Smart phones have sophisticated cameras that can actually yield professional quality photos that you may want to print and save. However, if you email these pictures or use them on social media, the quality will be diminished. Resolution and compression will be compromised in sending them this way.
There are also some apps which will degrade your photos. Snapseed is one of the good guys in this department as it doesn't change the quality of your images.
Cropping pictures can also reduce the number of pixels in a picture.
If you want to give a picture to a friend, the best way to do that is Air Drop. You simply tap on the picture while in close proximity to your friend's device and the picture will hop right over without quality being affected. Drop Box and iCloud Library are safe ways to store images without their being "re-sized for you" as they are when you send them through Facebook and Instagram and other social media sites.
Camera Plus is an app that you can use to check out the number of pixels and the resolution of photos you want to enlarge and print.
iPhotoPhotography site and classes cover this in much more detail in the class called iPhone Photo Editing.
http://cdn.iphonephotographyschool.com/wp-content/uploads/7-Photo-Apps-June-2015.pdf
https://iphonephotographyschool.com/iphone-photo-printing-apps/
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Working Out
Who needs a gym if you have a child around?
I braved the heat to pick up Sweetpea yesterday afternoon and we went straight to the new bakery in Helotes for her after-school snack and a glass of tea for me. Then we came home and Kate and I watched the boys and Elena play in the sprinkler for at least an hour. Kate brought me a glass of wine and we visited in the heat while the kids sprayed each other and squealed with pure glee. That's what I call Happy Hour!
Then Elena watched something while I made dinner, then she decided she wanted to sew--which required getting out the ironing board and finding needles and thread and designing a skirt out of some monkey fabric she found in the drawer. We sewed for about ten inches before she decided she wanted to look at the negatives on the light box where she saw pictures of Aunt Day as a little girl that "look like me."
I advised her that she needed patience and persistence to finish a skirt, but she was onto the next thing--gathering marbles that had fallen to the floor in the back of a closet, then playing a game. Patience and persistence are not highly valued in a child's mind; doing a lot of different things is much more fun.
By the time she left, the house was topsy-turvy in every single room, and I spent another hour putting things back. This is the Grandmother Workout routine.
I braved the heat to pick up Sweetpea yesterday afternoon and we went straight to the new bakery in Helotes for her after-school snack and a glass of tea for me. Then we came home and Kate and I watched the boys and Elena play in the sprinkler for at least an hour. Kate brought me a glass of wine and we visited in the heat while the kids sprayed each other and squealed with pure glee. That's what I call Happy Hour!
Then Elena watched something while I made dinner, then she decided she wanted to sew--which required getting out the ironing board and finding needles and thread and designing a skirt out of some monkey fabric she found in the drawer. We sewed for about ten inches before she decided she wanted to look at the negatives on the light box where she saw pictures of Aunt Day as a little girl that "look like me."
I advised her that she needed patience and persistence to finish a skirt, but she was onto the next thing--gathering marbles that had fallen to the floor in the back of a closet, then playing a game. Patience and persistence are not highly valued in a child's mind; doing a lot of different things is much more fun.
By the time she left, the house was topsy-turvy in every single room, and I spent another hour putting things back. This is the Grandmother Workout routine.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Summer is all the way here in Texas!
This single yellow-garbed volunteer as a happiness-bringer under my pecan tree greeted me yesterday morning but she wouldn't stand still for a picture, dancing as she was in the slight breeze. We get tiny breezes only if we get up early and stay up late. The heat factor is going to be 104 today!
Jan had to go inside--mosquitos were biting her all over. For some reason, they don't like me--and I'm glad. But the heat is terrible and unrelenting!
Jan had to go inside--mosquitos were biting her all over. For some reason, they don't like me--and I'm glad. But the heat is terrible and unrelenting!
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Doing Nothing
One day, Carlene and I were sitting in her outdoor living room doing nothing. We were watching the play of squirrels and birds pecking around in the grass, chasing each other. We were admiring the brilliant colors of her lilies and hydrangeas and hyacinths and the different kinds of trees in her yard.
"If this is wasting time, I waste a lot of time doing this," she said.
I've noticed that we both enjoy sitting more and more. Just sitting. I usually have a camera in my hand and she often has a cup of coffee in hers.
Last night I heard a podcast on THINK (one of NPR's best podcasts) by a physicist who talked about the power of doing nothing in an age of information overload. It made me realize that when I was younger, I was so busy caring for children and cooking and working that I didn't even notice the trees and the birds around me. I didn't know one flower from another!
