The Girls

Project 15 - Day 4

We had a rather uneventful visit with the girls this year. I had high hopes that they would provide several days worth of blog fodder during their stay, but it was not the case. I also have to say that the weather was extremely uncooperative. These photos were taken on one of the rare days that the sun shone and provided enough warmth to offset the cold north wind.

What the girls love most about their annual visit to Florida is to sit on the lanai reading and/or working on their cross word puzzles. They are a fairly low maintenance duo. However, the unusually cold, wet winter weather squelched those plans and most days kept everyone on the inside looking out.

One afternoon, to break up the monotony, The Kid produced his softball glove for the girls to inspect. Although the glove is nearly as big as she is, Bubba acted like a seasoned pro and encouraged D to toss the ball her direction.

That's right Bubba, concentrate.

Don't take your eyes off of the ball. It's one of the first rules of the game.

Success! And nice catch. Score one for the nonagenarian. (Go ahead, look it up, it's a real word!)

And then there was Flos. In the name of fair play it must be noted that Flos had no sons. No boys to track in mud, collect bugs, or play baseball. When handed the rather large fielder's mitt, she seemed to be at a loss.

It required further inspection.

But in the end we had to straighten her out. No Mom, it's not a hat.

It's a glove.

In spite of the cold weather, and brisk north wind we had a great time with our visiting Mothers.

Come back again next year ladies.

We'll stock up on puzzle books and reserve your seats on the lanai. And if you're good, The Kid will break out one of those new bats and play a little Pepper with you.

Henna in the Morning

Project 15 - Day 3

Photography is all about the light. When the light is extraordinary it really doesn't matter how ordinary the subject. Not that I think Miss Henna is ordinary, but the beautiful early morning light casts a warm glow on our little golden girl that brings this photo to life.

Kind of makes you want to run out and adopt a dog doesn't it?

The Car Show

Project 15 - Day 2

In early February we attended an antique car show with my big sis and her hubby. The fact that I have just now located these files after six weeks is an embarrassment. But this is not going to be a glass half empty post. The files were not carelessly deleted as I once thought and that is reason enough to celebrate.

Who would have thought I would enjoy spending a couple of hours looking at vintage automobiles? Certainly not me. With the exception of the snazzy, red, "58" corvette that I would look quite youthful driving, old cars do not excite me. However, put a camera in my hand and it's a whole new ball game.

I think this creamy white car might have been a Rolls Royce but please don't ask about the red one. I have no idea what it is, other than shiny and colorful.

The blue Bel Air I remember. Mainly because we had a 1957 or 58 black and yellow one when I was growing up. It looked like a giant bumble bee rolling down the highway.

The Kid had a VW Bug much like the one pictured below. It was before my time but I've heard the stories. My big sis had a white one. She taught me how to drive it since I didn't know a thing about shifting gears. I was a good student. I listened carefully and did everything she instructed me to do, including never shifting into 4th gear. She said that I would not need it. I didn't, until one day while driving along the highway at 55 mph (conservatively speaking) one of my passengers tired of the grinding noise and enlightened me. I have not failed to use 4th gear since.

The blue Beatle is actually a reflection in the side of a shiny black Mustang. Shiny, black cars are good like that.

This one just screams hot rod doesn't it. Surely there were yellow flames painted on its sides. All self-respecting hot rods had yellow flames didn't they?

And then there is this car show staple. Enough said.

The End.

Project 15

I know several people who are participating in either a Project 365 or a Photo a Day project. Simply put this means that something is posted every day on either a blog site or a PAD site for an entire year. This bothers me. How do these people do it? I have more time on my hands than most yet my productivity level is well below average. Why is that? Don't answer, at least not out loud, I might hear you.

My good friend -k- not only has a PAD site, but also a blog that she updates on a regular basis. And even though she denies it, her productivity level is soaring and her work is beautiful. (You can check it out here threedogstudio and here Lightdance.) This also bothers me. Not that she is productive, but the fact that I am not.

So, I have decided to do something about it, at least for the next 15 days. (I have a little commitment problem. Remember the diet?) From now until the end of the month I am going to post something every day. Many days it might be nothing more than a photograph but something new will appear on this page every day from now until April 1st.

I think I shall call it Project 15.

Let the fun begin.

What Danger Lurks in Paradise

As if alligators cruising the peaceful waters of my back yard aren't bad enough, now we have THIS!

THIS 9-foot python was found under the pool deck of the house across the canal from us this week.  A 9-foot python in my back yard does not make me a happy camper.  In fact it makes my skin crawl, my stomach queasy and all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in protest.

