Round Robin Challenge: Nostalgia

Nostagia.  SO different from person to person.  Not the meaning of the word, but what comes to mind when we say the word.  Each having a personal flashback ... each so different from the person to their right and to their left.  I pondered on this challenge, wondering if there were really any photographs I had taken that really truly represented nostalgia.  I looked through photo after photo, not really finding a photo that sparkled like the north star.  The process was so time comsuming ... I had to look and reminisce at each photograph; each one bringing on a smile or a tear.  Time was ticking away, soon the challenge would come to a close, and I still had not chosen anything to represent Dorn's choice of "Nostalgia" for Round Robin Challenge.  Dorn comes to me in the form of "little sister," and while we've had our fair share of tiffs while growing up, we have established an  uncanny bond in sisterhood.  Thanks, Dorn, ( Through the Eyes of the Beholder) for such a trip down memory lane with this challenge!

My three selected entries for this challenge are in the form of scrapbook pages.  Above, you will find we took "pioneering" to heart.  Hubby went out to the back and CUT down a pine tree for our first christmas.  It took a bit of trimming and splicing, but the end result was a christmas tree like no other!!!  Every year, during the preparations for Christmas, our FIRST tree is always on list of holiday memoirs... it's bigger than santa in our home!

   This entry is dedicated to my father in law who passed away in 1992.  This picture always reminds me that it's not impossible to find lost family members.  My brother in law (far left) was taken from dad as a toddler and never heard of again until dad's funeral.  But what a sweet union it was for "big brother" with my sister in law and my husband. 

My last entry is dedicated to my sister and her family, who have helped make many memories and show us to cease the moment.  They are the ones who get the credit for showing us to make the most right where you are ... no need for high expense vacations ... pack a lunch and go where your engine leads you.  Thanks!  I think I took "Nostalgia" along this avenue of thought because I am missing my family. 
   Be sure to check out all the other wonderful entries at the Round Robin Challenge                                                    

Round Robin Challenge: Americana

Noun:  Americana.     <u`meri'kanuh> Any artifact (such as books or furniture or art) that is distinctive of America.

I am currently rejoicing in the return of my youngest son from Iraq.  He is home on R&R, and I know the difficulty it will be to let go of him as he boards another aircraft that returns him to rejoin the troops he left behind.  So, for the moment, ANYTHING red, white and blue and a splash of yellow represent "Americana" to me.   Our men and women have been doing it for centuries, building a strong American culture for the rest of us.  Our American flag, how significant, and bold!   Thank you Cosette of Pandora's Bazaar  for bringing us this weeks challenge:  Americana.  

  My husband served in Iraq over a year ago.  He had tickets to the ProBowl, but deployed before the big game.  In this picture above, my two sons and my brother made a "banner" in hopes of being seen by my husband during the halftime (our service members got to see the game, but unfortunately, my husband did not)  The son in the middle of banner is my son currently serving in Iraq.   My brother lost the blue marker, so if you look closer, you will see the stars are actually the blue colored plastic from an AAFES bag!

The base, Schofield Barracks, found all sorts of way for families and friends to show support.  I signed a ribbon and tacked it on a display board at Clothing Sales.  I was tickled when my husband returned and the board was displayed in the front of the store.  OF COURSE I hauled him over and made sure he saw the ribbon I signed for him! 

This was taken at the Arizona Memorial, where many of our servicemembers lost their lives to defend our country.  Words are wasted here at Pearl Harbor, Silence is welcomed. 

   

  

These last two captures are fun ways of displaying our red, white and blue (with a splash of yellow!)  Please view the main Round Robin Challenge page to view the rest of the Robins as they display their interpretations of  "Americana"

Round Robin Challenge: Flower Power

Flower Power.  NOW WE'RE TALKING! I don't exactly possess green thumbs, but I love growing flowers as well as putting fresh cut flower arrangements around the house.  I especially love photographing flowers.   Flowers are like little kittens, you just can't get enough of them!  I tried really hard to limit my collective selection to FOUR pictures, but ... well, narrowed it down to 16 pictures in FOUR collages.  BE VERY PROUD OF ME!  (Please click on each collection to read the names of each bloom)

This first collection are from deep in my archives ... lily from Arkansas; very unusual pod-like blooms from Diamond Head Crater; plumerias, a common flower used for making leis; and prickly pear cactus flowers from New Mexico.   