Now the beauty of the natural world--clouds and plants and water--captivate my attention like never before. I would like to dedicate more time to just sit and look and reduce extraneous business. This is one of the gifts of aging--time to just be and observe.
Taking kids to lessons and classes and games, organizing busy work schedules--these are the business of the young.
As Carlene said, "We've earned this freedom, so let's enjoy every minute of it."
Here's Alan Lightman talking about the power of wasting time:
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/478859728/think
"If this is wasting time, I waste a lot of time doing this," she said.
I've noticed that we both enjoy sitting more and more. Just sitting. I usually have a camera in my hand and she often has a cup of coffee in hers.
Last night I heard a podcast on THINK (one of NPR's best podcasts) by a physicist who talked about the power of doing nothing in an age of information overload. It made me realize that when I was younger, I was so busy caring for children and cooking and working that I didn't even notice the trees and the birds around me. I didn't know one flower from another!
Now the beauty of the natural world--clouds and plants and water--captivate my attention like never before. I would like to dedicate more time to just sit and look and reduce extraneous business. This is one of the gifts of aging--time to just be and observe.
Taking kids to lessons and classes and games, organizing busy work schedules--these are the business of the young.
As Carlene said, "We've earned this freedom, so let's enjoy every minute of it."
Here's Alan Lightman talking about the power of wasting time:
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/478859728/think
Monday, May 28, 2018
Some photos from our trip to Virginia
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| I've always loved barns with openings that frame what's on the other side. This photograph, however, isn't as interesting as it could be. Next time I'd get down on the ground and shoot upwards (hard as it is to get down and back up!) and pay more attention to what's in the frame created by the upper and lower openings. |
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| Roanoke from above, looking down on the city from The Star's overlook. |
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| We did a U-Turn to get this photo of a train from a bridge. If I had taken two or three steps to the left, the photo would have been better, but I like it as it is--the train leading into the horizon. Maybe I'll crop the clouds a little. |
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| Carlene on a deck overlooking Roanoke |
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| The clouds were amazing driving up Highway 81 and I captured these guys with my telephoto lens. |
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| This photograph on a cloudy day looks a bit like a painting with the fun capture of a red car on the road. |
More on Udemy
https://www.udemy.com/home/my-courses/learning/
Here are the courses I have chosen to take. You can see that I've taken only part of three different classes so far.
"How to Elevate Your Photography" is mesmerizing. We never see the teacher--a woman--but her voice and accent are captivating as she shows photographs by professional photographers and discusses what makes each one beautiful and memorable. I have studied literature this way, but never photography. She suggests great ways, from micro photography to landscapes, to incorporate photographic tools to direct the viewer's eye to the subject of the photograph.
Another class is specific to my camera, a Nikon DSLR. The teacher. JP, is very precise in his speech and the pacing is great. He uses great analogies for aperture: When the aperture opening is tiny, it's like a garden hose; when it's big, it's like a fire hose. The smaller the opening the longer it takes to get the effect you want--but you can do it by controlling the shutter speed. What I love about this class is that he stops from time to time and asks you to go outside and do a particular exercise.
The other teacher I've watched so far--Bernie-- is British and nerdy and good, but he talks a little too fast and his explanations are not as easy for me to grasp as the other two. He does use techniques that are memorable--like showing what camera shake is by demonstrating with a wiggly twig from a tree. Camera stability is essential in photography--and there are effective ways of steadying the camera for better pictures, including use of a tripod.
Here are the courses I have chosen to take. You can see that I've taken only part of three different classes so far.
"How to Elevate Your Photography" is mesmerizing. We never see the teacher--a woman--but her voice and accent are captivating as she shows photographs by professional photographers and discusses what makes each one beautiful and memorable. I have studied literature this way, but never photography. She suggests great ways, from micro photography to landscapes, to incorporate photographic tools to direct the viewer's eye to the subject of the photograph.
Another class is specific to my camera, a Nikon DSLR. The teacher. JP, is very precise in his speech and the pacing is great. He uses great analogies for aperture: When the aperture opening is tiny, it's like a garden hose; when it's big, it's like a fire hose. The smaller the opening the longer it takes to get the effect you want--but you can do it by controlling the shutter speed. What I love about this class is that he stops from time to time and asks you to go outside and do a particular exercise.
