Day 24: Crowd

The theme today didn't go as I planned.  For some reason my camera refused to work at my daughter's "National Honor Society Induction Ceremony: last nite...and all the photos came out as little X's.  Nice keepsakes, nonetheless, I am sure.  So, I had to improvise this morning...but first...

...go look at my fellow non-contestants...and don't forget to thank Ziva for coming up with this idea...

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and, last -- but definitely not least, Ziva.

Day 24:  Crowd

It's that time of year again - when we drain the pool because we are too lazy to keep it clean during the off season. It's also cheaper to just drain it and put new water in it - and more sanitary, because this is what gets into your pool at the end of the season if you let it accumulate and rot.


There are also about fifty frogs crowded in there which all jump into the murky depths once they see anything approaching. There's probably also about a zillion frog eggs in there by now, too...and those water boatmen...you can bet there's a whole crowd of those things in there just waiting to shear off your skin if you are stupid enough to pick one up and put it in your hand because it "swims cute".


The leaves and pinestraw go without saying...you can definitely see there's enough crowded in there to make a fine smelly paste of waste debris. Ahhh...take a deep breath...nothing smells like Spring like the bottom of a vase of flowers left too long in the water; magnify that intense pervasive "perfume" and you might get a partial idea of what must be decomposting their little body parts away, en masse, to ensure a place in that last foot of precious water. And right about tomorrow...the mosquito larvae will decide to take up residence (if they haven't already)...and speaking of crowds...there'll be millions of their little wiggly selves pushing thru the waterworld to enter the airy world...and nothing can dispel a human crowd so quickly as a whole swarm of hungry mosquitoes in search of that first blood feed.


Yep...just to look at that photo and think there's nothing in there...is pretty ludicrous. By square inch, it has more useable real estate than any one of Donald Trump's properties...and many, many, many more squatters.



Day 12: Fear

It's nearly two weeks since we've all decided to jump on Ziva's bandwagon and take photos along the way. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the different takes on the daily theme and seeing what I'll eventually go with.

I'm figuring the next couple of weeks will be harder than the beginning. I guess we'll all find out soon.

So...please check on Ziva's name in the first paragraph to find out what this contest is about...and then click on the participants to see what they've come up with. (My photo/blurb is directly following.)

MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and Ziva.

Day 12: Fear

"Whatever you do...don't...look...under...the...BED!"

What could possibly be more scary than a creepazoid axe murderer hiding underneath the thing we fall asleep on? Yeah...I grew up as a child (and well until my adulthood) checking inside the closet and under the bed before I retired for the nite. Fear will come and get you; no amount of hiding under covers is going to stop the thing which really isn't under the bed from crawling out and getting you. If you don't check beforehand...you are doomed. All kids know this...I knew this until I was about 30. Hey, some take longer than others...so don't judge me. This is the number one reason why I cannot watch scary films...I have a vivid imagination and way too many fears...and then the movie people go and invent some more.

But, the "thing under the bed" is, by far, the most fear-provoking in my opinion...so it gets the nod. (The "nod" provided in the photo is my daughter -- someone had to look under there...it certainly wasn't going to be me!)

Day 10: Waiting

Unfortunately, I didn't grab an opportunity when I had it last week. Coming back from Atlanta the traffic came to a complete standstill on I-85 on a rainy Friday nite. One by one the cars had their engines shut off and then an eerie stillness came over the southbound lanes as people turned their headlights off as well. A few people got out of their cars and it was like an episode of "The Twilight Zone"...and something I will probably never be a party to ever again. With my camera in the trunk, not holding a charge, I thought it was futile to get it out and snap some shots, but at least I should have tried as it would have made the perfect photograph to depict "waiting". But, alas, I didn't. After a couple hours, the wrecks a few miles up were cleared and they let us get on our way again.

Naturally, when I later saw the themes here at Ziva's...I could have kicked myself...but since I recently had ingrown toenail surgery...I didn't. I instead looked around for something else which might portray "waiting"...so I waited...until another opportunity would come along.

While you're waiting to read what I came up with...check out these other participants and don't make them wait too long before you do: MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and Ziva.


Day 10: Waiting

This is our cat, Chupie (short for Chupacabra). Chupie, since he is orange and I hold a disdain for all orange cats, he doesn't get a whole lot of attention here. You see, we have a bunch of cuter cats and they end up "winning" us over based on looks alone...so, yes, the orange cat comes in last...there's always a cat that comes in last and in our house, it's poor Chupie. Because of this, Chupie swells with happiness if we even look at him...and he can purr so loudly, I swear it can be heard from a couple rooms away.

So the other evening as it was getting late, I noticed him just staring forward, not moving a muscle. Usually, if I would have called his name - he would have come running...because any opportunity to be pet is foremost on this cat's list. But he just stayed...eyes fixated in front. I got a little worried that maybe he was hurt in some way...maybe an animal attacked him - or maybe he was hit by a car...or maybe he was just waiting for something to pop out of a little hole which was about one foot directly in front of him.

For at least three hours he sat and waited. Persistence like this, I thought, should not go unnoticed...so I finally grabbed my camera and took about 10 shots of him before the battery died. He, staying true to cat stalker protocol, didn't budge an inch. He might have looked at me a little...but only his eyeballs moved. His head stayed steadfast and unwavering...waiting...waiting.

Me...I gave up after the shots - but he remained for a couple more hours. Whatever was in that hole must have been the stuff that cat dreams are made of...and, the next day...he was at his post again. Now, that is quiet determination.

Whether this is a better shot than the I-85 standstill would have been...eh, I have my doubts; but this one (yes, wait for it) was definitely the more purrfect.


(The hole, if you cannot find it...is the dug up bit straight ahead of his gaze...next to the tiny clump of grass.)

Day 7: Mirror (30 Days of Photographs)

We are now at the first week mark at Ziva's "30 Days of Photographs" non-contest contest. The rules with the upcoming themes can be found by clicking her name above.

There are some very talented people showcasing their talent...please be sure to check out how they view their theme from their own eye. Their "eyes" can be found here: MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Mariann, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Pam and Katherine.

Day 7: Mirror

My interpretation of today's theme of "Mirror" was instantly formed in my head when I ran down the list when the words were first announced.

I chose Leonardo da Vinci for one obvious reason: He would write his notes in mirror text (he wrote them backwards...but they could be read easily if you put a mirror up to them)...and while I didn't have a great mirror at hand, I did have a recent article about da Vinci which attributes his "Vitruvian Man" drawing to another artist who supposedly had that idea beforehand. (It's always much easier to challenge the dead when they cannot answer inquiries.)

I also liked the way the backwards/forwards text of the article's title, "The Other Man" showed up...and I think it's an incredible stroke of pure ironic luck this paired extremely well with the "dual men" in this photo. I just wish I owned a better camera...and a better mirror. I'd be a whole different mirror image of myself had my mirror not been so incredibly bad. ;)