Don — Page 64

Primary, Flowers & Don

September 13, 2018 at 8:55 am by Claudia

Why do I have the feeling I’ve posted this photo before? In fact, I have that same feeling about both of the pictures today. Sometimes I just don’t have new photos to share with you, so I go back in my photo library to find something current which I think I haven’t used yet. But…it’s a bit of a crap shoot. I’m pretty sure I haven’t used it, but I’m not absolutely sure, and then I say to myself, what the heck? Use it.

Anyway, the flowers down by the mailbox still look like this, so I’m putting it in the post. I love Queen Anne’s Lace and it always shows up down by the road in the late summer.

We have a primary here today for State offices; Governor, Attorney General (so important now as NY State is taking action against Trump,) Representative, etc. If you live in New York State or any other state that has a primary today, get out and VOTE!

Rick and Doug are stopping by this morning with Sam to check out what they need to know about our alarm and watering the plants when we’re away. They leave tomorrow. Sam is coming in to see our house, just in case we ever need to keep him with us for some reason. He can sniff it out and it will seem familiar to him. I love that boy.

I stopped by the place where Don was hanging out with his camera yesterday. He has a whole set-up now and he’s doing well! Anyway, we’d had a little tension that morning (yes, we’re like everyone else, we do have arguments) and I regretted being short with him. So, as I was showering, I decided I needed to stop by and apologize. Which I did.

One thing about Don that makes me fall in love with him all over again is that he is always surprised and delighted when he unexpectedly sees me. A smile lights up his face, he leaps to his feet, and embraces me. It’s no different than it was when we were first dating. I know I’m his favorite person, but in those moments, I really know I am.

How lucky am I? I already know the answer. Very.

Happy Thursday.

Butterflies and Photos

August 13, 2018 at 10:28 am by Claudia

I was running around, trying to get a photo of this beautiful monarch who kept flitting from one milkweed plant to another. So sweet.

At the same time, I saw a black swallowtail on the limelight hydrangea, but he was too fast for me.

I had 3 inches chopped off my hair yesterday by my friend, Dawn. She charges $10 for a cut. (Do you believe it?) I always end up tipping her $10 as well because she works long, long hours and deserves it. The cut was overdue as I tend to let my hair grow until it’s out of control – not a good idea when you have baby fine hair. I feel much better. Then, because Don was off taking pictures with his Crown Graphic, I went to the bookstore for the first time in a while and bought some magazines and a few books.

It’s been rainy for a few days now and today is no different. I’m over it.

Don has been getting some great pictures. He has learned how to get the kind of picture he wants in cloudy or sunny weather. He’s figured out framing. He’s honed in on his particular style. He has done great work for the past few days and I think he’s ready to start asking for a donation for each picture.

I’ll share a couple with you. What these digital pictures of his photos don’t show you is the luminous quality of the Fuji (Polaroid) film. It glows. It’s gorgeous. The digital camera can’t capture that, but let me tell you, when you’re holding that photo in your hand, it’s unlike anything else.

The film is expensive because it’s hard to manufacture and Polaroid stopped making it several years ago. Don has been investing in it, so he can hoard as much as possible until someone else comes up with an equivalent for Fuji’s version, which is still in stock, but will eventually be phased out.

Love this one.

We’re getting a little reflection from the iPhone lens, but you get the idea.

These are all a little lighter than what you’re seeing, but we were on the porch this morning and it’s raining. You can see more of his work on his IG account and in his stories.

I’ve never seen any film like this film. It’s beautiful.

So proud of his work ethic and what he has achieved in a few short weeks.

Happy Monday.

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.

Primary, Flowers & Don

Butterflies and Photos

A Delivery

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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