GETTING BACK INTO BLOGGING

I had forgotten all about the blog I created, but I think I need to start adding to it again. What I need to do is add a picture each day. That will get me out with my camera-or in, for that matter. I can shoot pictures of things in and around my house like the lovely tiger lily in my backyard.

Most of what I shoot, however, is outside. I do a lot of shooting for The Rhino Times, so the majority of my work is people. It is fun to shoot events. Now that summer is here, I'm shooting Beach Music and Music in the Park on Sunday evenings. Last Friday I took photos at the Carolina Panthers' Road Show in Center City Park in downtown Greensboro. Wow! What a popular event. 

Panthers' Road Show

Greensboro always has something fun going on. This weekend it's the Summer Solstice Festival at the Arboretum. That's always fun, and a great photo op!   

Music in the Park for a Sunday Night

Beach Music at Festival Park

Favorite Places

One of my favorite places to visit in Greensboro is the Natural Science Center. The tigers fascinate me, and I love to take pictures of them. It was a rainy day, and I had the whole place to myself when I took this picture of beautiful Kisa. She was wet and muddy, but still gorgeous, as you can see.

Greensboro is filled with interesting places to visit. We have a national park right here in town, Guilford Courthouse National Military Park . The Battle of Guilford Courthouse was a turning point in the Revolutionary War, and the park's visitor's center has a great movie that shows exactly what happened during that engagement with Cornwallis. The park itself is filled with monuments and walking trails, and each spring reinactors set up camp in Country Park, and recreate the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. It's a fun event to watch, as well as educational.

The Battleground connects to Greensboro's Country Park, which houses a veterans' memorial, lake, paddleboats, playgrounds, and picnic shelters. There is also a dog park where dogs can run free. Greensboro is filled with beautiful parks and an arboretum. A dedicated group of volunteers works hard to keep Greensboro "beautiful."

Greensboro has a wonderful historical museum that shows the history of the town and surrounding area. Recently, the International Civil Rights Museum was opened in the heart of downtown Greensboro, at the old Woolworth's building where the civil rights movement began on Feburary 1, 1960. On that day, four young NCA&T students sat down at the "white's only" counter in the store and asked for a cup of coffee. And, the rest, as they say, is history.

In 2009, in conjuction with the opening of the Civil Rights Museum, a series of sculptures, the Greensboro Coffee Cup Collaborative, was commissioned for the city of Greensboro. This is a community-based art project that is designed to give a visual celebration of that historic sit-in and other aspects of the civil rights movement. The cups are located throughout downtown Greensboro, with one at the Greensboro Coliseum. A map and explanation of the cups' locations is available at the Greensboro Visitors' Center, or online at: http://www.uacarts.org/community/documents/CCCBrochureWeb.pdf. Because the cups are located throughout downtown Greensboro, this easy walking tour is a great way to become framiliar with the city.

This is just a small taste of what my adopted home has to offer.

Battle of Guilford Courthouse

This past weekend was the first time I made it to the reenactment of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Two hundred and thirty years ago, Cornwallis won the battle, but he suffered severe losses that helped in his eventual defeat and surrender. The reenactment was very well done and quite interesting. The beautiful weather certainly helped bring out the crowds. It was standing room only for the battle.

Greensboro is always filled with interesting things to do and see. It's a great town to live in.

After the U.S. Championships

Hard to believe that I haven't written in this blog since July. Then, I had a picture of a beach, now it's a new year, mid-winter, and I just finished spending a week at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships shooting pictures for the Rhino.

It was a fantastic week. The skating community really made me feel a part of them, for which I am very grateful. This is probably the only figure skating competition I'll ever shoot, and having it be the Nationals is quite amazing.

Amazing too are the number of pictures I shot - 16,000+! Using continuous shooting and following the action in each group really adds up the number of pics fast. But, it was well worth it. I got some great shots. Some really lousy ones too, I have to admit. I have deleted more than half of what I took, and am still going through the pictures.

I had hoped to meet Scottie Hamilton and Evan Lysacek, and I did. My meeting with Scottie was brief, but still a thrill. Evan grew up in Naperville, Il, where we lived for 14 years, so we talked about favorite spots like Portillos and Lou Malnati's. Pretty cool.

