flowers photography

Last “W” stories voting reminder . . . and snow on Mauna Kea

Note: If you are using the WordPress App in Android and reading this with the Reader in Dark Mode, you won’t see much of the post because of a bug in the behavior of the app.

The “W” stories voting block is about 20 hours from closing. As usually happens late in the voting block, we have fairly significant movement by one of the stories.  If you like a particular story, in addition to voting for it — and if you feel like it — now is the time to nudge friends and family into reading it (and also ask them to read the others in case they don’t agree with you) and to cast their votes.

No matter how you come to them or who you vote for, if you’re a reader of our stories and someone who votes, the writers wish to express their gratitude and appreciation. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge W-Stories” are HERE(link) Votes will be accepted until  Noon (Central Time) on Monday, January 25th, 2021.

So, snow on Mauna Kae (the Big Island of Hawaiʻi) . . .

Composite of six photos taken in portrait mode.

That shot was taken from Highway 19 just north of the Kawaihae port while heading up to Waimea.

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Two days left in “W” stories voting block, a little rant . . . and a Cactus Ent

Note: If you are using the WordPress App in Android and reading this with the Reader in Dark Mode, you won’t see much of the post because of a bug in the behavior of the app.

The “W” stories voting block has a little over 48 hours before it ends and the results recorded in the annals of insignificant history.  If you like a particular story, in addition to voting for it — and if you feel like it — now is the time to nudge friends and family into reading it (and also ask them to read the others in case they don’t agree with you) and to cast their votes.

No matter how you come to them or who you vote for, if you’re a reader of our stories and someone who votes, the writers wish to express their gratitude and appreciation. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge W-Stories” are HERE(link) Votes will be accepted until  Noon (Central Time) on Monday, January 25th, 2021.

So, photos . . .

These were shot in Central Illinois last July. They are dead now.

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A short stories poll reminder and one photo

I assume it’s near useless doing a reminder for this blog when two idiots are duking it out on the world stage. But, The Alphabet Challenge “S” Stories polling is still lagging with only six more days to do. We’re now hoping for the usual late-voting surge, but I fear most of the people will be all voted-out by the time they return from pissing on the opposition while ignoring the piece of crap that is their choice. 

Still, if you are a reader of our stories and someone who would like to express an opinion about which of the stories you liked the best (or disliked the least), and if you participate in the poll, thank you in advance. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for the “Alphabet Challenge S-Stories” are HERE.<<<Link Votes will be accepted until noon on November 8th.

OK, there’s only one photo in this blog post . . . and this is it:

Let me explain . . .

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I tease you with a dead teasel, a.k.a. Dipsacus plant

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.

For a SmugMug slideshow click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos as this will pause the slideshow.

If you manually scroll, you can click anywhere on the photo to get the 100% view of the photo. The cursor will change from a (+) to a hand symbol and you can click-and-hold to drag the view. Click again to zoom out.

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

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Four more days of “M” stories voting

The Alphabet Challenge M-Stories votes are waiting in the wings . . . but I wish they would rush into the bright lights.

If you’ve not already done so, you can read the stories and cast your vote for your favorite of the three. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge M-Stories” are HERE.<<<Link

Here are a few photos reworked and presented as a thank you for your participation . . .

Them be Florida beaches shells.

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Still pining for “M” stories votes

The Alphabet Challenge M-Stories voting has stagnated . . . Yes, it sometimes gets a second wind near the end, but why wait?

If you’ve not already done so, you can read the stories and cast your vote for your favorite of the three. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge M-Stories” are HERE.<<<Link

Here are a few photos reworked and presented as a thank you for your participation . . .

That’s from the Old Kona Airport on the Big Island.

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More Flowers and “K” stories voting reminder and stuff

The “K” stories have but a few days to grab whatever votes they can, so they’ll rely on the kindness of passing strangers who might see the stories, read them, and then vote for their favorite “Alphabet Challenge K-Stories” HERE.<<<This Is A Link

Clicking on the above link will take you to the post with the poll where you can cast your vote. The post also contains links to the individual stories. After voting, readers can — if so moved — spread the news about the story to friends and family. Or, not. But, we hope for yes.

So . . . Flowers and Stuff (birds, bugs) . . .

Yes, the magnolia tree is blooming . . . and covering the ground with the remnants of the brown coverings of the flowers.

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Flowers and “K” stories voting reminder

Current voting for the “K” stories remains baffling to us writers. But that’s the thing with readers; they can surprise you. If that sounds intriguing, give the stories a read and vote for the “Alphabet Challenge K-Stories” HERE.<<<This Is A Link

Clicking on the above link will take you to the post with the poll where you can cast your vote. The post also contains links to the individual stories. After voting, readers can — if so moved — spread the news about the story to friends and family. Or, not. But, we hope for yes.

