The Half Marathon Crew

So this is amazing!  The two men in this photograph are Matt, at left and Anthony at right.  They are good friends and both ran with the three women in the photograph, in the half-marathon.  That's because the women are "Guides" and run with the two men, because the men are blind!  It is interesting that sometimes the guides use a piece of fabric which they both hold one end of.  But for this race, the guides just run next to their runners, and talk to them about what is coming up.  The guide on the left hand side is Anginelle, and she had never met Matt before the race.  She had never been a guide before either but she signed up to volunteer which is a wonderful thing to do.  What a joyous photograph this is!  Look at the smiles on their faces!

The Half Marathon

We went to a Half Marathon in Charlotte, North Carolina this morning because a family member was running in the event.  It is called "The Craft Beer Half Marathon & 5 Miler."  I thought it would be fun to get a nice photo of the person we came to see, so I started shooting some of the runners as they came by, just to get in practice for shooting quickly when the moment came.  I was practicing focusing and following runners as they approached the finish line.  Suddenly I saw this guy moving up fast, and passing the woman on the left.  I got one glimpse of his blue reflective sunglasses, and knew this dude was SERIOUS about his running, so I started shooting, although I have no idea of who he is.  He is in terrific shape as you can see, and he was MOVING.  What I love about this photo is the contrast of this serious runner, and the young woman to the left in the photo with a smile on her face.  There were actually two races on the same course today.  The Half-Marathoners started at 8 AM and then there was a 5 mile race as well, which started 15 minutes later, and what is happening here is that the male runner who has run 13 miles is is passing this woman who is finishing the 5 mile run.  The contrast in their expressions is what makes this shot!

Riding in the Tube

We flew from JFK to Charlotte, North Carolina today.  We are here visiting relatives on Kathy's side, who we have not seen in maybe 5 years.  We got a good price on the flight, but because it was the cheapskate price, we couldn't choose our seats - they were assigned by the airline when we checked in.  The good news is that we were across the aisle from each other.  The bad news is I NEVER fly without sitting at a window seat, as you have seen on my blog, where I do photographs of the landscape we are flying over.  Fortunately, it was less than a two hour flight, so I managed to survive without photographing the outside.  But it felt as if I was riding in a tube in the sky, which I was!  What I can't quite imagine is that an airplane is a magic carpet that gives us a completely different view of the world, and half the people in the cabin have closed their window shades so they can't even see the Earth below!

How Am I Supposed to Lose Weight Around Here?

This is the latest piece of handiwork out of the oven, by Kathy!  These are cinnamon buns, and they look delicious, AND...   They don't even have frosting on them yet!  But I was really good.  I haven't eaten one yet, and it is three days later.  Can you believe that?  Well, it's good that you can't because I lied!  I have had one a night after dinner since she made them!  Bad Ken.  But they really are delicious and so soft, and better than anything Entenmann's has ever made!  So I give thanks, and gobble down another one!   :-)

The Upside Down Kitty

This is Sam.  The upside down kitty.  Here he is lying on his back in the rocking chair in our living room.  He spends as much of his life upside down as he does right side up!  At bedtime he disappears upstairs.  When I go upstairs and go into the empty bedroom to plug in my phone for charging, I turn on the light and he is lying on the bed.  The minute the light goes on, he rolls over on his back, and waits for me to pet his stomach. He is in ecstasy while I am doing that - his eyes close and his front paws stretch out.  He is as happy as a cat!

American Vernacular

My friend Stan and I are always shooting pictures of buildings and scenes that we find in various places, and we call them "American Vernacular."  We both kind of know what that means but then I decided to look up the term.  "Architecture concerned with domestic and functional use rather than public or monumental buildings."  So I guess that Kentucky Fried Chicken is what you can call functional use, huh?  Anyhow, I really loved the light on this building, which is why I took this shot.

Lost in the Mountains

I ran out of things to shoot around here, so I am going back to some photographs that I took when I visited the Museum of Modern Art.  This is a photograph from a video installation called "Reanimation" by the artist Joan Jonas.  The projection screen behind the woman is a movie that appeared to be shot from a moving car, and it showed the landscape of snow covered hills and mountains going by.  There was something about the young woman's stance that struck me, and that's why I took this picture.