Dynamic, Exciting Photo-catch from 2009. A Marsh Hawk scouting for prey in the back yard...

 perched and vigilant...

 suddenly in flight...

Seen behind the leaves. I'm not certain he caught any of the Gold Finches.

I love street photos: First photo-capture from 2010

At the Grove, on vacation years ago, I pointed the camera lense at the little girl playing near the statues. I would not edit is photo at all.

"Anna" with Fog

I can't move around too much. So I'm entertaining myself with photo-fun and the blog. I feel empathy for this lady.

"Anna" Re-visited..

From downtown LA in Spring of 2013. Assignment: write a short story about this photo.

Remain Calm and Force a Smile...

Three weeks on from foot surgery, finally well enough to go on a much needed trip to Sam's Club. I had to use one of the electric "rascal" style charts; it got me successfully through the store without incident even though I am naturally clumsy and I break things. Naturally, I will be very glad to be back on my feet and am grateful this is the most serious thing that's happened to me so far.

"Cat Chaser" by Elmore Leonard

We are fans of the TV series "Justified", based on work by this author. But I never read any of his books before. "Cat Chaser", from 1983, remembers a time when the US Military ventured into the Dominican Republic for a short time in 1964. The 1980 hero revisits the scenes of action; he's looking for a girl he knew briefly, but still remembered. But he finds another girl; someone he knows from Florida and his former married, country club life; they become firmly bonded lovers, even though she is married to a former D. R. secret police chief, years escaped, now in possession of a fortune in cash. As well, the plot is populated by other interesting characters of various degrees of evil intent. The money, the motives, the characters swirl around until resolution is reached.

The fun of Elmore Leonard is the swerving plots, raw violence that comes from nowhere, the narrative voice which is not far from the action. He works in some clever one-liners; I thought it was well written and edited. Crime thrillers tend to feel dated, looking back 30-plus years: no cell phones, no internet, "dial 911" had to be explained, no area-codes on the phone numbers, characters running around looking for phone booths, etc.

A Long-Deceased Ant makes a Return Appearance...

 

In transition seasons, a few ants find their way into the kitchen from outside. Fact of life; not too serious. (I don't like the idea of pest control contractors spraying poison around the foundation, etc.) So we plug the holes the insects use to get in, and so on.  A couple of years ago, I found this little soldier struggling across the counter with his burden of a food crumb; before I dispatched him I took a photo. Then "foto-fun" edited to produce this portrait. Good for a re-visit while I'm laid up with a healing foot.