Phil's Place

New Month

2012-02-02T00:57:00.000-08:00

Good Start

Okay. This first image is the one I’m using for the month of February on the calendar design experiment I am doing this year.

For now let’s just call it abstract impressionism. In my next blog post, I may divulge what it’s actually a picture of.

On my way to take the daily shot of the little sunflower, I found this blue flower growing in the same flower bed as that red one I found last week.

It seems there is always some new flower popping up somewhere around the Treehouse to throw some color into what otherwise would’ve been a drab first of February.

When I looked inside the sunflower today I could see that 2, or 3 seeds were almost formed. As long as there’s some green on those leaves there is likely some photosynthesis going on to provide the energy it takes to make the seeds.

It was nice to see the colors on otherwise gray toned day. It was another beautiful day, giving me a world of wonders and marvelous magical moments.

I found some fun new things to do with the iPod Touch, and when I stopped by the violin shop to show it to John, he made a stand I could set it in so that its steady for making movies, (More about that in today’s relatively appropriate video).

Monday’s Music Fest was a lot of fun. Peggy played well, and in addition to Margaret Miller’s poetry, and Kathern’s singing, we had the start of a new singing duo/dancing sensation, doing their version of Chantilly Lace.

Waiting for the entertainment to start.

Our resident gourmet, health-conscious, baker extraordinere, Linda, made another batch of her delicious apple dapple turnovers. It was a nice treat.

Tomorrow morning I will step out on the balcony and if I see my shadow, it means the sun is shining.

If I were a groundhog in Pennsylvania, some guy in a top hat would be dragging me out of a box, and holding me up to see if I see my shadow. (I wonder who came up with that one?)

Apparently it was a newspaper publicity stunt gone viral;

The trail of groundhog history actually leads back to Clymer H. Freas, city editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper. In 1887, he was inspired by a group of local hunters and gourmets who held a groundhog hunt followed by a picnic barbecue of, well, you know. Anyway, Freas thought it so much fun that he wrote up the group as the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and went on to promote the Punxsutawney Groundhog as the official weather forecaster. As he embellished the story year after year, other newspapers picked it up and soon everyone looked to Punxsutawney Phil for the critical prediction of when spring would return to the nation. (Source - Star Tribune)

Today’s Somewhat Appropriate Video;

Solid Footing

Bright Ideas

2012-01-31T01:32:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Day

It was a day of inspiration, and action.

Yesterday’s breakfast

I have been researching possible solutions to a shortcoming that occasionally crops up when I am recording live music. The method that I have been using, sometimes needs an additional microphone, or 2, from a different vantage point.

I could get a mixer with more channels that would produce more live tracks, but that would be a major expense for a part time need. I could get a small, portable digital recorder at an affordable price, but I had the feeling that there was a more elegant solution.

For a few dollars more than a dedicated portable recorder, I could get a full featured device that supports the same recording software that I use with the MacBook. And it is designed to integrate with my other Apple devices. I got an iPod Touch.

The iPod Touch does everything an iPhone does, but without the phone bill. It surfs the internet, does email, takes pictures and HD movies, takes advantage of the 400,000 App selection to do just about everything one could imagine, does messaging, phone calls, and video conferencing, etc.

The real deal maker happened right after I got it home and downloaded GarageBand so it became a full featured digital recorder. Like most things Apple, it is designed to do the things it does, effortlessly, pleasingly, and reliably. Let the magic begin.

Today’s Somewhat Relative Video;

Syncronicity

Singing Love Songs

2012-01-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

Not Just For The Birds

I was thinking about the universe as a big giant lump of Jell-O substance that had ever-changing viscosity, when I ran across this article about mice.

Article About Crooning Mice

The researchers evidently sought to record the sounds of the mice with ultrasonic capable capturing microphones, and to their surprise they discovered that the male mice were singing love songs to the females.

They found a lot of similarities to bird songs, which are used for the same purpose of wooing a potential mate. The singers that sang the best songs were the most likely to be chosen by the females. That’s no surprise to me.

Meanwhile back to the viscosity of the universe. I had combined the theories of quantum/holographic/and Einsteinian universes into one viscous glob of stuff in which all things were suspended. I think I was seeing a piece of the puzzling picture of existence.

It had actually started out as an explanation for another theory I had about pockets of gases in the cosmos through which our solar system passes.That theory had to do with the presence, or absence, of substances through which we are passing that would affect our mental capabilities, in some way explaining why we as a species could go thousands of years without any advancement and then around the turn of the-20th century the world exploded with inventors and inventions.

I felt I was really getting somewhere, the lightbulb over my head was brightly lit, I was using Dragon Express to do the typing, speaking quickly and excitedly as my thoughts began to coalesce.

Then the refrigerator cycled on, bringing my picture of the universe crashing down into a pile of gibberish and disjointed thoughts like Humpty Dumpty after the great fall.

The speech to text program could no longer understand what I was saying, and I could no longer hear what I was thinking during the rattle and roar of the refrigerator compression cycle.

I suppose this latest event was to remind me to ask the apartment manager for a new refrigerator. The eardrum rattling noises that this one makes are the antithesis of love songs.

In Other News;

The new backup drive is working just fine and I look forward to at least three years of backups until I need another one.

I am reading the new book, Revelation, by C. J. Sansom. This is the third book of his that I’ve enjoyed reading. They are set around the time of Henry VIII, and the hero is a humpbacked lawyer/detective who describes the people, politics, religion, economy, and environment, while solving the mysteries.

The moon and Sirius are appearing on the eastern horizon for a limited engagement just after sunset. This is provided that there are cloudless skies and less than Beijing levels of pollution.

Today’s Somewhat Appropriate Video;

Insightful

Backup Plan

2012-01-28T01:16:00.000-08:00

Workin’ On It

One of the nice things about having a stable living situation, is that a person can think in terms of a backup plan.