The other teacher I've watched so far--Bernie-- is British and nerdy and good, but he talks a little too fast and his explanations are not as easy for me to grasp as the other two. He does use techniques that are memorable--like showing what camera shake is by demonstrating with a wiggly twig from a tree. Camera stability is essential in photography--and there are effective ways of steadying the camera for better pictures, including use of a tripod.
Udemy.com
I am doing trial videos of several photography classes at Udemy.com. I can't believe how much information there is in each class!
When you open the home page, you can search for different topics--in photography and other subjects. Then all the classes related to your topic will appear. You can watch quite a lot of samples before you splurge on the $9.99 class!
Each teacher explains things differently, of course--and you get a chance to see if you like the style of teaching of each instructor. The subjects that have long been intimidating for me--aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, and ISO--are finally starting to sink in, as every photography class covers these subjects.
For about the price of one movie ticket, you get several hours (about five I think) of instruction and this is the best bargain on the internet I've found, even better than iPhonePhotography Academy's prices. I'm glad I've done classes in both. I get to keep them and review them as many times as I like and refer back to particular lectures when I need to.
Another venue for lifetime students like me is Masterclass. I haven't taken one of these yet, but they are probably good as well. Each Masterclass is $100.
When you open the home page, you can search for different topics--in photography and other subjects. Then all the classes related to your topic will appear. You can watch quite a lot of samples before you splurge on the $9.99 class!
Each teacher explains things differently, of course--and you get a chance to see if you like the style of teaching of each instructor. The subjects that have long been intimidating for me--aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, and ISO--are finally starting to sink in, as every photography class covers these subjects.
For about the price of one movie ticket, you get several hours (about five I think) of instruction and this is the best bargain on the internet I've found, even better than iPhonePhotography Academy's prices. I'm glad I've done classes in both. I get to keep them and review them as many times as I like and refer back to particular lectures when I need to.
Another venue for lifetime students like me is Masterclass. I haven't taken one of these yet, but they are probably good as well. Each Masterclass is $100.
Monday Night
Elena called to say they found a coral snake this morning--and this is the little ditty that will help you distinguish between a coral snake and a king snake.
Red and Yellow
Kill a fellow
Red and Black
Venom Lack
"Daddy killed it with an ax, even though he was wearing shorts and flip flops, and buried it in a hole. Mama doesn't know how to kill--she only knows how to rent houses...."
So tonight we had a belated and delicious Mother's Day at Fujiya Gardens--a happy homecoming!
Memorial Day
Well, I have slept through most of it already, but I hear that a chicken training is happening in Helotes--just in case anyone wants your chicken trained.
I woke up twice this morning, watched some photo classes, but kept falling back to sleep! I think I may have missed seeing the first chicken training session in person, but these text photos arrived in my inbox as I was dreaming of talking to the teacher in a Udemy photography class.
Udemy, if you don't know about it, has classes in all kinds of subjects all for $9.99. The class in black and white photography requires Photoshop, so I'm not taking that one, but they have so many classes I didn't know about and I will definitely sign up for one or two this morning if I can stay awake. For some reason, air travel is so much more tiring than car travel!
I woke up twice this morning, watched some photo classes, but kept falling back to sleep! I think I may have missed seeing the first chicken training session in person, but these text photos arrived in my inbox as I was dreaming of talking to the teacher in a Udemy photography class.
Udemy, if you don't know about it, has classes in all kinds of subjects all for $9.99. The class in black and white photography requires Photoshop, so I'm not taking that one, but they have so many classes I didn't know about and I will definitely sign up for one or two this morning if I can stay awake. For some reason, air travel is so much more tiring than car travel!
Carlene in the grocery store
I figured out how to post a video.
Here's Miss Carlene showing off her sassy walk!
And here's how she looks, Silly Girl, washing her face before bed. She always ends her day with Ponds Cold Cream cause it worked for her mama and now it works for her.
Hipster Back Home
On Saturday, Betty and I went to Athens, picked up Claire, then had brunch at Heirlooms, where Mary Elizabeth is manager. We wanted to introduce these two to each other since Claire and M.E. (now Rose) are both firecracker young women. I loved seeing Claire after all these years--she's nineteen, funny, talented as a singer and actor, a doing a bit of job hunting while she's working as a "sandwich artist" at Subway.
Betty (BB to the grandchildren) is her "some kind of mama"--having raised her since she was an infant. "Being out on my own is harder than I thought it would be," Claire said. "I'm the mama and grandmama for all the people in my house." She's a good cook and the one who is the self-appointed caretaker and cook for the people who share an apartment. "I'm like BB to them all," she said.
