A Photo that I will keep

Christine proposed the theme "A photo you decided to keep" and there are many. Because there are many reasons to keep a photo. Some are those perfect images you managed--perfect composition and perfect colors. Impressive events. Magnificent scenes.

And others---well, can you just tell here how excited Kate is at her graduation from sixth grade?

Back to Basics

I thought and thought about how basic you could get and we live in a society where basic is NOT basic. I have gone back to some overseas trips to show some REALLY basics.

Basics in school in India.

with a basic classroom.

Laundry basics

Should I call this one Basic Hospitality? After visiting an isolated Russian town we were taken for a cruise on the river. We stopped on an island for a basic meal.

Basic commerce--low overhead. (also in Russia)

Basics of breakfast. Our B&B host in Scotland.

I have two very similar, but this picture was taken in London at the Sherlock Holmes Museum

--Mrs. Hudson's sewing machine.

And the basics of mystery fiction--Sherlock Holmes's sitting room at 221B Baker Street (the Sherlock Holmes Museum.)

Hope you enjoyed my basics.

Silhouette

Silhouette is our theme this week and I searched my photo files for some shots that would meet that idea. I don't do silhouettes for the sake of being a silhouette, but there are often shots that live up to the theme--especially at sunset.

This is my view at home now--well, not now as those trellises now have hop vines climbing at least half way up.

 Waiting for the ferry at Vashon Island a few years ago. We had just missed the earlier ferry and had to wait an hour enjoying this sight.

 Long range view one sunset at Longmire in Mt. Rainier National Park.

 And here the view when we visited the dragon festival near Phoenix a couple of years ago.

 Not quite a silhouette as you can, if you look carefully, read the words on the "rudder" blades of this windmill.

 We camped at Goose Lake on the Oregon-California boundary and saw this display.

My choice for my header came from this picture, which was not a sunset. I'll always try for a shot of a dragonfly, and his delicate wings show so nicely against the light.

Other headbangers can be found by their links in my sidebar near the top.

Something Old

So it occurred to me while I was thinking of something old that I could use pictures of the ghost town Bodie California, or older still  maybe Edinburgh Castle from our Scotland trip, or even Hadrian's Wall which was constructed in the first century A.D.

Then while in Arizona for my grandson's graduation we made a road trip to a cooler part of the state for the day. Cooler as in it was 91º F. instead of 107º.

Along the way we passed among a forest of saguaro cactus.

I have read in more than one source that the saguaro does not grow any arms until it is about 70 years old. So these guys are roughly my own age.

And this one, a bit older--though only an adolescent in cactus years.

As we passed many many multi-armed specimens  it made me wonder. If the cactus has fifteen arms, how old could it be? There were some like that.

How old, for example is this guy?

I count ten arms, though I could be mistaken.

So this ridge, then, is a veritable old age home for saguaro.

My friends among the headbangers, may very well have things older than mine in their headers this week, but count on me to be way outside the box with it.
 Their links are in my sidebar near the top.

Memories

I proposed the theme of "Memories" to my Headbanger team for this week because it seemed appropriate around the time of our Memorial Day holiday and because I'm kind of in that mood as the anniversary of Ranney's death approaches.

So naturally most of my memories include him.

At the museum in Oakland we were able to become part of the exhibit.
It was just like Ranney  to choose this label.

This memory photo, though, is from long before our 49 years together. Well, we had been dating, but I was far from him as I spent a college year in Florence, Italy.

We traveled out from Florence in small groups many weekends, but we also made good use of our time in the city itself. You've all seen this typical postcard view  (click the link) of the Cathedral of Santa Maria delli Fiore--the Duomo. This view is a bit different and a great memory. You see, though I am better about it now, I have always been rather afraid of heights., Never-the-less I have climbed most everything possible from the Space Needle to the mountain hikes. Just couldn't much look down when I got there.

On this particular occasion some friends and I decided we would climb to the top of the Duomo. I'm glad I did it THEN as I don't think I would handle all those stairs well today. The steps follow within the outer and  inner layers of the dome.

As we ascended, a party of Franciscan friars was coming down, among them a diminutive and rather vociferous one, whose comments, roughly translated, went something like this:

If I ever--puff puff puff -- get my hands on -- puff puff puff -- the one who talked me into -- puff puff puff -- coming here -- puff puff puff .....

