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June 20, 2019

WANDERABOUTING THE LUPINE

     ... john and i decided to do a little wanderabouting today ... i drove so he did the navigating ... we headed west east [cr. b.davis] towards the ocean, mostly because we could find nothing artistically noble in the thought of trying to take pictures in the woods while being eaten alive by mosquitoes ...
       
     
... we stopped alongside a pond he was familiar with that had nice cascade over the ancient dam that had created the pond ...
       
     
... then it was down to the coast ... we greatly appreciated the cool, moist, clear ocean breeze, especially since it was free of any viciously carnivorous flying pests...
       
     
... john knew of a sunken wooden sailing ship ... "next road turn left ... right ... no, not that, that's a driveway ... there, take that one," we searched for signs of the hull without luck, but in the process discovered the wonderful view from the dock of the audubon sanctuary ...
       
     
... john navigated us successfully to the "road across the sea" we discovered a few years ago ... tide was just beginning to come in, so although i believe i could've made it in my hyndai we decided it wasn't worth getting trapped on the far shore for the full cycle of the tide ... (okay, so it's most likely the hyndai's low ground clearance would've probably ended up causing the vehicle to become a giant lobster pot, but i'm convinced i could've done it in my datsun 510) ...
       
     
... at some point a "quest" was added to our wanderabout, a search for the perfect field of lupine ... the first two we found were being kissed by the heavy fog that blanketed the coast ...
       
     
... i had to perch myself rather precariously above the beach rocks to capture these images ...
       
     
... another field showed three different colors of the plants ... there are well over two-hundred varieties of lupine, perhaps another quest ... ??? ...
   
     
... if i could pick a color to be it might be this marvelous hue―after, of course, turquoise, stainless steel, and ... hmmmmm ... yup, that would be plaid, any variety ...
            
     
... on the way home we found the perfect field ... i hiked up to its center to find the vantage point i desired, the sweet fragrance of the lupine almost overpowering me ... even as i was composing this image i knew that there was no way i would ever feel any color rendition i might make would do it justice, so i attempted something even more difficult ... black & white photography of flowers, that's a test ...
            

... soft in a field, perfect, lupines, the fog-fringed tide, and a cool ocean breeze, all shared with a friend, quite possibly this is wanderabouting at its very best ... if it isn't, well, there're still so many roads, so many fields, so many shores, all patiently awaiting those who understand the joy of journey without destination ...

















June 18, 2019

PHOTOGRAPHS

    
... a little wander over to new hampshire to visit with sara, gordy, my brother, and little tessa ...
   
    
... in the english language there are 26 letters used to form approximately 44 sounds ... base ten mathematics uses nine numerals and the very special zero ... twenty-eight years teaching, i feel perfectly comfortable expressing the opinion that for a child without any disadvantaging conditions these should be pretty well mastered before the first-grade ... sarah and gordy, tessa's parents, are insuring this, absolutely ... this child loves-loves-loves reading and learning ... hmmmmm, i'm reminded of a couple of other children ...
   
    
... father and daughter, a moment ...
   
    
... we all went to church to listen to the new hampshire gay mens' chorus ... the minister introduced them by telling how when they first performed many, many years ago they were asked to not use the word "gay" in the advertising ... no such nonsense now, thank goodness ... another way in which america continues to become an even greater nation ... 
   
    
... i was just dubbing around, so i'm quite pleased with this picture ... it's a five image merge that required a great deal of color and perspective correction ... i wish i could've done the same recording the wonderful music ...
   
    
... just for fun ...
   
    
... today, after my errands, i wandered over to john's to visit while he was restoring his 20+ year-old old town canoe, one that he considers his favorite ...
   
    
... it was fascinating to watch how much concentration he put into a single screw hole for mounting the portage yoke (right, apparently a serious part of canoeing is carrying the craft from water to water) ...
   
    
... electric tool, but was only his eyes providing direction ...
   
    
... i'm so-so when it comes to landscape photography, i think my efforts at impressionism and abstracts are commendable (alas, i must admit that especially for such beauty is easily found in the eyes of the beholder) ... but when it comes to black and white "people pictures" i feel as if i'm home as a photographer ...

... my "dream" (hah) is a leica "monochrome" camera ... it is the only digital camera (non-scientific, astronomical, etc.) that has a b&w sensor, thus not requiring that the photographer shoot in color and then convert/translate to monochrome ... for those not versed in the craft, this is like freezing fresh fish, thawing it, freezing it again, thawing it once more, then cooking it ...


... okay, that's not about to happen, if only because no matter how good it is as a tool  it's exorbitantly over-priced ...  plus, to be honest, i've owned a leica m3 rangefinder and found i much prefer an slr (or, in these days, a dslr "mirrorless" camera such as my sony a7ii) ... who knows, perhaps the rumors'll turn out to be true and nikon will offer those like me an affordable b&w camera ... !!! ... ... meanwhile, well, you can't fault a fellow for admiring such beauty ...

   

June 1, 2019

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

    ... waterville is having some sort of celebration this week, part of it was a book reading at the children's book cellar, which is my downstairs neighbor ... ellen, my friend who runs the store, invited me to snap a few pictures ... as you can see, kids love it when someone reads to them ...
     
 

WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED READING YOU CAN CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO SEE THE PICTURES IN A SLIDE SHOW
    
... even the littlest were fascinated ...
     
      
... all the children seemed entranced by the reading ...
     
     
    
... in front of the building, right below my windows, a huge crowd gathered ... it seems a great many people like book readings so much they wanted to celebrate the event ...
   
    
... they had made all sorts of clever signs proclaiming this ...
     
     
    
... even a man-of-the-cross was a fan ...
     
    
... many wore colorful fancy outfits, even dog ...
     
    
... across the street were a very small number of people who apparently are not great fans of reading books to children ... some of those who are fans talked with them, explaining what a great joy it is to read books to children ...
    
    
... some of the people across the street seemed bit confused about book readings, or, perhaps, the batteries in their g.p.s. thingies were low and they were directed to waterville instead of the event they thought they were attending ...
     
    
... the book reading fans seemed to be having a grand time ...
     
    
... they sang, chanted, and did a lot of whoop-whoop-whooping ...
     
       
... inside, the kids enjoyed the book readings...
     
     
    
... some of the people across the street seemed to be very concerned that the children might become confused by book readings ... of course, it's nice that they care so much about the little ones, but, as far as i could see, not a single child was concerned about much of anything but getting a good place to sit ...
        
    
... but, if somehow i'm mistaken in thinking that these children were simply having a most wonderful time listening to someone read dr. suess to them, well, it's important i be corrected ...
    
    
... nope, no confusion ... not in the least  ...
     
    
... not a bit ... nada ... none ... zilch ... i'm right about this ...
     
    
... yea, i'm right ... absolutely ... kids love to be read to, adults, too, it would seem ... if you're thinking of taking me up on that correction thing, forget it ... you're wrong ... hmmmm, if you are one of those people, perhaps you should go to a really fun book reading ...
     
     
... look at those smiles ... even waterville's finest enjoy book readings ...
     
     
    
... ellen did a fantastic job arranging and setting up the book reading ... some of the people in front of the store were so happy with what she accomplished that they shared their cool flag with her ...
     
    
... this woman was especially moved by the book reading ...
     
   
... ellen and the book readers ...
    

... me, for sure, i think book reading is way cool ...