Leaves

Round 10 Title Writing Challenge Voting Reminder

This is a quick reminder that the voting for Round 10 of the Title Challenge closes tomorrow at 12:00 (Noon) Central DST Time (Chicago time). Your time depends on your location and whether your time zone follows DST.

If you’ve read the stories, you can vote for them HERE. Coincidentally, that post also has links to the stories in case you get a sudden urge to read them before voting.

I kid, of course . . . you should definitely read them before you vote. Heck, read them even if you don’t vote. After all, reading is fundamental.

Gary and Perry have been neck-and-neck for most of the round, so even a few votes could affect the outcome.

These photos are from early October, and I figured I’d share them before we transition out of Fall and into Winter proper. Of course, that only applies to readers living in the Northern hemisphere.

By the way, did you notice the bird?

Anyway, here are a few more . . .

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Fire — real and simulated

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 (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

A few of my apps can ‘insert’ fire into a photo. I don’t use them because I don’t think the results look realistic

Here are a few photos; from a few flames to a raging inferno.

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. . . and more photos like the last post’s offerings

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

When you click the links, 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 near the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: Above the play/pause button there’s the option to go full screen. Most of these look really good viewed full screen. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

Ok, so that photo is not the same as the previous post since I didn’t have any garden statues in that post. By the way, that’s a Note 20 photo. I’m getting a bit more time with the phone . . . er . . . camera in the phone and getting better at capturing stuff with satisfactory quality.

So, let’s do a proper continuation of the photos in the last post . . . we begin with the great egret . . . that’s its name, not a statement of its bird qualities.

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Fall 2020 — leaves 0003

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: the symbol above the PLAY arrow will switch to a full-screen slideshow . . . which I advise for the best experience (press Esc to exit). 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.

Continue reading →

Fall 2020 — leaves 0002

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: the symbol above the PLAY arrow will switch to a full-screen slideshow . . . which I advise for the best experience (press Esc to exit). 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.

Colorful leaves on rocks

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Eclectic photos and reminder for “O” stories voting

The Alphabet Challenge “O” Stories voting has hit a bit of a lull . . . but, if willing readers are up to it, we can get it going once again with just a moderate push. 

If you are one such reader, and if you’ve not already done so — please read the stories and then cast a vote for your favorite of the three. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge O-Stories” are HERE.<<<Link

Let’s begin our photo journey with a car . . .

It’s an interesting look . . . almost looks like snow and a blizard, don’t it?

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Reminder: vote for favorite Alphabet Challenge “A” Story

Another quick reminder to vote for your favorite story out of the three Alphabet Challenge “A” Submissions. You can vote HERE and for them who have yet to read them, there are links to each of the stories in that post.

If you’re a person who talks to your plants, they will enjoy hearing you read the stories to them aloud and it gives you 30 minutes of quality time with your green charges. Reading them on your own is also good and it takes even less time. You have a whole month to read them before the voting closes. But that’s not what I suggest. The opposite, in fact. Get to it now! Chop, chop. And tell all your friends.

Remember: it’s a win-win. If you like any or all of the stories, you can direct your good friends to them and thus strengthen the bond between you and your friends. If you hate all the stories, you can forward them to any annoying friends you may want to alienate and remove from your life.

And now, a reworking of the photos from the previous reminder.

Topaz Lab’s Impression app – click for larger view.

That’s Mauna Kea with snow and observatories atop it. Right now, superstitious indigenous people are doing their best to stop the construction of a new telescope. Something about the mountain being sacred and an ancient burial ground. Funny that because the whole island is a burial ground.

Lots and lots of people lived and killed each other all over those islands. By those standards, no one should live anywhere on those islands. Honest, I tried being sympathetic to the arguments but there’s a basic lack of honesty about it that I find annoying. Other than a few — very few by my personal experience — most natives don’t seem to live the Aloha spirit or have any spiritual connection to the places they consistently trash.

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Reminder to pick your favorite Alphabet Challenge “A” Stories

A quick reminder to vote for one of the stories in the “A” Alphabet Challenge Submissions. You can vote HERE and for them who have yet to read them, there are links to each of the stories in that post.

I realize it’s a huge time commitment (around 30 minutes reading time if you have to mouth the words or narrate them to your pets, less if you read them quietly), but you have a whole month to read them before the voting closes. Not that I suggest procrastinating. The opposite, in fact. Get to it now! Chop, chop. And tell all your friends.

Remember: if you don’t like any of the stories, direct all the people you don’t like to them so they too can suffer through their awfulness.

click for larger view

That’s from two years and two weeks ago. Pretty boring, no? We were probably on our way to Tex for a malasada fix when I pulled off the Belt Road just outside of Waimea and snapped that photo. Man, time sure flies.

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