The rest was lost to increasing  distance between us and the curve of the dome.

More memories:

 A stop to visit with my brother and sister in the summer of 2000

when I returned from a month in India.

My brother's sweet dog Spencer reminds me of our visit with George --
and of course his people Liz and Mike.
George had just the same look on his face as we departed.
Click his name and you will see what I mean.

 We drove a VW Van that looked just like this mailbox  we found not too far from my brother's new house. Some fun memories were had in that.

 Oh, wow! I think I need to sit down a minute  and reflect on the memories.

Time spent volunteering at Mt. Rainier.

Ranney used to tell people that I gave good information and he told good stories.

 Our winter visits to the mountain included snowshoe hikes. Good exercise and beautiful views.

 

Something is missing from this photo, which I chose for the header. When we hiked the Naches Loop Trail, I would have Ranney go ahead across the archway footbridge, and get a picture with him in the middle. I took this one last summer when I hiked that loop without him for the first time.

 

I expect to see him just over the hill--on the way to the mountain.

~~~

I wonder what memories my Headbanger buddies will share.

Their links are in my sidebar near the top.

Why did I take this photo?

I am sure that there are a number of choices that I could have used for this theme, but I was limited by the ones that were on the computer in my office today. I have mostly pictures taken at church there, so here is one group photo from First Communion a couple of years ago. I am sure that the young lady in the lower left corner is wondering the same thing--Why are you taking THIS photo?

We had taken the regular group pictures already when Fr. Jaime had the kids pose in a few quirky ways. Look up left. Look up right. Raise your hands. Make a silly face....and this.

You will find the other headbangers' entries into our weekly challenge linked in my sidebar. Give them a visit and see what they are up to.

Something Blue

Well, that is me from time to time.

When Fr. Jose gave a Mother's Day blessing on Sunday and told the mothers not to cook, to have their husbands cook, I lost it. Grief comes in bits and spurts. I'm back from the depths and looking at the color blue.

My friend Cindy and I went to the Toppenish Wildlife Refuge on Sunday afternoon and we saw one of these guys. I did not get a picture of him, he was flitting here and there very frantically--maybe trying to figure out what to cook for Mother's Day.

These are from a couple of camping trips in recent years.

Pretty color.

The other headbangers are linked in my sidebar. What will they find that is blue? (Will Tom have a fish? Could be. I must go see.)

Fun Fotos

My interpretation of Fun Fotos may be more of fotos when we were having fun, though you will see one here which mimics some that Mac has posted, as it was taken in the same place though not at the same time.

First of all my header phot is taken from this, a yummy treat from one year's Cousin Camp.

  I look forward to Cousin Camp every year. We are moving southward for this year's camp to better expand our horizons and to include one cousin family that has not been able to participate in the past. We were not able to have our annual gathering last year, the whole family gathering instead for Ranney's funeral. Maybe I will have some more and funner fotos after this year's gathering.

Here is a mirror of Mac's fun shots. This funhouse mirror and a couple of others are found along the Royal Mile in Edinburg, Scotland. Mac and Julie have visited, and he has posted a similar picture both in his blog and on Facebook. Ranney and I were there on vacation in 2010, when we also hiked in the Scottish Highlands.

 What is fun about this stolid statue of Abe Lincoln? Finding it in London, England on that same trip.

 ...where we also attended a performance of the "39 Steps". The chase is on here as the bobbie follows the culprit on the train. The train? Fun staging on that play!

Other headbangers links are in my sidebar.

Something New

This rose bush has been hanging around for a couple of weeks and it is finally NEW in its spot in my yard.

I thought I had lost five rose bushes over this wild winter, but some of them are coming back, sporting new growth. I don't know what they will look like at blooming time, but I will give them a chance. In the meantime I have planted this one at last. And there is still much weeding to be done.

You can see what other headbangers have shown new--or old-- some confusion here--by linking in my sidebar.

Not What It Seems

It seems that my cat is waiting for me at the front door.

Only thing is, I don't have a cat.

So it's not what it seems.

Headbangers are linked in my sidebar.