31AUG10

Chili's Sign # 1 circa 6:53 p.m.

Chili's Sign # 2 circa 7:53 p.m.



When we went into Chili's this evening, the sky was not cloudy, but acting twilight-y. Just a bit over an hour later, when we left, the sky was cloudy. The differences in looks was just too coooool not to journal, ya know? I took others, but they'll have to make the "gag" reel later in the week.

love y'all,

ME :)

30AUG10

Snow's comfy pillow


Snow sure loves Pop.

p.s. sorry for yesterday. I lost my adapter, so I had to go buy a new one today.

29AUG10

HAZE: Hidden Cole

HAZE: Pop


Okay, so if you've been following this experiment, you've prolly noticed that I take what I call "accidental" shots all the time. The end product is usually something kind of "hazy." Today, I decided to try to see what would happen if I tried to have the end product of "haziness" PURPOSELY. What I do is focus the lens to the right of the spot I actually want to film. I press the button and move the camera toward the focal point. The above pictures are the result.

28AUG10

Buna's Warriors Resting in Twilight

Beyond this fence, stones--which bear the names of men and women who have protected us throughout the years--sit and rest under the flags of our nation and our state. As a living "fellow" of the people represented in the names chiseled on those stones, I always feel such emotion in places like this one. I imagine I may be back with my camera to this special location.
Buna Forest

This spot caught my attention the other day when Pop and I were out driving around. I'm sure I can get a better shot of it during daylight hours or if I wandered into it a bit. The stone "gate" drew me to it, but I can't seem to get a picture which shows why quite yet.
Scarred But Still Standing

I love this photo! There is just something about our flag, yeah?
Jack Verses Giant

This is my favorite shot of the day. Number One: This house is unique in its design. It has always caught my attention when we pass it on our driving tours of Buna and her environs. Number Two: I'd never noticed the tall trees which live near the house. When I saw how much taller the trees are than the house, i was just awestruck! The majesty and awesomeness and--well, height--of the trees are just so majestically awesome, yeah? Anyway, this shot was just totally rockin' cool!!
Walking Accident!

I haven't yet REMEMBERED the lesson of keeping still for a few seconds after I take a shot. I supppose that it is a good thing in one respect. I'm taking some interesting shots. I prolly ought to just erase them--the accidental shots, that is--but they just look so interesting that I don't wanna erase them.
Moving Trees

Another one: this one is prolly right after I took Old Glory. There were several trees surrounding her.

Some extras: not the ones I chose each day

Pop on Porch

Last Wednesday, I finally got my new cell phone to working and was testing out the camera. I did find a glitch (it needed a memory card) or two, but Pop and I did have some fun taking pictures. I took this one of him sitting on the carport porch in his straw hat and sent it to his grand-daughter, Alison.
Lily-Live Long And Prosper

Moments later, I received a text message. It was not only my first email from my new phone, but also it was my first picture message. It was of Alison's daughter, Lily. She had told Lily to wave and sent the picture to us.
Return Wave

Pop and I took another picture of the two of us waving and we sent it to Alison, along with Megan and Marilyn. It was just kind of really cool that this phone let me have a conversation in pictures. I'm thinking I'm going to like this phone.
Trouble Shooting # 1

Pop and I have been taking a lot of pictures together lately. As it goes with Alzheimers, Pop had let sink in the picture taking that we'd been doing. It was time for bed, but Pop was certain that we had some "shooting" we had to do before we could relax for the night. When I read through the lines of all the things he was saying, I realized that he thought we need to get some pictures taken of the dogs before we went to bed. Therefore, I had a informal "photo shoot." I took this picture of Pop...
Trouble Shooting # 2

...and this one of Snow White and these small actions seemed to assuage his restlessness and he was off to bed.
Country Dog and House

This is one of the pictures taken after our DQ visit last Thursday. We were driving around and enjoying ourselves when we saw these few houses all clustered together on a dirt road--my brain wants to say County Road 685, but I could be wrong. This particular house and the wall next to it really caught my eyes, so I tried to capture its elemental, old-fashioned beauty.
Generations # 1-21AUG10

This is one of my favorite pictures of the wedding weekend. Before the wedding, Uncle Doug and I went to visit Granny. She's been having a lot of health issues lately and I didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, while I was there, she seemed chipper and with it mentally. The same Granny as always!
Framed Hibiscus

One of the shots of the Hibiscus. I loved the way the grass framed it.
I'm not ready for my close-up, Mr. De Mille!

