Fiddling with my camera ...

No, I am not a great photographer. Mostly I take pictures in a "diary mode", keeping a record of what got me out of bed on a given day. Here are a five from the weekend:

I found this insect aka bug when I was straightening up the garage over the weekend. I should have put a quarter down beside it, or something else to give a sense of size. But that is part of why I found it so interesting. I learn from doing the things that interest me, that draw me into discovery through doing.

Flowers continue to fascinate me. Photographing them motivates me to learn more about the art and craft of photograpy ... for instance f stops and depth of field. I loved it when I found the water-drops on the second hibiscus above.

Cheers!

There is more to life at 73 than ...

There is more to life at 73 than I ever thought possible. Well ... I didn't really think about it much when I was younger ... the possibility of living to 73 ... and now I have the prospect of living until I am 93+, another 20 to 25 years.

So let's see ... among the several things that get me up in the morning is taking Odin, the house dog, up to the South Mountain Reservation for a walk.

This morning we took the Crest Drive from the Dog Park to the first viewing area with benches. You can check out the map at: http://www.essex-countynj.org/p/SMR-Trail-Map_letter.pdf

Here are some of the photos I took along our walk. It should give you insight into how my mind works:

At the start of our walk, Odin "reads" the environment by sniffing!

Awesome sense of green space.

The forest is varied in its scenes.

Viewing area on Crest Drive.

A view from the viewing area on Crest Drive.

Benches in the viewing area on Crest Drive.

The forest has its natural sculptures.

A different path back.

Another natural sculpture in the forest.

And another natural sculpture in the forest.

A quiet scene in the forest.

And yet another natural sculpture in the forest.

I'm not just watching birds!

I'm not just watching birds, I'm gardening with raised garden "boxes" ... among other things. Here's the "before" shot on one set of garden boxes:


This was taken of me planting tomatoes approximately 45 days after my open heart surgery on April 10, 2012.

Here'a how it looks now:

The first garden box on the right is the box I am standing in front of in the "before" picture above. The tomatoes are doing fine. Thanks for asking!

This looking at the row of garden boxes from the other end.

Here is a photo of the peas I am growing.

I'll try to keep you posted, but I am having such a kick in "doing" that I am hard-pressed on writing about it.

A "too young to fly" bird ...

A "too young to fly" bird dropped into the backyard ...