Actually
there were two things involved here. I needed a pair of white sneakers,
and I needed another pair of shoes to change into during the day...
I'm finding
that I have to change my shoes periodically during the day. While
walking around, my back will start complaining, my feet will hurt, and
my shoes will feel like I am walking on bags of walnuts, (If you have
ever worn rental ski boots, you know what I mean).
If I change my shoes, it sometimes makes a difference.
I think the damage to my back has altered my gait. Put a hitch in my giddy-up.
The reduction in the flow of nerve impulses to my left leg, has me walking with a limp.
Shoes
that once fit perfectly, now feel different. If I am to be comfortable
and walk straight, I must switch shoes at least once a day. My left foot
seems to be changing shape over time. This is a new and interesting
experience for me. Life is fascinating.
The sneakers
that I got today, are some sort of Dr. Scholl's footwear with fancy
insoles. We’ll see how they work over the next month or so. I haven't
had a pair of white sneakers for a number of years so I think they will
be fun.
Remember, this August gives us a nocturnal, celestial treat; A Blue Moon.
I really enjoy photography. It gives me another way to explore this wonderful world in which we live.
Margaret Miller took some really nice pictures on Music Monday using my Lumix FZ3 camera while Peggy Richardson and I played. Photo Credit - Margaret Miller
The Treehouse
got a new piano. Well, a new ‘used’ piano. Peggy sounded good on the real
piano. Her inspired playing livened up Monday’s Music Fest.
I need to take my guitar playing skills up a few notches when I play with Leona and Marian. ( Leona plays alto sax. Marian plays piano. Phil plays guitar.) They are high caliber musicians.
We will be playing on the patio at the Richmond Museum of History, August 7th, as part of Richmond Day, (the day of Richmond's incorporation in 1905).
Stepping out to take a few pictures today, (Sunday), I was surprised to see that Friday’s ‘driveway’ rose bud had blossomed. That was nice.
I went out back to take the daily picture of a pair of unusual flowers as they develop.
I saw that the ants were busy doing whatever it is they are doing with this flower.
As I got
real close to photograph the ants, this hummingbird flew in between the
camera lens and the flower while I was looking through the viewfinder.
That was a surprise!
What a precious moment.
Apple pie
with ice cream, took me away from this compilation of delightful
moments that I want to share with you. I thought about making some
whipped cream, but it is midnight, and my neighbors probably wouldn’t
find the sound of the mixer to be a pleasant lullaby.
I am
very fortunate to have neighbors that I like, (they like me, too). My present, presents include this apartment that is just right, in a town with
rivers, lakes, and mountains in abundance, where I can live this life
that I love. What a beautiful gift. Thanks.
‘Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.’
If you want to read the book on your PC or Laptop, it is HERE,
for free. It has all the wonderful, original illustrations, (click on
them to animate), making each page a modern, as well as nostalgic,
delightful experience.
Every day is filled with delightful surprises and wondrous events for all to enjoy.
Well,
today the Olympics had their opening day ceremony. I forgot to watch
it. If I had wanted to watch it, I would need to find another country’s
website because one needs to be subscribed to cable service or something
so you can watch the NBC live stream on the Internet.
France,
China, the U.K., and other countries with a team or athlete
participating in the games, have got their websites streaming the events
live for free on the Internet. So, I must cheer on the USA while
watching the Olympics in Chinese, or French.
Who am I kidding?
I could go down to the community room and watch the Olympics on the
Treehouse cable channel TV if I wanted to hear it in English. For some
reason, I don't like to spend a lot of time watching TV. I have too many
other things I'd rather do with my time.
Like today,
I worked up a couple of new songs for the band I'm in with John
Harrison. I also took a whole bunch of pictures, did some research about
iPads, took Mark Relly to the convention center to pick up food, read
some of the book about Glock, (the Austrian gun manufacturer), and
participated in a few other engaging activities.
I guess there are a lot of fun things that I would not be doing if I was sitting around watching TV, (things like writing this blog).
I suppose
that my having internet access to every movie, every television show, every
newscast, every event in the world at any time I'd like to watch them, I
kind of get a little picky about what I watch, and how much of it I
want to watch at a time. It's not like I’ll miss anything, because all
the shows are always there anytime I want to see them.
I stopped
in John's violin shop today and he put new strings on my guitar.
Thursday night when we were playing at Lulu’s, I noticed that my strings
were dead. I was having trouble getting any good sounds out of them. He
does a much better job of stringing up guitars, (or violins), than I
do, so I am glad he offers to change the strings on my wonderful, 30+
year old Takamine.
