on high

Been having trouble with the autofocus on the 50mm lens I've newly been using.  Trying it out now on manual , which makes more sense in my head.  Haven't been in the most photographic circumstances, so I am still testing things out.
It was a gloomy evening, grey clouds heavy with rain, cold skies.  Took a few shots without checking any images to determine whether my exposure was any good... and it wasn't.  The shots were just plain underexposed.  Added enough contrast in PP that I brought up a bit of something, but I was way off.  Had the fstop at 14 for a couple, and maybe would've been fine at f8.  Could've upped the iso from 200, but I don't often mess with that.  Speed was as slow as I could get it (1/60) and still be ok handheld.

"marathon route"

color under grey skies

Just images taken from the window.  Some leaves have changed, some remain green.  I like the colors of the private houses.
Depending on the skies, I will go to the roof soon, and hopefully shoot the bridge at sunset.  So many contraptions (mobile phone crap) on the roof that it is hard to navigate.

catch up

Why do I find it infuriating when people can't spell certain words?  When they use "loose" when they mean "lose".... grrrr..... Your pants are loose.... You lose a job.  Advise when they mean advice.   And oh the run on sentences I see on facebook.  My insides churn, knowing these are mothers writing on the same FB their kids use, and there is NO example being set.  Sometimes I see periods in the MIDDLE of a sentence, making no literal sense whatsoever, and I've seen this happen more than twice with two different posters.

These are the things that start irritating you when you've been holed up in the house for too long.  Mostly down due to pain, which lasts from wednesday to sunday, it seems, after getting chemo/wbc injection on monday and tuesday.  Then I have a free week with no chemo.  It's late monday now, and I felt ok most of the day.  Up late now, just can't sleep, but at least it's not due to pain.

It snowed several inches, but I haven't been out to see it.  I need to get some air soon, feel like I am suffocating.

Haven't seen family since Christmas, so I am missing them.   Here's a pic of me and mom taken on Christmas day, when she was still in the nursing home.  She's out now, has 24 hour care, and daily dressing changes on the bedsores.  A hard situation for her to be in, but at least, thank God, she is home.

some winter trees

migrating geese

My niece, Melissa, turned 40 on the first on the month.  This blows me away, and seems impossible.  Reminds me that I am inching towards 60 this year, and that's just outta line!

She is a beautiful healthy 40.... the new thirty, don't you know.

yet another

A muggy August night, but the sun is moving slowly to the south, so the days are shortening.  Yay.

rooftop sunset

tonight's sunset behind the big tree

last night's sunset

There aren't many good sunsets over the winter and much of the Spring, so its been a while since posting any.  When I took this one last night, I noticed my hands are shaking more than usual.  This does not thrill me.  Set at 1/60th of a second, as you can see I wasn't able to hold the camera steady, though I tried every trick to do so.  Bums me out.

275/365 free draw, winter scene; feeding the birds

summer sunset

This was chosen as an "approver's choice" on Weather Underground.

400!

This is my 400th post. When I started this blog in the fall of 2008, I could never have predicted keeping up with it for this long. I spent a good portion of my life writing in journals, and keeping everything very private... then for the past several years that kind of writing started to cease. But I discovered a different avenue for my writing, and so much more, in this thing called blogging. I didn't have anyone following me for the longest time, and then slowly, my following built up, and in indeed I follow a lot of blogs myself. It is a great enjoyment for me to go perusing the blogs.


I want to thank all of you who follow me, and those of you who visit regularly, and leave me comments. It means the world to me.

I look forward to another 400 to come.

4/365 trees and rooftops

Evie (the space between colors) and I have decided to do a free-write a day, thus my numbering them in the title of this post.  Counting railroads, flowers, and buildings as the first 3.  Instead of our usual 5 minutes, we've now progressed to 10.

Today's subjects ended up being a duo...  so...

on Trees and Rooftops

I can see the trees above the rooftops of my neighbors.
All strange people I don't know,
But I can smell their barbeques in the the summertime.

I have smelled the fragrance deep within the trees, of
sandelwood and cedar.  Deep mossy notes that fill
a man's cologne.

There beyond the rooftops, trees dwell,
emitting their own fragrance of oak and maple.
Birds dance upon their branches.
Songsters herald the summer days.

My eyes shift now to the rooftops themselves,

painted silvery while.  I remember sunbathing
on the roof, and doing yoga in the bright summer sun.

Round and round my mind goes back to wood and
rings of age. 
Such are the rings under my eyes.
What part of me is Wood?

Wood, the element... Chinese Medicine:
the Liver and Gallbladder, Spring, the Eastern dirction.
The sour taste.  The sound of yelling.
Wood "opens" to the eyes.

I still remember.

surprise my eyes

I was just perusing the internet when the glow suddenly caught my eye, and through the window I see this. 

how the night progressed

Looks like there might be some rain on the other side of the bay.

Happy Easter weekend to all

I haven't blogged at all for April yet, so I wanted to at least welcome her in with a few words.


I miss seeing Logan. Once every couple of weeks is just not good enough. Miss seeing Melissa, too. Got to try to get around to doing some visiting.

Had one of my fainting episodes again the other night, and woke on the floor, my rib/s feeling cracked again, just like last time. Haven't gone for x-rays. No diagnosis on the fainting yet, despite tests (echo, doppler, eeg, etc.). Will see my doctor next week, and probably get re-referred to the neurologist.

So, anyway, I am in pain a lot of the time, and that always sucks. I do a pretty good job at distracting myself from the pain, though.... by writing, or reading, or playing with Little Guy.

The claims dept at the bank where the fiasco happened is telling me that I will be getting reimbursed for the money that was scammed from me. I want to believe this is true, but I need to have a check in my hand before I can. Sure would be nice. We'll see.

So, It is truly Spring out there. Trees budding all over the place. The air is brisk.

Took a couple of pics out the window... this tree on the corner always blossomed so pretty. I think it's a maple, but I'm really not sure. Against the wall there is a cherry(?) blossom tree. The bigger older trees are yet to reveal their buds.
 
 

Wishing a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover to all my friends out there.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

sunset sunday

Trying to fnd sunsets I've never posted before for this sunday's sunset.  I think this is one of them.  I like the soothing yellows.

Oops, I guess it's in my header collage.  Oh well.  click on it to view a larger image.

sunset sunday

An oldie but goodie.

~click to view larger~

sunset sunday

Scott Law, at Just Used Pixels,. told me about something called Sunday Sunset, so I'd thought I'd join in with one of my many sunsets.

mild winter

Except for one freezing day a couple of days ago, the weather has been unbelievably mild.  In the 50's today.  Last year at this time we were set for blizzards and such.  Still a couple of months of winter left, so I wonder what will be?  Any snow in the future? 
Here was tonight's sunset.  You can just see how mild a day it was.

one haiku

wind whistles this way

the frosty air bites your nose

winter is coming

(photo by j. raty in Lapland, Finland)

bursts of color

Although this photograph is blurry, I kind of like it, especially in the tree.  I gave it a boost in color, and I think the result is fun. It's one of the last of the trees that still has some autumn leaves lingering.

~click pic to view larger~

a tree grows in Brooklyn

(credit goes to my niece, Melissa, who took this on her phone)

~click to view larger image~