Tipper being shy.
Lazy Day

Pop and Tipper snoozing.
Snow from Below

Snow from below. She was trying to snuggle and kept messing up the shot, but finally I got a keeper.

27AUG10

Yesterday was supposed to be really hot, but it didn't feel like it to us. With the humidity seemingly so low, the heat just didn't feel so bad, yeah? In the morning--when I went out to the garden to cut some herbs--it felt like Denver in the summer. You know--crisp and cooler than usual. It was so enjoyable. Pop and I went out to get a few groceries at the store and when we arrived back home, I noticed that the temperature was much higher on our little temp guage than it really felt. Even just about thirty minutes later, it has risen to 108 or so. I was thinking "really?" cos it surely didn't feel like it.
I think--perhaps--we're so used to the humidity that a reprieve from it makes a world of difference.

I worked in the garden a little last night. I watered and then weeded. (Note to self: weed first--THEN water.) I never knew how much exercise you get from weeding. I guess it is all that holding yourself up so you don't fall over into the plants, yeah? This morning, my upper thighs even hurt a little. WOW. Maybe I need to weed more often. It can be my exercise! well, maybe I need to do a little more than just weeding, but we'll see if I can get that going, too.

Anyway, I took the picture after we got home from errands. I'm not sure what I was really going for, but I liked the end product.

Hope y'all enjoy!

Lolly Fab :)

P.S. That is my container garden on the right of the photo.

26AUG10

While Pop and I were out driving after our Thursday DQ lunch. We were out in the country when I saw this old fence. I guess I need to figure out how to take pictures closer so that you can see the details better. The fence is obviously barn red and has a ton of old signs on it. I thought it was very charming.



A picture of one of the hibiscus plants in my garden. :)

25AUG10

Pop and I were out on the car-port, playing with the animals. I took several shots of the animals and this one of Snow was just so cool.

I love the view from below and how I caught her in motion.

24AUG10

The light was beautiful about 6:50 p.m. on Tuesday. The tree just looked too lovely not to record it.

22AUG10

new orleans airport (Louis Armstrong Airport) accidental shot.

21AUG10: my favorites

You could see the pink in the clouds. It was so lovely and--though this picture isn't as lovely as the way my eyes saw it--it was one of my favorites from Sam's wedding day.
My new camera is really sensitive and it is in a really unreasonable place. Well, it is unreasonable if you don't want to take plenty of accidental shots. The above was an accidental shot. It is really the metal arbor that Uncle William and Sam walked through as she was walking down the aisle. It just looked so cool--even though the shot was upside down. It is on my top five of the day.
I think with the mirrors and the flash from the official photographers camera, there was often odd light. I didn't take this shot purposefully, but I think it looks SOOOO cool. This is Michael and Aunt Chris during the Mother/Son shot.
I was taking some pictures of Sam and her dress for my parents and family who couldn't make it to Denver for the wedding. I was trying to get a good shot so that they could see the dress in good light. I guess I was being firm and authoritative cos Sam laughed and told me I was "bossy." I know she was kidding. I snapped this shot as she was laughing at her joke. She looked so beautiful and "real" at that moment. I really liked this picture, too.

Aunt Edie's window is so beautiful! It reminds me of the scene from Pollyanna where Hayley Mills characters hangs the chandelier crystals on a string at the window. I think I may have to make one of these for myself. and another thing, after everyone's christmas presents are bought, I'm thinking that I'm buying myself Pollyanna on DVD! Pretty much anything Hayley Mills is in makes me happy.

