Aww Mondays

I went for a walk on a local trail in our area to photograph some fall color. I spotted these leaves in the crotch of a tree and when I got close I found this little fellow.

Cataract Surgery D-Day + 1

Last Wednesday I had my first cataract surgery and I can report that my distance vision is greatly improved. My eyesight was getting worse, and I was just starting to see a little yellow tint in everything and my night vision made it uncomfortable to drive in heavy traffic after dark. Street signs were becoming increasingly difficult to read…even highway exit signs were not as clear as they should have been.

My visit to the ophthalmologist revealed that I had a cataract in each eye and it was time to remove them. The process is pretty incredible. I showed up at the eye surgery center at 8:00 a.m. By 8:30 I had been checked in, taken back to my “ready room”, given a couple of rounds of eye drops to cleanse and numb the eye and they give you an IV to calm all of your nerves.

They rolled me into the surgery suite and the fun began. You can’t really see anything. They shine a very bright light in your eye and blocks out all surrounding distractions. What you see is something similar to a kaleidoscopic light show. They make two very small incisions in your eye. Then they use the mini version of the process for removing gall stones or kidney stones by blasting the cataract then vacuuming it out through one of the small incisions. Once the cataract is removed, they insert a new lens which is very soft an pliable. It is folded like a taco, inserted through the incision then unfolded inside the eye. That light show you see is all of these things happening right before your very eye!!! The surgery takes 15 – 20 minutes, so I was done and out the door before 9:30.

Today my distance vision is greatly improved and I am told it will still get a little better over the next couple of days. When both surgeries are complete I probably will not need glasses for distance vision and only cheap reading glasses for close work…like threading that fishing line through the eye of the hook. Based on these early results of my first procedure, I am looking forward to my second surgery and even better vision that I have had in decades. This is coming from someone who refuses to wear contacts because I hate things close to my eyes. If you have been told that you need cataract surgery, go for it. It will change your life.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week the theme at 4M is our choice, so in keeping with my vision theme I think I’ll find a few songs about eyes, sight and vision. In recent free choice weeks I have focused on inspirational music and what could be more inspirational than I Saw The Light!

All of us have been told at one time or another that only the strong are able to face and work out their own problems while only the weak go running for help in every situation. I have found that it all depends on where you run to and who you look for. I have learned that in every situation the best thing for me to do is to run to my Heavenly Father and tell Him, “I Look To You.” He is my source of strength, wisdom, courage, love, honor and respect. The very first chapter of the very first book of Scripture tells us that we are made in the image of our Creator. He is our Father and we can rely on His Word in every circumstance, so when life makes you want to run and hide, get on your knees and take your problem to the Savior and tell Him, “I Look To You.”

Scripture is filled with the testimony of God’s love for His children. God loves even those who hate Him and have no use for the things of the All Mighty. Christ did not die on a cross just for Christians. He died for everyone but only those who accept His gift of eternal life will know the joy of spending eternity in a place designed and built especially for each of us who follow Him. We can rest assured that His Eye Is On The Sparrow. Have a blessed week.

Aww Monday – Lucy, American Cocker Spaniel Fetching Machine

Friday Night Lights

This time last year I was seeing doctors, having tests run and preparing for a major surgery. The result was that I did not get to photograph a single high school football game and I LOVE photographing high school sports. Well football is back, in spite of Covid-19 and I went to my first game of the season, even thought it is week three. I’m a little rusty when it comes to panning and getting the focus as crisp as I want, but it was a start and I will be attending more games and capturing more images, so you might as well brace yourself for more gridiron chaos.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

The theme this week at 4M is to pick our favorite decade of music and feature songs from that decade. I was in my teens and early twenties during the 60’s and I believe that happens to be the best music ever. We had The Supremes, The Four Tops, Sam Cook, B. B. King, , The Beatles, Beach Boys, Alman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alabama, Simon & Garfunkle, James Taylor, Carole King, Gordon Lightfoot, Leon Russell, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Led Zepplin, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Linda Ronstadt…and the list goes on. I could make a play list that would last for weeks. So where do I start.

