The Death Of Amateur Politics, Pandemics And Punditry

 

"On a withered branch 

A crow has alighted: Nightfall in autumn."

 

~Matsu Basho 

I didn't do as much photography as I wanted to on this vacation. So much was working against me. Two days of furlough money being deducted from Alan's paycheck, meant we had less money to spend. Covid-19 meant that we couldn't go to restaurants, not even Denny's, without making reservations way in advance, due to restrictions on how many can be served, and who knows if we would have felt like it when the time arrived. Covid-19 also derailed a lot of small traditions, like walking into somewhere like Old Navy or Ross and purchasing a t-shirt for the upcoming season. No movie theaters open. No comedy clubs. Nothing fun was open downtown, like ghost and zombie haunts. Life just didn't exist this vacation, and now it's almost over, and my life feels like it is being eaten alive, waiting for the results of the election. I pray that a year from now we will all be back to living. I swear, as soon as Joe Biden is sworn in, I am officially retired from amateur political punditry. With any luck, so will other people!

 

Make. It. Stop.

Just someone, please, call the fucking election already. 

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 7th 2020

Gossamer

"It is no accident that the photographer becomes a photographer any more than the lion tamer becomes a lion tamer."

~Dorothea Lange

If you look in the sky, right over big storms, you can sometimes see the most amazing things. I spotted these "angels" last January, after a brief lightning storm, that made it's way across the Central Valley, with just enough intensity to make things interesting. I don't usually spend too much time looking for cloud angels, because why, when it's just as easy to see a mermaid, or a horse, or like my friend Stephen once told me, bunnies. I, personally, have never really settled in on one shape. I see letters, numbers, I even once saw the unmistakable shape of Snoopy's pal,Woodstock. But the last couple years, without trying, I have seen more angel shapes than anything else, and frankly, I am not sure what to make of it. With no real evidence to go on, I can't realistically take it as any kind of sign, after all, it's my interpretation of what an angel might look like... right? They haven't scared me, so that's a good thing. I think. I suppose if that winged thing in the sky is an angel, and it hasn't zapped me for being a complete heathen, at least it let me take it's picture. And if that's true, then I can't be all bad!

Carly
Stockton, California
August 31st 2020

Photo: Stockton, California
January 18th 2020
Nikon

Falling

"Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are falling, and they're falling like they are falling in love with the ground."

~Andrea Gibson

Depression. Unhappiness. Restlessness. Despair. Whatever you want to call it, I am feeling it. The past week feels like it has been six months long. An Election less than a week ago, should have me walking on cloud nine, instead I am barely able to catch my breath from the overwhelmingly sad events that occurred around it. Shootings, wildfires, devastation, and I am running on empty in my okay world. It feels selfish to feel as sad and tired as I do, when I know so many have lost their homes, and loved ones. But I do. I feel bad for feeling bad. Sometimes I don't know where my depression begins and ends, but I am learning to hide it when I can. I let it out here, because it feels safe to. I assume no one comes by, so it feels okay to just be honest. But it gets harder to admit that I feel like I am sinking more and more every day. Thank God I have my leaves, but after that, I am not so sure where my creativity will take me, or even if it will take me anywhere at all.

Shrug.

My prayers go out to those affected by the Camp Fire and the firestorm in Los Angeles. I pray for my friends and strangers, who are watching their lives change forever. I pray for all the families who lost loved ones in the Borderline massacre. I wouldn't wish the pain they are being forced to endure on anyone.

#50 Leaf Of The Day

November 10th 2018

Photographed October 21st 2018

Ione, California

~Mood: Sad/Tired

~Me

Life Is A Visual Art

"You are my star in this dark, dark world we inhabit."

~Misty Daniel

The Angel Chronicles:The Fallen: In Search Of Souls

Isn't he the cutest thing? You might think what I have photographed here is someone's toy from the movie Minions, but in fact it isn't. As near as I can tell it is a homemade minion, or perhaps it is a prop from the movie! I can't say for sure, because I have never seen it up close! I have only seen it while Alan and I have been driving south on Highway 880 in Hayward, California. That's right. It sits on the roof of a building, next to the retaining wall of a freeway! Recently, I photographed it out the window of our car, while Alan drove past it at 65 miles per hour!

I first noticed the minion a year ago, or so, and it instantly made me smile! That's what happens when you carry a camera every where you go, you see things you might otherwise miss in this busy world! I don't know his story, I don't know who put him there, but I am grateful for his presence, watching over 880, which can be a scary freeway at times. It was one of my least favorite highways to drive on when I lived in the Bay Area, but it is a necessary evil if you need to get south of Hayward, or if you are headed to the San Mateo peninsula.

I love the minion, and I look for him whenever we are in the area, like visiting an old friend. I wish there were more little fellows like him to give weary travelers, like I tend to be, something positive to look forward to. He is an angel to me. Maybe not necessarily a guardian angel per se, but definitely an angel that reminds us to not take life so damn serious every moment, of every single day! One day I want to stop, and track down where he is, and perhaps thank his creator for this little bit of public art, which really deserves a lot of credit for just how wonderful he really is!

 

In 2004 I shared the 580 Angel with you, which sits off the freeway on a private driveway on the eastbound side of 580! She is a constant and calming presence, again reminding us to calm down. I am kinda digging these two, I hope it becomes a trend. Sometimes the visual says much more than words ever could! I love the worlds my silent camera have made me aware of! Life is a visual art!

 Leaf Of The Day

November 4th 2016

Mood: Happy

~Me :) 

Oh, Okay, So That's Why That Happens!

I580 Angel 
Spring 2005

"When you wake up with a song stuck in your head, it means an angel sang you to sleep."

~Denise Baer

I love music! Almost all genres of music, except country. I have never much cared for country, however there are some country songs I have always enjoyed, and certain country artists as well. So now that I think about it, do I really dislike country music, or is it just way down on the list of types of music I enjoy? Hmmm?

Sometimes music makes an otherwise sucky day, so much better! Who doesn't love turning up the music, super loud, and singing along with a song that makes you feel really good inside? I do it all the time! But usually only when I am in my car, because my singing usually scares the cats! Well, mostly Hendrix, who does his best to comfort me. Dylan merely stares at me in annoyance. It's a hazard of naming your cats after musicians.

The worst time spent with music is when you get a song stuck in your head, and can't get it to go away! I once spent 27 weeks of my life with Take The Long Way Home by Supertramp, going around and around in my head like it was hopelessly stuck on a turntable! Don't get me wrong, I love the song, but really, one can only take so much!

Hey, looking on the bright side, at least it was a song I really love! It could have very easily have been a song I loathe like MacArthur Park or My Ding-A-Ling. LOL. Yes, Take The Long Way Home was much better! A couple months ago I had This Old Man in my head... why? Shrug... I have NO idea, but there it was! And it was playing LOUDLY! What the HELL was that about?

But see, the quote above has finally solved the mystery! We are all at the mercy of angels, who apparently have very strange sense of what is soothing... or very strange sense of humor! Personally, I think mine has a strange sense of humor! That makes sense, I just know God, who also has a strange sense of humor, would pair me with a silly angel!

Not that I am complaining! It's better than an angel who only listens to country music! Or 1960's television theme songs. Can you imagine getting the theme to Petticoat Junction hopelessly stuck in your head?

No, lets not do that! At least Supertramp's Breakfast In America was my favorite album ever! :)

Take The Long Way Home...
Supertramp from the Breakfast In America album.


:)

Mood: Quiet But Content

Me :)