The Kittehs Take a Stand

Seen in Mars Hill, NC

Another Way of Seeing . . .

I don't know why I'm so attracted to this treatment of photos -- a combination of HDR and Cross Processing in Picasa.  It's partly because photos done this way remind me of Japanese woodcuts . . . 

And partly because this application makes me see things in the photos that I'd overlooked before.

What I really would like is an application for people that would help me to see others as they see themselves, to see the world through their eyes and understand their mindsets . . .  

Of course I'm talking about the political Right -- I know that I'm probably as set in my Left Wing, Tree Hugging, Bleeding Heart Liberal beliefs as they are in their opposing views.  But if I could somehow see the world through their eyes . . . if I could understand why they think Dick Cheney (who was part of the deception that got us into Iraq in the first place) is worth listening to today . . .

I don't know -- perhaps it would make my brain explode . . .

Something Cooling....

It's About the Light . . .

Someone asked me on Facebook the other day if I'd ever thought about doing a photography workshop. I had to be honest and say I don't even understand f stops and always shoot on the automatic settings -- and only some of them.  My camera (a Nikon D 90) does all the work -- and could do more if I'd apply myself to learn its ways. 

One of the few things I know is that I get better pictures in early morning or late afternoon --when there's light and shadow.  And that flowers generally look better with the light behind them.  

Judicious cropping, courtesy of the Picasa app (free download) is the other thing I rely on. I was about to delete the day lily pic below because the right side was blurry. Then I noticed the glowing orange of the opening bloom on the left. A few seconds with the cropping tool and I had, not a great picture, but one that I liked better.

 These next two pictures were taken around 10:30 AM -- I was in the garden pulling weeds -- and the light's too direct. The flowers look flat. I need to catch them with the light coming through them, if possible.

But I was so excited to see them bloom. These are the California poppies from seeds my friend Josie sent me. They didn't get planted last year but I found a spot for them this year and here they are -- first time I've ever grown this flower.

Thank you, Josie!

Looking for the Meaning . . .

 

Fathers Day Salute

Here's to two of the best young fathers I know --

 our nephews - Drew Walton and Drew Cooper.

These guys are the gold standard.

(Maybe there's something in a name after all...)

Flag Day

After yesterday's post, it's probably obvious that I have some complicated feelings about Flag Day . . .

Seeing our little town all decked out in the red, white, and blue evokes, for me, a kind of Norman Rockwell-ish glow . . .

And makes me hope that someday the flag truly will represent a nation --

 "indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 

Can You Hear the Guns?

One of my earliest memories is from World War II. It must have been in 1945 -- I would have been two, if this is a true memory. My father was away, fighting in the War and I remember being in my grandparents' back yard, sittting on the grass, gazing across the green expanses then looking up at the sky and wondering, if I listened very hard, if I could hear the guns.

This old memory resurfaced today as I was looking through my pictures, trying to decide what to post.   There are so many terrible things going on just now -- not a worldwide war, thank goodness --but it's almost as if I listened hard enough, I should be able to hear, not just the guns  but the crying.  

Iraq -- mission very much NOT accomplished . . .  

how many died, how many suffered . . . and for what? 

Gun violence/school shootings. . . and we have become a nation where a public figure can defiantly say," Your dead kids don't trump my constitutional rights" . . . where others deny some of the shootings ever took place or  even worse, claim that they were part of a plot instigated by this Administration to take everyone's guns.

The tightening grip of religion -- the appalling brutality of Sharia law in some Muslim countries is echoed in the pronouncement of a Republican/Tea Party candidate from Oklahoma who says it would be 'Biblical' to stone gays . . .

  

And closer to home, North Carolina's leaders appear poised to endanger our very air and water through lowering standards, encouraging fracking, stifling dissent, and prohibiting lawsuits -- all for the sake of the corporations that have bought them. 

I could continue  . . . but I won't. Time to go back outside.

 Time to listen for the guns . . . and the crying.