Daisy Power!

These tiny asters--smaller than a dime--caught my eye and I grabbed the camera to shoot them. It wasn't until I was processing the images that I saw him, the teeny yellow-green fly. He only made an appearance on one image. Taking an average image steps beyond average to something thought provoking--at least for me.

I imagined myself as the fly. Teeny with those translucent wings buzzing around in the warm sun. Carefree. Happy. Doing what I was made to do and loved to do and this little poem came to mind.


Enjoy your life! Live life fully as you buzz from flower to flower, from experience to experience, enriching each flower or individual you come in contact with.

You really have to view this image in a larger size to fully appreciate it. Check it out here.

M4H's 52 Challenge--Addicted

The challenge was about what we, the Photographers, are addicted to.... Hmmmmmm.

ADDICT: a person with a strong and habitual liking for something.

Synonyms addict, aficionado (also afficionado), buff, bug, devotee, enthusiast, fanatic, fancier, fiend, fool, freak, habitué (also habitue), head, hound, junkie (also junky), lover, maniac, maven (also mavin), nut, sucker

Related Words groupie; admirer, amateur, collector, connoisseur, dilettante; authority, expert; adherent, convert, cultist, disciple, follower, hanger-on, votary; advocate, apostle, backer, champion, evangelist, exponent, friend, patron, promoter, proponent, supporter; partisan (also partizan), zealot; booster, rooter, well-wisher; faddist

Well, I don't smoke, do drugs or drink alcohol. I made those decisions early in life. I don't wear jewelry. BLING is nice, but doesn't interest me. no piercings. No body art. Shoes? I can't recall when I last bought a pair of new shoes for myself. And the lower the heel the better!  Chocolate is nice, but I can take it or leave it. I hate my cell-phone and only text with my children. I don't do insta-gram, or any phone related things--but I should. I don't watch TV or go to movies. So, do I have any vices? Hmmmmm..... Do you think I'd admit it if I did? ;-)

My life is my two youngest sons. School. Work. I don't have time or energy to do much more than that. Well, really...? It sounds like I don't have a life. Yeah.... well, for now my focus is on Family, School, Paying Bills.

The things I love the most are, in this order:

•  My six children. They are amazing and I miss the four that are grown and on their own.
• Photography. I am lucky that I can do something I love on a day to day basis.
• Quilting--fabric, color, texture... OH WOW! I am on sensory over-load.

El Jay, my baby.

Can't say that parenting is an addiction.

Although a few of the words related to addiction do fit with parenting:

advocate, authority, backer, friend, supporter

Neighbor Boy Watching the Fireworks.

I am enthusiastic and passionate about photography.

This is my fabric stash

(just imagine six sets of bookcases with five shelves each packed full with fabric.....)

Okay, so, I am a fabric junky. You got it. That is my addiction.

(My X even used this addiction against me in our divorce.)

Favorite Images First Half of 2012

Newborn Angel

This sweet baby is from the shoot I did this week.

Happy Father's Day

Today in my home it is Happy Mentor a Boy Day

or maybe Happy Male Role Model Day.....?

Of course, I have a dad. He was a good dad--maybe not perfect, but I do know that my dad loved me and did his best to provide the physical, emotional and spiritual support children need. He is 80-years old now and lives in another state--yet, he is still a loving and caring dad and grandfather. My father was a great example to me of what a father and husband should be. And he continues to lead and support my children and me. I looked for a picture of my dad with me as a child, but there aren't many, because (like me) me was usually behind the camera lens taking the pictures.

This is a picture of my dad (PapaJoe) with El Jay taken in Logan, Utah, in 2005.

Another picture from the same day in Logan, Utah. At the cemetery visiting my dad's maternal grandfather's grave. A rare picture with me. The sprinklers were running and my dad was simply enjoying the moment. The boy running thru the sprinkler and picture is my sister, Sylvia's, son. And of course 2 1/2 year old El Jay.

El Jay and his dad running thru the sprinklers at the cemetary.

It has been two Father's Days since El Jay was with his own father. He will never again do those things he enjoyed doing with his dad. There are many things that he won't learn from his father. No matter who or what his father is, I hope El Jay will have good, possitive memories of his father. I am also grateful that this man will never again hurt another little boy. My hope for El Jay is that he will be blessed with many men who will be influential in his life. He has four brothers, PapaJoe, a couple uncles and a hand-full of male cousins. There will be teachers and coaches and other men who will come into his life to guide and teach him what it is like to be a man and father. A man doesn't have to be a father to reach out and show love and kindness to a child and to show a young boy what a real man truly is like.

Thank you to all the people who are in their own ways helping me to raise this boy into the man he will someday be.

F is for Freedom

'F' is for Flag

'F' is for Freedom

'F' is for Father

(Mine served during Korea.)

I am really enjoying my Alphabet Challenge and promise to share more at the end of May (Yes, I know it is the end of May. so I guess I'll share more in June--after I have all 26 letters.)

Today is Memorial Day and I wanted to say Thank You to those who have served to protect our freedom.

STICKS & ............

As of last week I decided to think independently on the entire weekly challenge thing. IF I see a challenge somewhere that entices me to play along, I will. If I don't, I can easily come up with my own theme.
In the Smugmug Daily Forum someone suggested a STICK challenge. It was Friday. It was a fun challenge. Who would have thought that a stick could be so photogenic. I enjoyed thinking about what to photograph, because a stick isn't just a stick, as you'll see with my variety of "sticks." And then there are the quotes. I'll include a few here.

TYPES OF STICKS:

Cinnamon Sticks

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.  ~Chinese Proverb

Flattery is like chewing gum. Enjoy it but don't swallow it.   ~*Hank Ketchum

Pixy Styx

A cross is just two sticks of wood nailed together.

The Hiking Stick

El Jay was my production assistant and a stick in his hand becomes a sword.

WK 18 {If You're Happy and You Know It....}

I'm not saying much on this one and will let you all interpret it your own way.

If You're happy & You Know It....

What do you do?

A is for ALPHABET Challenge

It is time to announce my personal challenge for the month of May.

I will continue to take my camera with me as often as possible and while I am carting it around I will look for interesting pictures I can take using the letters of the alphebet.

I do not have to get the pictures in A,B,C order. I don't have to get one each day. I just need 26 pictures, one for each letter, by the end of the month.

The image above will not be my official letter "A" photo, but it seems so appropriate for this challenge that I decided to use it as the picture announcing the challenge. I found this precious piece of plastic in the RT 66, Nob Hill area of Albuquerque on an empty lot where a motel once stood. It could be from the marquee of that extinct motel. I picked it up and brought it home, to serve as a little bit of Rt66 memorabilia and inspiration.

I invite all of my readers (all one of them?) to participate with me in the ABC Challenge.

White Wk 17

I am a week behind. Sorry. The Blog account got screwed up when I added Google Apps and I didn't have the initiative to either get rid of Google Aps or figure out how to add this account to it. At this moment I hate google APS. *sigh*

This is My M$H challenge image for WK17.  The Theme was WHITE, I went with a highkey looking image. i posted several working versions of it here.

Cropped, B&W, soft focus and frosted corners

Desaturated, frosted corners and frame

Original

I should be posting a new image for Week # 18 today. M4H's theme was HAPPY.... Hmmmmmm. I get back to y'all about that soon.