Symbolic

ODC: Symbolic, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Took a ride over to Lake Katherine today in search of something to photograph. Had every intention of walking around the lake but discovered that I did not dress for the weather. A brisk wind was blowing from the west and it was oh so cold. Decided to quickly find some early blooming flowers so that I could accomplish the "symbolic" assignment for the Our Daily Challenge group on Flickr. I always seem to be two steps behind the to-do list and because of that many people had already posted similar pictures. I've never have early growing flowers in my yard; don't know the reason other than I've been too lazy to plant bulbs. But I do so enjoy seeing these little buds emerge for I know that spring will soon be following. Unfortunately, this year the weather is not co-operating. It is much too cold for April and before we know it the heat of the summer will be here. Once again spring will be one of our shorter seasons.

Wood

Wood, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Have decided to actively start taking pictures again. Don't know why I was so excited to get into it a couple of years ago and then slowly lose interest. I guess I do that with many projects that I start. But seeing that I am officially retired I really have no excuse. It must be in my blood; my dad was a pretty good photographer back in the day. But because I naturally shied away from getting my picture taken I really had no interest in pursuing this hobby. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the bug hit and I must now have every lens known to man and no idea how to use most. But since I belong to Flickr and follow some of the groups, I figured I might as well get back into it. Last week's assignment for MacroMonday was "wood." Not being very creative I decided to go with colored pencils. So I polished the end table, put some pencils in a cup and started shooting. For whatever reason this particular photo has been noticed. So far today, via Flickr, it has been viewed 883 times. It also has been commented on by 24 people and invited into three different groups. I don't know what I did; in fact I didn't realize that there was a reflection on the pencil until it was uploaded. I think that reflection is actually what made this very mundane picture unusual. Who knew?

Infestation

Infestation, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Today's assignment for the Daily Posting was to take a picture of an insect of my choice. Being that it's still winter in the Midwest there aren't enough insects to photograph. Luckily for me, we've been dealing with an infestation of Box Elder bugs all winter. We've had our share of ladybugs over the years, and of course spiders, but never had to deal with these bugs before. They are not exactly creepy. Centipedes and silver fish are creepy, and we have those too. In fact, someday I would like to live in a house free from a few of the above named insects. Or maybe free from all said bugs. Fortunately, they are easily disposed of. Within thirty minutes of waking up I caught five. And then within the next few hours I had a total of twelve. Figured that would be enough to at least capture one decent photo. The problem was that I put them in a jar, and every I took the lid off to photograph one offender, several would try to escape. I'm sure they would eventually peter out and die, so I spent a good half hour shooting and rounding up these little buggers. I wish I knew where they were entering my house. The Internet calls them "stink bugs" and the best thing to do is get rid of the things that they prefer- i.e. maple trees. Unfortunately that's not going to happen. As the weather warms I hope they find their way out the same way that they came in.

But for all I know the queen of all Box Elders is residing peacefully in my crawl space. If that's the case they are here to stay!

Handiwork

Handiwork, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Project one and two completed. Discovered that I really do need to add some color to my life. I live in a world of blah.  I love crocheting but so wish I could teach myself something besides zigzag.  I am working on a purple and pink afghan for E but once again it's zigzag. A friend sent me a link entitled Crocheting School and it seems like a site that might be able to teach me something new.  I certainly hope so but then again, I can only have so many afghans.  Maybe it will be something I can sell on Ebay.