Thursday

This little bitty sunflower that I’ve been following for about a month, has a backup plan. I can see the structures in this plant that might produce at least six or seven sunflower seeds.

Friday

The point is that whether or not this sunflower plant survives long enough, it is preparing for the future.

I too, live in a world of possibilities.

I have a backup plan for my computer, but it recently got full.

With some much appreciated financial assistance, I was able to get a bigger external hard drive to accommodate the large volumes of data that I accumulate with audio, video, and graphic design production.

Two of my happy philodendron housemates

I use a backup program called Time Machine that is designed for Apple products. It uses a little more space than just directly storing data, because it has a wonderful magical graphical interface that allows you to flow back through the various days, months, and years that you have been using your computer.

I enjoy the luxury of going back in time through my hard drive until I find the file, picture, or application I’m looking for. I can then highlight it, click restore, and it flows back through time and lands right on my desktop where I am at in the present time.

The drawback with Time Machine is that the magic takes a little bit of extra space on the external backup hard drive, and the 1 TB hard drive that I got last year is full.

So today I got this 3 TB hard drive that should last for at least three years, depending on how busy I get with data intensive projects.

Today’s Somewhat Relative Video;

Sunny Weekend Ahead

Solar Winds

2012-01-25T21:56:00.000-08:00

Dazzling Lights

One of the nice things about the Internet is how quickly one can see events that are happening around the world. This video from Lapland was taken just yesterday, and today I’m able to watch some wonderful stop motion images of people observing the Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis.

I sometimes put my movies and videos on Vimeo. I generally try to put my very best work there because the other videos on that site are about as good as you can get.

Speaking of as good as you can get, life here at the Treehouse remains interesting, inspiring, and the natural world around here is constantly entertaining.

The little sunflower I have been following, is still alive, and the handful of other flowers that dot the landscape are growing bigger and getting more beautiful everyday.

Today, Linda brought her iPad over, and I got to see my iBook about the Viola, previewed on the iPad. It really looks good, and the features work flawlessly. There are only a few more things to complete and it will be ready to publish probably in about two weeks.

It’s very tempting to want to go back and shoot all new pictures for certain sections, but that would be better as another book that I can make as a follow-up, should there be a need for a follow-up.

I’ve had recent requests to record some songs with just me playing my guitar and singing, (without my bands), for a live audience. I look forward to doing that soon, somehow, somewhere, and there is even the probability that I will film while I’m playing, so I can produce a song or two and put them on Vimeo to share with you.

I sure enjoy the flowers, birds, and sites around the Treehouse. There is always something interesting that captures my photographers eye.

Today I saw the occasional bee buzzing about, but is nothing like those last few weeks when the bees were having a banquet of flowers to pollinate. Now there’s just a few flowers and accordingly there’s just a few hungry bees. The bulk of the bees have buzzed off to bigger and more bountiful food sources.

I got an early start this morning when the local CHP helicopter was circling around the neighborhood. They certainly aren’t those silent black helicopters that one hears about from the tinfoil hat people.

I was happy to get this picture of it, even though my morning cup of coffee hadn’t had time to fully open my eyes.

We have been enjoying some much needed rain here in Redding. I hope that wherever you are, you are enjoying something much needed, too.

Today’s video can take your breath away. It is one of the high quality presentations you can find on Vimeo. The accompanying song is a wonderful example of a poetic folk song that explains the nature of the universe in 800 words and one chord. The combination of thought provoking imagery from the visuals and words awakens the infinite that lives within our souls.

Today’s Somewhat Appropriate Video;

It’s A Beautiful Universe

A Little Rain

2012-01-24T22:27:00.000-08:00

Music To My Ears

It sure was nice during the stormy nights, hearing the rain on the roof, with windblown drops beating against the windows at times.

The storms left snow on the mountains and even as low as the dam road where I went to take pictures of the snow on Mount Shasta on Monday.

It was kind of funny, because after I had been up taking the pictures, I stopped into Trader Joe’s and was talking with the girl at the check out counter about taking pictures up by the dam road.

She asked tentatively, “Where exactly is that road?”

I said, “The one by Shasta dam and Lake.”

“Oh, the dam road”, she exclaimed with relief.

I embed-ed a slide show on here from Flickr of some of the pictures from the last 2 days, including a couple of nice shots of the snow on Mt. Shasta.

Around the Treehouse there were still some flowers looking mighty pretty that I took pictures of, and I’m happy to post them here.

Pres. Obama’s State of the Union address tonight, and I am reminded that he’s a very good president under the circumstances.

He continues to patiently try to work with the racist and obstructionist Congress without being drawn into their name-calling and negativity.

He is a more dignified statesman than any other elected official in our present government.

What a great year for the San Francisco 49ers. It’s been a long time since they’ve had such a good team and gone as far as they did. I look forward to more exciting football next season. Go Niners!

The two bands, here in Redding are sounding good and they are well received by their respective audiences. The one band is blues, and the other band is more melody oriented. I like singing in both.

The third band, in Richmond with Marion and Leona, The LMP Trio, was possibly going to play this January, but things change. I think next month, or March, I may go down to Richmond to record some more songs for an additional CD, if we can fit it into our schedules.

I am certainly happy to have so many wonderful things to do that interest and inspire me.

The Viola iBook for the iPad should be complete in the next couple of weeks or so, and we’ll see how that is welcomed by the Apple store when it’s published.

That’s a project that I’ve been working on for three years and I still find it exciting.

I hope you’re enjoying these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking, and editing them to make them as interesting as possible. Life is good.

Today’s Somewhat Appropriate Video;

Sunny Disposition

Break Between Storms

2012-01-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

Sunshine, Too

The, ‘wet puppy in the rain’ rose is now the colorful rose in the sun with clouds and blue sky.

