Category: Random Thoughts

A River and a Smartphone

Out with my wife this evening for a bit of a date, or, at least as much as a milkshake from the clown food restaurant and a spur of the moment drive to the river qualifies as a date. When we got to the river she opted to stay in the truck rather than fight mosquito hordes both ways across the parking lot and boat ramp, (one smart lady she is).

Since we both grew up in the area I wanted to show her what the river looks like today, so I used my phone to capture a panoramic photo of the area. As is typical of such photos it came out looking a bit wonky. Then I noticed an option to view it as a motion file, and now I’m hooked.

I hope the motion part comes through for you, I’ve never tried to use one of these photos before. If it doesn’t work as planned then the wonky looking version may have to be used instead.

Now for some of the personal stuff. This river holds a special place in my heart. As I said we grew up in the area, and that included swimming, fishing and canoeing as part of the experience.

At one time the Army Corps of Engineers had started initial work on a series of dams for flood control on the three rivers in the system. Somehow the entire project got placed on the ballot back in the 1970’s and on August 8 1978, 64% of the people voted for free flowing rivers rather than flat water recreational pools.

Looking back I will say that had it been possible then to see the future, the outcome may have been different. We have experienced the two highest flood crests on record since voting down the flood control project and some people are wanting to revive the idea.

Still, in my private thoughts we made the right choice. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy it.

Just Because……..

Sometimes I just want to see what something looks like as a photograph, usually as a matter of curiosity. Some of them go into the “what was I thinking?” category. Others speak to me on some level.

This photo was made last Sunday, a rather hot day by most accounts. When I first stepped into the shade of this tree I just stopped and looked up. Noting the play of light and shadow in the leaves I pulled out the trusty phone and took several photos trying to capture how things looked and hopefully the way it felt.

The following photo was made this morning, again in the spirit of curiosity. Some rain last night had brought the lichen and moss back to life after the dry hot weather of recent weeks. The change was quite dramatic.

Thanks for reading.

Cove Church and Cemetery

This post contains the other photos of Cove Church. They were made on an early morning last autumn when my fancy DSLR decided to take the day off so I used my lowly smartphone on general principles…..and because I had no other choice.

A couple shots of the front of the church, never could decide which one I liked better so kept both of them. Feel free to like either of them, both or none. As is often the case with the tiny country churches in the area, it shows a bit of age and the efforts of members to add on or repair over the years.

A couple more views of the church, these were taken with a little more of the setting.

Finally, two shots of the cemetery.

Strange as it may sound, I find the cemetery intriguing in its almost organic appearance. I have the impression the trees grew where they are in order to stand guard over the church and those who are buried here. An impression needing a deeper exploration, there may yet be more to this story

Looking back on this group of photos after several months I notice the sky most, the way clouds, light, shadow and color all come together. At the time they were made I had been mostly focusing on what was on the ground. Yet as I recall the day, the sky was looking very much like this.

Thank you for reading, until next time.

Waves In The Sky

IMGP2694-Edit-01I took this photo during the summer of 2017. I had been driving around looking for a good subject and watching these clouds in the distance. As time passed the sunlight was changing how they looked. When the edges of the clouds lit up and turned white it made them appear to be cloud waves breaking on a beach in the sky. Good imagination seems to be a plus at times, just my thought on it.

Lawn Ornaments of the Useful Kind

DSC01387-01On the way to work one morning I spotted this scene of the house with the lights at the back door and the truck then I noticed the  unique lawn ornament. After looking at the photo for a while realized this was a great idea, the concept of heavy duty, multipurpose lawn decoration. Feeling the need to have a tree removed, a reflecting pool or koi pond dug out or just filling in that random low spot? No problem, step outside and fire up the bulldozer in the front yard, you will be finished in no time at all.