Dewy Rose, Ga

Does anyone play checkers anymore?  This re-run blast from the past slows the mind a bit, doesn't it? Try a simple game of checkers over the holidays. It's sure to take the stress out of the season.

A little bit of summer replay for these cold winter days...

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” ~  John Steinbeck (from Travels with Charley: In Search of America)

This is not an endorsement for feeding seagulls. At the time, it was a well composed moment I could not pass up. Please, please don't feed seagulls or other wildlife.

Remember those less fortunate...

Gandhi quote for a Tuesday

"Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men."~ Mahatma Gandhi

Memories

“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.” ~ Joan Miró

A few days ago, I turned on my laptop for the first time in almost a year and found I had some stray photos floating around. This photo, taken on the spur of the moment (I don't do weddings) while on my way to somewhere, caught my attention because one of my followers recently told me it was one of their favorite photos. So since I am doing reruns, at least until Jan 1, I thought this would make a good re-post photo.

One day at a time...

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." ~ Abraham Lincoln

To friendship...

“It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.” ~  Marlene Dietrich

Ready for cold weather?

"Every mile is two in winter." ~ George Herbert

When the tourists go away...

Fall in Crisfield...

Would you call this a "dead" town? Looks pretty much like this on Friday and Saturday nights.

Oysters are here!

Washington, DC

Summer Flowers Preserved

I took this photo in August. It is some kind of tropical flower that my neighbor grows in a pot on her porch. As I was leaving her house, the cheery little petals caught my attention and I pulled out my iPhone. Wonderful little gadget, the iPhone. In a perfect light, you get a near perfect photo.

Unfortunately, life seldom offers up great light, as least as far as professional photographers are concerned. But on this day, I had friendship and a perfect light to preserve the moment. I love to find forgotten photos in my iPhone.

The American Dream?

"People are so busy dreaming the American Dream, fantasizing about what they could be or have a right to be, that they're all asleep at the switch. Consequently we are living in the Age of Human Error." ~ Florence King


If you have been here, I don't need to tell you where this is. If you haven't, you don't need to know.

October 31, 2012

"Proof of our society's decline is that Halloween has become a broad daylight event for many."  ~ Robert Kirby

Boo! A day early...

Photo taken at Weathered Porch.

A warm thought...

"The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Batten down the hatches

Hurricane Sandy headed our way?

File photo

Banjo 101

"Like, What is the least often heard sentence in the English language? That would be: Say, isn't that the banjo player's Porsche parked outside?" ~ Jackson Browne

Certainly no Porsche parked outside the homes of Patrick and Pat Costello, father and son team who can pick a grin right onto your face in no time flat. No Porsche could buy the happiness their music gives them, or others.  These two "play" their happiness, and gladly share with those who hold dear their talents. You gotta envy musical people like this, as well as the towns that embrace them. Creativity is the lifeblood of a town. Without it, there is only stone and mortar.  I feel blessed to know them.

I found this photo during one of my many filing sessions and thought I would share. And yes, Pat, I would still like  to learn how to play the banjo. Check them out on You Tube.

Thought for the day...

"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't."  ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Fall Wine Fest at Pemberton Park in Salisbury, 2012

Sorry I did not get these on earlier. I am a bit rushed now. I have more photos, but they will have to wait. If you missed the October 20-21 Wine Fest at Pemberton Park, you missed a great party. It was a perfect fall day to relax and sample wines.  Make plans for next fall.

The phoenix or the egg?

“Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix” ~ Christina Baldwin
 

C. JoyBell C.

“If you swim effortlessly in the deep oceans, ride the waves to and from the shore, if you can breathe under water and dine on the deep treasures of the seas; mark my words, those who dwell on the rocks carrying nets will try to reel you into their catch. The last thing they want is for you to thrive in your habitat because they stand in their atmosphere where they beg and gasp for some air.”
― C. JoyBell C.

Wise Words for Wednesday...

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." ~ Abraham Lincoln

Don't Turn Away

 "We are a country that prides itself on power and wealth, yet there are millions of children who go hungry every day. It is our responsibility, not only as a nation, but also as individuals, to get involved. So, next time you pass someone on the street who is in need, remember how lucky you are, and don't turn away." ~  Lesley Boone 

Mother Nature...

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?" ~ J. B. Priestley

I passed this scene, sans snow, in Princess Anne the other day (October 2012, for those who will come by this photo by accident and wonder about the timeline) and remembered taking the below photo at a most unexpected time, as evidenced by the warm-weathered theme of colorful chairs and umbrella. After finding the photo, I immediately looked for the date and found it was taken in March of  this year, a time when spring causes us to splash color about our yards and set up cozy sitting areas in which to sip lemonade.

I used to write seasonal change stories to post on this blog. Newspaper photographers and writers love to regal viewers and readers with stories about seasonal changes. This years story is on my private blog. But, since I still keep up this blog, in a most casual way these days, and since the season of Winter may soon be upon us, I thought I would re-post this photo.

Snow in March after the 4th warmest winter on record? Maryland actually cashed in as having the 5th warmest winter on record, despite the March snow. Now we are on record for having the hottest summer. And don't forget the record drought.

