Flowers from here and there

I love to travel. 

When I travel, I love to take pictures.

I have been accused of traveling for the sake of taking pictures.

In those travels, I have taken pictures of flowers. I am usually not too impressed with my photos of JUST flowers, particularly single flowers. I guess I have seen so many photos of flowers that unless it's something spectacular, it's just ANOTHER flower picture...at least the one's I take.

I do, however, seem to use flowers frequently as part of the bigger picture.

I think I am just a "bigger picture" kind of guy.

Anywho...here are some places I have been where flowers jumped into the picture:

Morrow Rock, California

NW Harbor, Acadia National Park, Maine

Acadia National park coast

Chicago skyline from Navy Pier

I do occasionally focus my camera a little closer and sometimes it takes pretty decent shots:

Gainesville, Florida Butterfly Garden

I hope you enjoyed my photos! This was written for this weeks "Flowers " prompt from:

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Somebody's watching me during my close calls

Being a lazy...uh, I mean resourceful person, I am going to combine this weeks BFF challenges "Somebody's Watching Me" and "Close Calls".

Several years ago I owned a cute little 1996 Tracker.

Because it is so small, I affectionately dubbed it the quarter car or the Jeepknee, because it is about knee high to a real Jeep. I bought it as a fun, weekend drive-in-the-country vehicle.

It has two fiberglass tops that can be removed for open air cruising: Perfect for looking at all of the great architecture in little Ohio towns.

It was almost as much fun as cruising on a motorcycle, except I didn't have to worry about hitting gravel patches.

 

One day, several years ago, I was on the way back from a site visit in Cincinnati driving in my little Jeepknee.

A Semi suddenly decided to share a lane with me.

(Thats what I get for leaving enough space between me and the car ahead!). There was no one in front of him but he suddenly changed lanes. To make matters worse, he suddenly slammed on his brakes.

I swerved to avoid him and found out first hand about the roll over issues associated with tall SUVS.

The tail end first swerved out to the right, then a touch of the wheel, compensated too much, and it swerved out the left. It then decided to spin all the way around until I was heading backwards on all four lanes of Northbound I-75...staring straight at the front of another Semi truck bearing down on me. The momentum of the first swerves continued until the tracker went sideways. This time it was going to slow to slide on the tires, so it flipped over and slid another 50 feet or so…on its top.

Apparently, the driver of the Semi never saw my bright, flame red Tracker. He continued on his merry way, leaving me upside down in the middle of heavy traffic.

Thanks asshole. Glad I took such good care of my little baby for the last six years.

It took me about 10 minutes to get my big butt out of the wreckage. I had to give someone the keys so they could unlock the back hatch and I could crawl out.   

This was my Tracker after that close call:

My hair should have been much shorter for a really long time.

The amazing thing is, I didn't have a scratch on me. This is the second time I have been in an accident where the vehicle didn't have the greasy side down, and I walked out of it without a scratch.

All I can say is: 

Somebody must be watching over me, and those Angels must love me.

Now the real question is; Is the third time a charm, or do I have cats lives and still have eight more to go?

Drive careful folks. And I hope your angels are watching you too.

For the love of, and for, children

I was being especially lazy Sunday morning when the phone rings. 

I roll over in bed and pick up the phone. It's Chelsea Keechle and she informs me that our "Grand children" are on the way over. "Technically" they are not OUR grandchildren, but as far as I am concerned, they ARE. 

We pull ourselves together just in time to meet three very excited young kids at the door. Emily has been working on a project for us and she hands a yellow paper to me. The bottom is slightly soaked, but all but a few words are readable.

The last line has a question that I do not catch with the first read because the first few words are smeared. Later Emily says "You didn't answer the question."

I ask her what was the question? 

"Do you love me?" she says. 

"Yes. Yes we do!" More than ever.

Yeah, I think we can spoil them as good as any grand parent.

Dear Mom...

Dear Mom

Thank you for having me. If not for you (and a little input from Dad) I wouldn't be here wandering amongst the living.

Thank you for changing all my dirty diapers so many years ago. I blame the frequency and intensity of the odor on the baby food. I apologize profusely.

Thanks for spending countless hours showing me those dang Math "flash cards". I must have been one cute kid for you to not have strangled me during those trying times.

I had absolutely no interest in math and I'm sure my stubbornness against learning it was frustrating. You knew all I wanted to do was to go outside and play and yet you persisted against incredible odds. I still suck at math, but I do wish I had spent more time trying to let you teach me, and less time fighting you against it. Those trials did lead me to find one of my long time passions: ART! No math required. 

 You may be happy to hear, or not, that I can still be just a stubborn!

Thanks for allowing us the freedom to roam. While I am sure there were times when you were glad to have all three of us out of the house, I am also sure it was hard not to worry about us every time we ventured into the world; riding our bikes around the neighborhood, or running wild through the woods during summer vacation. That youthful freedom instilled a curiosity about the world and a sense of adventure that remains strong to this day.