I wonder if the rain will help this sunflower pump up its petals once again? I will keep an eye on it and photograph its progress.

Shasta Bally, got a nice dusting of snow from Friday’s storm.

This flower, (pictured yesterday as a bedraggled, wet, soggy, yellow and red thing), was basking in the sun today.

Some of the flowers look even brighter and more cheerful since the rain. There are not a lot of roses left unless one looks carefully, deep in the bush, to find one or two still hiding from the rose pickers.

Snow On The Volcano

Just before sunset one of my neighbors came by to let me know that the clouds had lifted off of Mt. Shasta and that I might want to take a picture. I did.

I snapped a lot of pictures today and many of them were sufficiently interesting to want to share them with you. So today’s blog is less talk, more images.

I took this picture, (above), of the Treehouse Apartments building ‘A’, from Northpoint Drive, about a half mile away.

As I was putting on my slippers in the morning, I happened to notice that there is a lot of blue and brown in my world. Most of the things I have, just came to me when I needed them, so I didn’t really have much say in the color scheme. I really like these colors. Once again, I am thankful for my remarkably good fortune.

One last beautiful, colorful, character filled, yellow rose that escaped the stem choppers.

So, there you have a few pictures of the beauty that surrounds me here at the treehouse Apartments in Redding.

Now it’s time for me to get back to rewriting the iBook for the iPad about the John Harrison Viola. I made a lot of progress on it last night, once I figured out how to eliminate the backgrounds and shapes they have for the design templates in the iBook authoring program. With the dull and uninspiring frameworks removed, I could replace them with my own designs.

I designed a couple of my own templates for iBook pages to use for the viola book, and after I put together a few more I hope to try it out on an iPad to see what it looks like before doing the entire book.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Sweet

Natural World

2012-01-20T21:04:00.000-08:00

Of Wonder

Wet Puppy Rose

Well now, the rain continues and although I can’t see them I should imagine that the mountains are being covered in snow.

Here at the Treehouse it’s too warm for snow, (40°), so our flowers and little animals that live outside are enjoying a cold rainy day, and a dark and stormy night.

Bedraggled

I went outside around one o’clock this afternoon to get the mail and to see if there were any pictures to be taken of the wet flowers. I took a few, but in order to keep the camera dry, I tried holding the camera up close to my eyes and looking in the display as if it was a viewfinder. The drawback in doing this is that my eyes, (and brain), would put the subject of my attention in the middle of my perceived composition even though it wasn’t actually there.

I did manage to get a couple of images with flowers vaguely in the middle where the camera could try to focus on them.

Work Of Art

Later I went back out and took some pictures with the flash so I would have something showing how pretty the rain drops were on the flowers. I think my favorite of that bunch, is the Wet Puppy Rose in the Light Rain, (top of page).

True Colors?

On Thursday, Apple introduced a new service for iBook textbooks on the iPad. At the same time they made available, at no charge, an application that allows one to write and publish iBooks for the iPad.

I’ve been waiting for something like this so that I can complete the iBook about a John Harrison Viola that I have been creating just for the iPad. I already had it nearly complete on Pages and Keynote, but I didn’t have a means to turn it into a iBook for the iPad.

Bedazzled

This application for the Mac, which I’ve already downloaded and tried, will not only be instrumental in formatting the Viola iBook for the iPad, but also it allows me to publish the book on iBooks at the Apple Store.

Because of the nature of this Mac App, that I now have, the Viola iBook will have to be redesigned to utilize the templates that they provided. I don’t particularly care for their template designs, so I will need to design new templates for my book about the viola.

No problem. I have already redesigned one of their templates, and it wasn’t that tough.

“Tough” would be having to live in the natural world without all these modern conveniences, and without the gift of being in the barrel with the most clever monkeys on earth. (Yes, I know we are more closely related to apes, but a bunch of apes isn't called a barrel. Besides, we are related to everything on earth, and if it weren't for my thinking that many of you would get the mental image of a bunch of monkeys in a barrel and possibly smile, I could have used any living thing and the name we call a bunch of them. But then I couldn't call bananas 'clever', could I?)

Dry Under My Hat

I truly appreciate having a warm, dry, place to live, with plenty of food to eat, and many books to read. Life is good.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Catch Of The Day

Cold Rain

2012-01-18T20:44:00.000-08:00

Snow On The Volcanoes

Well, the little sunflower that was getting so dried out was plenty wet today. The cold rain came in last night with the temperature in the 30s, but no snow here at the Treehouse yet.

I was going through some recent pictures of flowers, from the last month or so, trying to pick out one that would be perfect for Marian’s birthday card.

I found a few really gorgeous roses, and other flowers, that I spent the afternoon turning into art for Marian’s card.

I tried many different ways of making the images expressive, entertaining, and possibly something that Marian would enjoy.

Even this red ‘rosebud in the rain’ picture that I took today was a card candidate.

Fortunately, I also put together a piece of art, and a personal message that I sent to Marion by way of e-mail.

As I began sending Marian her e-card, I got an e-mail from her telling me how much she enjoyed her birthday on the 17th. I shall create an all new, belated birthday card tonight, or tomorrow.

At least I have a head start, and some pretty good ideas, for Marianne’s birthday next year.

I gave her a call this evening, and we talked about her birthday, the music that we play, and a lot of really nice things that we seem to have in common. I’m glad I called.

Happy 92nd trip around the sun, Marian.

This red and yellow flower was a surprise when I was out today taking pictures and I like the story it tells.

Also today I had a chance to edit these pictures with the new Adobe lightroom 4, beta version that I downloaded the other night. I found out that I enjoy the tools and process more than I figured I would on this photography offshoot of Photoshop.