The big names of the skating community were all at the Nationals. I saw Paul Wylie (he's coaching now and was very instrumental in the production of the competition), Todd Eldridge, Tara Lipinski (always on the phone or texting), Randy Gardner, Ben Agosto, Tanith Belbin, Peter Carruthers, and Peggy Fleming. Someone said they saw Brian Boitano in the audience, but I didn't see him. I did see Vera Wang with Even Lysacek, and Johnny Weir walked right by me. Quite an experience, that's for sure.

Now it's time to settle back down into a normal routine, if there is such a thing in my life. Next week I have to write a real estate article, then meet with a group of ladies to begin planning the annual LWML retreat in August. There is also a women's tea coming up in May for which I'm involved in the planning, and an overnight trip to Charlotte in March for an LWML board meeting and Joy Event.

The LWML national convention is in Peoria, IL, in June, and I plan to drive up to Chicago, pick up my mother, and take her to the convention with me.

Of course, there are always photography outings to go on. In May, a group of us will be spending a day with Kevin Adams up at Max Patch in the Blue Ridge. Kevin is a well-known photographer, and his insights will be really helpful. I'm looking forward to that trip.

Some of us are also planning a weekend in the Smokies to shoot spring wild flowers. That trip is scheduled for sometime in April. Busy, busy, busy!

Last night I shot pictures at a wonderful benefit concert for the preservation and upkeep of the Carolina Theatre here in Greensboro. Warren, Bodle, & Allen and Polecat Creek performed.

Both groups are terrific.

There is so many neat things that go on here in Greensboro. Tonight or tomorrow afternoon, I can go to a production Die Fledermus at UNCG. From Blue Grass to Opera, Greensboro has it all. There are clubs, community theatre groups, a symphony, choral groups, community bands, a magnificent natural science center with tigers and Wallabies, a children's hands-on museum, an art museum, and a soon-to-be aquatic center - you name it, Greensboro has it. Some people used to call this town Greensboring, but I find it filled with wonderful opportunities. If you are bored in Greensboro, it's your own fault!

Grand Haven Beach, Michigan

The picture here is of Grand Haven's public beach. My mother and I stopped there on our way home from a wedding in Mt. Pleasant. It was so good to wiggle my toes in Lake Michigan sand.
It was also wonderful to see cousins that I hadn't seen in years. I really need to get home more frequently.

I also had a great time in Chicago with my mother and friends. Sitting for hours with good friends on the patio at Lou Malnotti's in Naperville is just about a perfect way to spend a beautiful summer afternoon. Going downtown on the Metra and photographing Chicago's amazing architecture from a Wendell boat is a great experience. I highly recommend it to everyone who visits Chicago. Be sure and take the combined tour that takes you up the Chicago River then out into Lake Michigan. The Chicago skyline is gorgeous. I only wish I could have come back for the evening tour to see the lights of the city. Well...maybe next trip.

Tea Party

Boy, I opened a can a worms today when I sent out an e-mail to my Liberal "friends." A number of them told me to take them off my e-mail list. I have rarely sent political e-mails to people I know don't agree with my political views. Now I know why.

The e-mail raised some legitmate questions about President Obama, and the person who was asking them was a responsible person, Lou Pritchett, an executive with Procter and Gamble. I wonder why his comments raise such ire with liberals?

It's indicative of the vast divide there is in this country between liberals and conservatives. The picture above is of the Tea Party rally in Greensboro on Tax Day, April 15th. It was peaceful and well organized. The people who turned out were normal, every day citizens who are concerned about their country. They are hardly the right-wing radicals the left describes them as being.

Changes

My quiet evenings will change starting tomorrow. Daughter and grandaughter are moving in. They'll be living with us - I have no idea for how long. The marriage isn't working and they are now officially separated. Here in North Carolina a couple has to be separated for a year before they can divorce. A lot can happen in a year.

I feel a great sense of sadness. There is so much in the world that just isn't right. Dinner with a friend tonight was another tale of woe. Her family has been experiencing a great deal of hardship, and there seems to be no way out.