Thanks for coddling us when we needed it, but allowing us the freedom to learn from our mistakes. Although I never figured out why all of those flying contraptions and parachuting off the roof never worked, I did learn the dynamics of gravity and that testing the first draft of a concept with a live human is not always a good idea. To this day, I am much better at thinking things through, planning and organizing.

Thanks for not buying us everything we always wanted. While we weren't poor, I know we were far from being rich. I am sure there were many Birthdays and Christmases where I didn't get everything I wanted. The truth is: I don't remember them. We had everything we needed. It taught me to appreciate the things I do have. It also taught me that the things I really want, but don't really need, will be discounted eventually. (On the other hand, thanks for the chrome "Spyder" bike! That was awesome!)

Thanks for making me practice my trumpet for a half hour every freaking day whether I wanted to or not.

After many years, I actually got pretty good at it. It was good to know that if I wanted to be the best trumpet player in the high school band, I could have. Of course, that would have required even more practice. All that trumpet playing gave me one of my other lifelong passions: Music

Thanks for trying to teach me to play the piano. To this day I wish I knew how to play it, but I am also aware that I don't have enough desire to spend a half hour a day practicing. I always enjoyed hearing you play it, and I even had a pretty good time when you "coerced" me into accompanying you with my trumpet for that church event.

Thank you for putting up with me for almost 18 years while I lived at home.

And to all the other "Mothers" out there:

Happy Mothers Day!

Always remember and never forget:

While there will be times when your kids don't seem to appreciate you, deep down they do, and always will.

Got Hope?

 Photo by Chelsea Keechle with digital alterations by yours truly

 

Even the tiniest pin prick of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel can get most people through the most dismal of times.

Hope can be a very good thing, but like dreams, hope alone won’t make things happen.

I’ve hoped for many things in my life. I even managed to get quite a few of them. I did not get them because I sat around hoping they would happen.

I got them but because I got busy and made them happen.

But today, I am going to be a hope dope.

(This Image shamelessly stolen from the web )

I’m going to hope for things that should happen, but I have no real control to make them happen.

Today I hope for:

(This Image shamelessly stolen from the web 

from someone else that probably stole it first)

I know, World Peace is a real beauty pageant kind of answer. But really, wouldn’t that be nice? Actually, it would be nice if we could all just get along in our own neighborhoods!

I also hope for:

Maybe political liability. Wouldn’t it be nice if our politicians were really considering the best welfare of the majority of the people? It seems most of them are taking care of the few rich contributors and corporations that got them there.

On  a more personal level, I hope that:

…I can make more time to travel and take pictures.

… all my favorite old bloggers will find their way here so I can stalk them once again. (and by old, I don’t mean actual age, but all those fine people I used to subscribe to way back when on MySpace) 

…someone actually reads this and leaves a comment!

I also hope that everyone is doing fine and feeling well.

What do you hope for?

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My Blue Heaven

I am not a particularly religious person, so I imagine my image of heaven may be a bit skewed than most peoples.

Most of my life I have played by the rules that a polite society drummed into me. (Well, maybe slightly bent rules.) I have (almost) always been the good boy.

So my image of heaven may start out with those 21 virgins from the Muslim religion. Hmm, I wonder if those would have to be Muslim women?

Actually, now that I type that, I think I would prefer non virgins. Ladies that know what to do and aren’t afraid to try it.  Yeah, that would make for a better heaven.

Or, better yet, maybe all the old “girlfriends” I never had sexually, but wanted. Now we're talking! Of course, I would have the libido of a 18 year old with the knowledge I have now...And they would all want me as much I had wanted them.

I only add all the caveats because I am reminded of the way wishes turned out in that old “Monkey Paw” story. You really gotta cover all the bases when talking eternity, ya know?

Being an avid photographer, I also see heaven as a beautifully visual place, where the temperature would always comfortable unless you FELT like standing in a freezing rain.

If there were other people there, they would be pleasant, intelligent, and considerate. You know, like people SHOULD be anyway. A little (okay, a LOT of) humor would also be needed.

In heaven we should also have the option of visiting this old Earth, if we felt like it. 

I’m sure when I die, there will be places I wanted to see, and things I wanted to do, that I did not get to do before Death tapped me on the shoulder. Unless I took my own life, I should be able to do that. After all, there are a few heavenly places right here on Earth.

I also think that, while we were flying around the living earth, (and yes, flying freely would be a part of heaven) we should be able to help the living if we can.  I think we should be allowed to whisper in their ears, things like: 

“Do not go in the basement!” 

 
or “Do not go down that dark alley” 

 
or “ That sheet will NOT work like a parachute no matter how many floors up you jump from.”

Sooo, that is pretty much my idea of Heaven. I reserve the right to alter or change as desired at any point in time.

What is your idea of heaven?