It all happened on Wednesday afternoon as we (the bubbas & I) sat leisurely on the lanai soaking up the warm Florida sunshine.  One of the two days we have been able to do this since Christmas.  Suddenly 3 of Marco's finest along with two civilians appeared in the back yard of the house across the canal, my back yard neighbor if you will.  It was obvious they were searching for something as they were down on all fours looking under the pool deck, pointing here and there in an excited fashion.  Unfortunately their words would not carry on this calm day and we nosey observers were unable to discern just what they were searching for..but we had our suspicions.

Just the week before a much larger python was captured sunning itself on the tarmac of the Marco Island airport.  The airport, although not actually located on the island, is only a few short miles away and it left me with an uncomfortable feeling.  The problem is a growing concern in south Florida and this now makes it my concern.  

The following is a quote from the Naples News Press:

"Just how it got there is unclear.

Richie said the snake could have been someone’s pet, which she said she doubted.

“It could have come on the island in a landscaping truck, in a lawn-care vehicle,” said Richie.

But then again, it could have slithered its way over the S.S. Jollley Bridge that connects Marco from the mainland, she said.

“We’re not sure how it got here,” said Richie.

It was a first for Marco, said Richie.

Recently, more and more pythons are being discovered in the nearby Everglades, likely discarded pets left to fend for themselves in the harsh Florida environment, Dube said.

“They’re all over the Everglades now,” said Dube, “and even as far down in the Keys as Islamorada.” "

That is my house you can see in the background of this photo and this is all too close for comfort.  I have snake phobia as it is.  It's the reason we removed several hundred dollars worth of beautiful firecracker plants and replaced them with thorny bougainvilleas.  The black snakes loved to crawl up in the soft grassy masses and sun themselves on a warm winter day.  

It is also the reason I now refuse to take Henna for her last walk before bed.  She'll just have to hold it til morning when I can actually see what's lurking in the grass.  I can assure you that if I come face to face with one of these things you will find me racing up I75 as fast as my legs can carry me and I will not stop until I reach the safety of western PA where such things do not exist!!!

Softball and Photography Projects

This is the final week of an 8-week Portfolio Development class I enrolled in. My initial purpose for the class was to narrow my photographic focus and hone my editing skills. I was hoping to develop one or two themes that could be expanded over time. However, it didn't take long for my best intentions to fall apart. Weather conditions in south Florida have been uninspiring this winter, company has filled my house for weeks, and gallery hours were expanded in an effort to capture those illusive snowbirds. Two weeks into the class, with little time to explore new shooting venues, I had an epiphany... at 4 a.m. one morning. I find myself at the ball field several times a week taking pictures of The Kid and his team. Why not make them the subject of my portfolio? And so it began...

my quest to capture Marco Island Senior Softball, specifically the (currently) 18 - 0 Joey's Pizza team.

Their fun loving spirit is contagious. I wanted to capture that and their intensity, determination and passion for the game.

For me it became more than fulfilling a class assignment. It became a labor of love.

These men are no longer in their prime. It is hard to run, for some even painful.

It is harder still to bend, to stretch and snag an incoming ball. All things taken for granted in their younger days. Plays are executed in the mind but the body is all too frequently non-compliant.

Many of these men have had joints replaced, shoulder and back surgeries, torn muscles and ripped tendons. They are battered and worn, but not beaten.

They show up faithfully twice a week, don their gear and head out onto the field. They range in age from 58 -84.

They all have one thing in common, an intense love of the game.

Congratulations to Joey Pizza. They have done something no other team in the twelve years of Marco Senior Softball has been able to do. They are 18 - 0, undefeated with 5 games remaining in the regular season. No matter how the season plays out they are true champions.

Banana Bread Surprise

For days he studied the ever ripening bananas on the kitchen counter, often times encouraging (arm twisting) the 3 women currently residing with him to have one. Eat a banana he would say whenever anyone mentioned hunger. But his words fell on deaf (literally) ears and the little banana bunch continued along on its journey to decay.

Finally, one evening at dinner he proclaimed that these bananas would not be sent to the trash can. Not this time. He was going to make banana bread. For those of you who don't know my husband, these words were not a statement of intent. Rather these were words chosen to goad someone (anyone) into doing the job he wanted done. It has taken me 36 and 1/2 years to learn this. Call me slow but I get it and I wasn't biting. Neither did the other two ladies of the house. After several such pronouncements he found himself backed into a corner. A corner blocked by 4 quickly blackening bananas. This was a dilemma and there was nothing left for him to do except begin perusing our collection of cook books in search of the perfect banana bread recipe.

Bubba's help was solicited. She's a rather easy mark and soon found herself reading the recipe aloud to our new resident baker.

