Day 7--Pruyn House

A field trip this morning to the Pruyn House. Private showing, so to speak.

Day 6 and Jackpot

The daughter of a friend of mine reminded me that she has some artwork hanging in the current art show at the local community college. When I went out today, I decided to take a look. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the show.

She also reminded me that she used one of my photographs as a model for a painting. That, in itself, is an honor, but when I saw the painting I was really impressed. I know that if I had seen this painting without knowing that it was from one of my photos, I would have thought "how nice it would be to take a photo like that".

After leaving the gallery, I looked across the road and knew I had hit the jackpot. I saw these silos and couldn't resist getting my camera out. I only had my point-and-shoot with me, but it was still fun. I'm sure the drivers that went by wondered what the heck I was doing lying on the shoulder of the road in front of my car, but hey, when you gotta get the shot, you gotta do whatever it takes. It was soooooo fun.

Day 5

I remember those days...

4th Day

Street sign on the corner where Morette's is located--the place where we meet for dinner before our photo meetings.

Flowering bush in front of the church where the photo meetings are held.

Another plate.

Day 3 and Thank Goodness for Little League

Today was Jacob's first game of the season on the Bantam Team. In the late afternoon there was quite a heavy rain downpour and I wondered if there would even be a game. But shortly after, the sun came out, and even though it was a little cool, it turned into a lovely let's-go-watch-the-little-league-game afternoon.

Day 2 of 7

What to photograph? what to photograph? what to photograph? Oh No!!! am I struggling already and it's only day 2? I procrastinated all day. Finally, I had to leave for a meeting at Borders in the Crossgates Mall.

Surely there would be a license plate I could photograph with all the cars in that parking lot. I arrived about two minutes before the meeting began, so I didn't have too much time to wander around the parking lot, but even after going up and down about 4 rows, I didn't find one interesting plate. Sigh.

Shrugging my shoulders, I headed into the mall, when I noticed this storefront. Bingo!

Then I looked up and noticed the Borders sign. Bingo again.

This next image is not one I took, but Caleb sent to me via email. I love it, but the caption with the original photo is, "this is my 'I never want to leave here' photo".

No Green Thumb

I've had a thought rolling around in my mind for a few weeks. No wise cracks from any of you, by the way! Last year some friends and I challenged each other to taking and posting at least one image a day for a year. We did it, some better than others, and were all relieved when the challenge was over. But since it ended, I've been really remiss in posting to this blog.

Sometimes I'm sad about that, sometimes I'm relieved and sometimes I don't care. But lately, especially in light of the tenacity of one of those members to post every day again, I've been thinking of setting a goal for myself that will last, hold onto your hats folks, one week!! How pathetic...

Today is the first day of the week's commitment. So I went out into my yard to find something to photograph--that in itself is a major challenge since my yard is ugly and boring. I took a few shots, knowing that because there is no green thumb on either of these hands, there isn't even a paltry flower to photograph.

I had to leave soon after that to get to Bible Study, and when I arrived at the church I saw these beautiful flowers on the tree in front of the church. They don't last long and I don't know what they are, but they are soooo sweet when they bloom.

So even though I don't have a green thumb, I can enjoy the beauty that grows around me, nurtured by others who are more gifted and persistent than me.

48 Hours Later

So after arriving in NY on Thursday morning, 48 hours later I gathered up my camera and tote bag, made a quick stop at Stewarts for a yummy iced coffee and headed off to the Little League Field where Lauren was to play her first ever game of T-ball.

While waiting for the game to begin, I spied this t-shirt and just had to get a shot of it. It's another funky saying, which, I'm sure will offend some people, but will make most upstate NY guys chuckle and say, "way to go, man!" (imagine deep voice and high-five)

If you've never had the pleasure of watching one of these T-ball games, you're really missing something. Some of these little people have never played ball before and it's a hoot to watch. When they're in the field they're usually pretty bored, and their attention is often anywhere but the batter. Lauren did pretty well, but she still succumbed to the "ho hum" factor occasionally.