This second collection is an african violet I managed to keep alive over three years; then a tiger lily with (freshly pulled out of the ground .. roots and all) wild daisies; a camera-shy peony from my side garden; and a close-up of the same tiger lily.

I called these exotics, but I should have called them tropics. The first plant is very interesting.  I almost missed it because it was green.  It's a jade plant.  Very nice.  The rest are orchids found in Hawaii.  The first one, I couldn't find a name, I call them the smiley face orchids.  Pictured on top are vandas, very popular on the islands, and the last orchid I can't even pronounce.

This last collection are just some very favorites.  Both roses were photographed in Canada earlier this month.  The pink hibiscus we found at the Big Island airport, and the yellow hibiscus was a find in Waikiki.

Special mahalo goes to Renee of TCS2 for this awesome challenge!  Please visit the rest of the ROBIN entries found on the comment list at  Round Robin Challenge

Infinite.

          I am infinitely happy today; I just received a telephone call from my youngest son saying he will be leaving for Kuwait on July 4th, and returning to the great USA for two weeks on R&R !!!  My mood made me think of this photograph.  It was taken somewhere along the Natchez Trace Parkway mid-summer 2005.  I had taken it in hopes of entering it in a kodak national photo contest, but I was never satisfied with the way it printed.  Although it made it's way to my "reject" folder, I still love it. 

Round Robin Challenge: Emotions

I'm not exactly sure what this niece of mine is thinking, though more than likely she is thinking how much she adores the Aunty taking the picture.  This is my favorite summertime picture or Turtle, and someway or another, I was going to make it fit into any RRC I could! 
            
Check out the other entries for EMOTIONS   @  
The Round Robin Photo Challenges: Round Robin Challenge: Emotions

Life just got a whole lot Bigger!

"Grab your camera and SNAP Baby SNAP" is exactly what I did.  Not knowing if it would flutter away quickly or not, I snapped like nobody's business!  This Robin Moth displayed itself nearby my barn for the remainder of the day, but alas, the following day was gone.  It may look puny here, but it's wing span is between six and seven inches, making it North America's largest moth. 

My husband found this beauty, but was kind enough to let me hog the camera and take credit for displaying this chance sighting.

Round Robin Challenge: Reflection

Reflections ... Round Robin Challenge

Round Robin Challenge.  YAY!!!  This one really grabbed me ... I knew immediately that I was in!!!  Reflection photography excites me the most, thanks   Cheryl, a.k.a. BoiseLadie, for this great challenge.  I have three shots for this selection, well four ... okay!  I have five, but heaps more in archives!!!  Thank me for my self control.
This first one, is possibly my "first ever" reflection photograph, and one that has spurred on the excitement ever since.  Ducks at a man-made pond at our nations capitol.  This particular picture was taken just after my very first photography class, and today I can see some techniques paying off..  Trust me, the pictures did get better after a time.

Here is a photograph that just HAPPENED the day after the challenge was announced.  I went out to get a photograph of the apple tree in full bloom before the wind knocked off most of the blossoms. Mysteriously, yet perfectly timed, a clean window appeared.

This third photograph is my favorite reflection photo taken in at Indian River in Theresa, NY this past autumn. 

Here is an attempt at skillfully capturing a dragonfly before it notices and flies away.

 I was totally honoured when my niece called me up asking me to do her university graduation photographs.  We loved how these came out!

  Please visit Round Robin Challenge for a list of the other participating photo journalists!