So . . . Flowers . . .

I’ve been remiss on photographing flowers . . . well, I’ve photographed a few, I just haven’t shared them. I’m remedying the matter with this post.

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“H” stories voting reminder and Note 8 photos

Let’s get this out of the way . . . It’s been four days since the “H” stories went up and me being too busy to plug them resulted in a low vote count.

Therefore, ergo, thus, here’s a quick reminder to — if so inclined — please read the stories. After, if receptive to the idea, the writers hope you’ll make the effort and vote for your favorite of the “Alphabet Challenge H-Stories” HERE.

That post has links to the individual stories and the poll where readers can click a box to indicate their appreciation for their favorite. If you have friends (I mean, even I have a few, so I imagine most readers have many, many friends), you can share that link and help expand the readership. I mean, we’re not professional writers, but there’s usually at least one decent story in the bunch.

So, photos.

Specifically, Samsung Note 8 photos. I mentioned before I’ve been lax in covering Note 8 photography, so let’s jump in with both feet, shall we? Oh, I often frame them, but these won’t be. Also, I’m breaking from chronologically presenting the photo to fit the narrative style of the presentation.

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Almost Wordless Tuesday

Almost every day I spend time sitting outside, on the patio, camera on hand and a coffee by my side, hoping to capture something interesting. This post is about boring photos from my patio.

OK, one photo is from a quick drive we took . . .

The rest are all from our patio . . . wait, let me check . . . nope; I thought there might have been one more from somewhere else, but that’s not the case. 

Most of these are shot with the 70-300mm lens at full zoom. All of these are lightly processed and cropped in Lightroom from the JPG files that are saved with the RAW files. Meaning, but for some minor tweaks, they are about what you get out of the camera. The camera is the D7500 . . . almost makes me want to rethink shooting RAW, but I’ll probably still do it. 

OK, enough words . . . here’s the gallery of a bunch of photos from the last five days or so.

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Flowers, bugs, bark, and rocks

If I were smart . . . scratch that; let me start over; if I applied my considerable intellect to maximizing visits to this blog, I would split this post into four or five posts and feed them piecemeal to my eager public. Like, maybe, one post every other day for a week. 

Create a narrative of sorts, engaging the audience with the progression of the narrative and create an expectation that I could exploit both for more visitors and gaining subscribers. 

That ain’t me, Bob. 

Speaking of Bob . . . 

Bob N. See, Bob N. Hear, and Bob N. Speak.

I’ve yet to replace Bones; Bob Bones but I’ve acquired Bob N. See, Bob N. Hear, and Bob N. Speak. 

Can you believe it? $6.

For them not interested in reading the rest of the post, you can go directly to the SmugMug Gallery HERE.  

For a SmugMug slideshow, click HERE. When you click the link, it will open in a new window and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the bottom-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos as this will pause the slideshow.

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

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Flowers and Thoughts Part 2 — We’re Doomed! Doomed, I Tell You!

I started this post before the suicide bomber attacked children in Manchester, England. I took a few days off from blogging because — like most people these days — I feel the equivalent of battle fatigue and the attack put a literal and deadly stench on it. That’s also why this is a relatively short post.

There are no words I can add about the bombing that have not already been said, written, and thought, so I’ll continue with my original topic for this post which is, unfortunately, peripherally related. 

As with Part I, I’ll be putting up a few flower photos for them who are not interested in words. Some of the photos will be different versions of the same shot; first the altered shot, then the photo processed as I usually do. Of course, as usual, you can click on the photos for a larger version or go to THIS SmugMug Gallery.

For them not interested in SmugMug or scrolling through the post, there is a gallery at the bottom of the post (a fast scroll). 

Anyway, my thoughts on what’s going on out there, in the religious-political wasteland. 

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Flowers and Thoughts Part 1 — We’re Doomed! Doomed, I Tell You!

Wow . . . it’s been a while since my last post. What have I been doing? 

Honest, the days just flew by. I’ll tell you a bit about them, starting with the news. Yes, it turns out I’m affected by the news even though I currently watch no news programs and only minimally read about what’s going on. The problem, you see, is that what’s in the news these days — mostly politics — leaks into non-traditional venues. Despite me avoiding it, invariably someone asks me a question or I overhear conversations or it’s mentioned in unrelated articles, blogs, or podcasts. 

By the way, I’ll be putting up a few flower photos for them who are not interested in words. Some of the photos will be different versions of the same shot; first the altered shot, then the photo processed as I usually do. Of course, as usual, you can click on the photos for a larger version or go to THIS SmugMug Gallery. 

For them not interested in SmugMug or scrolling through the post, there is a gallery at the bottom of the post (a fast scroll). 

Anyway, my thoughts on what’s going on out there, in the social-political wasteland.  

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