bumblebees, I took almost four hundred pictures.  Part of which were eliminated upon uploading.  So click here for the new album.

On another note……One of the reasons for the delay in posting today was that I was watching Farrah’s Diary via the computer.  I forgot it was on this past Friday.  What a testament to strength, determination and love.  Definitely sheds a whole new perspective on how cancer ravishes one of everything.  Literally, everything.  My mind went to an ex boyfriend who died about three months ago after having been diagnosed last summer with stomach cancer.  And my mind went to a friend who is watching her husband suffer, and has dealt with his cancer, for two years, too.  Through it all, that friend simply says to me, when I ask how she is doing, “As long as Gerald is okay, I’m okay.”  And she smiles.  I have never seen her falter or her voice to crack.  Wow.

And finally, a friend is having to experience her own pain tomorrow.  Her Baby (dog) is having to be put to sleep tomorrow.  I am so sorry to you for that pain.  I understand.  And I don’t know if you’ve read Rainbow Bridge, but this is for you:

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. 
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor;
Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again,
Just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing:
They each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance.
His bright eyes are intent;
His eager body quivers.
Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted and when you and your special friend finally meet,
You cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again.
The happy kisses rain upon your face;
Your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet,
So long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together…..

~~Author Unknown~~

I’ve been off the last two days.  The sun has also been shining!  That was a pleasant change.  Yesterday, I had errands that required my attention.  Today, I could have cleaned and junk like that, but NO.  I went photogging.  Actually, I went over to a nursery in a neighboring town to peruse the perennials and annuals.  Imagine to my surprise when I arrived a lake full and full of ducks, swans and geese!  I felt like I was in heaven.

I did have my camera with me.  **Yeah!**  I asked the nursery man if I could take do some photography and he graciously complied.  It’s nesting time, so I could not go inside the gate.  That was fine by me.  The owner said they have 60+ breeds in the lake.  They also sell them nationwide.  From the highway, you would have no clue this place was there.  As many times as I have been by it, I’ve never noticed. 

Between trips to dig up trees in fields, and running back and forth home, and finally taking a thirty minute nap, I managed to take quite a lot of pictures today.  I have uploaded them, but I do have to do some tweaking on a couple.  I can’t wait to post them!  Some only need my ‘signature’.  But there are a few that are a little underexposed so I will have to fix them. 

And ducks weren’t the only game in town.  I have birds and deer.  Wait until you see the deer!  I was walking down an abandoned road, wheat field on one side, corn field on the other.  And there were the deer.  I am going to have to learn to set up my tripod and put my butt in a chair and stay put!  I try to ‘go to’ the wildlife.  I need to learn to let it come to me!

I will be posting the new album here when it’s ready.

~*Ciao!*~

Last Friday’s rain amounts was unreal.  As I’ve already blogged, it rained and it rained and it rained some more.  It’s been some time since I have seen that much rain in one day. 

We had a lunch at the store provided by Lowe’s.  I was off work, but I thought I’d go up, have lunch, and pilfer around the garden center.  (I’m always in search of some new idea—I got a couple, too!)  There is a creek/drainage ditch that runs along side the store.  It is relatively deep, as it has been cleared and widened.  When I left about 2P, it appeared if someone were to spit in the creek, it would be out.  Sure enough, someone spit.

CJ was off work, too.  He was at the store, however, and ended up shuttling people from the store to their car, both customers and associates.  He also drove his truck through the water, cutting a path for smaller vehicles to get through behind him!  Wow.  Another missed photo opportunity.  I didn’t even think about taking pictures!  But someone did take a picture with a cell phone.  This is what it looked like:

WOW!

Man!  What a day!  It has rained, and rained, and rained some more.  I need an air boat to get into my backyard!  I thought I was going to get some planting done today.  I knew it was going to rain, but I didn’t realize it was going to be this much!  Somewhere down the line, I heard we had gotten over 5 inches in the past 24 hours. 

Come August, we won’t be able to get a drop. 

I got my computer back last week.  I am noticing my drafts and recently posted for Spaces have disappeared.  I knew I should have finished up those drafts and got them out there!  Oh well.

Work has been a challenge.  I miss CJ so darn much!  We, he and I, got a compliment from a customer this week.  But the kicker on it was the customer called him ‘my assistant’.  That is a big ROFLMAO!  The store manager got a kick out of that.  He said “I’m the store manager and I don’t have an assistant!”  Poor CJ.  And I told Mr.. Store Manager I want ‘my assistant’ back.  Oh well.  I have been on a two week slump.  Time to get my punching bag back out and go at it.

I am not doing well on my diet.  I’m okay at the fifty lost, but I have reached a plateau and can’t seem to get my head right.  I start over every week, every day.  But I can’t go backward.  So I keep plugging.

The sitter situation is wearing me out in the fact that when I close, I don’t go to bed before 11, and have to get up at 6 to get Lauren ready for school.  And last week, me and one of the sitters got into it because she accused me of taking away her hours and giving them to someone else.  I did not take her hours!  The state did!  She has made other comments to Carline that she should have stayed with the previous agency who provided care for Lauren.  Okay, go on is all I have to say.  They don’t have any more hours than the current one.  It’s not an agency or Susan situation.  It’s a state imposed ruling.

However…..every cloud does have a silver lining.  I am much more comfortable without someone here all the time.  I am realizing how I’ve missed my privacy.  That’s the good thing.  On the flip, I don’t have as much time to get out of the house to 'photog’. 

Because of work, Lauren’s sitter situation, and having had a sinus infection, I missed the last three photography classes.  But I am not ‘throwing in the towel’ and ceasing my ‘photogging’.  As a matter of fact, I have added a sign across the back glass of my Equinox: 

”Be Prepared for Sudden Stops—Amateur Photographer on Board” 

Yeah, I did it.  I think it’s funny.  Someone behind me will be wondering ‘what the heck’.  But that’s the fun of it!

I didn’t make it to the last class this past Tuesday.  But I was sitting on the patio and captured a bird that is not native to NW Tennessee.  I have seen these fellows before.  But it’s been two, three years.  I have done some serious editing to this picture.  I had to crop it, add flash fill and lower the saturation.  I was shooting in Auto because an adjusted picture is better than missing it all together.

 
Rose-breasted Grosbeak

How I wish I could have had time to do a proper set up!  This bird is wonderful to watch and to hear.  His call is so sweet and gentle.  But when I caught a glimpse of a red flash, I knew I had to scamper inside to get the camera to get what I could get. 

I hope this finds you all well.  Be safe and happy.
~*Ciao!*~