My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
My sister and I head for the Texas Panhandle for a funeral this morning. My mothers youngest sister suffered a series of seizures, causing her to take a fall and add bodily injuries. As usual things like this do bring families together, share hugs and our loss. We will also, make promises to see each other more often. If only we would. So, I will not be on line for a while.
Images will appear before us all the time and sometimes unexpectedly. The task is to be there with a camera and observe. We don’t want to miss an opportunity. And, make sure the kitchen is clean! 
I have several images of this farm at sunrise. It is a place I enjoy going to and is not that far from home. Here is a link to one of my favorite images of it.
I decided last night to drive out there in the morning and prepared everything before going to bed. I woke before the alarm to the sound of blowing wind. Discovered later those winds were gusting up to 30 mph. I made a mocha latte, put it in my mug and headed out.
Needless to say, way too many images were not usable as it was difficult to keep the camera and tripod steady. For the image of fence below I parked the car on the west side of me as a wind block and then placed my tripod low to the ground to reduce as much shake as possible. I’m down low in the snow, in a bar ditch where most landscape photographers hang out.
Even with nylon wind pants, the wind found ways to penetrate and, as usual, it did not take long for my hands to get cold. I shot everything prior to sunrise and then headed home to warm up, shower and download images. These are the two images I think best represented the morning.
I also seem to have a rather large dust spot on my Fujifilm 18-55mm lens. It’s not a drastic spot and is almost impossible to see it. Only noticeable on light open skies and when you look for it. It has shown up that last few times I’ve used it and gone through the process of cleaning it. This morning I spent more time trying to make sure I have it cleaned. If not I may have to take it in. Stay warm and hang on to your hat.
Spent time in Old Town area for a ĺook at the lights. My hands were cold by the time I returned home. But, made a hot chocolate as the images downloaded. All is good.
At one time we had barns rather than garages. We opened the door manually rather than with a remote. We had a horse or two, maybe a cow parked in it. There were no oil spots on the concrete floor but we did have other stuff on the floor. Along the walls were hanging the gear we needed to ride our horse or maybe a buggy. Anyway here is an image from a barn at the Superstition Mountains Museum near Apache Junction, AZ.
I am heading south to Phoenix for a visit with family and some warmer weather. I’ll spend some time with my sister and brother-in-law and some time with my parents. I was hoping for some nice weather so I could go barefoot and get away from the cold here but they are expecting temperatures on Thanksgiving day to be right around freezing. Be back in two weeks unless the family gets tired of me.
“In order to move forward, you will have to stumble along the way, but every falter in your stride just makes your next step even stronger.” ― Lindsay Chamberlin
I stumbled on one of my walks this past week. Of ocurse the first thing I did was check to see who saw me. Luckily, there were no witnesses. I then looked down to see what I’d tripped over but there was nothing. I literally stumbled over nothing. I just failed to properly place one foot in front of the other as I walked. And, no, I was not looking at my phone but my mind had fluttered off somewhere. I had moved away from being mindful and present to my walk. Nor, can I tell you where it fluttered. Happens more often than I want to admit.
Stumbling can unexpectedly bring us new discoveries, excitement, joys and lessons. And, sometimes stumbling can unexpectedly bring pain, sadness, regret and lessons. But, when we stumble and fall, it’s vital to get back up and dust off the pants, check for witnesses, take note of the reason we stumbled and hopefully learn from any lessons. Stumbling and falling are lessons.
Anyway, if the next time you stumble and there is a witness, give’em a smile and tell them you intended to do that.
“Each moment is an opportunity to create. We can see this in each sunrise, sunset, flower, rainbow, snowflake, as they are a series of creative moments. We are all gifted to create. We can create new views of and for the world. Why do we waste our creative moments? Is it fear of our creation to be flawed or rejected by others and ourselves? Yet, our art is not intended to be perfection but a chance to offer a gift. And, what about sloth? Sloth is another reason and closely related to fear. Sometimes it is easier to daydream and fantasize in our safe little world than spend the time and effort at creativity. What would the world be like if we all overcame our fears? What would it be to experience such a world?” An excerpt from my journal 1/13/2015