I generally combine a variety of editing programs to get the results that please me, or hold my interest. This new program from Adobe, is a nice addition to my collection of imaging software.

I get to use this beta version until March 31 at which time those of us testing out Lightroom 4, will have to buy the finished product after we’ve worked out all the bugs in this beta version. It does a few things nicely and if the price is right I’ll probably get it.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Happy To Be

Snow Possible

2012-01-18T00:50:00.000-08:00

In A Day Or Two

It was chilly enough to wear long-sleeved shirt today. Some people were even wearing jackets.

Mount Lassen, (behind me in the picture above), is awaiting the promised snowstorm.

I got up bright and early at the crack of noon today, or yesterday to be accurate. Had a delicious breakfast, didn’t cry over the spilled milk, and went outside to see what the day was like.

On my way to take pictures of the little sunflower, people were telling me that earlier, in the morning, it was only about 17°. That’s a bit chilly.

While I was on the patio, one of our local robins was calling to me to get my attention. Maybe he saw my camera and wanted his picture taken. The Robin certainly was following my every move. In this picture. (above), you can see how he, or she, is checking me out.

I took a few pictures of the rosebuds while the Robin watched, and then headed across to Doris’ apartment to see if her cactus was blooming. Sandi mentioned it when she was here on Monday, so I thought I would take a look.

I’m glad I took a look. Doris’ cactus was blooming, and looked beautiful.

The photographs, shown here today, haven’t been touched up or put through any of my fancy editing programs because they looked just fine as they were, (with the exception of the picture of me at the top of the page where I moved Mount Lassen up little closer for a more interesting composition).

For today’s appropriate song I mixed one of the songs from Mondays Treehouse Cabaret Music and Poetry Hour, and put it behind a little slide show of bees and butterflies visiting the flowers. I hope you enjoy it.

Today’s Somehow Appropriate Video

Old Sweet Song

Chilly Today

2012-01-17T00:47:00.000-08:00

Maybe Snow This Week

Record-setting low temperatures and a wet weather system on the way, suggests the possibility that Mt Lassen will have a new coat of snow in a day or two.

There are not a lot of roses left to worry about during these hard freezes. Someone has stripped most of the bushes bare of their colorful rosebuds, and there’s only about a dozen or so flowers remaining.

Luckily I probably have pictures of every single rose that was on any bush here at the Treehouse over the last 3 or 4 years. So if I get to feeling there is a lack of color on the grounds, I can just print up some pictures and stick em on the bare stems.

I hope to see this rosebud, (above), reach maturity. It should be quite spectacular.

So far, the little sunflower is surviving the cold, and growing more petals each day.

I was outside taking some pictures before the afternoon music fest, and Charlie’s dog, Brownie, seemed so full of energy that I just had to snap a shot or two.

Dinner tonight was a combination of leftover steamed vegetables and leftover Trader Joe’s, chicken lasagna. This was the third meal made from each one of them, but it was the first time they were together on the same plate.

It may have been cool today, but there was plenty of sunshine, and of course music with the Treehouse Cabaret Band, (or whatever we’re calling it this week).

Margaret Miller read a couple of new poems today, and I recorded them along with the music that we played. Maybe I can find little time to mix down those things so that I can put them on here for your enjoyment.

In the meantime I leave you with one of my favorite Hammond B3 players and this little 18th century chart topping hit.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Harmonic Mathematics

Building

2012-01-16T00:39:00.000-08:00

Dreams

I took a ride out to see Mark’s new house the other day, and he was out working on the detached garage.

The house itself has a two-car garage, but Mark wants this detached garage so that he can use it as a music room, (conservatory).

Mark is nearly finished with building the house and it’s quite beautiful. He did most of the work himself. When he’s not building houses, or being a salmon fishing guide, he plays the bass in the Phil Seymour Band.

Tonight, Mark, John, Jerry, and Sarah played with me at the new Jefferson State Blues Society Sunday night jam. I didn’t see anyone taking pictures of us while we played. They wee too busy dancing to take pictures, I think, so I have no picture to show you. Suffice it to say everybody had a good time and the music was enjoyable.

We now have two blues societies here in Redding. I think it’s real nice that they both like to have my band come and play. There was a big turnout, so they may be very successful. I hope so, because that gives me two places to play blues each week when the band’s not working.

This little bit of shrubbery,(above), is growing down below my apartment. I took a picture of it today because it just looks so bright and cheery in the midst of our wintry weather.

Our roses here at the Treehouse are beautiful as ever, but lately they’ve been disappearing a lot. I guess someone wants to make their home a festive place with fresh cut roses.

So, I make it a point to get out there every day and take a picture of the roses as they grow before they start to look so good that somebody feels compelled to pick them.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

My Appreciation Is Boundless

This Place Was Made For

2012-01-14T21:52:00.000-08:00

Everyone and Everything

Yes, Tim Tebow, God loves Tom Brady, too.

If for some reason you weren’t following football this year, there is a quarterback who seemed to think that God favored him over the other quarterbacks because he would make a big demonstration of praying during the game. Tonight, his team went down in ignominious defeat.

Of course it seems absurd to think that God would care who wins or loses a football game, (or for that matter a war), but some people truly believe that’s the case. Who knows?

It seems to me that one simple definition of God might be; “possibilities”.

And, since all things are possible, maybe Tim Tebow lost because he didn’t say his prayers in the right order, or cadence, or direction, for the spell to work properly. Next year maybe he’ll say his prayers in the right key, all season long, and win the Super Bowl. It’s possible.

Perhaps he will learn a lesson about the difference between what is possible and what is probable. Or, maybe not. I may never know for certain, because I am a very long way from being a star athlete and really don’t know how the trained quarterback mind works.