Claire pronounced me a "hipster"--so I need to do a bit of research to find out what that means so I can live up to my new moniker. Right now, I feel a bit wilted and wrinkled and wrung out from travel, but I'll get my act together and be a proper hipster when I unpack my duds.
Betty has begun a new chapter of her own life. For one thing, she's doing a keto-diet and losing pounds and headaches and feels better than she's felt in years. I'm inspired by her progress and energy!
Carlene and I had our last meal of this trip together yesterday at Lavender's Chinese. Then we sat in her carport living room and watched the birds and squirrels pecking around in the green yard until my Uber driver arrived at five. I wish I could figure out how to post a video on here because I took a hilarious four-second one of Carlene fast-prissing down the aisles at the grocery store like a 30-year-old!
It's been a fabulous two weeks! I got home late last night and am settling back into bed for a nap before unpacking and getting on with my day.
Kate Schubert kept my yard green and pretty and Pam and Cindy brought Nora to clean my house--so my homecoming was especially wonderful!
Betty (BB to the grandchildren) is her "some kind of mama"--having raised her since she was an infant. "Being out on my own is harder than I thought it would be," Claire said. "I'm the mama and grandmama for all the people in my house." She's a good cook and the one who is the self-appointed caretaker and cook for the people who share an apartment. "I'm like BB to them all," she said.
Claire pronounced me a "hipster"--so I need to do a bit of research to find out what that means so I can live up to my new moniker. Right now, I feel a bit wilted and wrinkled and wrung out from travel, but I'll get my act together and be a proper hipster when I unpack my duds.
Betty has begun a new chapter of her own life. For one thing, she's doing a keto-diet and losing pounds and headaches and feels better than she's felt in years. I'm inspired by her progress and energy!
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| Claire |
It's been a fabulous two weeks! I got home late last night and am settling back into bed for a nap before unpacking and getting on with my day.
Kate Schubert kept my yard green and pretty and Pam and Cindy brought Nora to clean my house--so my homecoming was especially wonderful!
Saturday, May 26, 2018
HAPPY 40th Birthday, Will!
Today marks the fortieth year of first meeting my son in person!
We've both changed a lot in forty years!
Last week he was telling me about Nathan wowing the audience at Helotes Elementary with his end-of-fifth-grade talent show with his ventriloquist act and he said, "I don't think I'd have had the courage to do that in fifth grade."
I had to remind him that, actually, he did have the courage and was the star of the fifth grade end-of-year play at Helotes Elementary:
This is part of a mother's job--to take pictures and remember things the kids don't remember!
Carlene has organized pictures by year and I have spent the morning of Will's birthday going through books and taking out pictures to digitize for us all.
It will be a monumental job--and pleasure--and I'm so happy that Carlene has saved all these snapshots.
I'm so happy to be Will's mom!
We've both changed a lot in forty years!
Last week he was telling me about Nathan wowing the audience at Helotes Elementary with his end-of-fifth-grade talent show with his ventriloquist act and he said, "I don't think I'd have had the courage to do that in fifth grade."
I had to remind him that, actually, he did have the courage and was the star of the fifth grade end-of-year play at Helotes Elementary:
This is part of a mother's job--to take pictures and remember things the kids don't remember!
Carlene has organized pictures by year and I have spent the morning of Will's birthday going through books and taking out pictures to digitize for us all.
It will be a monumental job--and pleasure--and I'm so happy that Carlene has saved all these snapshots.
I'm so happy to be Will's mom!
Friday, May 25, 2018
Wednesday: Arrived back in Lawrenceville.
On Wednesday, Carlene and I got thrown off our beautiful backroad route after a fun stop in Floyd, Virginia, onto the traffic-packed Interstate of North Carolina. We enjoyed the roadside banks of poppies and larkspurs for a while, but soon realized we had entered the flow of rushing cars and trucks and were unable to find early lodging.
No more interstates for us, no more I85!
After a night in Spartanburg, we passed over the Hartwell Reservoir which brought back unpleasant memories or two and ten years ago (when what I thought was one story was something else altogether) and the clouds thick in the sky over the lake seeped into my mind and made me feel a little icky.
"Let's get off this thing and find some happy roads again," I said--to Carlene, to On Star, and to the maps on our phones. We drove some backroads to Clayton, Georgia, but by then I didn't feel much like exploring.