Shortly thereafter she was spotted busily chopping pecans (there were no walnuts in the pantry, only a small bag of pecans, remnants from a previous attempt at domesticity on my part) and wondering how she became so heavily involved in the project.

She is also going to hate me for this photograph, but she'll get over it. After 36 and 1/2 years I have learned that she too can be ignored on occasion!

Bananas were smashed. The remaining ingredients were mixed, stirred, whipped (remember this) and folded before being poured into the loaf pan and placed in the oven with care.

The timer was set for the required amount of baking time and the master baker relaxed with a glass of vino while his masterpiece completed its journey. Soon the house was filled with the soothing aroma of baking bananas and our mouths began to water in anticipation of the culinary delight.

With 5 minutes remaining on the timer the baker's curiosity got the better of him and he rose to check on the progress of his masterpiece. As he peeked in the oven he proclaimed it was nearly done and was bubbling away. Bubbling? Banana Bread? With only 5 minutes left on the timer? There must be some mistake.

The women quickly scurried to the kitchen, suddenly interested in the project. We four gathered at the oven door and stared in complete amazement at the site before us. Where was the rounded loaf of lightly browned, sweet smelling bread? The one prepared and placed in the oven with such care a mere 45 minutes before? In its place we found this.

A soupy, gooey pan of blackened banana mush. Something went terribly wrong and it didn't take long for the finger pointing and over analyzation of the process to begin. The first clue was the outdated baking powder. (I believe 2002 was more than a few months ago as was my last attempt at cleaning the kitchen cabinets.) Some thought it was the use of pecans in lieu of walnuts that caused the blackened mess, others the overly ripe bananas. There was one school of thought that deemed the whipping of the bananas into a liquid frenzy as the culprit but mostly we were all just baffled by the blackened goo.

Whatever the cause, one thing was certain, there would be no mouth watering sweet treat on this evening unless someone made a run to Publix.

Disney, A Different Point of View

What happens when a photographer cruises through the dark caverns of It's a Small World with camera in hand?

This is what happens.

The ride was moving and it was too dark to capture any usable photos unless a flash was used. Since I avoid the flash whenever possible, that only left one option. Make the best of the low light and bright colors. Use a slow shutter speed, add some additional motion by rotating the camera in random patterns and hope for the best.

You never know exactly what you might get.

When the lights are bright and colorful you can bet it will be something interesting, maybe even wonderful.

These last two are my favorites from the day.

If you have a camera with the ability to shoot with a slow shutter speed give motion blur a try. You might find that you like the results.

Hey Hey We're the Bubbas

Here we come, flying

Into town.

We couldn’t wait for this airplane

To put its wheels on the ground.

Hey Hey we’re the Bubbas

People always know we’re around

When we get busy rollin, look out

we might run you down.

We roll wherever we want to,

Do what we want to do

We just arrived in Florida

South we snowbirds flew.

Hey Hey we’re the Bubbas

People always know we’re around

We get busy rollin, look out

we might run you down.

To the tune of the "Theme Song from the Monkeys"

The Magical World of Disney

I have taken a little unplanned hiatus from the blogosphere. I realize that most of you will have a hard time believing this but I ran out of things to say. Hopefully the drought is over...the bubbas arrive tomorrow which should provide sufficient blog material through the middle of March.

A week ago we were part of the entourage that accompanied our little prince and princess to the Magical World of Disney in Orlando. It was three fun filled days with family which included Pop and Ma Maw.

We rode Dumbo and the Tea Cups; Peter Pan's Adventure and Pirates of the Caribbean. We streaked through the air on Space Mountain and rocked out on the Rockin Roller Coaster.

We met the Disney princesses...ALL of them. Belle was playful, tickling Allie on the nose with her feather pen.

Jasmine and Aladdin also managed to tickle a smile out of our shy girl.

Gabe on the other hand, was not impressed with the abundance of royalty that danced and flitted around the room during brunch with the princesses. He was much more interested

in spearing the "Wishing Star" with his new sword. In his eyes it made the entire trip worthwhile.

Our meet and greets was not limited to royalty. We ran into Micky and Minnie, Jiminey Cricket, Goofy and Pluto.

And while Allie was all eyes, absorbing the magic in big gulps and tiny snippets, this little guy was a trooper. He napped his way through It's a Small World and the pouring rain, smiled at passers by, and never shed a tear of frustration or anger. We should all be so accommodating.

It was a magical week in spite of the less than desirable temperatures. Our shorts and sandals remained in the suitcase replaced with jeans, sweatshirts and rain ponchos.

But at the exhausted end of the day it didn't matter. All that mattered was that our little prince and princess were dreaming sweet dreams of pirates of the Caribbean, Micky Mouse and

Happily Ever After.