A little instruction from the coach. You know, there are horror stories about LL coaches and parents on the news almost every year. We have the best coaches and league. No games or practices on Sundays, and I've never seen a parent go ballistic because their kid did something they thought was wrong, or hear one yelling at a coach. Another reason why small town living is so awesome.

A connection.

Running for 1st base.

A catch and throw.

Three innings per game. Every player up to bat each inning. Every player runs the bases. No one cares who wins. The goal: learn and have fun! Yeah T-ball.

Another Random Mix

A friend of mine wanted to take me to lunch at this place. When we arrived, we discovered that they aren't open for lunch, just dinner, and there was a wedding reception taking place.

We were allowed to walk around the garden and outdoor reception area though. This tree was on the grounds and I thought it was really interesting. I didn't have my wide angle lens with me, so this was the best I could do--my back was up against the building as it was, so I couldn't get any further away. You can see that it's magnificent.

The building in the distance is the restaurant where the wedding reception was taking place.

A sculpture gracing the entrance to the restaurant.

They surprised me with a "flat Linda". I'll be tagging along, in Hawaii, with anyone who wishes to take me with them while I'm in NY. It will be interesting to see where I wind up.

One of the ladies threw a baby shower for her daughter. Just a couple of images from that event.

Julie, the hostess, made this cake with the help of her younger daughter. I see a profession in the future for these two. It was a nice morning and the food was fantastic! And Doug, Julie's husband, made us some awesome smoothies--they rival any I've had anywhere. Move over Jamba Juice!! (and I got to spend some more time in the beautiful basketball court! see the post from March 29)

Leah's birthday is May 4. I'll be in NY by then, so I made her a cake and we wished her happy birthday at Bible Study last night.

This last image was a recreation, but I absolutely love it. I think it's my favorite--I love the expression on her face. Sometimes the most spontaneous shots are the best.

Eating at the Commissary

I was out with my friend the other day and she had to do some grocery shopping on the way home. We stopped at the Commissary, where there is also a food court. Well, she and I have never met a food court we didn't stop and eat at, so before shopping we indulged ourselves. The neat thing about this one is that since it's on one of the military bases, it's populated mostly by military personnel. Yeah for our troops.

So you know how I love funky signs and license plates. On the way out I noticed the following three signs and couldn't resist recording them. I think this first one should be posted in every public eating place...

I really dropped the ball on photographing this last sign so it would be clear enough to read. But under the image is the translation.

PUSH
You can have things your way and pull if you want,
but this door is pretty stubborn.
Okay, maybe these signs haven't made you laugh out loud,
but I still think they're pretty clever...

Another day I was at a friend's house and her daughter showed me some of the artwork she's been doing. She's very talented and her artwork is truly beautiful. She also makes custom crafted jewelry with gemstones. Once she gets her blog up and running, I'll post a link to it so you can see her creations--and maybe buy some for yourselves or for gifts.

This is my favorite. If you enlarge the image, you'll see that there will eventually be a border which will act as a frame.

Okay, now it's off to the North Shore (possibly a Shave Ice), where I hear the surf is pretty high. The sun is shining, the wind is just a breeze and I have hours to enjoy one of my last days on Oahua.

Tuesday, April 20th

Only 8 days left. Sigh!

There Are Times...

The other day when I went to the office, I found this is my mailbox. I don't normally wave my own flag, but there are times when a little affirmation for hard work is encouraging.

The Wai'oli Tea Room

Yesterday two friends and I went to the Wai'oli Tea Room for lunch. It's in the suburbs of Honolulu. Very sweet place. Very green and lush environment. These images were made with my point and shoot, so they're not spectacular--mostly just-for-the-record.

One of the ladies ordered quiche. It was so amazingly good that she asked the waitress if she knew how it was made. The waitress said she'd ask the chef and the next thing we knew, the chef was sitting at our table giving us the low-down on how he created the quiche.

Then he shared this note with us about an up-coming lunch request.

Later in the day I was running some errands and came across this license plate. It says it all!