The Beauty of Imperfections

               
I found this wonderously weathered dragonfly living out it's peaceful life in this serene setting along the Natchez Trace Parkway.  Summer 2005 

Round Robin Challenge: FREE

Round Robin Challenge.  Free.  Not many of my photographs really express "FREE", so I have to use a little imagination here.  You will truly discover what a zany woman I am when I finish this challenge.  Mowing the lawn, with gas push mower, can be quite B-O-R-I-N-G ... ask any teenager!  I have about 1.41 acres to mow, and the riding lawn mower was still not cranking, so it was "huff and puff" much of the afternoon.  Ho Hum ... I was fully protected from any aggressive allergens .. I was really HUFFING and PUFFING!  THEN, I came across masses of mushrooms under the old willow tree.  Well, I stopped to look.  Of course there was cut grass obstructing my view .. so I ran in the house for a water bottle AND my camera.  I washed off the mushrooms, then picked a few dandelion flowers, composed my salad and SNAPPED the photograph.  NO.  Something was still missing.  I dashed back in and came out this time with a pair of hashi (chopsticks) and holder.

 

Arrangement: my fresh organic salad, free for the taking!  Who says yard work has to be boring!!!  PLEASE check out these other entries http://roundrobinphoto.blogspot.com/2006/04/round-robin-challenge-free.html#links

Keep flourishing USofA

Nature's showy beauty.  All across the nation, it's inspiring looking at all the regional flowering plants and trees, comparing their beauty to that of what's found even two states over.  During the year 2000, in mid June, I moved from an already "brown" Texas to a rather plush tropical Hawaii.  The Texas bluebonnets had already had their spring showing, and moved aside for the more earth-tones of typical summer landscaping.  The transformation of browns to greens over the period of an 8 hour flight was amazing!  And now in 2005, I make a similar move, but in reverse.  Not wishing to do harm to mother natures reputation of flourishing our great nation, I present you some of the more showy plants from across the nation 2005.

       

First on display is the Hibiscus, this one found in at the Hilo International Airport, BEGGING me to photograph it!    

 
 

Next, (below) finding our way to the desert region, Alamogordo, New Mexico specifically, we caught glimpse of this prickly pear cactus flaunting its goods at us.   

      

 

 

Furthering our mission to reach the eastcoast in record time, we zoom on toward Arkansas and find these lilies covering a good many ponds and rivershores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we finally reached our ultimate destination, the flowers were beginning to lose their lust for color, yet I still managed to stumble across this well manicured (cabbage) patch along the Canadian border in New York!

Fluffy Florals or Puffy Plants.

Fluffy Florals or Puffy Plants  Call them what you like, but never forget to Awwwwwe at them!.

'Ohi'a Lehua.  I have a fascination for tropical flowers.  They're so exotic, especially when we compare them to our everyday roses, carnations, and baby's breath!  For no other reason, I was scoping out the Kilauea Crater through my newly acquired Sony Telephoto Zoom lens ... just "testing" it out as we say. 

It was not an especially bright day, rather hazy, and the crater took on hues of dull olive greens and browns.  I stood in one spot, and did a complete 360 turn, returning my gaze back at the ONE splash of color in the dull landscaping.  I live for days like this, with chance sightings of God's beauty.

God would have it sitting pretty, not a breeze to ruin the perfect calmness of this floral gem.   Here, I present you an awesome photograph  of Hawai'i's 'Ohi'a Lehua. 

Round RobinChallenge - New Life

New Life.  Fantastic subject challenge!  When I first saw this category, I KNEW I was IN.  But time crept away and still I have only ONE new photo.  So, today I will grace you with what I have in my files that to me represents NEW LIFE, and then add todays special before the rains came down!    Thanks to Sassy's EYE for such a wonderful challenge. The whole prior week had been filled with my mind going crazy with all the photo ideas I had from my Hawaii days. BUT, my ultimate idea to best tackle this challenge was the idea of displaying the KITTENS as they arrived. ONE MAJOR problem, I forgot to tell them  EXACTLY WHEN to arrive, and obviously, it's not to be during this challenge! So, you are now graced with my few selections of NEW LIFE in Hawaii, and my ONE New Life in NY.I have been blessed to be able to live a number of years in beautiful Hawaii. Each opportunity has been met head on with camera in hand, literally! Having visited the Big Island on numerous occasions, I was blessed to witness several lava flows ... Pele sending her hot lava rushing down to the shoreline. Ok, so at times it was hokey pokeying .. but nonetheless, it represented new life as it made its way to the shoreline, creating added yards to the youngest island in the Hawaiian Island chain.