Places hold memories and some places are not good places to drive by.
So Carlene--completely well--drove the last two hours home. She's feeling great now that she's stopped taking the bad red pill!
Since we've been back in Lawrenceville, we've had two very relaxing and good days and a walk just before the rain started tonight. Tomorrow, Betty is coming and we're going to drive to Athens to have lunch with Claire, her granddaughter, and Mary Elizabeth, my niece.
No more interstates for us, no more I85!
After a night in Spartanburg, we passed over the Hartwell Reservoir which brought back unpleasant memories or two and ten years ago (when what I thought was one story was something else altogether) and the clouds thick in the sky over the lake seeped into my mind and made me feel a little icky.
"Let's get off this thing and find some happy roads again," I said--to Carlene, to On Star, and to the maps on our phones. We drove some backroads to Clayton, Georgia, but by then I didn't feel much like exploring.
Places hold memories and some places are not good places to drive by.
So Carlene--completely well--drove the last two hours home. She's feeling great now that she's stopped taking the bad red pill!
Since we've been back in Lawrenceville, we've had two very relaxing and good days and a walk just before the rain started tonight. Tomorrow, Betty is coming and we're going to drive to Athens to have lunch with Claire, her granddaughter, and Mary Elizabeth, my niece.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Elena's Blog
Yesterday was Will and Veronica's 7th anniversary--and Elena kicked off their eighth year with the launching of her blog:
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| Step One: Write it |
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| Step Two: Ask Dad to publish it |
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| Step Three--Add Yancey and Conway (The one you can see is Yancey the horse) |
The Barn Swallow
Here we are last Friday at The Barn Swallow--the three-story gallery on Gillums Ridge Road, Charlottesville.
Suzanne, a retired teacher, volunteers there one day a week, and she's working now on her longtime dream of writing children's books.
This is definitely a Place-To-Go-Again on our next trip!
Roads 81 and 11
We love this 81 Route South--though we often pull off the main road and drive winding 11, parallel to 81. The Shenandoah Valley's farms are beautiful--and this area includes many vineyards and wineries and some stretches of pristine Amish farmland.
I love clotheslines, and this was the first one we've seen on the whole trip:
We're spending the night in a Comfort Inn in Roanoke. In the morning, we'll see the Roanoke Star and visit an Amish store a few minutes south of here.
On the way north, we stopped in a general store in Fairfield--a tiny town on 11north of here. Barbara, the owner, told us about a different route (mostly 29) into Falls Church and a good German restaurant in Staunton and told us about the history of Fairfield. One of the best parts of traveling anywhere is talking to the local people who give us a better sense of the places and roads than we'd ever discover on our own--along with the best local places to eat.
On that route, after Hungarian Stew and German potato salad, we discovered a beautiful arts and crafts gallery on the outskirts of Charlottesville, near the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I love clotheslines, and this was the first one we've seen on the whole trip:
We're spending the night in a Comfort Inn in Roanoke. In the morning, we'll see the Roanoke Star and visit an Amish store a few minutes south of here.
On the way north, we stopped in a general store in Fairfield--a tiny town on 11north of here. Barbara, the owner, told us about a different route (mostly 29) into Falls Church and a good German restaurant in Staunton and told us about the history of Fairfield. One of the best parts of traveling anywhere is talking to the local people who give us a better sense of the places and roads than we'd ever discover on our own--along with the best local places to eat.
On that route, after Hungarian Stew and German potato salad, we discovered a beautiful arts and crafts gallery on the outskirts of Charlottesville, near the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Sunday Night in Falls Church
Carlene and I stretched our 600-plus-miles into four leisurely days, then arrived here late Friday afternoon just as Day and the boys were getting home from school.
That night, we went out to dinner to celebrate Marcus' 13th birthday with steak and ice cream for the birthday boy. At 3 in the morning, my traveling companion woke up feeling dizzy and weak and we took her to the ER--where they ran blood tests, checked her pacemaker, her head, and her heart. She was her usual cheerful self, assuring us and the doctors and everyone else who came into the room that she was just dehydrated from a new pill she'd recently started taking.
She was right. All her tests were reassuring, but they wanted to keep her overnight for observation.
We spent last night at Day's and Tom's house tonight and Carlene is feeling better, so we plan to head to Georgia early this morning.
