smoke

Header Challenge:smoke

August 7, 2013

First, a public service announcement: Today is my second daughter's 20th birthday! The photo below gives the impression that her uncle has his hand behind her head, making bunny ears. Nope. That's all her. My daughter really does have bunny ears that look like fingers sticking out of her head. It's a genetic defect from her mother's side of the family. ;-)

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program: The privilege to select today's theme was given to me, and I tried to think of a subject that had potential to be innovative and interesting, and possibly even challenging. Today's challenge is smoke.  Check out my  pals for their interpretations on this theme: Fishing  Guy, Katney, Imac and Lew.
 
The source for all this smoke is a stick of incense. That was more difficult to find than I expected. I took the picture at night, and carefully lit it so that the light sources did not shine directly on the camera lens or the black cloth I used as a backdrop. This shot below is what it looked like to shoot the smoke in the dark of night. For the header, I changed the colors and combined some photos for a collage. While this required some thought to produce, the cost was negligible. The only thing I needed to buy was the incense sticks, which only cost me a buck.

timetable

timetable

May 1, 2013

This week's Headbanger's theme is "timetable."  Check out my  pals for their interpretations on this theme: Fishing  Guy, Katney, Imac and Lew.

I could have (and should have) put more time and creativity into this week's post.  I have ideas that never saw fruition.  But such is our struggle, pitting each week's objectives against the constraints of time.  This header shows children displaying their projects at the History Fair.  They were excited to show people the elements of construction in making a Roman road. We were excited about that too, but it didn't hurt anything that they offered treats.

time passes in the flurry of activity around a dessert table

one of the quintessential symbols of the passage of time

a special portion of cake from a special celebration

nifty fifty

(First of all, if you're visiting... thanks!! Things have been so busy lately, that I have not been in the blogosphere very much.)

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We celebrated Mrs. Craver's birthday this weekend. It was a surprise birthday party. We had a good turnout, and it was a special treat to see that some people who live farther away made it out for the event.

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We had lots of food, tons of laughs, and... karaoke. It's funny how everyone thinks rock stars are so cool, and people wish they could sing, but put a microphone in the room, and it's like a deadly kryptonite, striking victims with a paralyzing fear. Coaxing, cajoling and putting people on the spot eventually got folks to go up there and make fools of themselves. I did it three times, myself... and for that, I apologize to every sensible ear that was offended. It was cool though, when the audience joined me do do back-up vocals, and some people even got up to dance!

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To my surprise, and great delight, the karaoke platform was not used only for silliness, but one young friend (Rachel Grace) got up and sang a touching and tender song that melted our hearts. My wife was moved to tears.

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The best part of this event was celebrating the life of Mrs. Craver and showing our appreciation for the blessing that she is in each of our lives. That woman does so much for her family and community. It was good to have some time set aside for her, as opposed to taking from her, like I usually do. Every day, I am humbled to stand in the presence of true greatness. I suppose I should sign off today by singing...

Then I saw her face,

Now I'm a believer.

Without a trace--

Of doubt in my mind...

life preservers

One portion of this Sunday afternoon's birthday celebration was a slide presentation/pictorial novella of my friend's life, accompanied with folk music from the 60's and 70's. It was a compilation of photos from the birthday gal's life. There were lots of cute pictures of her as a little girl, but I was most impressed with her older pictures. She had a certain joie de vivre. There were lots and lots of pictures, and she seemed so comfortable with the camera. She allowed goofy pictures to be taken, like funny poses, pressing her face against a window, and dressing up in a self-deprecating, silly outfit.

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In college dorm life or in being a grandma, she demonstrated a gift of being able to brighten the ambiance of every environment she was a part of. It is not that she makes light of everything; it's that she brings light wherever she goes.

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Another such person was an amazing young lady with cerebral palsy. I met this other young woman for the first time at a Labor Day party. There are serious limitations on her physical body, but as I did a mental recap of the day's events, I realized that I did not have any feelings of pity for this lady on account of her handicap. (I apologize to anyone who reads this and finds it offensive that I feel sorry for someone with a disability, but that is my honest, natural instinct.) Instead, this lady left me with the impression that she was like the birthday gal mentioned above, a life-giver... one who enhances the quality of other peoples' lives.

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Friend, my desire for you is that you have these kinds of people in your life.

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[One naughty splashing boy from the Labor Day party.]

Sky Watch Friday!

little buddy

Friday (July 11th) is my birthday. I'll be working. I like my work, but honestly, I'd rather take the day off, go fishing, take pictures, and hang out in the blogosphere.

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I took S2 to work with me on Wednesday. I let him stuff envelopes and do some collating for filing. He liked being with Dad at the office. Afterwards, we went fishing with a close pal and his two little kids. I had a really cool, new lure that I wanted to try out. When we arrived to the fishing spot, I prepped S2's line and set him up with a softgel minnow on a weedless hook. Sure, that takes a little longer than the prefab lures, but I wanted to increase his chances of catching something. After his pole was ready, I cast it once. Bang, bang! The bluegills immediately nipped at the tail a few times, but none got hooked yet. I handed S2 his rod and turned to get my own stuff ready.

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I've bored you with enough details. If you're still reading, the long story short is that when I was FINALLY ready, I cast my own line, and that fancy lure kept going, and going... The line had been severed, and now my lure was stranded, way in the middle of this pond!

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Fortunately, it was a floater, and I fished it back with a couple of criss-crossing casts. (Say that ten times real fast.) Whew!

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Anyhoo, it was a beautiful night, and when we got home, S2 raved about what a great day it had been.

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Visit Tom to enter this week's Sky Watch Friday.

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Update: Hey, guess what... I'm 50. That's not what my birth certificate says, but the folks at the office refuse to accept my real age of 43, and decided that I am 50 instead. (Or 51, depending on who you ask.)

XLII

I was born July 11, 1965. Things were probably quite comfortable in Mommy's womb. I can't remember much from the early days (before birth), but this was the day I just knew I had to make a change.

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My memory is a little fuzzy, so it's hard to describe. But it was definitely NOT a day like any other day. There was an overwhelming sense of urgency that came over my entire being. It was more than an itch that needed scratching, it was almost a panic... like when you're swimming and gasp for air, only to find that you haven't surfaced yet.

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Long story short, we (Mom and I) made it through okay. Once I had made it through to the other side, I almost wished I was back in my old little room, 'cause some old guy tried to pick a fight with me. He picked me up by my ankles and gave me a totally unprovoked whack! Punk! Boy was I mad, so I gave him a dirty look and I'm ashamed to say, but... well, I said some things.

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Anyway, this dude backed off 'cause he saw I was about to open up a can of whoopin' on him. Standing close by, there was a sweet (as in kind) young lady standing there who saw the whole thing. She saw that I was cold, so she gave me a blanket. Then she hugged me. I'm telling you, that is awkward, getting hugged when your arms are wrapped up tight against your own body and you can't hug them back. She probably noticed that I was blushing, and set me down in the biggest bed I had ever seen.

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I think I fell asleep and can't remember much after that. (sigh) What a day!

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After work today, I hope Mrs. Craver makes that blueberry dump cake I like so much.

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Image by Tracy Layne