This vine is at its best when it's green - when it is busy doing its photosynthetic thing. So there is an irony in the fact that it looks best when it is about to give up its efforts for the season. That's true of almost all leaves, I guess.
Moist Color
Sometimes when I am out taking photos in our garden, I carry a spray bottle to add a little "nature's mist" to the flowers. During the time I had to take photos in Olympia, Washington, a few years ago, mist was no problem - it drizzled almost non-stop. And there were many photo opportunities, though I had to work quickly because my camera isn't particularly water proof.I found this photo in the Japanese garden close to downtown Olympia. I would love to go back on a nicer day, though the rain did much to enhance my photos.
584 and Counting
Here are some statistics about this blog: Since February, "A Photo A Day" has had 9561 unique hits and 42,119 total hits. On any given day, some of my viewers visit because they know about this blog. But I also get visitors using Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. to search for things like "flying geese," "amazing flowers," "mycenae," "Thad Titze," "southern most point Hawaii," and "Japanese school girls." Those searches were all charted from yesterday's hits. Every time I look at the search terms that got people to my site, I am humored and mystified. And sometimes chagrinned. (Japanese school girls!!!????). (Thad may be mystified by being subject of a Google search but I'm not. He's going to be famous some day. And here's the post that made my blog.)I have also posted 584 day's worth of photos and that's what got me started on this post on statistics today. Being pretty right brained, I keep no master list of what I have posted. Thus, I rely on memory to keep from repeating myself. I can actually recall almost all of the photos I post, though I often can't remember the specific photo I posted on any given day. My wife, who looks at the photos late in the day, will say "Nice photo today." And I will often say, "What's the photo?"And today I don't know if I have posted this particular photo before. I can tell you that the very first "A Photo A Day" photo was taken from this very spot. I visit this spot as often as I can, both "really" and "virtually." I tend to go alone but today I am taking you. Thanks for coming along.
Frosting
One Particular Harbor
There are thousands of "safe harbors" in the islands that spread out along the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia. This particular harbor (to paraphrase a song title by Jimmy Buffett) is on the west end of the Island of Hvar, which I have visited twice.I've mentioned in another post that Deb and I hope to charter a sailboat and cruise the Croatian islands but she tells me that we need our son, Captain Jon, aboard. I agree, but I'm not sure that our need for a precise travel schedule can mesh with Jon's free-form lifestyle. Our goal was to do it in the summer of 2011. We'll see. . . .
Aspen Leaves Again
in Nature, Seasons, South Dakota
I suppose you could say that this is the second is a series. I'll call the series "Three From the Same Tree." Today, the dominant color is yellow, which one would expect from aspen trees.
Aspen Leaves
in Nature, Seasons, South Dakota
There is still color to be found in South Dakota, though most of the trees in our yard have lost their leaves. These aspen leaves are still hanging on. The blurred color in the background is caused by the bright red leaves still clinging to the burning bush plants that decorate one edge of our deck. Generally, I work pretty hard to get the focus on the main subject to be deep enough so it is all in focus. But this time, when I looked through the viewfinder, I decided it was OK to have a couple places on this branch blurred. Why? I can't tell you, except that it seems to somehow complement the seeming randomness of nature.We have had a great October in eastern South Dakota but I know winter is coming. In fact, I looked at the snow blower in my garage yesterday and thought that maybe I should see if it runs.
8:15 am, August 6, 1945
in Travel
Today's photograph isn't all that remarkable. But the artifact in the photo is. This watch was being worn by a Hiroshima resident on the day the first atomic bomb was dropped. The watch survived the bomb blast but it quit working at the precise time the bomb detonated - 8:15 am. You can find this watch in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum but I can't tell you what happened to the person wearing it.We visited Hiroshima in 2004 on our trip to Japan. Our son, Brian, took us there and I'm glad he did. The day we were there, we were sourrounded by Japanese citizens visiting this historic site and the memorial erected there. You would think that Americans might not be welcome at the bomb site and the museum. But that wasn't the case, largely because the memorial grounds house a peace center that aims to eliminate nuclear weapons. And I'm sure the Japanese are more than eager to welcome us to this cause.
Magical
in Black Hills, Nature, Seasons, South Dakota
This is from a few years ago. The original photo is fairly mundane and though I don't like to manipulate a photo too much with Photoshop affects, I'm guilty of doing it here.
The Little Angel - Another View
I have posted this angel before but came across a series of photos I had taken in 2002. So I thought I'd posted a different point of view.
Tucks Sweetheart Candidates
There are traditions and groups in every school that those imbued with those things don't think twice about. One of Watertown High School's traditions is something called the "Tuckabachee Club." It is an honor society for junior and senior girls and in the fall they host a formal dance. As with many high school formals, a "queen" will rule over the proceedings. In the case of the Tucks Club, the person elected is called the "Sweetheart."I was asked to do the informal portrait for the Sweetheart Candidates and here they are - happy and cooperative. It's not a hard photo to take, other than finding the right setting. Here we are in bright shade but I couldn't do much to control the background, but I'm probably the only one who cares about that detail.
Tributaries
When I was studying the leaves of this tree last weekend, I was struck by the fact that the veins look a little like the multitude of channels in a river delta. In fact, just now I did a search for "river delta" and came up with this amazing NASA photo of the Lena River in Russia. What do you think? The veins in the leaf seem a little less random but there are similarities.