What I do know is this world is filled with magic and wonder for anyone who wishes to experience it. I feel very fortunate to be in these circumstances that allow me to pursue and observe the boundless possibilities that we are given.

Tonight’s dinner was just perfect for me. Some steamed vegetables and breaded eggplant cutlets with a little bit of ground black pepper. Delicious.

When I was younger, everything I ate had to have some sort of sauce on it. Whether it be butter, ketchup, cheese sauce, salad dressing, steak sauce, or gravy, something had to be on my food.

Now that’s not so important, and I find myself savoring the taste of each vegetable, or other food item, that used to be buried in some sort of sauce.

I still like gravy and sauces on things I eat, but as a result of my limitations when cooking, I have learned to enjoy very basic preparations of foodstuffs.

Each day seems to open my eyes to some experience that I had previously overlooked. Such as today when I was taking pictures of the driveway roses. I happened to look up through the trees and noticed that I could see the top of Mt. Shasta.

When the trees and bushes have all their leaves this is not possible, but today, for that moment, under the circumstances, it was possible for me to see Mount Shasta from a new perspective.

I guess that’s what my point is this evening.

There is much to be gained by opening one’s mind, spirit, and physical senses to the world of possibilities. It seems that probabilities and certainties put limits on my perceptions and development during life’s journey. Possibilities, on the other hand, are endless.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Love And Happiness

Climate Change

2012-01-10T23:03:00.000-08:00

Accepted Here

Hello from warm and beautiful Redding in January.

The days continue to be comfortably warm and the nights continue to be comfortably cool.

Flowers are still growing, and looking beautiful. The bees are still buzzing and the birds are still singing.

There’s no local shortage of water for this year or even the next year even though we haven’t got our typical amounts of rain yet this season. But, the water around here is shared with other parts of the state, and they may have to cut back on water wasting commercial agricultural practices when we don’t get plenty of rain and snow to keep the reservoirs filled with reserves.

Some people from Shasta dam are coming to talk to the Treehouse residents tomorrow. We had people from Shasta dam come down and talk last year and it was well worth the time. It was informative and entertaining presentation for those of us that attended. (Link)

I drove up to Shasta Lake around 4:30 this afternoon to take a look at the lake water level and to get some pictures of the sunset on the mountain. It was beautiful.

We have a bunch of new sunflowers popping up in various places around the Treehouse grounds.

Tony, our maintenance man, was explaining to me this morning that it was the result of birds feeding on the sunflowers that were growing out behind the office last year.

I would’ve probably missed them all together except that my neighbor, Jo Anna, told me about the sunflower growing behind the dining room. Thank you, Jo Anna.

On Monday afternoons our Treehouse Cabaret and Coffee House Band has been expanding. We have added poetry with our resident poet Margaret Miller, and Kathern, our apartment manager, has added her voice to the band. More and more Treehouse residents are attending and participating in the festivities.

At today’s monthly meeting, we promoted the Monday Music Fest. Peggy and I performed a few tunes, Kathern joined us for a couple, and the crowd sang along on some of the songs.

Rare and exotic sunflower bird.

It’s nice to see how our live music is contributing to a heartfelt sense of community for many of the residents. I certainly see a lot more smiles and happy faces among my neighbors here at the Treehouse Senior Apartments, since we’ve been making music a regular weekly event.

Life is good.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Warm Wishes

In The Evening

2012-01-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

Colors Remain

Amy Goodman is coming to Redding on January 14 to give a talk and raise money for our local public television station, KIXE. If you know something about our country’s renowned journalists and reporters, you will know that Amy Goodman is among the very best we’ve got.

Our local right-wing talk radio station has its listeners all in a tizzy because this liberal, woman, progressive, reporter is coming to town.

You may have seen Amy Goodman’s television news program, Democracy Now, on your public television stations. Depending on just how conservative the management is her show will either be on at a reasonable time in evening, or at three or four in the morning. Either way is the best news that you can possibly find on radio, or television.

You can also watch, read, or listen to Amy Goodman on line at democracynow.org.

It was fun to watch the moonrise this Sunday evening, and get a few pictures of the sunset as well. This is the second night I’ve done this, and it’s been a lot of fun.

The moon was actually, officially full at 12:47 PM during the day on Sunday, but it looked full to me on Saturday night, and Sunday night.

So there you have it. Another glorious full moon, stunning sunset, and the promise of another day just like it.

The weather forecast as a 20% chance of rain for tomorrow, Tuesday, but the way it looks now that’s an awful slim 20% chance.

The weather was warm enough today, to where I wore shorts, sandals and a Hawaiian shirt. This is pretty nice weather for January, and is very much like it was last year.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Hot Stuff

In The Daytime

2012-01-08T22:57:00.000-08:00

Colors Abound

From the deep red of this simple little rosebud, soon to join the other ‘driveway roses’ in full-blown beauty, to this combination of red and yellow ‘parking lot’ roses, it has been a delightful day of color.

This red ‘parking lot’ rose as been featured a lot lately in my recent posts simply because of its stunning beauty in shape, color, and light gathering capability.

All three of the above pictures are of the same rose, just taken from different angles at about the same time this afternoon.

It was hard to tear myself away from all the beauty here at the Treehouse Apartments, but there was a new organic coffee shop that I wanted to check out. So off to town I went.

I tried the coffee and wished them well and headed for the Sundial Bridge.

It was a beautiful day down at the Sundial Bridge, and along the water there were lots of people out enjoying this fine January heatwave.

There were plenty of birds flying up and down the river, and I did my best to get as many pictures of them as possible. Here are a couple of my favorites.

The weather was warm and comfortable and I was tempted to just stay there for a couple hours until sunset, but I wanted to get back to get pictures of the moonrise from the Treehouse Apartments.

I did get many shots of the moon rise and the mountains, but I’m going to put them in the next blog post.

