Don — Page 63

A Delivery

August 2, 2018 at 8:56 am by Claudia

We ran errands yesterday: recycling; stopping by our local farm stand to get some fresh veggies, including the best sweet corn I have ever had or will ever have and I’m from the Midwest where corn is king; running into the supermarket in the rain.

When we got home, I checked the mailbox and there was nothing in there. We sighed and chalked it up to a slow mail day. Not until I happened to open the front door around 5 pm did I see a stack of boxes and mail. Whoops! Lori must have brought it all up to the porch, stashing everything on the far side of the steps leading to the front door to keep it out of the rain.

Anyway, most everything was for Don. One box contained new business cards he designed which are really cool – you can see them on his IG account. But the biggie was a box that came all the way from South Korea. Inside it was another vintage camera that Jean André had recommended. It’s a press camera called the Mamiya Universal Press and it’s much lighter than the Crown Graphic. They stopped production of the Mamiyas in 1969. After a couple of conversations with Jean André, who said his is the workhorse of his street-polaroid-portrait-photography, Don found one on eBay.

It took forever to unwrap it – the seller had done a great job of packing.

Don amazes me. He has grasped so much about the workings of the Crown Graphic and he immediately applied that knowledge to the Mamiya, so he had the whole thing figured out pretty quickly.

Yours truly was put to work as test model in the sweltering humidity.

You can see that it’s much smaller. The Crown Graphic is the star, of course. It never fails to stop people in their tracks and countless conversations with strangers ensue. But the Mamiya is great for the times that the Crown Graphic becomes a bit too heavy or you just want to change it up a bit.

Yes, those are leaves on the roof of the porch.

I’m not ready.

Don’s new endeavor is the perfect thing for him. He’s passionate about photography. Loves vintage. Loves people. And it’s flexible and can work around and with any future acting jobs.

He’s in the living room right now, researching something about the Crown Graphic.

Meanwhile, between shots I wandered around the property with my camera.

Hello, zinnia.

Variations of purple.

Tried to capture this little bug on camera, but he was too fast for me!

What has turned out to be my favorite flower/plant combination this year.

We watched The Man with the Golden Arm last night on TCM. It’s another of those movies that I’ve always known about but had never seen. Wow. Frank Sinatra is simply stunning in the role of a guy fighting heroin addiction. Kim Novak and Eleanor Parker are also excellent. It was directed by Otto Preminger. We were riveted.

I know that Frank Sinatra was a good actor, but we usually think of him – understandably – as a great singer. But he made a lot of films, among them, From Here to Eternity (he won the Oscar and he breaks your heart), The Manchurian Candidate (one of my all-time favorites and all too similar to the puppet residing in the White House) and this one. Countless musicals, as well, but the movies I’ve listed really show his acting chops. The scenes with him going through heroin withdrawal are harrowing.

So here we are, trying to find things in the day that take us away from the toxicity in Washington and the country, doing whatever we can to keep some semblance of sanity, trying to find moments of peace amidst increasing despair. So we take pictures, read, clean, water flowers, watch movies, watch bunnies and birds and laugh whenever we can.

Happy Thursday.

Again With the Rain

August 1, 2018 at 9:36 am by Claudia

Aaaaand, more rain and thunderstorms for the next 4 days. At least we were granted two days with sunny skies. I managed to get all the mowing done in time for the whole thing to start over again. Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, two days to mow and weed, rain, rain, rain, rain. Ad nauseum.

This little guy was having breakfast this morning. He was out there for about an hour. Henry was out there as well, but for less time, because Henry gets scared easily and runs back inside his home.

I worked out on the porch yesterday, potting a few plants that I’d purchased about a week ago, cleaning the former kitchen island and a table,, watering the plants. I swept the porch. Then I moseyed on down to the front yard to take some photos of the wildflowers that are popping up everywhere.

They’re all growing down near the road – and elsewhere on the property. Queen Anne’s Lace always pops up down near the mailbox. Fleabane is everywhere. Purple Loosestrife only pops up near the culvert and in the wettest edge of the Secret Garden. For those of you who are about to say it’s invasive, don’t worry. We’ve been here for almost 13 years and it’s not invasive on this property. I think it’s beautiful.

I’m not sure what is on the docket for today except recycling and grocery shopping.

How exciting!

(I kid.)

It’s sort of a gray day and the rain is expected to start any minute and gray days, for the most part, don’t do a lot to lift my mood. I find that to be truer than ever the older I get. I used to think that Don was way too influenced by whether it was sunny or gray and rainy. But the truth is, I’m the same way.

Ah, well. I suspect there are a lot more people out there like us.

And the state of our country doesn’t help.

Happy Wednesday.

Later In the Summer

July 31, 2018 at 8:07 am by Claudia

The wonderful thing about planting zinnias from seed is that I never know what to expect. Each new bloom is a surprise. Will it be purple, or red, or white, or in this case, a combination of peach and pale peach?

They are my later-in-the-summer delight. This year’s crop is especially prolific. When you plant seeds, you are often told to ‘thin’ them once the seedlings appear. I never do that. I just let them be. What could be bad about lots of zinnias?

One thing I miss at this time of year: the lack of bird song in the morning. I used to sit on the glider on the porch each morning listening to a veritable symphony of birds singing and calling. Now? It’s pretty quiet. Yes, there is occasional bird song, but nothing like it was. I feel a bit melancholy about that. It’s too quiet first thing in the morning.

I know that autumn is coming. And I’m never ready for it.

One sound that does kick in at this time of year is the chorus of cicadas. Wave after wave of sound. Don and I listen to them as we drink coffee in the Secret Garden. They really are amazing.

The constant? The bullfrog that lives in our neighbor’s pond.

The hydrangea in the memorial garden is particularly pink this year.

And the limelights are doing their later-in-the-summer thing.

Don has been working every day with his new camera. Now, he goes to some local spot – in town, at the farm stand, outside a bookshop – and talks to people, who are, of course, fascinated by his camera. He then tells them that he’s a student who is learning to use the Crown Graphic and asks if he can take their picture. Most people are more than happy to help out. Each day, he is learning more and more about light and framing and apertures and F-stops and the adjustments he has been making are paying off.

This is from yesterday’s session and I think it’s my favorite so far:

Of course, this is a picture of a picture of a picture, so you’re not getting the texture and the sheen of the polaroid, but it’s everything you want in street photography; an interesting background with cars, buildings and people and a great subject, in this case, two very cool young people.

He captured the light beautifully. I’m so proud of his work ethic, his determination.

I love hearing him say, “I love this camera. I love it.”

He’s the bees knees.

One last thing: Happy Birthday, Mom.

Happy Tuesday.

A Delivery

Again With the Rain

Later In the Summer

claudiahillsparks

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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