My job hunt has produced absolutely nothing. I've been out of work for a year now. I get no replies to the resumes I send out. It's so disheartening.

Random Thoughts Late at Night

Just finished reading Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue." I liked her before, but I really like her now. She's the kind of common sense voice that America really needs. It's too bad she didn't force the issue about being herself in the presidential campaign. I think it would have helped McCain. I doubt she'll make that mistake again. If she does decide to run for president in 2012, I've no doubt she'll the call the shots herself. If she gets to North Carolina, I plan on going to hear her. At least she's now a commentator on FOX, so we do get to hear her thoughts on the political scene.

Working on the pictorial directory I'm doing for church. It's coming along pretty well. I need to get the addresses into the book set up. That's going to take some work.

Shot pics at the NC Marathon last Saturday in High Point. The fastest man in the marathon was disqualified because he had only signed up for the half marathon. When he took a wrong turn, he decided to complete the entire marathon, but because he had signed up for it, the win didn't count. Bummer...he was four minutes ahead of everybody else.

More pics to take this week. Arbor Day tree planting and ribbon cutting of the new urban greenway. Then Saturday, Bunny Day at the Natural Science Center. That should be fun.

Now it's late - need sleep!

Babysitting

I babysat for the munchkin today. How quickly she is growing! She's growing, not only physically, but mentally. Her vocabulary and understanding are taking leaps and bounds. You can see her imagination at work when you play with her. It's amazing to watch a little person's personally develop. Such joy to be a grandmother.

I've become a nervous Prius driver. The psychological ramifications of all the negative news about Toyota does have an impact whether I want it to or not. Every strange move the car makes has me wondering if it's going to take off and accelerate on its own. Apparently, a lot of people are have thoughts like mine. There has been a spike in complaints about unintended acceleration in Priuses since all this stuff began airing. It was reassuring to read, however, that a lot of it is psychological. It's a phenomenon that happens frequently. Young medical students are guilty of it when they study a new disease. Suddenly they have all the symptoms of that disease. Now every Prius is a potential runaway. Still, it has made me far more aware of how I drive and what the car is doing.

I'm learning to drive my Prius so that I get optimal gas mileage. It is changing my driving habits - for the good, I think. I used to make jack-rabbit starts, but now I ease up to speed and try to drive with my foot off the gas pedal as much as possible. The screen on the dash shows me what my miles per gallon are, and it's fun to try to get it well over 40 mpg. Today I was in the 47 mpg range, just by managing my driving more carefully.

I still like the car, and just pray I don't have any "unintended acceleration" incidents to deal with. Just to be on the safe side, I've practiced putting the car in nuetral while its moving. It's different from a regular shift, so it does take a bit of practice. I haven't tried shutting the car off while driving as yet. I just have to remember to count to three slowly while holding in the start button should an incident occur. For now, though, I have to relax and just drive again. It is a fun car to drive.

Where Is Spring?

I keep looking for jonquils like these. Usually they're popping up by now, but it's been a real winter here in the South. Spring should get here soon, I hope. Maybe the extended daylight will help. Daylight Savings Time starts next week - the 14th. I hadn't realized it would be here so soon.

This week I wrote an article about getting your house ready for spring. I need to follow my own advice - vacuum furniture, clean ceiling fans, paint a couple rooms. I'm looking forward to warm weather so I can open all the windows and air the place out.

But...it's still cold tonight. I'm sitting here with a sweatshirt on. Come quickly spring!

The past couple days have been busy ones. I've sat at this computer for hours working on pictures for our new church directory. I made three dozen phone calls this afternoon trying to get members to stop by my make-shift studio and have their picture taken. Hopefully, those who said they would come tomorrow will actually do so. It's going to be my last Sunday taking pictures. I've done it for two months now. Time to put the book together.

My job hunt hasn't gone very well. I keep sending resumes out, but I swear they disappear into some dark hole. There are so many people out of work. Nobody needs an old lady like me.

The camera club I belong to opened its yearly display at Greensboro's Central Library last night. We have a great display of photos by club members. I believe there are 40 in all. There are a couple of my favorite shots on display.

