It's Not All Fun And Games

So some people might think that I walk in the Dunes simply for pleasure and enjoyment. Or just to take pictures which I guess is also pleasure and enjoyment. Well, I'm here to say that right now I'm not having much enjoyment.

My head is still sore and so is my elbow. But my stomach and abdominal muscles feel like I've been working out for a week. My neck is so stiff I can hardly move it and my shoulders feel like they're carrying the weight of the world. My back muscles hurt and so does my left knee. All that from one little fall.

But there's more to walking in the Dunes than exercise, taking pictures, and falling. There's also education. Today I learned where baby picnic tables come from. Just look:




I also found out that there are some fun and games going on at the park that don't involve propagating the species OR taking pictures, exercising or falling. Look at this incriminating photograph.


I'm sorry these are kind of blurry but I was trying to be discreet and not get too close. Also, when I see a shot that I think won't last, I tend to rush it and I get some 'noise' in the picture if you get my drift.

I Fell......Again

I don't really want to talk about it but if I'm going to pretend that this blog is a journal then I have to. I need to record the major events in my life and my feelings and my musings about them.

No one would believe how much I don't want to admit that I fell again. Or how vehemently I would deny that it has anything, anything at all, to do with my age. But my fall record is dismal. And I know the main reason is bad judgment.

When I was working, I'd work too fast in difficult conditions in an effort to avoid criticism and for the satisfaction of doing a good job. Now, I guess I don't have the good judgment to stay in when conditions are not very safe. Or to at least walk in a safe area. Already, I'm checking the forecast for tomorrow to see when I can head out to the Dunes again knowing full well that the path will be just as slippery, the leaves will be just as wet, and the roots will be just as hidden. But I always think I can overcome little obstacles like these.

Today I got out much earlier. In fact I took my first picture at 3:31. The colors were beautiful but it was overcast and I didn't have as much light, especially at the end of the trail, as I would have liked.

There's a boardwalk in the middle of the trail that is almost a half mile long. It's not in real good repair but you just have to be careful...and I was. Here's an idea of what it looks like in places:


But mostly it looks more like this:

And I noticed very soon after stepping onto it that it was slippery so I was very careful. Therefore, the boardwalk, at least that boardwalk' was not the problem.

I tried to walk fairly fast between picture taking but the spaces in between pictures were pretty short. All of a sudden, my feet shot out from under me, my head slammed into something solid, and my glasses flew somewhere out of sight (which isn't all that far since my vision without them is pretty poor). I rolled over and struggled to my knees and tried to find my glasses. It took a long time and some fervent prayers but I found them. Thank God!

I had slipped on a very short wooden bridge hidden by wet, slippery leaves.

I got up and continued my walk but not as enthusiastically now. I took more pictures but when I got home and looked at them, I didn't remember taking most of them in fact hardly any of them.

And on the way home, I thought a lot about Natasha Richardson. Not the actress part..the death from a head injury part.

I know this sounds so disturbing but it was extremely traumatic for me. (The only other time when I've hit my head this hard before was when I was in about 2nd grade and a 3rd grader pushed me hard against a brick wall. I saw stars, blackness, and my feet slid out from under me. And no teacher or other kid even noticed. lol)

And to add insult to injury, ever since I slipped and fell in the goldfish pond, the hole in my left elbow which must have been much deeper than I thought has caused me a lot of discomfort. I just can't rest my head on my elbows now when I'm sitting at my desk. I do feel like it's starting to get better though.

So now I've hurt my right elbow. Sheeeeesh!

You Capture - Technology

The name of my project is Stacked Technology - New and Old

New:


Old:


Or so it seems.

For more technology or better yet to join the fun, visit Beth at Ishouldbefoldinglaundry.

Maybe Some Things Were Better In The Old Days and Maybe They Weren't

Thirty or forty years ago it wouldn't be at all unusual for a statement like this to be heard among young women, "I thought I was pregnant but I guess I was just late". And others would agree that they had had the same thing happen to them. And life went on.

Today, we don't have to be more than a day or two late before we can confirm what we're fervently hoping for or dreading fearfully. And when what we're fervently hoping for is confirmed, we can begin dreaming and celebrating. Our hearts are full and happy. We make our appointments and begin the long anticipated ritual of pregnancy. Then a few weeks later, there's that dreaded sign that everything isn't okay and later it confirmed. Devastation. Heartbreak. Loss. Pain.

After all, it's estimated that between 20 and 30% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. This, of course, includes pregnancies that end before a woman is even late.

Back in the day, we had to be more than late. We had to miss three times before we could even make an appointment to confirm what we suspected. Then, and usually only then, could the ritual begin. The appointments. The heartbeats. The love.