That night, we went out to dinner to celebrate Marcus' 13th birthday with steak and ice cream for the birthday boy. At 3 in the morning, my traveling companion woke up feeling dizzy and weak and we took her to the ER--where they ran blood tests, checked her pacemaker, her head, and her heart. She was her usual cheerful self, assuring us and the doctors and everyone else who came into the room that she was just dehydrated from a new pill she'd recently started taking.
She was right. All her tests were reassuring, but they wanted to keep her overnight for observation.
We spent last night at Day's and Tom's house tonight and Carlene is feeling better, so we plan to head to Georgia early this morning.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Rainy morning in Franklin, North Carolina
Yesterday was a beautiful day in North Georgia, as they always are, every season. I'm sitting on a patio at the Carolina Motel with a light rain and Carlene inside drinking her coffee. We're going to have a beautiful rainy day.
I downloaded an app for identifying plants and flowers (Plant Snap) and used it several times yesterday. When you take a picture of a leaf or flower, the app will identify the plant and the history of the plant.
We shopped for cars, but this one was probably not road-worthy:
In Clarkesville, we met a man we liked.
"You aren't from Georgia," I said. "I'd say Massachusetts."
"What? Do you have supernatural powers?" he asked.
"Your accent is just like my friends Linda and Steve who live on Cape Cod."
Turns out he grew up in Worcester, the same town they both grew up in!
We enjoyed looking and shopping in local galleries, taking pictures, enjoying meals, and acquainting ourselves with the foliage of the colorful Blue Ridge mountains.
Road tripping, we are two happy girls!
I downloaded an app for identifying plants and flowers (Plant Snap) and used it several times yesterday. When you take a picture of a leaf or flower, the app will identify the plant and the history of the plant.
We shopped for cars, but this one was probably not road-worthy:
We had a delicious lunch at the Attic in Clarkesville,
then dinner at the Root and Barrel last night here in Franklin:
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| A peony on the table |
"You aren't from Georgia," I said. "I'd say Massachusetts."
"What? Do you have supernatural powers?" he asked.
"Your accent is just like my friends Linda and Steve who live on Cape Cod."
Turns out he grew up in Worcester, the same town they both grew up in!
We enjoyed looking and shopping in local galleries, taking pictures, enjoying meals, and acquainting ourselves with the foliage of the colorful Blue Ridge mountains.
Road tripping, we are two happy girls!
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Mother's Day Monday in Athens
When someone you love gets her first house, it's exciting to see it and have barbecue in it!
My niece, Mary Elizabeth, hosted us for a fun day in Athens--the city where I was born, the city where she was born--and we got to meet Carlton, her new man-friend, a drummer and member of a traveling band, Cracker. Mary Elizabeth (now called Rose) is manager of an Athens Farm-to-Table restaurant in Athens, Heirlooms. Betty and Claire and I will be having lunch there when Carlene and I return from our road trip.
Bob and Jocelyn brought bar-B-que from The Butt Hut--the genuine Georgia kind of pork with vinegar-y sauce, incomparably delicious.
My niece, Mary Elizabeth, hosted us for a fun day in Athens--the city where I was born, the city where she was born--and we got to meet Carlton, her new man-friend, a drummer and member of a traveling band, Cracker. Mary Elizabeth (now called Rose) is manager of an Athens Farm-to-Table restaurant in Athens, Heirlooms. Betty and Claire and I will be having lunch there when Carlene and I return from our road trip.
Bob and Jocelyn brought bar-B-que from The Butt Hut--the genuine Georgia kind of pork with vinegar-y sauce, incomparably delicious.
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| Here's Bob trying on Carlton's Harley |
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| Carlton, Jocelyn, Bob, Carlene, and Rose |
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| Carlene's youngest grandchild, Mary Elizabeth aka Rose |
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| Jocelyn and Mary Elizabeth's Lucy |
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Mother's Day in Georgia
My mama and my children's mama are both about to turn in for the night after a beautiful day. Hope you all had a Happy Mother's Day!
I got up at 2:00 and my UBER driver picked me up right on time for my early flight. He was one of those hunky handsome men with a warm personality that makes mamas of all ages wish they were just a tad younger.
Jacob was celebrating his 45th birthday today. When I told him about my remarkable mother, he told me about his--84 with not a wrinkle on her face. Her secret? Vaseline every night for her whole life.
(Carlene's is Ponds Cold Cream.)