Father-Daughter Dance

This is one of my favorite pictures of my father and me. It's how I'll always remember him. We're doing a polka at my wedding, and it's one of the happiest times of my life. I'll never forget it.

How my father loved to dance! He should have been Fred Astaire, sweeping his Ginger Rogers, my mother, across ballroom floors. Instead, he spun paint brushs across walls and ceilings and drapped wallpaper in rooms other people would dance in.

He danced when he could. At weddings, he never sat down. Women always wanted to dance with him. They would come up and ask him to dance when my mother would tire. He never did, and he seldom refused. His delight in dance was too great to say no. Polkas, waltzes, fox trots, the Indiana hop - he knew them all. My mother never seemed to mind. She understood him. It was the dance, not the woman that mattered.

Maybe there's a ballroom in heaven, and he's dancing tirelessly there. Oh how I miss him!

Go Red

February is American Heart month, and Greensboro kicked off its GSO Go Red campaign on Friday in Center City Park. The kickoff was supposed to have been on the 5th, but bad weather prevented it. Yesterday's event went off without a hitch, although it was a bit chilly.

The Heart Association's campaign is near and dear to my heart - literally. As a person who has had a mild heart attack and now has a stent holding open one artery, research is important to me. Hubby has an artificial valve, so heart research is doubly important in this family.

I urge anyone who reads this blog to support the American Heart Association and give generously to its cause. Many people don't realize that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the country. With all the publicity about women and breast cancer, most people think that breast cancer is the greatest problem women face. Not true; its heart disease. So, do all you can to stay heart healthy. East right, exercise, know your numbers: cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides. Keep them low and stay healthy.

Today was the Greensboro celebration of Chinese New Year at the Cultural Center. It's the year of the tiger, and the colorful Lion Dance welcomed the new year in. Chinese music and dancers entertained an appreciative audience, and a Chinese buffet was available for lunch. It was a great opportunity for very colorful photos.

Greensboro is filled with interesting activities. Next weekend is the Seafest at the Natural Science Center. Children will be able to see creatures that live in the oceans, and taste exotic seafood. Should be a fun day.

The Bachelor

Okay, did Ali make the right choice leaving Jake and going back to her job? We'll find out next week when she calls him in the Caribbean. Why do I watch this show? Guess it's the romantic in me. Every woman wants to find her prince charming I suppose - we all love the fairy tale.

Took a little road trip today. I've wanted to see what IKEA is like, so hubby and I gave my new car a test drive. We made a brief stop at Bass Pro Shop on the way down. We need a full day to really explore that place. Bass boats are way beyond our means, unfortunately, not to mention the fact we don't have a car that will pull a boat. I always envisioned us fishing when we retired. That's a vision that probably won't come to fruition - like so many of my dreams.

IKEA is quite a place - huge. We wandered through it, but didn't buy anything but lunch. The meatballs are good. I did come home with a couple jars of ligonberries, but that's all.

Stopped at the Toyota dealership in Salisbury where I bought my car. I had forgotten to take my cd's out of the Alero when we got the Prius. They were waiting for me. The ride home was uneventful.

We're in for more winter weather tomorrow. I doubt we'll have book club. The members are older (I'm the youngest), and they won't want to drive in bad weather.

I have my next real estate assignment, as well as three photo opps that are coming up. The polar plunge out to be fun to see. There's also the Chinese New Year festival and a Seafest at the Natural Science Center. Gives me fun things to do.

Weight Loss

I put the strawberry picture up to remind me of what I have to look forward to in the spring. Have to have something delightful to look at since it's gray and gloomy outside. We missed the major blizzard, with its two feet of snow that blanketed Baltimore and DC. We were fortunate to just get rain and keep our power. That's enough winter for my taste. After all, this is North Carolina!

Grandchild spent the night last night. She went to bed easily, but woke up at 1:30 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep. I sat next to her bed, rocked her in my lap, and finally gave up at 3:30 a.m. and brought her into our bed. It was deja vu - her mother used to climb in bed with us when she was little.

