Scattered Thoughts . . .

Liza and the kids walked over to our house for a short visit yesterday just before dinner.  As always, it was nice to see Liza and the kids.  I had a chance to shoot a few photos while they were here playing in the yard. You can see the very small album of photos at my Zenfolio webpage here. Last summer Lukas liked sitting in the sailboat and it is obvious in these photos that he is going to enjoy being out in any of the boats.  Just for fun, we placed him in one of the small cargo compartments of one of our kayaks and he was happy to just sit there as long as we let him!

When I wrote about Sheila's awards ceremony the other day, I mentioned that I could write a separate piece just about the problems I had in shooting photos at that event.  Well, I am going to keep this as short as possible because it is a boring topic for most people, but here is some info on the problems I had that day. I suspect that most people probably assumed that I had problems shooting photos that day because people kept getting in the way.  That does, indeed, happen at many events but that did not happen at all at this event.  Not at all.  The few people shooting photos at this ceremony were polite and considerate, ensuring they weren't in the way of others and always being aware of their surroundings. At other events, however, this type of thing is often a huge problem.  Wedding photographers have a nightmare at every wedding because so many people constantly jump in front of them to shoot crappy photos with their cellphones or cheap compact cameras.  Of course, e

A couple of weeks ago, we had an absolutely beautiful spring Saturday that was like a sunny, early summer day.  My health was relatively good that particular weekend so we dropped everything we needed   to do and instead did something we wanted   to do.  It had been a long, cold winter with far too many months spent inside our small home so we decided to get out and about to do some socializing and spent about 12 hours bar-hopping in Burlington on picture perfect Lake Champlain. The Burlington Boathouse at the waterfront. The weather was absolutely beautiful that weekend.  We managed to spend time with a good number of friends over the course of the weekend which included this entire day in Burlington with two close friends.  It really was a great weekend and any time spent at the waterfront and on Church Street in Burlington is always a good time and time well spent!  Especially when you spend it with close friends such as Frank and Christine! Lately, 'good health' wee

I had the pleasure and honor to accompany Sheila to an awards ceremony today in our State's capital, Montpelier.  We were attending the State of Vermont's Department of Corrections annual awards ceremony and luncheon.  Sheila was a distinct honoree at this awards ceremony for earning the honor of being chosen as the Administrative Employee of the Year. When we arrived in the State's capital and pulled into the parking lot where this luncheon was being held, Sheila was immediately surprised by the number of cars already in the parking lot.  As we approached the building, we couldn't help but notice the two Department of Corrections Honor Guard members flanking each side of the entry doors.  I think it was at this point that Sheila realized this event might be a bigger thing than she had anticipated! Once inside, we were greeted by more Honor Guard members in the lobby.  When we entered the grand room where the ceremony was to be held, it was already crowded with

I'm still recovering from the excruciating kidney pain I had all last week and through the weekend but I am up and about and accomplishing small things around the house.  Although we still do not know for sure the cause of this intense pain, it is good that the pain is waning and I am able to accomplish a few little things again. What I am now struggling with, however, is unbearably hot weather so early in the year.  I had to retreat to inside the house by 11:00 am because the heat was so oppressing.  When I retreated to the protection of our home, our little weather station was showing the temperature to be 93 degrees.  By the time I had finished lunch, I was wishing we had the air conditioning units installed in our windows. My health does just fine when the climate is in the 70s.   When it is in the 80s, I need to take a lot of breaks to cool off.  One of the quickest and effective ways to cool down my body is running cold tap water over the blood vessels in my wrists.  This