• Documentary/Street,  Holiday Seasons,  moon,  street photography

    Old Town lights and crescent moon

    December 25, 2025

    When I left this morning for coffee, it was 35 degrees with overcast skies. I was gifted with a beautiful sunrise on the eastern horizon for the entire ride. As I stepped out the door of my condo I immediately noticed the quiet all around me. There was no traffic hum in the distance that many accept as normal and never notice. It was again an awareness of how much noise pollution our vehicles make. It also reminded me of when we first went into covid shutdown and the quiet that descended upon us for several weeks. On my bicycle ride home from coffee it had warmed up to 41 degrees but still overcast and cold. I stopped to observe a majestic bald eagle and held eye contact with them for several minutes along Spring Creek Trail. We just watched one another, no spoken words were necessary. What a gift that we shared.

    Old Town lights and the Crescent Moon

    The above image was taken last night when I went to Old Town to get some photographs of their Christmas lights and to watch people. It is a 14 second exposure so most of the people are blurred out. But, I want to share a special gift I received while watching a family of five. It looked to be mom and dad, grandpa and grandma, and a young girl who was in the spirit of the season and singing Jingle Bells, over and over. Everyone within hearing distance was her captivated audience! I don’t believe any person around me did not have a smile on their face as she sang. And, I wonder how many joined in, even silently. I did! And what’s interesting to me is that she may be offering this gift of song freely with no expectations of receiving in return. If only our world was focused on giving rather than receiving. Today I will cook up a chicken thigh with petite potatoes and baby carrots in my new Ninja Crispi air fryer. May you have a wonderful day, enjoy family time if possible and hopefully consume some chocolate today or at least think about it.

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  • Holidays

    Old St. Nick

    December 24, 2025
    Old Saint Nick

    I had a turkey feast last Sunday with my friends Duane and Jan. And no they didn’t force me to over eat. I did that all by myself. They had their tree up so I grabbed my camera and focused on a couple of ornaments. I hope everyone has an enjoyable Christmas Eve and Day!

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  • Candid Portraits,  Children,  Holiday Seasons,  Holidays,  lifestyles,  People/Portraits

    Looking with Awe and Wonder

    December 23, 2019
    Looking with Awe and Wonder

    Wow, this is Christmas week! I must admit I’ve not had much of a Christmas spirit so far this season but that shifted some on Saturday evening. My good friend , Joan, and I made a visit to the Garden of Lights which is put on by the Gardens at Spring Creek. It is a wonderful way to excite all of us children at heart. Joan and I enjoyed walking along with a smile as we listened to the children “ooh” and “aah” or their excitement when they saw Santa or the reindeer. The Gardens had Christmas carolers and a magician. The young girls in the above image are enthralled as they get a look into Santa’s workshop. I think all of us kids had a good time. I know Joan and I did. In fact it lifted my spirits a bit. Have a great week!

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  • Holiday Seasons,  Holidays,  Humor,  lifestyles,  Transportation,  truck

    Trucking Santa

    December 22, 2019
    A trucking Santa on West Oak Street

    I went to Old Town this past week to see Don Thurn play and sing at the Walnut Creek Gallery. I picked up a friend who went with me and found this Christmas Lighted truck and Santa parked on her street. Had to have a photo.

    Rene on the ukulele and Don assisting with vocals

    A friend of Don’s showed up and played her ukulele while Don assisted with vocals. Snacks were aplenty for those into grazing and even had drinks for those old enough. It’s one of those stores that requires a four hour visit because there is so much to shop for.

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  • lifestyles,  seasons

    December 13, 2010

    This post is not about photography. It’s about sharing my work as a flight attendant, the one that pays my bills.

    Flying in bad weather can make for a physically exhausting day and I’m not talking about the continuous flapping of my arms. During turbulence, mild or severe, flight attendants will always be bodily tired. First, our work requires long hours of standing as we seldom have time to sit, too many passengers feeling needy. And, if you were to ever sit in a flight attendants jumpseat you would understand why we stand, our seats are straight backed and no padding. But more importantly, when we do stand we never stand in a relaxed stance like you would on a street corner. There is always some muscle working hard to keep our balance whether we are standing in the galley or fighting for balance with a coke in one hand and scalding hot coffee in the other.

    Sunday was a rough day for flying with lots of turbulence due to the massive weather system moving across the states. On turbulent days it always feels good to be touching down after an hour and half flight, whether the pilots landed softly or smacked us hard. After settling into my hotel room last night, I ran myself a hot tub of water and soaked. Felt good. My body needed it. By the time you read this I will be back in the air flapping my arms wildly somewhere along the east coast and struggling to keep my balance. Hope everyone has a good week. And, please don’t ask for eight sugars to go in that six ounce cup of coffee. You don’t need that much sugar, you’ll permanently stick to the ceiling. 🙂

    PS: If you read this far thanks for the patience in hearing me out. Oh, and can you believe it’s less than two weeks till Christmas?

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  • Cityscapes/Urban,  seasons

    Christmas Tree

    December 12, 2010

    I went to Old Town Gahanna a couple of nights ago, when it was too darn cold to be there. My simple self-assignment was to look for Christmas images. I was a bit disappointed as there didn’t seem to be as many lights or decorations in Old Gahanna as last year. It seemed blasé. As I walked through the square I kept wondering where the spirit of Christmas was. Each year they erect a large Christmas tree and was one of the reasons I headed down there. ï»¿As I walked towards the back of the square, along the rivers edge, I discovered they had installed a small skating rink for the kids. Sadly, it was closed, so a note to self is to come back another time and hopefully find a few skaters and iamges. And, guess what, I had another egg nog latte to warm up with when I got home. If I’m not careful, I may put on 50 pounds this year during the holidays. 🙂 And, I did find the tree. They placed in a different area so here it is.

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