Scattered Thoughts . . .

I'm having difficulty finding words and thinking clearly this morning so I'll keep this blog entry relatively short.   Back a few weeks ago, Sheila and I headed down to Northfield to meet with some good friends who now live in another state.  They were in town for a family event and, fortunately, had a couple of hours to squeeze in a lunch with us.  Naturally, we wished we had far more time with them but we understand how hectic a family visit can be.  We don't see them nearly often enough so it was great to connect with them for lunch. No matter where we go, I always take at least one camera with me.  The weather was beautiful on this autumn day so I shot a few photos from the passenger side of our car while Sheila drove.  I haven't had the energy to wander around solely for the purpose of landscape photography so this is my mode of operation for this type of thing lately...  no tripod, handheld camera, in a fast moving car (or train).   The telltale sign of being in a

This past weekend, Sheila and I headed down to Rutland for a small train show. We've been attending this show since the first show seven years ago. Each September, we find it is a nice excuse for a relatively short day trip.  It was nice to get out of town for a short while after weeks of significant health problems for me. Sheila and I seem to take turns with poor health. This past month was my turn, apparently, so it was nice to get out of town if even for a short day trip.   The weather was quite nice although we did encounter a few sprinkles on the way down to Rutland. The autumn colors are barely visible in our neck of the woods and not yet all that crisp anywhere nearby but we did encounter some color once we approached Killington right outside of Rutland.  Driving through the northeast is always nice this time of year... the air is cooler and the landscape is in a stage of transition with colors beginning to uniquely enhance the appearance of each type of tree.  W

This year has been brutal in many ways but, for now, I'm just referring to our climate. For months, we've had our house closed up with the air conditioning running because it has been unbearably hot and humid. We've had many rain days and so few days of clear skies that I could count on one hand the number of times I was able to use one of my telescopes in the past five or six months.  So, we've had our air conditioning running just about daily during this period until the day before yesterday.  Yesterday, the heat and humidity finally broke and I was able to open all the windows and doors in the house! That really felt great and I thought that perhaps we were finally due for some nice autumn weather.  Wrong. The temperature plummeted and this morning we needed to close every window in the house and use the stove to heat up the house. It was frigid! On the positive side, this first cold snap of the year always reminds me that it is time to test the furnace

I've spent almost all of the past eight or nine days split between the couch and the bathroom due to multiple health issues. This morning, however, I felt halfway decent... I was still overwhelmingly exhausted but I felt halfway decent. I was itching to accomplish something... anything... It just so happens that this morning was warm and sunny. Combine this type of weather with feeling halfway decent for the first time in well over a week and it is safe to say that I was going to wander outdoors.  I still didn't feel well enough to work on the yard or house so I decided to attempt some photography in the backyard. I grabbed my camera and decided to test out my newly acquired Canon FD 135mm f2.0 all-manual lens (no auto-focus, no auto-exposure). I mounted this hefty lens on my camera and headed outdoors. This lens is more appropriate as a portrait lens and I was immediately reminded of this fact when I tried to shoot a photo of some dried up autumn flowers... I couldn'

I had some relatively minor health issues over the weekend while we were with the grandkids but didn't think much of it. I threw some extra medications at my health and pushed on forward.  The past few days, however, have been rather lousy.  In hindsight, I know that the relatively minor health issues I experienced in the preceding days were clues that my health required immediate attention. I should have stopped all activity... I should have taken some emergency medications rather than just some extra medications... and I should have tried to rest and recover. Instead, my health progressively worsened as I tried to ignore the warnings and push on through our activities with the grandkids. I haven't been able to wander far from a bathroom. Sheila and I ran into town last night to pick up some groceries and even that very short trip was a problem. My current gastro-intestinal problems are fairly bad (it has been worse though)... I've been having some difficulty brea

The second of two used Canon lenses I had purchased arrived the other night and I had a chance to wander outside this morning to see how well it works on my Sony camera body.  Unfortunately, this second Canon lens is not nearly as fast at autofocusing as the first Canon lens I had purchased a few days ago so I'm a bit disappointed. I was hoping this lens would help resolve some of my longer telephoto woes but now I'm not so sure.  I'm definitely keeping that first lens that I played with the other day to use for landscapes, architecture, cityscapes, and maybe even some indoor wide angle photography. This telephoto lens... I don't know... I'm still undecided. The photos are contrasty and sharp which is quite impressive for such an inexpensive lens but the autofocus is so slow on my Sony camera body that I know it would be too slow for its intended purpose... wildlife photos. I don't need blazingly fast autofocus but I do need reasonably fast... acceptable..

Here is a short video of us waiting  for Amtrak's Vermonter  at the Waterbury train station before boarding for Lukey and Kenzie's first train trip... I will share another video and more photos soon...

Today, in just a couple of hours, we will be taking the grandchildren on another new adventure!  We've had this trip planned for months but we've been keeping it a secret from the kids.  Funny thing is, I had heard through the grapevine that Kenzie and Lukey were asking about this weekend just the other night... Kenzie wants to go to 'The Christmas Loft' and out to lunch and Lukey asked to go to Disney. Liza told them they couldn't go to the Christmas Loft nor Disney this weekend but that they might be able to go out to lunch and left it at that. Then, Lukey asked if they could visit the train station this weekend since they didn't get to stop there earlier in the week...  Actually, we are taking the kids on their first Amtrak trip so they will be visiting the train station... and there, they will be surprised by Gee and Papa and Nan and Pop! We'll be getting on Amtrak's 'Vermonter' this morning, heading south... having some lunch and wal

Two years ago, I purchased a Sony camera. It is, by far, the best camera I have ever used in my life (and I've used a lot of them over the past 40 years) but the selection of lenses available for this new Sony camera is rather poor.  Sony produced this outstanding camera line and keeps pumping out new models of cameras bodies in this new line but Sony has been exceptionally slow at filling out a full line of lenses. To say I've been frustrated by this delay is a huge understatement. I'd like to get rid of all my old gear (other brands not worth mentioning here nor anywhere else) but I've been hanging onto and using my old gear to make up for the holes in the Sony lens lineup. The problem with trying to use my old gear is that I've advanced enough in photography that these older cameras are even more frustrating for me than Sony being slow to fill out their lens lineup. I really should also mention that after using this new Sony camera, I do not enjoy using any of

After Gee, Lukey and Kenzie made chocolate chip cookies, I was exhausted and in desperate need of a nap so I moved over to the couch where "The Santa Claus" was playing on the television while everyone else cleaned up the kitchen. The kids were exhausted also so I was hoping they would follow me to the couch... no such luck.  I awoke a fairly short time later (it seemed like a short time later, anyway) to the sounds of giggling outside. I got up and went to the window to see if I could figure out the reason for all the wild giggling... Lukey and Kenzie were having a leaf fight with Gee! I grabbed my camera... swapped lenses for my medium telephoto lens... opened the living room window... and started shooting photos from a distance... At this point, Kenzie grabbed her sweatshirt and came inside to see what Papa was doing... I somehow shot more than 500 ph