I’ll leave you with the ‘song of the day’ being a video about this nice lady in New Hampshire that makes maple syrup.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Hot Cakes and Syrup

What's For Dinner?

2012-01-07T17:32:00.000-08:00

Health And Happiness

In order for me to continue living a happy and healthy life, there are some things I must avoid doing even though I may have in the past found them very enjoyable.

Cooking is one of those things that I must avoid now in order to maintain mobility. The motions and angles and repetitive actions involved with preparing a gourmet meal can aggravate my structural damage, which will leave me immobilized and in pain until I recover.

“Doctor, it hurts when I move like this”.

The doctor says, patiently; “Well then, don’t move like that”.

But I digress. What I wish to share is how I’ve managed to eat a very healthy, tasty, affordable, and easy to prepare diet.

I can do some simple things like chop up a strawberry or a banana without any consequential discomfort. So fresh fruit has become an essential part of my nutrition.

When I add some ice cream, whipped-cream, and nuts, I have to say that’s a delicious way to stoke up on some healthy nutrients.

Under the circumstances, and living alone, I have had to find types of foods that are easy to prepare, and yet not processed so heavily that they lack nutrition.

There are some frozen foods that I’ve found to quite adequately take place of some things I might’ve made myself. The Michael Angelos’, small batch, vegetable lasagna, (pictured at the top of the page), is a good example.

There are many frozen foods that are just downright awful. The “healthy” frozen entrées, (particularly the Amy’s vegetarian items), generally taste like dirty paste, and seem to provide about the same amount of nutrition.

I avoid those, misleadingly labeled items, now that I’m little more experienced at eating frozen foods.

The advantage that I have is time. I have had the time to experiment by eating various selected food items for several months, or years, so that I can evaluate how it makes me feel. Does my skin look clear? Are my fingernails and hair growing at the right speed? Am I happy or depressed? Am I tired or do I have energy? Am I gaining or losing fat. What sort of bowel movements am I having, and are they regular? Does my skin feel greasy? Do I smell funny? Is my health improving or not?

If I find some unwanted effect is occurring, I can alter, and eliminate, some of the things that I am eating, and eventually determine which ones are causing the problem.

I feel very fortunate that I’m in a position where I can find out what is truly good for me.
Each one of us has our own specific combination of nutritional requirements, and the only person who will really know what foods are most beneficial are the observant subjects themselves.

Magical Morning

The breeze was a little brisk this morning, but the sky was a brilliant blue and the light caused the flowers to shine from within.

While I was taking a picture of this rose, (above), I sensed that I was being scrutinized by one of the animal denizens of the Treehouse Apartments environment. I focused my attention on the oak tree that you can see in the bottom left corner of that picture.

Sure enough, there was a robin watching me. It was one of the robins that I’ve been taking pictures of over the past few days, and it wanted to see what I was up to, this morning.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Eat Well, Stay Well

Chilly Morning

2012-01-06T21:53:00.000-08:00

Warm Afternoon

Today started out rather chilly I had to wear a jacket. It was cloudy but it didn’t deter the birds, bees, and flowers. They were all busy participating in the pollinating process.

I went out to town to get a few things at Trader Joe’s and by the time I got back it was already about 70°.

The white rose along the driveway has started turning pink. I have become very aware of what roses are blooming and which ones are old, and which ones have disappeared overnight. I don’t think I’ve ever been so cognizant of the behavior of plants, flowers, bugs and birds, as I have become while living here at the Treehouse.

All this beauty in the life around here has certainly given me something to take pictures of. In addition to spiritual fulfillment, it helps develop my composition skills as well as editing and putting the results in a form that I can post here to share with you.

The angle of the sun and clouds and the development of the flowers themselves, are a constant source of beautiful changing shadows, light and texture. It certainly keeps me and my camera very busy.

Sometimes I don’t need to use any effects for a picture I’ve taken. The light, the shadows, the color, everything, is just right. I like that. This picture, (above), is one of those. That blue background is the Redding afternoon sky, today.

On the other hand, it can be a lot of fun playing with these newfangled technological wonders of photo editing.

Well that’s about it for tonight. I guess I should wish those of you that are Greek Orthodox Catholic, a very Merry Christmas.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Images

Happy Souls

2012-01-04T23:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Hearts

We have a couple of crows here at the Treehouse Apartments, that have become part of our community. They seem to know each and every one of us by sight, and if the researchers are correct, they have an impression of each of our personalities.

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out who the crows are performing for, but you can sometimes see them actually giving you the eye and checking to see if you’re paying attention.

I feel very fortunate to have the time and the mental acuity to observe the animals and plants that live alongside me. I spent many years being oblivious to the natural community that we live in. The rest of earths denizens are fully cognizant of who we humans are and what we are doing, but our culture is such that other than killing and eating some of the animals, we are only vaguely aware of some consciousness in our pets.

The weather has been warm and pleasant like it was last January, and I think we’re going to have another series of spectacular sunsets like I photographed last year around this time.

Photo credit - Carol

Our Treehouse Apartments Monday Music Fest expanded with the addition of Margaret Miller, our resident poet, who joined in the creativity and read some of her poetry.

It was a lot of fun and I look forward to Margaret being a regular part of our Monday get-togethers.

Tomorrow night, Thursday, the Shasta Blues Society will resume the blues jams after two weeks of holiday time off. I’m looking forward to playing with John and Mark and the rest of the musicians that populate Lulu’s for these Thursday night events.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Winging It

Really Fast

2012-01-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

Is Really Relative

Some people are puzzled by the speed at which the universe expanded during the Big Bang. Some think that, given the measurements, and elapsed time, that the gases had to exceed the speed of light.