The first album I ever bought was Ray Charles, What’d I Say, but that was released in 1959 so it doesn’t count. I also owned Modern Sounds in Country/Western Music where Ray put covered songs by Hank Williams and other greats. Country would never sound the same again.

As the decade of the sixties began the pop charts were filled with country songs, instrumentals, big band vocals, soul sounds. One song that got everyone on the dance floor was this number by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. You can hear the influence of Chubby Checker and The Twist all over this song.

1964 was a watershed year as the “British Invasion” swept the country and the Beatles became a household word. They charted no less than five of the top 20 songs for the whole year. It all started with a little hand holding.

My senior year in high school was 1965 and the number one song of the year came from another British band. They just never seemed satisfied.

I came home from Vietnam in 1968 and the music world was filled with hard rock and protest. On the hard rock side I found that a little Cream in my coffee was just what I needed. Cream was made up of three future rock hall of famers, Jack Bruce on Guitar and vocals, Ginger Baker on drums and Eric Clapton on Guitar and vocals. They were simply on another level. Eric Clapton is still making great music. The number 6 song of 1968 was all about love and sunshine.

The decade came to an end with one of my favorite groups, Creedence Clearwater Revival releasing one of their early chart toppers. While John Fogerty wrote this song and the group had a hit with it in 1969, the tune became the anthem song for Tina Turner in 1971. Tina became Proud Mary. Have a blessed week.

“Punkin’ Seed”

Aww Mondays

Obviously, I have a treat just out of frame that Lucy is lazer-focused on.

North Forest Lights

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a world-class facility that focuses on the works of American artists from the days of the colonies to the present. It is a spectacular place to visit…and it’s free!!! Currently there is an exhibit on the trails around the building called “North Forest Lights”. It consists of five works placed in the forest with special lighting effects and set to music. The trail is approximately one and one half miles long I did not capture images of some of the purely light exhibits because I needed to do long exposures and that would require a tripod and just get in everyone’s way. Here a a few images that I did manage to capture.

This first piece is titled Forest Frequencies. It is a circular maze type structure with lights in the top of the pathway. The work varies in height from about 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 feet. It’s an interesting work that this image doesn’t truly do it justice.

This piece is titled “The Hearth”. The description is, “A bonfire like sculpture to immerse yourself in the warm glow and beating heart of nature.” The work is probably fifteen feet in diameter. The light changes from red to blue and the white lights beyond move and come from all directions. There is music that accompanies this exhibit as well.

This exhibit is a massive tree with lights place throughout the branches. There is a microphone where the couple is standing. You sing into the microphone (not to worry, no one can hear you) and the lights change colors that supposedly reflect the colors of your voice. Interesting.

There is simply no way to do this exhibit justice. This is a light and music show set over a dry stream bed. You stand on a bridge, over the stream bed, and the light show takes place literally at your feet. It is titled, “Memory of Water.” The image and colors change with the music. Awesome is the only word that comes to mind.

If you are in the area between now and April, the exhibit is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday beginning at dusk. There is an admission fee because of the number of staff required to be on the grounds. You can get tickets from the website, http://www.crystalbridges.org. It is worth the trip. I plan on going back and photographing it again later in the year

Monday’s Music Moves Me

The theme this week at 4M is free choice. I get to pick whatever theme and music I want to post. So, in keeping with the light show above, I’ll spend a few minutes talking about the greatest light and music show that is yet to come.

Followers of Christ have a belief and hope of the coming of the Savior. This event is commonly known as The Rapture and it applies only to believers. The Rapture of the church is first mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and the vooice of tf an archangel with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. We Shall Rise! Revelation 1:7 tells us that the entire world will be a witness to this event, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him…”

Chapter 20 of Revelation tells us that there will be a judgment of all mankind and verse 15 specifically says that anyone not found in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire. I know where I will be “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder”, how about you? Revelation 21:1 describes the new heaven and the new earth. In verse four we find that because Satan was bound in chapter 20, there will be no tears, no death, no sorrow, no crying, and no more pain for those who have placed their faith and trust in the Alpha and Omega, Jesus Christ.

That day that I leave this life and step into eternity will begin a life filled with “Joy Unspeakable”!!! Have a blessed week.

The Hearth