Tag: Photography
Raindrops
This post inspired by June photo a day challenge
The prompt: Raindrops
Spring time brings rain.
And more rain.
And…healthy green grass by the side of the road.
Nostalgia
Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week: Nostalgia
When I was five years old, my Opa and Oma gave me a charm bracelet.
At least I think I was 5.
My clue?
A birthday cake charm with 5 candles that pop up if you push the lever underneath it. Pushing up with a just-the-right-size 5 year old finger. I especially remember the charms with the movable parts.
They added charms to the bracelet for many years. Birthday gifts or just because. Each charm meant something special. Several were souvenirs from their trips to Europe.
Such sweet memories…
A bicycle…I loved to ride.
A baby shoe…as I used to wear.
A mailbox…Opa and I were penpals.
Ballet shoes…my short lived stint taking lessons.
Piano…5 years of lessons and all I can still play is Chopsticks.
My favorite is the deck of cards charm. With actual cards inside – at one point I took them all out to check. And then put them all back.
It reminds me of O&O, as I called them. But especially Opa, who taught me everything I know about cards, game strategy and how much fun it is to play.
Although the 6 ½ inch bracelet no longer fits my wrist, it will always make me smile as I recall how it came to be.
(Photos taken with my new Canon EOS RP Mirrorless Full Frame DSLR. Canon RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM lens)
Tower
This post inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo
The prompt: Tower
On March 13, 1994 – the hottest March 13th on record for San Francisco – my husband and I climbed Coit Tower in Telegraph Hill. All 210 feet. To reach the observation tower at the top – with its 360 degree view of the city.
We had just arrived in California for a much anticipated weeklong vacation. Jet lag hadn’t set in yet.
The long climb…well worth it.
Telegraph Hill
San Francisco, CA
(FYI: that’s Christopher Columbus standing guard….)
Wordless Wednesday
Vista
This post inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo
The prompt: Vista
During a cruise to celebrate our 30th anniversary, my husband and I visited St. George’s, Bermuda. We spent a wonderful day exploring the town and a gorgeous nearby beach.
We enjoyed views from the ship and during our walk around town.
Gadget
This post inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #49: Gadget
Tell (or show) me about those gadgets in your life, or better yet, put on your creative caps and invent something new.
It is right here on my desk.
A gadget of sorts that I tossed in a drawer over 25 years ago.
Thinking…I can probably use this thing once in a while. If I ever need it. Someday. Maybe for teeny tiny print on a label…
Teasing my husband – who is a year my senior – you’ll probably need this before I do.
Little did I know….
The truth is…I kept it because it was Oma’s. My grandmother, who ended up nearly blind from macular degeneration, viewed life through a blurry haze. Despite the thick glasses she was forced to wear in the last few decades of her life.
When Oma moved to an assisted living facility near me after Opa died, I arranged for her to have cataract surgery – with amazing results. Honey I can see colors! At 84, the blurry haze was finally in color.
Many years earlier she had gone to the Lighthouse for the Blind in New York for help. Which is where she got this flashlight magnifier. A marvelous invention.
It turned out to be more than a gadget. It was her pathway to reading greeting cards, letters from family and friends. Reader’s Digest. Restaurant menus.
She died at the age of almost 87. I saved her letters. Her photographs. A few pieces of her jewelry. The hand mirror that emits a laughing sound when you pick it up. And the Lighthouse for the Blind flashlight magnifier.
It has been dusted off and put to use a few times over the years. However, the older I get – and the more I have to reach for those DARN reading glasses – the more I switch on Oma’s gadget instead…
So handy when I examine Opa’s color slides…checking for dust…before scanning them for this blog.
It works like a charm.
I think of her every time I use it.
Wordless Wednesday
Photo a Week – Squares & Circles
Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week – Squares and Circles
IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) FEATURING SQUARES AND CIRCLES TOGETHER IN YOUR IMAGES.
King Me!
…is said triumphantly during an intense game of Checkers…one of my favorite board games as a child. A two player game, my grandfather and I were often found sitting across from each other, leaning over the checkered board. Planning our next moves. Jumps. Double jumps. His pile of checkers usually accumulated faster than mine. Ferocious competitors until one king remained.
I seem to remember the game pieces as black and red, but this “newer” 1980’s version – which I played with my children – went with a new look.
Peppers Everywhere
This post inspired by May photo a day challenge
The prompt: Colorful
It was a cold gray dreary February day. No color to be found outside…other than brown, white and dark green peeking out from snow covered evergreens.
As I wandered through the produce section of a local grocery store (aptly called Market Basket), a rainbow of peppers caught my eye.
I imagined the security camera recording the image of a bundled up lady taking pictures of vegetables with her phone. Was she an undercover “Mystery Shopper”? (as I once was twenty years ago). Or from the Health Department? Or just capturing the perfect image to illustrate…Peter Piper Picked a Peck of….?
Or just because that pepper display was gorgeous…
I digress.
Vegetables = colorful. As well as being full of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, fiber and all kinds of good stuff you can’t get in a pill or a powder. No matter what the advertisers tell you.
Definitely a sight for my color starved eyes in the middle of winter.
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 