I picked up a book at the local used bookstore - Julia Cameron's, "The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size." Perhaps it will help me get started on taking off the weight that I've re-gained. Her theory, and I feel she's right, is that there is an underlying emotional cause for over-eating. Cameron asks the question, "What if I gave myself food for thought instead of food itself?... If I can write about something, I can handle it - and often with grace." How right she is.

One of my main ways of dealing with issues in my life is to write about them. I've kept a journal for many years, working through the problems in my life. That's what this blog feels like - my journal. I guess it is, although, like my journal, nobody reads it. That probably has more to do with the fact that I haven't told anyone I'm blogging. I keep wondering if someone will accidentally stumble upon my musings, but there are so many blogs out there that the odds of that happening seem pretty slim.

There are a lot of weight-loss blogs on the Internet. Starting one of my own seems kind of silly. It makes more sense to continue my "Daily Reflections," and see if by chance someone comes across it. Should I decide to write with a definite audience in mind, then I'll have to focus more closely on what I write. Then too, I'll have to carefully censor what I write. I do that anyway in case I decide to open my thoughts to friends and relatives.

There's a lot of dumping of thoughts on Facebook, but the posts are short and sometimes silly. There isn't room for reflection, but it isn't designed for that. FB is a social networking site, and it's been fun seeing what people are up to. I've enjoyed re-connecting with old friends and classmates. The blog, however, is where I can probe more deeply into my own thoughts, questioning what is making me tick.

Right now, however, my ticking is running pretty slow and I think I'll go take a nap.

The Ground Hog

Our local ground hog, Woody, did not see his shadow Tuesday, so spring is on its way. But...you'd never know it today. We've had snow, rain, freezing rain, sleet, and are due for more snow tomorrow. Yuk!

This has been a week for getting in touch with old friends. My former roommate and I found each other on Facebook, and talked on the phone for a long time. It was as if the years had rolled away and we had just seen each other a few days earlier. Now we're planning a reunion in Gatlinburg in the fall. We hope to get a couple more of our friends to join us.

I almost have to laugh at President Obama's latest request. He's asking people to turn off their TV's and get their news from newspapers. He contends that cable TV is inaccurate and biased. Could it be that he is smarting from the criticisms he has been receiving from both the conservative (Fox) and the liberal (CNN) media? What makes him think that newspapers are any less biased? The man is lashing out at people who don't agree with him. He just doesn't get the fact that people don't like his policies, and even the liberals are beginning to see him for what he really is - an extreme left-winger whose agenda is socialism. In Obama's mind only government can solve people's problems. The more the government can control, the better. Amerians do not want government controlling their lives. It's far too invasive as it is.

On the conservative front, there is a Republican senator who is holding up all of Obama's appointees. Normally, I would agree with the senator, but this time he is holding up appointments so that his state, Alabama, can get lucrative defense contracts. That's wrong. It's okay to hold up appointees if you don't think they're fit the position, but not because of pork for your state.

Ice On The Way

We're expecting freezing rain tomorrow. Yuk! I finally got out of the house today after spending the whole weekend inside. I do have to go out in the morning. I'm supposed to shoot pictures of the groundhog at the Natural Science Center. Sure hope the roads aren't too bad. Nobody can drive on ice. Groundhog won't see his shadow tomorrow.

Other than that, I don't have much to write about tonight. Hubby has been under the weather with a bad back. I had to go buy him a heating pad today. That and Tylenol seemed to help.

I read three books in the past three days. The last one, "Home Safe," by Elizabeth Berg was about a woman my age learning to deal with her life after her husband dies. The setting was Chicago (Berg lives in one of the suburbs and knows the area well). Reading about the city made me a bit homesick. Our weather this weekend has been very much like Chicago. I need a new book to read. I have plenty - just need to decide which one it will be.

Snow Day in the South

It snowed last night - 8 inches. Usually, it melts quickly down here in North Carolina, but the temperature has dropped into the low 20's and won't get much warmer tomorrow. To top it off, we got sleet on top of the snow, then another layer of snow, so it's really trecherous outside. I'm debating whether to go to church tomorrow. I told numerous people I'd be there to take pictures, but I'm worried about driving. Streets don't get cleared very quickly around here, and they may be very icy in the morning. I don't want to chance anything happening to my new car.

