The Saturday Morning Post - Pondering

Between Christmas and New Year's,  my sweet bear had a bit of a funny health scare.  He was watching a YouTube video got to laughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath, passed out and hit his head falling off his perch.  Calls to both his doctors office and the local doc-in-a-box recommended that he be checked at the Emergency Room (A&E in some parts of the world.) A thorough going over and few thousand dollars in tests found nothing unexpected. Passing out from being over excited is a known condition, a defined diagnosis.  Spo helped us translate radiologist and cardiologist speak into common English, and the answers were not to unexpected for an older person - the worst of it was a scrape on his head and being diagnosed as aging. 

Current public health limitations prohibit "visitors" in the ER, the sign instructed me to wait in the car.  And I did.  The battery in his phone was running down, so we limited communications. I took my Kindle and a book to read (that didn't get added to my reading list for 2021.) It was a long three hours.  The last gap between communications was over an hour.  Long enough for me to start to ponder the worst. What would I do? How would I move forward?  I am a planner, and my brain ponders when faced with uncertainty or change.  

Last weekend, with New Years, there was a lot of pondering going on about 2022.  What will happen, will things change, will we return to normal?  I don't know? My crystal balls are broken.  

What happens in 2022 will happen, good, bad, wanted, unwanted, the stuff of dreams and nightmares, returning to the old normal, or developing the new normal.  I can't change most of it, I can't stop it from coming at me without falling off my perch permanently. 

2022 will be what I make of it.  

And this sets my brain to pondering - ways that I can enjoy whatever 2022 throws at me.  

Fun Friday! - Top Down Driving

Is it genetic that I love a convertible(cabriolet,) a car with the top down?  This is my great grandparents on my mother's side. Cruising with the top down.  My father hated convertibles, and was not shy about his reasons why.  My mother was always strangely quiet on the subject.  I think the only car she ever really liked, was a VW diesel station wagon (estate car) they owned as a tow car during the motorhome episode.  

If it is even moderately warm, and the sun is out, the top goes down.  Now maybe I know where I get that from.  

Find a sunny day, and let your hair blow in the breeze.  
 

Thursday Ramble: I am tired of the complaining

 I am tired of hearing people complain about 2020 and 2021.  If you are still alive to complain, the years were not that bad.  The years may not have been the party I wanted, but while I was here I decided I might as well dance.  

Yes, there were things we wanted to do, that we couldn't do. That freed up time to do things I wouldn't have otherwise done. I have walked more, taken more photos, and found time to paint.  

Yes, we had to change our behaviours.  Maybe we learned new ways to reduce our risk of getting sick, washing our hands, wearing a mask in crowded conditions and we will be healthier. 

Yes, we spent more time at home.  Feather your nest, love where you are.  

Yes, shopping has changed. I have learned to click, rather than fight the crowd, and curse waiting to check out. 

Yes, we have eaten out less. My cooking has become more creative, and learned to make cakes from scratch. And when I do eat out, I treasure it more. 

Yes, we were not able to spend time with people.  I have found new ways to communicate with family and friends.  And maybe I have avoided a few stressful people. 

Yes, it was an ugly election, and an attempted coup. But we have a new President and Vice-President.   

Yes, it has been two years of change, of difference.  But it was not all bad.  If we are still alive, it could have been worse.  Seize the things that we have gained. 

When all else fails, put on a silly hat that makes you smile. 

 

The Way We Were Wednesday - Some Things Are Worth Waiting For

Back in the late 1960's early 1970's I started seeing images in print, from "Fish Eye" lenses.  Lenses with a 180 degree or greater field of view.  So wide that the corners start to round over, many of the lenses produced a round image. If I use this one on my full frame film camera the corners will be rounded off. The difference between a super wide angle 18 mm, and the 10.5mm fish eye is the difference between these two images just above.  

When I started getting serious about cameras, in my teens, I dreamed of owning one.  Dave Snoffer the the graphic arts teacher at the high school in Michigan had one for his Minolta SRT101.  In the second semester of the introduction to graphic arts he would let the students use it.  I was so looking forward to that.  Before I had a chance the lens was stolen along with other lenses that were his personal property, stolen from the classroom.  Because the lenses were his, the school would not replace them. He was deeply hurt, and understandably angry.  I could go on about that, but the bottom line is someone's greed denied several years of students the opportunity to work with this exotic piece of kit.  

The desire to use a fish eye lens never really went away.  It is not something anyone will use everyday.  It is a specialty item. For the right image the effect is very profound.  

A couple of months ago I discovered that Nikon had made a fish eye lens for the camera series that I use.  Why, I have no idea. They made the lens for a short time, it is no longer in production.  There are new one's available, new old stock, mostly available in Japan.  You can order one from Uncle Jeff, but most likely it will ship from a camera shop in Japan. There are a few of them in the used lens market in the USA. I saw one on the website of a reliable used camera dealer (KEH.com in Atlanta,) and I decided it was my chance to own something that I have lusted over for about 50 years.  So I clicked add to cart.  Handed it off to Santa. And here it is.  

Some things are worth waiting for.  Never let the dream fade away. 

Travel Tuesday - Weather

 Thinking back, I have only had a couple of times when weather changed my travel plans.  A few years ago I was scheduled to fly to California one January, and the weather looked a lot like this that morning, the airline rescheduled me for the next day, and I missed a night in a hotel on the beach.  One fall I was flying to Florida, and a hurricane was  coming up the east coast, it had passed Florida, and was headed north.  I called the airline and asked if I could get out before the storm arrived here. The initial answer was no, then I reasoned with the reservations desk, if I wait 12 hours, the flight from here will be cancelled because of the weather, if you can get me out now, you get the revenue.  "Let me check with a supervisor!" A minute later the answer was yes, along with a "thank you we just changed the policy on changes, and by the way, I moved you into business class for the flight out." Sometimes it pays to ask nicely.  

This is what Monday looked like.  The first snow of the season.  The most snow we have had in a couple of years. It has been a while since we have seen 5 or 6 inches around here. I had another Travel Tuesday post planned, you will see it in a few weeks.    

My Music Monday - The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun

For those of us on the northern half of the world, there are a few more minutes of sunlight each day.  The darkest, but likely not the coldest days of the winter have passed.   

The Sunday Five - Flying

I love airplanes, I love flying.  This weeks Sunday five is about things that fly.

1: Have you ever flown in a the Queen of the Sky, a 747? 

2: Have you ever flown in a single engine airplane? 

3: Would you know the difference between a piston engine airplane and a turbo-prop? 

4: Have you ever flown in a helicopter? 

5: Have you ever flown in a lighter than air aircraft? 

My Answers:

1: Have you ever flown in a the Queen of the Sky, a 747? Three times

2: Have you ever flown in a single engine airplane? Grew up in them

3: Would you know the difference between a piston engine airplane and a turbo-prop? Yup

4: Have you ever flown in a helicopter? Twice

5: Have you ever flown in a lighter than aircraft? A Zeppelin 

Please share your answers in the comments.