The Production Line

Until we started going to California for Christmas about 5 years ago, I was kind of lackadaisical about getting Christmas cards out on time.  Sometimes they didn't arrive until after Christmas!  But now that we leave early for the holiday, I get panic stricken right before Thanksgiving, knowing I only have three weeks to get the cards done.  And I do a bunch - slightly more than one hundred.  It is a fairly labor intensive process, printing them one by one, first on the front, then on the back, in my color printer.  Then they each need to be trimmed twice with a paper cutter.  Then the envelopes need to be printed, and the cards inserted.  I do worry that with any kind of glitch, they won't get done before we leave for California.  Whew!  Got them mailed in time one more year!

Google Cardboard

I am a digital subscriber to the New York Times.  They announced an app for the iPhone called NYTVR.  The "VR" stands for "Virtual Reality."  You download the video from the NYTimes website on your iPhone, and then put the iPhone into this amazing assemblage of cardboard called, strangely enough, "Google Cardboard."  The device has two lenses that you look through at your phone.  You start up the video, and then while looking into the device, you can rotate your head through 360 degrees, in addition to looking up and down, and it is as if you are at the original scene.  It is an astounding thing to see! I received an email from the NY Times saying that if I went to a special website and gave them my information, they would send me Google Cardboard for free!  Be the first on your block!

The Life Cycle

I have been photographing these Hostas since they began to grow in the spring.  They become so many dramatically different things during their cycle.  I passed these by the side of the driveway for a few days, and then when they were all wet from the rain, their color was more saturated, and they finally grabbed me.  I am not sure that this is a complete photograph - it may only be a fragment, but I thought the colors were so striking that they demanded to be photographed.

Yard Sale

This is a picture that I forgot about.  I took it back in July, and just found it when I was cleaning out folders of images.  There is a marine salvage yard down near where the power plant was located.  They have a giant floating crane on a barge, and all kinds of other stuff.  They decided to have a yard sale and so I had to come see if there were pictures here.  Guess what?  I found one!  I have no idea if this sold, but I love the incongruity of a bathtub sitting on the side of the road!

Crepuscular Rays

I was on my way to the plumbing store, and noticed in the distance, the rays of the sun coming through breaks in the clouds.  I realized that if I ignored the plumbing store and took a left to the end of the road, I would end up at the harbor.  I had hopes that the rays would still be showing when I got to the water.  There are still some showing, although they are down near the horizon.  In any case the clouds and sky are pretty spectacular.  "Crepuscular rays" are the actual name for the heaven-like shafts of sunlight.  They happen because particles in the air scatter short wavelengths of light. 

Give Me A Break!

Where do I begin?  This is a really busy parking lot because it is small, and there is both a grocery store, and a fitness center in the same building.  At 5 O'Clock in the afternoon it is nearly impossible to park here.  I took this photo at 4:45 PM, and there was a car to the right of this one when I went into the store.  I just cannot imagine someone who feels that this is appropriate behavior.  That people like this have the right to more than their share.  My fantasy is not to damage this car in any way, but I would love to have access to a really rusty, old beat up pickup truck.  I would park it within 6 inches of this car, on the driver's side.  Just imagining that makes me smile!

Leaf Week

I should call this "Leaf Week" after shooting the Japanese maple with bright red leaves yesterday, and then these leaves in the driveway today.  I thought I had missed my chance to do my leaves in the driveway photo this year.  I have been watching the leaves in the driveway now for a couple of weeks, but I didn't see a photograph.  But today, after hours of rain, suddenly all the leaves were flattened, and the color is more saturated because the leaves are all wet.  So I have done this photograph before, but I never tire of the delicacy of these tiny beauties.