Waiting

Waiting, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

...for the end of the world. What should do in the mean time. The Mayan calendar predicts this. We should prepare somehow? We should probably all quit our jobs and spend time with our loved ones. We should end air travel and simply go back to horse and buggy. We should all gather around the campfires and tell wild stories of our exploits and deeds.

The world may end in 2012. In the meantime, we will still have hunger, pain, dysphoria and new strains of flu to confront. Of course, we will also still have love, children, joy to make the transitions easier.

What might we do to fulfill this prophesy? I do not know. Perhaps none of us do. Perhaps it simply is. What messages have we been given to heed? What warning signs? Does global warming count? Does MAND (Mutually Assured Nuclear Destruction) count?

I will leave here soon to shower and report to work. Today is a court day. I have to tell a judge new to this case that a mother has not completed nor adequately participated in her case plan, and now we are considering transferring custody of her daughter to some one else. It will be an emotional day. It will suck the energy right out of me. It will injure my immortal soul. It will forever change me.

These two eyes will be watching me. Waiting to see how I cope with this. Will I bring it home? Will I be aware of how it is affecting my relationships with those close to me? Will I embrace that fateful day in 2012 when the world comes to an end?

Calla in the Rain

Calla in the Rain, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Evveryday we have choices. We can choose to enter the senseless and nonproductive bickering about Republican vs Democratic politics. We can choose to ignore our changing and challenging environments. We can choose to spend our dollars on education or protection or assimilation or any number of other choices. But that is part of the point. We do have choices. In many places on the planet we call Earth there are not choices available. Someone tells the many HOW, WHEN, WHY and IF something is to be done. Someone decides everything and there is often little public discourse. There is minimal participation by the masses in the daily decisions. The newspapers and media are controlled by those who have the power. The police are puppets for the powerful. The banking system is flawed and unfair.

What will we choose here that will continue to separate us from the places we purport to despise? Each choice will take us closer or move us farther away, but it is our choice. Each and every individual has a choice. What you choose in the short term may not be in your long term best interests. Simple!

Rust

Rust, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Summer is winding on. We have had the beauty of a brilliant spring, the not-quite-so-hot, but very dry summer. We have had a couple of terrific storms, some occasional rain and some beautiful skies at sunset.

Our little corner of the world has visited the North Shore of Lake Superior; Dallas, TX; Lincoln, NE; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Hayward, WI; Detroit Lakes, MN; and a few shorter trips to the regular environs here around Minneapolis-St. Paul.

We will have seen almost all the family members that still count. Zoos, baseball and softball games. We have had a bonfire or two here with the visiting teens and pre-teens. We have had a basketball game or two, taken quite a few bike rides, visited DQ on a hot night; long for a fire on cooler nights, sweated when we chose not to use the air and pulled covers up to our chins on nights when the temperature seemed more like April or October rather than June or July.

We have frequented a couple of new local restaurants; Smash Burger (yuck); and the new deli (TU here). Marcus tried some new foods (salads and greens); and he spent a week being a vegetarian (don't know why, but he's a kid). Angel has a boyfriend (strong grip-plays football) and we are almost done with her braces.

Mary worked hard this summer. Struggling with a neck strain/back injury that plagued her most of the summer. I fought with the battle of bulge for the first real time in my life. It is harder to get on that tiny seat on my bike, but it is still just as fun. Wind in my face, sounds of birds and the slight hum of rubber tires on the blacktop.

Marcus took golf lessons through First Tee and loved it. He and Mary played a couple of 9 hole games. Angel fell really hard for softball and played on a championship team. She missed the final game though because of family vacation. Still, nothing like being a winner.

August is rust. Rust is tarnish. Tarnish is a covering. That covering starts to change things. What more changes might we see this year? Sometime in August the politcians are going to either make some decisions or continue with the nonsensical partisan ideologies about healthcare and economic recovery. They should have to shed the donkey and the elephant at the lawmaker's front steps and do simply what is right. Some of the best educated but little-boy-frightened-at-first-day-of-school people I have ever seen.

America is rusty herself. We can polish her up or let her decline. We have to decide. The status quo is no longer an option.

And my photography skills are a bit more polished. Trying hard to avoid rust and complacency. Where do we all go next?

Some Things

, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

...are just beautiful. Sometimes the beauty is too much to absorb in one setting. I saw these flowers on the way back from taking/making other photos. I stopped, enjoyed the fresh breeze in my face and walked around. The lighting was direct and overhead, the breeze was too stiff for macros and the flowers would not stay still. I just enjoyed looking at these. I snapped off a few frames for posterity sake. I maxed DOF and steadied myself as best I could. I exposed in bursts of bracketed fives. This is the result. I am pleased. I hope you enjoy this serendipitous moment. You probably have some things too that you could share. This is but one of mine.

Walk About

My daughter was sleeping. My wife and son had left for Vikings training camp in Mankato. My studio partner asked to borrow a lens for a wedding she is shooting today. I dropped off the lens and started meandering. Something I have not done in considerable time. The studio is in St. Paul near the Farmer's Market. On my way in I saw these beautiful flowers. I stopped and clicked off a quick burst on my camera. Someone noticed me there and stopped to talk with me. I think I found the interruption somewhat annoying, but I tried to be gracious. That is not always easy for me during a meander. I dropped off the lenses and started on my way home. I stopped by the little shop that sells second store furnishings. Thinking about a new clothing rack for the studio. Something a bit more steady that what we currently have. The rep noticed me and asked if I had seen what I was looking for. I mentioned photography and he immediately let me know they have autopoles. Just what we need. Stick that in my memory for the next time I have a few extra dollars.

Next stop Theodore Wirth. But before I get there I see the sunflowers in the community garden. Click, click. Beautiful light again here. Too breezy though.