On one hand it might have been better back then. There was a suspected loss but not confirmed. Plans weren't interrupted and lives weren't scarred. Maybe that was better.

Today we know early, we dream, we hope, and if it doesn't go as we'd hoped, we mourn. And maybe that's better. Maybe that life that wasn't meant to be deserves to be mourned and missed by his or her mommy.

Maybe things weren't better back in the day.

Mystery Solved - I Think

Last night I posted what I thought was a spooky picture. I had been walking in Dunes State Park and it got late before I got out. I took a few pictures when it was almost dark using my flash and in one of those pictures there were some tiny little points of light - two green, two red - in the trees. I didn't see them until I got home and downloaded my pictures. Unfortunately those strange, tiny points of color didn't show up in the blog picture I posted but maybe it was just as well. I think I have a defective lens. I cleaned it before I went out today but I still had them in the flash pictures that I took tonight. I'm pretty disappointed. I guess I was hoping for something more dramatic.

So since I didn't get started until 5:25 yesterday, I made sure to get an earlier start tonight. I started at 5:01 and I was determined to walk the entire circuit of 3 miles. That's not bad but I haven't done any walking to speak of for two months and then there was the camera in my hand and the leaves and paths that I can't resist photographing. Adding to that was the waning light. I definitely did not want a bunch of flash pictures where the paths disappear in darkness like this one:
And taking pictures without a flash in the waning light required a steady hand or something to brace against and a lot more time.

Now I did have three pictures with strange orbs floating in them. And in two of them the orbs were on the path in front of me - once when the path went off to the right and once when the path went off to the left so I don't really think it was a lens thing. Another one had the orb and it was taken of the scene above. The only difference was that it was taken with a flash so you might think it had something to do with that but the very next picture I took with a flash of the exact same scene didn't have it. Go figure. Remember I took over 200 pictures and only those three had those orbs. What are orbs anyway?

Oh and by the time I got out of the woods, it was 6:25. Too late again. But now I think we really ought to look into that orb mystery. Tomorrow night.

Anybody want to go with me?

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

Well really I don't always feel that way. In fact, I hardly ever do. But today, or rather this evening, was another story.

I haven't been out for a walk in the Dunes for ages and ages. And I'm well aware that its getting dark earlier and earlier. I just didn't know it was like 10 minutes a day or something ridiculous like that.

I started my walk at 5:25. I thought that should give me plenty of time to do my 3-mile loop; however, I wasn't really factoring in the Fall colors and all the changes in the scenery that I would have to photograph. It's a compulsion sometimes and today was one of those times.

I encountered a man walking a dog and he said, "You're going to be out after dark." That gave me pause but I figured if it got to be 6 p.m. and I wasn't halfway, I'd turn back. At 5:55, I saw the bird outlook and thought I'd take a few pictures and just head back. But you know how easy it is to lose track of time when you're taking pictures right? I did. And I didn't start back until after 6:00.

And I was still shooting pictures and it was getting dark fast. So I quickened my pace and took fewer pictures. But I did take this one:

Not SO spooky right? Try double clicking on it and tell me if you see a couple of red glows and a couple of green ones. Do you?

What are they?

Ridiculous

This really is getting ridiculous. I don't even want to admit what we've (I've) done now. It's downright embarrassing. My gosh, if I could have foreseen how all this would play out less than 4 months later, would I have been so anxious to have that spawning last Spring? Of course, I would have.

Ever since that first exciting moment, I feel like I've done nothing but move eggs and then fish around. We've had two aquariums in the house before and I didn't like it. One tank is enough, and to tell the truth, I could do without that. I like the fish and everything but the upkeep and the room they take up are just too much. The fish that I really like are the outside fish. There when I want to visit them but out of sight when I'm relaxing in the house. I'm also not keen on the sound of filters. Just because the brand name is Whisper doesn't mean that they do.

So here we are again with two aquariums in the house. One for the littlest babies (some not much larger than a thread) and one for the bigger guys who keep accidentally finding tiny babies in their mouths. But guess what. Here's a picture of the big guys' house and there's getting to be way too big of a disparity in sizes again. See?

So I bought another aquarium. Just a 10 gallon one this time. That's where those two big pink fish that look suspiciously like goldfish are going to reside. And I'm not going to buy or install another aquarium no matter what.

And once again, if I would have known then what I know now about koi husbandry....I'd do it all over again. If fact, I can hardly wait until next Spring's spawning. And the good news is that if even half of these babies survive and we can sell each of them for $5,000, we'll probably break even. Yeahhhhhh!