My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
Here’s another example of eliminating stuff so we can pull the viewer face-to-face with our subject, a Kenworth grill. If you look close you can see a few bugs who have gotten a little to close in their face-to-face encounter with this mechanical beast. 🙂
Everyone likes taking a break, at least I do. The schedules for flight crew can seem strange to those who are accustomed to a straight 40 hour work week. It would take more time than I want to commit to try and explain these schedules. By FAA regulations we cannot have a duty day longer than 16 hours and I wholeheartedly agree with that. However, I just finished a trip where one of our duty days was almost 14 hours. So when we had a break, we took a break. After grabbing something to eat I went back on the airplane to just relax, away from the hustle of the airport. As I sat down I noticed the tail of the aircraft next to me and knew I wanted this framed image of the fawn. It’s always fun to watch children look out the windows of our aircraft to see what animals they can find on the airplanes tails. In the background you can see the main terminal of DIA, where the roof looks like a series of tents.
This is Sky, my sisters cat, working hard at being a cat on a hot day. 🙂 And, so am I as I head back to the skies for another trip. Unfortunately, for me anyway, only the passengers get a chance to do this on the aircraft.
I saw her sitting behind the bar all by herself and seemingly bored. I stopped, asked if I could take her photo and got her to smile. I’m off again today for another 4-day trip. Seems like I’m always gone since I moved out here to Colorado. When i finished my last 4-day trip I headed to Arizona and spent two days with my mother. She is doing good but still does not have all her strength back, hopefully that will come quickly. Hope everyone has a good week.
I’m bedding down tonight just west of St. Louis at small place called Foristell, MO. I left Columbus early this morning and got in about 9 hours of weaving around semi’s along I70 before the weather became a problem. The first 4 hours I was enjoying clear blue skies then things began to change. I decided it was time to stop and get a hotel when the slick-as-snot freezing rain was building up on my wipers and making visibility almost impossible. I stopped twice to clean them off. The bad news is it’s suppose to turn to snow later and continue on throughout tomorrow. I may be here a while and still have about 850 miles to go. The above image is the grill of the car parked next to mine when I checked in. Needless to say, my car looked the same. What amazes me are the vehicles still on the road. Of course I will admit those going west are probably commuting home while those going east are trying to keep ahead of the weather.
After checking in to the room I “skated” next door to the truck stop and scarfed down some cajun grilled catfish, the perfect truckers meal. Now I’m stuffed. I have a clean bed, warm room and will soak in a hot tub of water before slipping between the sheets to read. Hopefully, tomorrow I can safely keep moving west, closer to home. 🙂
Not every view from my office is spectacular. Some views are on the boring side; a dull gray. But we have miles and miles of gray with a bump thrown in here and there, for good measure. Should be back in Columbus tomorrow just in time for the snow. 🙁
I spend a lot of time in hotels and airplanes, about half the month, actually. I’ve had people tell me they could not do what I’m doing and at the age of 60, I’m surprised I am to. But the variety of people I encounter each day and the places and sights I get to experience have added immensely to my life. Sometimes they are the just the small insignificant things such as my hotel room. The views from hotel windows, both looking out and in, are awesome. The evening this image was taken was just before the sun dropped below the horizon. I just loved the color of the sunlight against my bed and pillow. So, I spot metered and added one extra stop of light then went back to reading my book in the warm sunlight.
As I write this post it is almost 11:00 pm Sunday evening and I’m in my hotel room. Another day of flying is done and a long day at that. I’ve come to enjoy these times when I can relax and reflect back over the day. I smile when I think about the two little children sitting in row 12 who are excited because they are flying for the first time and heading for good times with grandma. I imagine grandma is excited too. I will pray for the middle aged man who struggled to smile because his dad is not expected to live and Hospice suggested the family call him. I also enjoyed reconnecting with a couple who were on one of my flights 3 days ago and are now heading home. And when the opportunity presents itself and I can peek out the window, the view from my office is so much nicer than the 8×8 cell I use to work in. The added bonus to the day was arriving at the hotel and finding a chocolate chip cookie with my name on it. 🙂 Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! Goodnight.
Working as a flight attendant offers a good study in personalities as we watch how people react to situations or we watch for body language and what that can tell us. Here are some of my observations working on an Embraer 170 and 175 Regional jet that seat 76 or 86 passengers.
It’s interesting, and sometimes entertaining, to observe passengers trying to place a 14 inch bag in the 11 inch overhead space. Oh, and the look of confusion, then frustration, and some embarrassment when we realize it will not fit, even if I’m told it fit before. I enjoy watching the elderly gentleman walk on board the aircraft, ticket stub in one hand reading glasses in the other and no baggage. 🙂
Weather delays or mechanical delays can mess up the best laid plans for travelers. It’s not unusual to have passengers hitting their call buttons to ask us about their connecting flights. We can feel helpless in these situations as we know very little about what is going to happen 1-2 hours from now. Time travel is what people want rather than being present to where they are, after all they are taking traveling. My response; turn you phone off and fasten your seatbelt. We go nowhere until they do. Just kidding. 🙂
Some passengers wear suits or a sport coat, nice dresses, casual slacks, and loafers. While some passengers wear pajamas, really short shorts/mini-skirts, or pants halfway down their butts (which requires one hand to always hold them up), flip-flops, and tank tops. The second group almost always asks for blankets and pillows then get frustrated because we do not carry them on our size of aircraft. Dress for the occasion: layer next time. 🙂
But, and there’s always a but, we do feel for those who have been traveling for the past 20 hours and sometimes with small children. Or those who are on their way to a funeral, or going say good-bye to a dying family member or friend, or carrying the ashes of a daughter killed in a war, or are afraid to fly, or have constant back pain, a bum knee. The list could go on but will say that a good flight attendant will observe body and facial language. When we see those signs we try our best to make the next hour or two a pleasant experience for them. More importantly we want to get them to their destination safely because maybe they are going to see their new grandbaby.
Not really a post about photography but what the heck, it was on my mind. Okay, I’m done ranting.
Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.
George Eastman
In continuing with the hotel theme from yesterday, here is another photo taken in our hotel just outside the elevator on the fifth floor. These vases are huge, standing almost four feet tall. The inviting afternoon light had a warm glow and beckoned me to find the best perspective I could.