People are crazy about their pets and I was certainly guilty of being crazy about our Springer Spaniel, Polly. She seemed to love life and everyone she met. Polly is long-gone now but I come across photos of her every once and a while - I had forgotten I had this one.
Family
Flesh and Blood
My oldest son, Brian, is pictured in this blog more often than Jon is. And, because Jon sent me a flattering email about my blog photos earlier today, I thought I would reward him by posting a photo I took of him 10 years ago somewhere in Italy. He has a better sense of style than I do and he gets his looks from his mother, fortunately. He's a pretty good photographer, though. Maybe he got that from me?
The Journalist
When Deb and I travel to Europe, I generally create the itinerary and take care of all the details before we leave: plane and train tickets, hotels and auto rentals. Once there, when we aren't on a train or plane, I drive.So "What does Deb do?" you ask. Aside from giving me constant advice and helping me keep track of lenses, chargers and ipods, she participates in our "travel democracy." Nobody leads and nobody follows. Instead we jointly decide what we will see and do on any given day. It works well.Beyond, that, I would say that Deb is the left brain and I'm the right. She writes about our travels and I picture them. This photo, of course, is evidence of our symbiosis.For those who might wonder, in this shot, we are on a train going from Berlin to Dresden, Germany. I am taking a picture of Deb writing in her journal while a blurry women in the background reads a book.Why did I convert the photo to black and white? It looks more "journalistic."
Mom & Dad
My dad died 10 years ago today and while I have posted a couple photos of my mom on this blog, I have yet to do so with Dad.I think that this is the last photo I took of my Mom and Dad together and it was taken a few years before my dad died. It is probably just me, but I think my mother is almost radiant in this photo. Later in her life, it was very difficult to get a decent photo of her because she came to dislike the camera. I don't know why.On the day that my dad died, I was sailing in a good wind on a hot day on Lake Oahe. When a boat motored close to me and the owner of the place where I kept my boat yelled to me that I needed to call home, I knew it was about my dad. He passed away comfortably sitting in his favorite chair at the age of 83.I miss them both very much right now.
The Orange Sailor
in Family, people, South Dakota
It is a rare event that I have the pleasure of sailing with one of my sons. I would also imagine that it is a rare thing that anyone sails on Lake Oahe with the official FIFA World Cup colors of the Netherlands football team. But both were true yesterday as my son Brian and I headed back to the Spring Creek marina after a night in Mission Creek."Sailing" isn't exactly what we are doing here, since the wind was unreliable. But it was a beautiful morning with the sky just beginning to clear. And I suspect that Brian's bright orange shirt made us visible to both fish and fishermen.Canon 5DII 1/250s f/11.0 ISO200 17mm
06-01-10 Reprise: Helping Hand
I am enjoying a short hiatus from my "Photo A Day" blog and am showing you a few of my favorite posts from the last year and a half. I'll be back on the job with new photos from London and Portugal in a couple weeks.
Scotty
Yesterday, in the process of sifting through the photo collection of my aunt Gladys, we came across this photo and it made my wife laugh. There aren't many photos of me that aren't posed. But this one appears to show me as I really was. Waiting in the Roadmaster with tousled hair, I look a little like an eager puppy ready for another ride.I don't know who took this picture, but it is a great candid photo from a wonderful angle.
An Angel Dances the Charleston
Gladys, born in 1912, passed away yesterday at the age of 97. She was my father's sister and when I was growing up, we would make the trek out to Olympia, Washington, every other year to visit her. Like my aunt Betty in California, Gladys moved to the west coast from South Dakota looking for opportunity.Throughout her entire life, she was an amazing woman. She was organized, decisive, caring and deeply involved in her church. She was a driving force that even time and sickness couldn't slow down. Diagnosed with cancer in her 70s, Gladys scheduled her treatments early in the morning so they wouldn't conflict with her home visits to shut-ins and "real" sick people, as she liked to refer to them.In 2004, Deb and I visited her and we watched in amazement as she stood behind her walker in the day room of her assisted living center and, at the age of 91, danced the Charleston. We laughed and applauded.If any angel has a special place in Heaven, Gladys does. And she is no doubt entertaining all the other angels by dancing the Charleston.
03-25-10 Betty
Betty is my 89 year old aunt. At age 18 she left South Dakota for California and has lived there ever since. At age 18 she showed a willingness to explore and she recently showed the same willingness when we carted her all over the Los Angeles area.
In this photo she is sitting complacently in the lobby of the Norton Simon Art Museum in Pasadena. I thought a full day of visiting places like Hollywood, the Santa Monica pier and an art gallery would do her in. But she never slowed us down!
02-24-10 Puzzled
My mother-in-law is one of the most amazing women I know. When we travel, she can outpace the best of us. She is smart, witty and curious. I'm saying all of this not because she sees this blog (I doubt she'd like this photo), but because it is true.
Here she is pondering puzzle pieces. She, my wife, my son and his wife Katie worked off and on all weekend assembling it. I would say that it is about 75% complete. I have not helped because puzzles seem kind of pointless to me.
12-27-09 Snow Angel?????
in Family, people, Seasons, South Dakota
By Scott Shephard
I was hot tubbing at Bill Zubke's in a SD blizzard. What possessed me to run from the steaming hot tub and jump in the snow? Stupidity. I hope this photo isn't too disturbing for younger viewers. I know it disturbs me.
11-12-09 We Were Much Younger Then. . .
Set the Way-Back machine for 1991. We were visiting Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. Brian and Jon were mere children then, and we were young adults.
If you have the time, check out this link, where you can hear two points of view about the events surrounding this photo: Cannon Beach VoiceThread (click here).