The picture above shows a very slow moving lava, making it's way toward the Pacific ocean .. sometimes it takes just a day or two, sometimes it takes weeks .. it all depends on Pele's fury.  The picture below shows that Pele works 24/7 .. again, her ultimate goal, the Pacific.

Having made it's way to the shores, Pele's rage is cooled quickly and new land is formed.   Pele is only momentarily quietened.

Of course, as Pele destroys all living life in her path, so new life must again push it's way through and flourish in the tropical islands.  Below, is the dawning of a new fern leaf ... btw, new life is NOT impossible on lava ... though sometimes the new ground is not rich enough to produce plant life till close to 100 years later .. not so with all plants.

But thank GOODNESS new life is not just limited to the islands ... right here in cool north country is our own new life ...

Please check out ALL the Round Robin entries for this NEW LIFE Challenge at http://roundrobinphoto.blogspot.com/2006/03/round-robin-challenge-new-life.html#links
You WONT be disappointed!  Thanks again, Sassydee, for such a fun challenge.

Fabulous Fungi

     I would not go so far as to say I am really into fungi ... but I am fascintated all the same.  I see how PERFECT their make up is ... colors ranging from white or sometimes dull to vibrant oranges.  Going into the back woods will be like going into a botanical garden this spring, and I can't wait!  There are so many varieties going mad back there ... here are TWO picks out of my large collection from my summer travels.  Circa 2005  I call this my Fungus Rose.

Then, we have fabulous clusters that would make a terrific website background, but again, just my opinion.

Next round of my fascination with fungi and mushrooms, I'll show you my sugar cookie and my atomic cloud.

Jigsaw Puzzle compliant

Many of our pictures in New York were captured during that "waiting" period where we had found, bid, qualified and ALL but CLOSED and MOVED into our new Redbird Inn.  We took this time as a fun time to explore the area, knowing full well, once we got moved in and stocked our barn with animals, that our time for exploring would become very limited.
 


On this day, we'd actually set out to find Lake Saranac and log the driving time and distance.  We'd already researched the Ice Castle activities for February, and were looking for nearest hotels, eateries etc.  I would gladly submit this photo as a candidate for a jigsaw puzzle.  Your thoughts?

Reflecting in New Places

As you will soon discover ... simple photography just is not enough!  Early on in this new endeavor, I discovered a passion for reflection photography!  I will shoot hoards of shots, hoping that ONE is the perfect one I am after.  When will I EVER learn that with me, perfect is purely accidental!  I cannot plan for perfect, I foil it everytime! 

We got ourselves LOST accidently on purpose one day in New York, when we had nothing in particular to do on this given weekend.  We stumbled on this little beauty!  I saw it and said ... TURN BACK!  It was amazing, the calmness mother nature affords us ... the farmer even had a turn at snapping some choice angles for our treasured spot of the day. 

Where I am in Photography

My interest in photography came late in life.  I actually possessed a nice 35mm camera, but never put it to the test on what it was capable of putting out for me.  WELL, precisely 7 years ago, I picked up my Olympus with renewed interest, and quickly "Snap, Baby Snap!" became my motto!                                
.   .   .   .   .   .   .This particular photograph was taken in what was formerly called Waimea Falls Park on O'ahu.

   I have only ever had TWO photography classes in my life (not to include the one I repeated just so I could get access to the dark room)  and these classes were at adult school in 2002.  While you may see many flaws in my photo-takes, you will also see my style, mood and enthusiasm flowing out.
  .    .    .    .    .    .   Taken in Idaho during our venture to cross the USA west coast to east coast in a crazy zig zig manner

All pictures will be selected randomly since there has never been, is currently not, and therefore will never be "any sort of ORDER" to my chaotic life.  Enjoy these accidental photo wonders of our great nation!  Snap on!