I've been inside all day working on pictures on my computer. The picture of the cardinal was actually taken yesterday, before the snow hit. We haven't seen many birds at the feeder lately, but with the snow, I've already seen more than usual. The Chicadees found the feeder and so have the Sparrows and Cardinals. It's fun to see them, and I'm hoping to get some more pictures. I actually saw a Robin yesterday. Couldn't believe my eyes - it seems way too early for them to be coming back. They may not migrate much further south, so it might not be such a rarity.

Tonight is the Miss America Pageant. I've been watching that beauty contest most of my life. It used to fall on the weekend of my birthday in September, but now it's in January on a cable station rather than a major network. Times have changed. There was a back-stage preview on last night which was fun to watch. There are some very pretty girls in the pageant this year.

This weather makes me want to bake something. Homemade bread with a pot of chili just sounds right on a cold winter's night. Think I'll go do that.

New Toy

This looks just like my new car, only mine is dark gray. I'm hoping it was a good choice. You never know whether you get a honey or a lemon when you buy a car. Time will tell.

I'm not sure whether it is one of the Toyota recall cars. I don't think so, but I'm not sure. I'll have to check the list.

The president gave his State of the Union address. Same old campaign balarkey. He doesn't seem to understand that the American people do not want the health care bill he's been trying to ram through Congress. They can see it for what it really is - a power play.

Car Shopping

This old red Chevy looks just like my very first car - only mine was blue. What a thrill it was to actually have my own wheels way back then. That was in 1968. I was out of high school and working in downtown Chicago - the Loop. Hard to believe that was 42 years ago. The time goes so fast. There have been a lot of cars since then too.

Well, I'm looking for a car again. Like the first one, this will probably be a used car. After having a Dodge mini-van, I really would like something that has a little height to it. I like being higher than the average sedan. My husand and I looked at Honda CRVs, Jeep Grand Cherokees, and Honda Elements. I really like the Element, but my husband didn't. The CRV is pretty nice too - less roomy but practical. I'm not sure why he didn't like the Element - he didn't think it had enough power, and it's a bit more expensive than a CRV. I like the fact that it has plenty of room for hauling "stuff."

My husband is also thinking of GM cars, like Chevy Malibos and Impalas. He's always been an American-made car person, but Hondas are really good. He sold them for a while, so he knows what they're like. He's also sold Jeeps, and knows them. In his opionion they are so-so. They don't get the gas mileage the Hondas do.

From what I understand, if you want good gas mileage, the Toyota Prius is the way to go. One of my girlfriends has one, and every time I ride in it, I'm impressed. I love the quietness and comfortable ride, and the fact that it gets 40 to 50 miles on a gallon of gas is just what I need with gas prices so high. I think I may try one just to see how it handles.

I got frustrated tonight, because for every car I like, my husband has a reason not to want it. This is supposed to be my car. I want it to be what I want. My two picks right now are the Element and the Prius, and doggone it, I'm got to get I really like!

Road Trip

I'm ready for a road trip, but first I need a new car. I doubt this one would get me very far. Saw this machine at the Spencer Train Museum here in North Carolina. They have a nice display of classic cars - it's not just trains.

My husband and I actually went car shopping today. I'm looking for a small SUV. I drove both a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Honda CRV. I liked them both, but the CRV gets better gas mileage than the Cherokee; much more practical.

I need to get something soon, my old Alero has 131,000 miles on it, and it's beginning to give us trouble. I already have a couple trips planned for the spring. The first is a trip to Charleston, SC, for the annual spring LWML Joy Event, and the second is my yearly trip to the Grandfather Mountain Nature Photography weekend. I've been to four of them now, and really enjoy myself. The one thing I have to get for that is a laptop so I can see the pictures I've taken during the day. There is always a friendly contest (no prizes), so I need to be able to pick out my best shots.

I have an old laptop that might be salvagable. I'm hoping I can put in a new hard drive and get it running again. I don't need much - just something to run Lightroom on (even Picassa, for that matter), and Word. I don't even need Internet access. Having a portable computer would give me the freedom to head over to Barnes & Noble and sit with a cup of coffee and write. Perhaps I could be inspired surrounded by books and people.