While I was
there I tried some experiments using various angles and light sources
with the camera trying to get the natural colors of the instruments. I
think I got the color of the viola, (pictured above), just about the
color spectrum it really is. Pretty, isn't it?
Here,
once again, is that flower that I'm following each day. You can see the
hole in it where the ants have excavated and established a little
village inside the core of the flower.
And finally,
I like to show you how the blooms on the roses along the driveway can
sometimes look better as they fade and wilt. When the light is just
right, the ragged edges that were brown, now are purple.
Whether it's the sound of the hummingbirds wings, or the blues songs played at
Lulu’s tonight, music is a beautiful gift.
There are some wonderful color combinations with the garden this week.
I'm not sure
what these red star shaped things are, (above). Some sort of Dalia?
They are just blooming for a day or so, and then they die off.
This is another kind of Dalia. It grows very, very tall.
Yesterday,
was spent installing the new Macintosh OS-X Mountain Lion. I'm noticing
that my computer runs much faster and smoother than it did with the
previous version of Lion.
I will
write a full review after I have used it in the many ways that I use
this MacBook. One of the best things I have noticed, so far, is the
improvement in overall performance.
Some of the new features that I am enjoying are;
Dictation - I just talk and it does the typing.
iCloud
Connectivity - I can share pictures, documents and folders with my
little iPod Touch. This is handy when I don’t have my MacBook with me
and I want to show a project, or edit photos, etc.
Notifications - An unobtrusive way of announcing new incoming mail, messages, and more. Similar to the notifications on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
Trader Joe’s Wild Salmon dinner, with fresh garden tomatoes.
Here we have
the perfect illustration of how to save a banana for another day. One
simply uses some of the banana peel to cover the exposed part of the
banana. If the seal is good, then it’s just as fresh as if it had its
original skin on the part where it had been sliced.
Now you see the banana is as fresh and tasty as the first half was on Sunday.
I stopped
by John Harrison’s violin shop earlier today. I saw that he had treated
the wood in preparation for applying the ground to this new Guarneri
violin copy that he’s been working on. I heard him play it the other
day to test the sound before starting the varnish process. The tone is beautiful.
Natural Wonders
This is
a closer view of that flower that I’ve been following. You can plainly
see how the blossom is forming from the center. The little tubes
release yellow flowers on stems as the tube itself unfolds and
becomes a petal.
I don’t know where the ants fit in the scheme of things, there must be something there that they like to eat.
Here are a few more of the flowers in the garden from this Tuesday.
Today was another warm one, and I spent a lot of it outdoors. I went down to Turtle Bay
to see if I could spot the eagle nests. I also went down to the river
at the kayak launching spot to take more pictures. By the time I got
back to the Treehouse, took a few more shots of flowers, and got back in
my apartment, I was really happy to have air-conditioning.
Tonight I am cleaning out files, (after I back them up), and preparing the MacBook for Mountain Lion. That’s the name of the new operating system from Apple being introduced tomorrow.
I’ve been
looking forward to this update because it will mean that I can mirror
everything that’s happening on this MacBook, and it will play on the TV
without wires. At least I hope that’s what will happen. There is a
possibility that my MacBook is too old to support all 200 of the new
features. I’ll find out tomorrow.
Redding has
always been known for its hot summer temperatures, so temperatures in
the hundreds are pretty normal. Still, there are some people, (like
people everywhere), who feel they must express their discomfort when the the
temperature rises, or falls, beyond their comfort zone.
Upon hearing
the glass is half empty, it is in my nature to counteract that
negativity with a word or two about the glass being half full. I guess
that helps keep the world in balance, as I see it.
Here are a few glimpses of how I saw this Sunday;
This flower,
that I am following closely, has begun further development since the
last time I displayed it. The little tubes around the center are
extending tiny yellow flowers.
There is
a little lizard hiding in the shade of the subject flower of my
observations. I added some zoom lines to help you see it in spite of its
camouflaged countenance.
Scientific Phil
I saw a praying mantis in the shade of the stairwell on the outside of ‘A’ building. It seemed to have gotten a suntan.
Saturday was another great day for hot flowers. Here are some pictures to illustrate.
We begin with a delicious, nutritious, breakfast;
I was taking some pictures of the distant turbines atop Hatchet Ridge, when a bird flew in to make the shot more interesting. Thanks bird.