These were my favorite of the wedding day shots. Hope y'all enjoy.

love,

Lolly Fab :)

20AUG10

This is my aunt and my cousin. I took this picture prolly just before midnight on Friday. I'd just arrived to the house after a trip in the Super Shuttle from the airport. I think the van driver had a little crush on me, to be honest. He dropped me off last and when he took my reservation ticket, he immediately offered me "shotgun." The entire trip from the airport to Sherman Street was him entertaining me with "spoken word" poetry and jokes and stories. At one point, he even told me that I was within his "dating range." What an odd thing for a van driver to say! That being said, we actually had a ton in common. One exception is that he voted for President Obama. He is--what he calls--a "one issue" voter. Interesting. He wanted the troops out of the middle east, therefore--since President Obama promised he'd get them out (which he hasn't, by the way)--Mr. Van driver voted for him.

He also has--unknown to himself, I believe--a disdain for "written" poetry. He was clear in his opinion that "spoken word" poetry is on a higher plain than other writer's work. I just let it go. Art is art. It is hard to really compare one type of art against another type of art. It will always be like comparing apples to oranges.

As he got my bags out, he gave me his phone number--in case I got bored during the weekend. I'm sure if I'd had time, it would have been an interesting friendly outing (not date--in other words) I took it and thanked him, but I thought "Well, have you listened to anything I've said during the two hours I've been sitting in this van? I'm getting in at 11:00 p.m. on Friday and boarding a plane back to Texas at 11:10 a.m. on Sunday. And in between--I have a wedding to attend. I won't have time to get bored, I promise.

Anyway, I really enjoyed spending the small amounts of downtime with Uncle Doug and Aunt Edie and Cousin Johannah. They are a lovely family and made me feel very at home. Uncle Doug fixed us breakfast on Saturday a.m. In the late morning on Saturday, we even all sat--or laid--on the couches and watched a movie. I can't remember the last time I was able to do that in such away that I wasn't having to worry about something--like where Pop is or something like that. I really enjoyed it.

One thing that I loved about their home is that it is designed in a very eclectic way. It kind of reminds me of my mother, a bit. I was comfy there.

Well, I think I've talked long enough.

19AUG10

I might have told this story already; so if you've heard it before, please forgive. This house y'all are seeing at the top of the blog is the house where Pop was married back in 1948. Originally, the house was located in the town of Bess May--which is now a dead town. The parents of Mary Anna--Pop's wife--lived in the house while her daddy worked at a nearby mill or a plant or something of that ilk. When the plant burned to the ground, there was no longer work available in Bess May, so Mary Anna's parents--or the new owners--moved the house to the neighboring town of Buna. Perhaps, even decades later, someone built a Dairy Queen on the lot just next to Pop's wedding house. Pop and I have lunch every Thursday at the DQ, so we visit the house where he gave his vows to MaryAnna sixty-two years ago. And strangely, though Alzheimers Disease clouds his mind on many of the details of his life--he remembers this story. I think it is a kinda awesome!

18AUG10-Pop on the porch

So, I am starting a different kind of blog. When my new phone--complete with camera--came in the mail, I realized how useful it would be. I could take pictures anywhere and everywhere and all over the place.

I realize that a cell phone camera isn't really the best camera around, but I decided I'd start another experiment. The experiment came from a blog Lisa Kennedy has wherein she posts a picture she takes every day. Therefore, I will be striving to take a picture a day on my cell phone camera. We'll see how it comes out.

And for day one: 18AUG10-Pop on the porch:

Pop and I spend part of every day outside. Often, we are on the car porch where this photo was taken. Pop was in his straw hat phase this day. Usually, he wears a cap, but today his focus was on the straw hat.

I thought the hat was perfect because it LOOKS like the era during which Pop was raising kids, and working on tractors and mowing lawns and planting gardens, etc.

Also, in case I didn't mention it: If there is a way that I could have taken a better picture, please let me know--NICELY, please. In other words, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcome! :)

Hope y'all enjoy!

love,

LollyFab :)