Esther's Chairs

this was to be one of the three entries in tonight's Gateway Fall Art Show. I missed the deadline to enter by an hour, not checking closely the schedule.
Esther Moore recently passed away in her 90's. Never married. Kept her parents til their deaths. Kept her sister til her death. No one to keep Esther, so she died peacefully.
She leaves a wonderful old Florida homeplace I hope to be able and return and photograph.

Release of Claim

Let it be known that on September 11, 2013 the letter came,
Satisfaction and release of claim
that VNB loan services has received full payment of the claim filed on July 11, 2011 to release the estate and the personal representative of the estate from all further liability with respect thereto of the estate of one Luther R Stokes, deceased.

And so it ends. I was to have the right portion toward Bronson adjacent to the Blue Grotto Road. Lewis my brother was to have the left side toward Williston. My sister Paula was to have the middle section with the house and barns. We heard him say it. It meant nothing. In the end, with the reverse mortgage, VNB got it all.
Someone has purchased the property for a song, and now the lights are again on.
I trust that somewhere nearby Becky Foster is not lurking, with her so called uncle Jerry, to suck the inheritance from these unsuspecting new tenants.
They certainly drained my father of his.

Deadlines

What was I thinking? The emails,flyers had been sent and printed for weeks. And how in my thick skull did I come to the incorrect conclusion that tomorrow from 10-12 was the time to enter the three works to the Fall Art Show, not today?
I was up deciding which three to enter, diligently framing and filling out the entry sheet when I noticed the date being today, an hour ago.
And this time around I actually felt decent about the entries.

The prints I currently have at the Gateway Gallery are 11x14 black and white prints of Mt Tabor Methodist Church that burned several years ago. I do not think they will sell, as the interest is limited.
So, since I missed the Fall Show, I think when I volunteer at the Gateway Gallery next week I will switch those out.
I need to re-coop my $45 to rent the wall space by the end of October.

My domain

Took very few landscapes yesterday in the three mile perimeter walk around what was once a wet field diked in, now part of Alligator Lake Park. Years ago the Hills built a series of dikes along Alligator Lake, making fertile fields out of the lake bottom. How they were able, I suppose before the days of environmental concerns and permits. When the county purchased the property, they cut two holes in the dike and constructed a bridge over the opening, flooding again the field.
This view is from the Western side, looking East toward the parking lot,playground and pavilion.
A nice little park and the dikes are great for hiking and biking upon. So Hill had foresight we might say.

Garter Boy

This is another one of those something seems amiss feelings you get as you pass. Something often tells me to stop, even though I have yet to fully discern why. Usually, it is a critter like this little six inch long snake upon the leaves. Perhaps it is subconsciously seeing, then as one slows, stops and looks about, the conscious catches up. Either way, I try and obey it.

Journey of the Zebra Longwings

These three were oblivious to my presence, flitting about the undergrowth, going no place in particular. I set the camera at the widest angle and photographed without looking into the viewfinder. This one came out. These Zebra's seldom alight for long, always flitting about.

Rat Snake

He looked like a long stick, stretched out straight on the side of the trail. One of those things you notice when walking instead of riding. Perfectly blended in the brush. Stopped and stuck the camera at his eye level, trying to make it focus upon him. Set is on live view, the one I really wanted came out blurred. This one was in focus before he tired of my close proximity and crawled off.

a blue view

at the end of the walk around the perimeter which took over three hours since I stopped like every three feet and at times waiting ten minutes or more for a butterfly to catch up, the sun make fantastic rays through the clouds. I was in the right spot for a nice  shot looking down the long dike. Took several from various vantage points. A nice end to a walk.

into blue they flew

September 11 and we mourn long
from the skyline the towers torn
from the air the fallen ones
violent to earth they come
flightless birds
our longing words
cannot bring them back
and still they attack
across blue heavens they fly
from below we cry
here is safe haven
yet on they pass
troubled and heavy laden
rising fast.

All a flutter

Happy is anthropomorphizing the animal kingdom but all the butterflies and insects seemed quite happy today. Perhaps attributing to the somewhat cooler, breezy weather. Or the feeding frenzy. With tic weeds being about the only flower in profusion to feed on, there were plenty of fritillaries, monarchs, zebras, swallowtails,skippers and buckeyes with a few sulphurs out today. In addition, plenty of wasps and moths to round out the frenzy.
Used exclusively the 18-200 with the film canister diffuser on the flash on the D3100.
It allows a full-frame but not at such a close range to spook the insects. Walked the three mile perimeter. Saw two snakes in addition, along with two mantis, one eating upon a monarch.

Reunion of 1973

When I think back to all the crap I learned in high school
and so the song goes
and so Kodachrome has gone in my lifetime.
My public education began here behind those
double doors in Sopchoppy, Florida
I spent my first and second grade years there.
I fell in love with my second grade teacher,
miss Townsend.
and so my loves have gone on unceasing,
leaving them sitting in their wooden desks
as I moved on.
the 3rd and 4th grade years were spent
in Monticello
I liked, did not love Debra, got caught
sending her a note in class by Mrs Floyd.
5th and 6th grades were spent in
Wilmore, Kentucky.
April was the love who did
receive my notes and did
respond with multiple hearts and yes,
yes,yes,yes's.
I left her in a girl scout suit on the corner.
7th through graduation
came at Williston High.
I will not mention the many girls,
as I am still too close to them, except April and Rebecca who
have gone on.
And so Saturday, 6PM at the Woman's Club we
will meet for our 40th reunion.
I will go and put my best foot forward, if there is one.
I look over these 40 years and in many ways, I have
not even begun, or am in no better shape than the day
I graduated.
I am just as poor, I have yet to find a career that really suits me,
I am still doing photography, the Facebook and Blogs being my yearbooks, I am still biking and canoeing and running just as I did in High School.
But I hide all the failure and tell how grand things are.
I am sure, excepting the few who came into or from money, we are all struggling
in our own ways.
Some of us just hide it better than others.

bumble bee duo

deliberately set the exposure to plus one with flash. two bumble bees came along, fighting over the same tic weed. one shot only. fortunately it was in reasonable focus.  more times than not the canon s100 misses the focus. today i constructed a flash diffuser for the camera out of a milky film cannister. i cut a little rectangle out of the cannister the size of the pop up flash. inserting this over the flash gives a less harsh light. I will install a little orange color on the back of the cannister so when i reverse it, it will give a warm tone.
little tricks to get the best out of the point and shoots.
holding the camera upside down so the flash is on the bottom.
adjusting the ISO to its lowest, under-exposing two full stops, using the flash as fill.
using manual focus.
playing around with the AP and SP modes.
taking the white balance off Auto.
taking everything off Auto.
much more to it than just pointing and shooting, which will not give the expected result.
i am still trying to make the darn thing come to focus quicker.
its all on utube i am sure.