I recently answered a similar question on Quora:

If I am walking along at 3mph, I am actually walking at 3mph + 900mph (speed of earths rotation where I am walking) + 66,660mph (speed of earth traveling around the sun). That means, if I make my walking speed measurement from the sun, I would be observed to be walking 67,563 mph.

So it is with matter within the expanding gases of the big bang. An electron traveling at the speed of light, while in a packet of material traveling at the speed of light, would be exciting nearby matter to travel at the speed of light, and so forth.

None of the particles are exceeding the speed of light from their vantage point.

Gorgeous Day

The sun was shining bright the temperature was warm and it was a great day for pictures.

The only time I needed a jacket was when I went to the dam in the late afternoon to take pictures of Shasta and the dam. Even there it was plenty warm and the day was beautiful.

It wasn’t really this colorful up at Lake Shasta, or anywhere in the real universe, but it was such a good picture that it worked well with enhancement software. A lot of people like the really bright colors, and it does look kind of fun, so I thought I’d put it in here today. The other pictures are their natural selves.

I have taken hundreds of pictures of bees on the flowers, but this is the first time I’ve snapped a picture of a honey bee and a bumblebee feasting side-by-side.

It was a lovely third of January here at the Treehouse Apartments. Birds, bees, and even some people were outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Balance

New Years Day

2012-01-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

Here In Redding

What a great start of a new year… The weather was wonderful, and the sunlight, once I got out and about, was just right.

When I left the house the 49ers were two touchdowns ahead and had one more quarter to play. They put in their second string and began measuring themselves for Super Bowl rings before the game was over.

I think this whole idea of saving it up for the ‘big game’ is annoying. It’s my observation that every game is The Big Game, and if you don’t play that way chances are really good that you are going to lose. Oh well, that’s why I don’t get the big bucks for being a coach.

Instead that motivated me to get out of the house and away from the TV. With camera in hand, I headed up the road to take a few pictures around Reading starting with Shasta Lake, Mount Shasta, and Shasta Dam, all in one shot from the dam overlook, (which is a beautiful place to take pictures and start the day). The moon was out and I took a lot of pictures of the moon and birds flying across the moon throughout the day.

I put some of the pictures into a little slide show here that you see on this page. I made this slide show in Picasa which is a Google program that I enjoy very much.

Once I was home and looking through the pictures, I still had a chance to go out and take a couple more images as the sun was setting. This gave me an opportunity to play with those pictures using some of the effects and gizmos I’ve got in apps for the MacBook.

I checked the football scores and the 49ers managed not to lose the game. I’m ever so happy to see that. It’s been a long time since they’ve had a winning season.

There were some leftovers in the refrigerator, (leftovers from last year). I had two kinds of meat; A chicken thing made from poor little animals force fed corn, and the remainder of the organic beef sirloin roast that I got at Trader Joe’s. This would be the second meal I made of the chicken, and the third meal I got out of that little organic beef thing. I feel like I have eaten enough meat to last me for all of 2012.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

What A World

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T18:29:00.000-08:00

According To Pope Gregory XIII

I get a kick out of reading history and discovering the origins of things that we take for granted day-to-day.

For example the calendar that we in the “Western Culture” follow, was specifically designed so that the vernal equinox would fall on March 21. Thereby guaranteeing that all the churches would celebrate Easter on the same day. (The customary practice in the 3rd century was for Christians to consult their Jewish neighbors to determine when the week of Unleavened Bread would fall, and to set Easter on the Sunday that fell within that week.)

Easter is generally accepted as the Sunday following the Full Moon following the vernal equinox. (Figuring out how to fit 13 moons into a 12 month calendar, gets a bit tricky.)

What’s more, I found out how we can calculate leap year, (which is used for adjusting the calendar to reality). The way the Gregorian calendar does this is to make leap years the years that are divisible by four, (with the exception of the centuries that are divisible by 100), and for the most part that works.

Not everyone in every country welcomed this change because many of them had their own particular calendars and feel that a universal calendar is an imposition and an attack on their firmly held, though mostly incorrect, beliefs.

Denmark for example, (part of my ancestry), didn’t change their calendar immediately. In fact, in 1700, they only changed the solar calendar to the Gregorian calculations, but not the lunar calendar by which one computes the date of Easter.

This from Wikipedia;

Denmark, which then included Norway and some Protestant states of Germany, adopted the solar portion of the new calendar on Monday, 1 March 1700,[22] following Sunday, 18 February 1700, because of the influence of Ole Rømer, but did not adopt the lunar portion. Instead, they decided to calculate the date of Easter astronomically using the instant of the vernal equinox and the full moon according to Kepler's Rudolphine Tables of 1627. They finally adopted the lunar portion of the Gregorian calendar in 1776. The remaining provinces of the Dutch Republic also adopted the Gregorian calendar in July 1700 (Gelderland), December 1700 (Utrecht and Overijssel) and January 1701 (Friesland and Groningen).

For a more complete and fascinating study of the Gregorian calendar, click here.

The Big Bowl Game

Credit links - Stadium Pic and Poster

This is the weekend of the bowl games. I can’t begin to name all the dozens of different bowl games that have come about since the original Rose Bowl, (The Cotton bowl and Orange Bowl are the only ones that come to mind).

One of the reasons I can’t name these other bowl games as they keep changing the names what was the Cotton Bowl is now Joe’s Tire Bowl, or some such nonsense.

Luckily they haven’t changed the name of the Rose Bowl or the Rose Parade, (at least I hope not). I guess I’ll find out if I remember to turn on the TV tomorrow.

In the meantime; I wish you and I, (and everyone we know), a happy new year.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Rt. 66 by Phil Seymour

Happy Gregorian New Year

Ready With The New

2011-12-30T22:57:00.000-08:00

Year Calendar

Calendars serve different purposes for different people. In my case I use a calendar to cover up the fuse box in the kitchen. It’s actually not a fuse box per se, but in fact a breaker box. Either way it tends to uglify the wall and the calendar is a great way to cover it up.