He also told me about a woman in his nineties who lives in a senior living place. She's always smiling and always walking. One day he asked her what her secret for happiness was and she said, "Keep moving!" then she grinned and said to Jacob, "If only I were twenty years younger!"
On the plane I met a woman about my age from Kerrville who was going on her first cruise--a Mediterranean cruise with a friend. She was so excited!
"Have you ever been on a cruise before?" I asked.
"No," she said. "I'm a virgin."
She was making flip flop decor on the plane and I asked to take a picture. She wraps tiny water balloons (100 for a dollar at Dollar Tree) alternately with little strips of ribbon around the top of the shoe and voila! perfect for walking along the sand on the Mediterranean beaches....
Carlene and I rested, then had dinner at Longhorns and now we're calling it a day. A very good day.
I got up at 2:00 and my UBER driver picked me up right on time for my early flight. He was one of those hunky handsome men with a warm personality that makes mamas of all ages wish they were just a tad younger.
Jacob was celebrating his 45th birthday today. When I told him about my remarkable mother, he told me about his--84 with not a wrinkle on her face. Her secret? Vaseline every night for her whole life.
(Carlene's is Ponds Cold Cream.)
He also told me about a woman in his nineties who lives in a senior living place. She's always smiling and always walking. One day he asked her what her secret for happiness was and she said, "Keep moving!" then she grinned and said to Jacob, "If only I were twenty years younger!"
On the plane I met a woman about my age from Kerrville who was going on her first cruise--a Mediterranean cruise with a friend. She was so excited!
"Have you ever been on a cruise before?" I asked.
"No," she said. "I'm a virgin."
She was making flip flop decor on the plane and I asked to take a picture. She wraps tiny water balloons (100 for a dollar at Dollar Tree) alternately with little strips of ribbon around the top of the shoe and voila! perfect for walking along the sand on the Mediterranean beaches....
Carlene and I rested, then had dinner at Longhorns and now we're calling it a day. A very good day.
Friday, May 11, 2018
Slides to Digital
I have found in my house a treasure trove of old slides--taken during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I spread them on the light box and traveled back in time:
Carlene is standing on the beach; I am sitting on the back porch of the Huisache house, 1967, wearing a yellow dress; my daddy is holding Baby Day--who looks remarkably like curly-haired Elena; Will is sliding down sand dunes; our dog Tony is catching frisbees; I'm riding my motorcycle; we're meeting the Kots from Cape Cod for the first time at Molas Lake in Colorado....
Thank goodness my daddy was a photographer, like me an amateur but devoted to saving memories.
I am preparing them to mail to a company that turns them into digital files, then returns the originals along with a thumb drive. The reviews of this company--Southtree--are good, but I find I'm afraid of letting them go.
Meanwhile, Nathan is making photographs with the Polaroid-type camera (Instax) and making books of memories of his Pritchett family to take with him when he goes to his other home every other week. "This way I can take you with me," he tells Will. (I gave the camera to his parents for their birthday, but Nathan is captivated with the magic of photography with instant prints.)
I've spent most of the day packing for my Sunday trip to Georgia and I have enough camera equipment and books to last me way longer than I'll be there. Carlene and I will take a long back-roads trip to Virginia.
By the time we get there, Marcus will have had his 13th birthday, so both my Virginia guys will be teenagers!
Carlene is standing on the beach; I am sitting on the back porch of the Huisache house, 1967, wearing a yellow dress; my daddy is holding Baby Day--who looks remarkably like curly-haired Elena; Will is sliding down sand dunes; our dog Tony is catching frisbees; I'm riding my motorcycle; we're meeting the Kots from Cape Cod for the first time at Molas Lake in Colorado....
Thank goodness my daddy was a photographer, like me an amateur but devoted to saving memories.
I am preparing them to mail to a company that turns them into digital files, then returns the originals along with a thumb drive. The reviews of this company--Southtree--are good, but I find I'm afraid of letting them go.
Meanwhile, Nathan is making photographs with the Polaroid-type camera (Instax) and making books of memories of his Pritchett family to take with him when he goes to his other home every other week. "This way I can take you with me," he tells Will. (I gave the camera to his parents for their birthday, but Nathan is captivated with the magic of photography with instant prints.)
I've spent most of the day packing for my Sunday trip to Georgia and I have enough camera equipment and books to last me way longer than I'll be there. Carlene and I will take a long back-roads trip to Virginia.
By the time we get there, Marcus will have had his 13th birthday, so both my Virginia guys will be teenagers!
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