Patron Saint Gertrude of Nivelles

"Ye Shall not possess any beast, my dear sisters, save only a cat." ~ Gertrude of Nivelles

Filtered for watercolor effect. iPhone photo.

Bag it!

"The water in our oceans is like blood for our planet. If we continue to fill it with toxic materials such as plastic, it will be to the detriment of all life on Earth." ~ Doug Woodring


Don't you just hate it when you want to take a photo and you have to move the garbage? This time I left it.

 In 1988, we were warned about garbage piling up in the oceans, especially plastics that never-ever biodegrade. They just break up into tiny microscope pieces that sit at the bottom of oceans creating their own little worlds. Right now, one of those worlds known as the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'  is roughly the size of Texas, though no one has been able to accurately measure the swirling mess of plastic and sludge. And no one knows how to clean it up.

If you are concerned about how plastic is trashing up the oceans, killing fish and wildlife, and poisoning you - yes, "poisoning you" just do a search for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and then Google "BHA in plastics." While in investigative mode, dig for the truth about recycling plastic. It's a nasty truth once you get passed the "rubbish" the plastic industry throws out to foil you. Or you can just save yourself the trouble of Googling and order the documentary Bag It! I promise you, that after watching this doc, you will be hauling your groceries out in your arms if the store does not have plastic bags. Don't want to buy the DVD? TIVO it.

Oh, and if you left that bag on the Maryland beach, it is probably vacationing in the Pacific right now. Don't blame all the litter in the ocean on coastal people. No mater where you live, that plastic you see floating across the street eventually breaks down into tiny particles where it makes its way to drainage ditches, streams, and eventually the ocean.

 Don't litter. And please, educate yourself about plastic. In this day and age, I can't imagine why anyone would go around with blinders on. It's convenient, yes, but is it smart?

Jobless men keep going Chamber of Commerce billboard...

"Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
 Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? 
 Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
 Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?"  Brother, Can You Spare a Dime  by Yip Harburg  



Credit for this photo goes to John E. Allen, Inc.

Funny how you find things when you are looking for something else or cleaning and throwing out. I have been doing a lot of that lately. While dumping all the junk in my iPhone, I ran across this photo, taken January 6, 2012.  Naturally, this is not my photo, though I did filter it for effect. It is a still I captured while watching a documentary about the Depression. I can't recall the name of the documentary, but Ron Kerber informed me it was taken in Nothern Indiana.

 My TV preferences lean towards documentaries. And except for watching some Tivo reruns of the canceled Trailer Park Boys - I think that was a hilarious series (dry-cleaning for the brain), and much better than the dime-a-dozen  reality shows, I stick to history (something I can't seem to find much of on the History Channel these days) and an occasional HBO series. I also enjoy the programming on LINK and TCM.

I don't think I have ever used my phone or even my camera to capture a TV image, but something caused me to pause the TV and rewind. Maybe it seemed to portray the direction our economy was/is going,  the composition, my admiration for the photographers who covered the Depression, or just the fact that the photo, or clip, is a "stand-alone", meaning that it needs no words. It perfectly captures the era of the Great Depression. With so many people out of work today, could we soon see signs like this cropping up in dying cities across America? I dunno - it is certainly dead in Crisfield. I do know that I liked the image, and I am sharing it with you.

Step back in time

"This feeling has become a rarity, and rarer every day now that we have reached a hastier and more superficial rhythm, now that we believe we are in touch with a greater amount of people, more people, more countries. This is the illusion which might cheat us of being in touch deeply with the one breathing next to us. The dangerous time when mechanical voices, radios, telephones, take the place of human intimacies, and the concept of being in touch with millions brings a greater and greater poverty in intimacy and human vision." ~ Anais Nin  

The above was written in 1946. Lately, I have been spending less time with gadgets and gadget-people and more time with life and meaningful people and things that bring quality, not quantity, into my life.

And yes, you have seen this photo, last August 2011 - in color, created way before the cell phone and computer companies plotted, while we slept, to take over our lives. What a good time to dust it off and give it a new look. And meaning.

On the Road

"What's your road, man?--holyboy road, madman road, rainbow road, guppy road, any road. It's an anywhere road for anybody anyhow." ~ Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Part 4, Ch. 1 

For a gypsy like me, Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" is a must-read book. I have been down many roads off many highways (the best being "anywhere" roads). Some places I flew through so fast I have no memory of being there save for finding an oddball negative floating among some familiar ones. There was a time when I would stop anywhere a piece of tin caught the sun just right or if the grayness of the day required a notation.  Something must have caught my eye here. It still does. It also makes me wonder - just where was this place? Had I drank too much tequila?

Rainy day in crisfield

Georgia Mountains

"When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view." ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox


For my friend, who says he can't quite wrap his head around the thought of mountains in Georgia. Yes, we have lots of mountains in Georgia.

No matter what kind of house you live in, if you tuck your house far enough into the trees, Nature streams in 24/7.

Want a home with a mountain view? Check Habersham, White, Rabun, Clayton and other surrounding counties. If you don't get too far up in the mountains winters are mild. Summers are also cooler than areas with high humidity, and much cooler than Florida.