114/365

Dad and Daughter

I attended a birthday party to take photos of my friend's dad for his 97th birthday party.  

It was a fun experience.  

238/365

Birthday Balloons

I met a friend for coffee this morning in our favorite coffee shop before heading out to the antique stores.  I guess the shop is celebrating their birthday today because there were a lot of balloons throughout the shop.

I just hope they don't drink the kool-aid again when the next plandemic starts.  

I'm grateful today that:

I was able to purchase the-almost-perfect table and chairs for my dining room at one of the antique stores.

100/365

The Photo Album

The first Texas grand baby is having a milestone birthday this week.  His mom suggested I get him a photo  album since they gave him a camera.  He's been trying to take photos on a very old point-and-shoot camera of mom's, and obviously the pics don't look great since the camera is so old.

None of my kids followed in my photographic interests, so it's kind of exciting to give this album in the hopes he might like the hobby.  But he's young and interests change quickly for the young.

Several years ago one of my granddaughters showed an interest for about a year.  We went out on several photo excursions.  Then she lost interest, but it was fun for me while it lasted.

My heart is grateful today for: 

choices

Just For Fun

82/365

A good friend of mine celebrates her birthday at the end of March while I'm still in Hawaii.  I promised to take her out for brunch after I returned to NY.  Yesterday was the day.  We went to this great little place called Grapevine Farms that has the sweetest dining room/gift shop/wine cellar ever.

Between taking our time with our meal and wandering around the gift shop, we practically made a day of it.  It was wonderful.

Today, I went to another friend's house to help her figure out how to use her point & shoot camera.  I have the same one--she has a super-duper camera manual, so between the two of us and the manual, we managed to have a great time trying the special-effects functions on the camera.  

These first two images show the fish-eye effect, my personal favorite.  My friend isn't too impressed with it, but it's an effect that I really enjoy working with, even though it's not strictly a pure fish-eye.  It's just funky enough to be fun enough to use once in a while.

This next effects is selective color.  Although the composition isn't anything to write home about, the technique is so cool.  After putting the camera on the "selective color" function, you point the camera at the color you want to isolate, take the picture, and voila!!

And then!!!!  What fun.  This is called "color switch".  What a hoot.

The next two are just close-ups of flowers. But really, the lens is about 1.5 inches away from the subject.  If it's bright enough and there's no wind, you can get some great macro images.

No special effects on these last two.  Unless you want to call a slow shutter speed a special effect.  So that combined with some beautiful color in the sky and this is what you get.  I rested the camera on the picnic table because the shutter speed was so slow. I used a high ISO, so when they're enlarged they're very grainy.  But in small versions, they look pretty iconic.

Just Look At This Face!!

1965. A new freshman class arrived at college. Young, eager, nervous, ready to take on the challenges of new experiences...

Michelle was one of those people who are perky, pretty, vivacious, outgoing, talented, smart, well-dressed, and, darn-it-all, sweet and likable at the same time. It was impossible not to like Michelle.

I was a sophomore. I knew my way around the small campus, I knew practically all the upperclassmen (very small college), and within weeks knew practically all the freshmen (if not personally, at least by their first names).

She had a twin brother attending too. His name was Michael. Yep, Michelle and Michael Morrison. Oh dear. So Michelle became Mickie. She got involved in campus life very quickly, and we remained, if not close friends, at least good acquaintances until I graduated three years later.

We never saw each other again. I never heard anything about her until the other day! A roommate of mine, who was in the same singing group as Mickie (The Windy Hill Singers) sent out an email that Mickie is suffering with stage IV cancer, and that the prognosis is not good. I understand from Kathe that Mickie's college boyfriend from the singing group and her husband both died years ago from the same cancer. Is it contagious?

It took my breath away. The day I received the email, Kathe said that it was Mickie's 62nd birthday!!! Oh. My. Gosh!!! How did that happen? How can she be that old? Ooops, that means I'm that old too. Is that age old? Not according to my head.

I feel like this is an echo of Jayme's recent blog about the death of her dear friend and I don't mean to steal the thunder from her sad experience. I just needed to vent about this. It's been on my mind since I received Kathe's note. I'm sad about this. Sad for Mickie's family, for the life that's ebbing from her beautiful body and being, sad for our long gone youth (and, contrary to what most people say, I would love to have the chance to do it all over again), and sad that I will begin hearing stories like this about my friends and family more and more frequently.

I know that God is in control. I know that He numbers our days. I know that all our deeds were ordained for us before the world was created. I know that He loves me more than I can comprehend. And I know that my eternity with Him in heaven is going to be more than I "can think or imagine".

May Mickie know that security too. May she look forward to her new eternity in Heaven with the Author and Finisher of our lives. May she be comforted in this dark time of her life by the everlasting love of the Father, and the care and concern of her family and friends.

(this is not my photo post for today--check back later for that one)