This all began when I considered going to Borders while I was at OfficeMax getting a light magenta cartridge for the Epson printer.

I envisioned the selection of calendars that they always have at Borders, and realized they were not likely to have the size actually need to cover up the breaker box.

It was there and then that I remembered a discussion that I had earlier in the day with Sandi about this very thing. I had remarked how easy it would be for me just to go ahead and make my own calendar. Now that I had ink to get the Epson printer up and running there was nothing stopping me from a do-it-yourself calendar.

After I finished printing a couple of pieces of sheet music for the LMP Trio, I began the calendar project.

The reason I went and got ink instead of waiting for the ink I ordered to arrive in the mail is that the mail itself would not be going out for a few days, and that would delay the sheet music by at least a week. This way, it might arrive before Marian takes off on her Phoenix trip.

So, I got another cartridge and I’m very glad I did, for the Epson printer is clearly superior to the HP that I use in a pinch, and it helped make this calendar a doable project.

I got the calendar template from the iWork community online. You just put in the year you want and it automatically works out the days of the week for each month. It’s the first time I’ve used the software called, “numbers” in the iWork programs. Now that I know how it works, I can already see how I’m going to redesign it for my particular needs.

The main thing is that I’ve got something that covers up the breaker box and I can also keep track of appointments and schedules. Life is good, and I’m happy with the results of my do-it-yourself calendar.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Create

Soon To Be

2011-12-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

A New Year

Soon the door will be opening on 2012. We shall see what the start of the new year, (according to the Gregorian calendar), has to bring to all of us.

Some people have decided that 2012 is the end of the Mayan long count calendar, and we should be worried. I think we should be more worried about wasting our time worrying.

The local forecast calls for rain here in Redding. It certainly was dark today when I took pictures of the flowers, but that sometimes brings out their color in ways that the sun won’t.

This one rose looked like it would taste like butterscotch it was so beautiful and edible looking. I just had to get a real close-up shot so you can see what I mean.

This sort of shows its tastiness, but I think I will put it through one of the enhancing programs and see what happens.

It’s kind of hard to decide, but I think I like it. I’ll keep both on here.

One of my favorite trees here, is one that I call the chocolate tree.

It turns from green to red to chocolate every year, and never ceases to fascinate me.

Today, it made an impressive sight against the gray sky.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Time For A New Calendar

Revolving Window

2011-12-28T23:49:00.000-08:00

On Nature

Along the driveway here at the Treehouse Apartments, there are a few scraggly rose bushes that I have written about and shown photographs of ever since I moved here four years ago.

This bud, above, will soon be a beautiful flower similar to the rose at the top of the page, but with it’s own distinct personality.

I find them to be wonderful indicators of the power of nature. Of all the rosebushes here, they consistently produce the most interesting and beautiful roses I have ever seen.

The variety and combination of colors, size, and shape is continuously changing, developing, dying and being reborn. I am very fortunate in that I’ve been capturing this phenomena over the years and I’m able to look here in this blog in the past and see just what they’ve been doing. I find it fascinating.

Equally fascinating to me, is looking back through this blog and seeing my own personal development.

When I first moved here I was in relatively bad physical, mental, and spiritual health. By reading older blog posts, I can follow the processes and events that have helped me to recuperate, heal, regenerate, rediscover, and reinvigorate this specimen I call me. What a terrific vehicle this journal can be for objective information gathering. Thank you Marian for suggesting that I put my writing in a journal.

I can read, see the pictures, and in other ways observe how far I’ve come to this stage of health and well-being that I am in now. Three years ago, on or about this date, I was examining a bout of depression. (HERE)

Another thing that I’ve been observing successful results from, is my choice of good food.

Every once in a while I like to eat beef. Like about every six months. I think that’s healthy.

Not just any beef, but happy beef. Organic. Living in a pasture. A cow with a name and friends, so that the nutrition I derive from eating a piece of that cow contains all the nutritional goodness possible.

I found some organic beef sirloin at Trader Joe’s that I tried tonight. It was very good and I should get two or three meals out of it.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Happy To Be Here

The Future Looks Bright

2011-12-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

For Those Who Conserve

Vermont Sets Goal Of 90% Renewable Energy By 2050

Worlds Largest Li-ion Battery Plant Opens In Russia

The Upbeat State Of The World (CSM)

Holiday Highlights

Alyssa and Jordan sing at the Taylor Christmas dinner. (Photo - Sandi Taylor)

A Christmas apple tart from pastry chef, Linda Elliot.

Fresh Fruit

Busy Bees

The World Glacier Monitoring Service recently has said that 90% of the glaciers studied in its latest Glacier Mass Balance Bulletin are losing mass. In the Himalaya, 75% of the glaciers there are melting; the USGS fully puts the blame on this on global warming and not other factors.

It Still Gets Chilly In The Wintertime

Today I felt a chill of winter for the first time this year, (which is kind of funny since his year’s almost over), and I find myself turning up the thermostat a degree at a time to keep that chill out of my bones.

I am talking to the Dragon Express and having it write these words in my blog. That should warm me up a bit. I have to admit that this talking out loud and having a ‘helper’ type for me is just great.

I finished reading the new Michael Moore book today and I have to say it was an eye opener. If anybody was destined to be an award winning documentary filmmaker, (that many people will actually watch), it is him. He was present at many of the events that put our country into the shape it is in today. This book should be required reading in our public schools.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Sing

Christmas

2011-12-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

Morning

I woke up around seven o’clock and saw the most beautiful Christmas sunrise ever. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas on this beautiful day.

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;

Happy Christmas