Different Sides Of One Rainbow

"Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow."

-Douglas Pagels

I was going through my archives yesterday, as I did my annual year end clean-up of my photo files, when I found this photo from spring of last year. I don't believe it made it to to Ellipsis, which seems like a shame, because I like the colors in this photo very much. Cosmos are such beautiful flowers, and during the spring and summer months, they can be found all around San Francisco, especially in Golden Gate Park. It is impossible to look at a cosmos in bloom, and not feel good inside! I think I will be adding some of these flowers to my garden again this year. I did roses only last year, but I want to do more with the flowers this year. Gardening is something I look forward to with great anticipation, especially during the cold winter days. It was cold yesterday, so I went looking through my files for a splash of color. Isn't it gorgeous?

Also yesterday, the cats and I had a tragic mishap with the camera. I took it out to give it a thorough first of the year cleaning, at the same time the kittens experienced a spike in activity. LOL. Needless to say, CRASH... BOOM... SWEAR WORD... my beloved digital camera is no more. :( Alan bought me that camera 5 years ago, and it hasn't been out of my hand ever since, so needless to say, I am a bit sad tonight. All is not lost, however, I do have a wonderful , wonderful, simply wonderful 35mm film camera which I love with my entire being, and in a pinch I also have Alan's digital camera, which takes much better macro shots then mine did, so all is not lost. In fact, it gives me a chance to take a look around and do some research into what kind of camera I will get to replace the one I just lost. Any suggestions?

The Face Of A Bad Kitty...
Dylan, January 1st, 2009

In the meantime, I will still be posting lots of new BAD KITTY photos, and I am paying a visit to the city sometime next week, which always provides me with inspiration. You can't go to San Francisco and not find something to photograph! I was just talking about the new opportunities I was looking forward to with new year, I just didn't think I would be meeting one on the first day of January, but who am I to question fate? The philosopher in me knows that when digital camera shutter door closes, another one opens. Maybe with interchangeable lens, 15MP, and accompanied by a new camera bag! In to each life a little rain must fall, but when the sun comes out there is usually a rainbow to enjoy... sometimes in digital color!

-Carly
"Pink Cosmos"
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Spring, 2008
Afternoon

Unsafe At Any Speed

"Driving round a bend, and skidding on a mat of toads is very unpleasant for all
concerned."

-Amanda Hillier

Tell me, do you find yourself looking at other drivers while you are moving along in traffic? I do. Sometimes when I am the driver of the car, but mostly when I am the passenger. I always have my digital camera out, because you never know when you might see something interesting. I didn't always keep it out of the case when the car was moving, but see, Alan and I had a very near miss incident in August of 2006, which scares the pistons out of me to this day. I decided that day, that I would keep the camera out, and turned on, just in case we ever came that close to being hit again. I want to get a photo of the plate number. It scared me, and it was months before I had a lot of confidence about driving on HWY 580, either as a driver or a passenger. Shame on those who deliberately cut you off in traffic! The only thing I knew to do to conquer the fear it had left me with, was to get right back on the freeway as a driver, and keep my trusty camera by my side as a passenger. I thank God for that camera every day.

So, you can probably imagine how I felt last Thursday, when I saw a woman, a rather age mature woman, in the car next to me, working a puzzle in a book, while driving her car, sometimes exceeding 50 MPH. We were on the San Mateo Bridge, heading eastbound, in late afternoon rush hour traffic, and she was doing a puzzle! She had to know better. I got so tired of folks screaming about the evils of cell phone use while driving, while other just as negligent behaviors go unaddressed. Eating, drinking coffee/sodas, smoking, and driving with animals who aren't properly restrained, all play into the possibility of negligence. Why do folks have to multi-task every last moment of their lives? Alan and I lost sight of her in traffic at some point, and I am glad. I didn't really want to be anywhere near her. You know? But I did wrestle with whether or not to call the CHP with her license plate number and location. I am not sure there is a law exactly about this kind of action. I see folks reading maps, while driving, all the time, but this was different. Was it my place to report her?

A part of me says, yes, I should have. I have to learn about second guessing myself on certain things. If I had come home, and heard on the news later that evening, that she got into an accident, would I have been responsible somehow? I probably would have felt responsible for not turning her in. At the same time, a part of me wonders if I was invading her privacy somehow? Didn't she have the right to do whatever she wants in her own car, if she is willing to accept the consequences of her behavior, should something go wrong? Is it up to me to intervene under any circumstances?

Opinions please. Tell me what you think. Would you have turned her in? Would you have shaken your finger at her, in disgust, as you drove by? Would you have just ignored it, and hoped she was paying better attention then it seemed she was? Have you ever been tempted to turn in a fellow motorist, after seeing them engaging in a similar activity? Share your thoughts with me. :)

"Reckless automobile driving arouses the suspicion that much of the horse sense of the good old days was possessed by the horse."

-Unknown

-OndineMonet
"Shame On You"
HWY 92
Hayward, California
September 13th, 2007
Late Afternoon

A Green Christmas

"Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind."

-Mary Chase

Suzanne, of the blog, "New Suzanne R's Life," came by with a new meme. A Christmas meme. I can't believe how close we are to yet another Christmas. Parts of 2007 seemed to go by at a crawl, I didn't think January would ever end, and February was even worse, even with the shorter days in the month! But the summer, has seemed to just fly by. It will finally be autumn in just a couple weeks, and we all know what comes next... winter... and Christmas. So, I leaped at the chance to do a meme devoted to Christmas, because I think I might need a little extra help getting into the spirit of the holidays this year. Thank you Suzanne, for thinking of me, and giving me the heads up about this cute meme. :)

A Green Christmas

1. What is your favorite Christmas Gift?

A. In 1992 I got Ross, the moose you see in the photo above, he is my favorite stuffed animal, but in recent years I guess it would have to be my digital camera. It is a Minolta DiMage Z1. I got it for Christmas in 2004, and it hasn't been out of my hand a day since. :) I LOVE my camera.

2. What is your best memory of Christmas?

A. The year we took a holiday vacation down the California coast. It was beautiful and relaxing.

3. Depending on where you live do you have a hot or cold Christmas?

A. That's a tricky question. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area. The climate here is mostly mild all through the year, so we don't have extremes of either.

4. Would you prefer to try the opposite weather at least just once?

A. Well, in that we tend to have mild winters, I would have to say yes. I would really like a nice, snowy Christmas just once. I have always wanted to build a snowman on Christmas morning.

5. What do you prefer in a tree? Fake or Real?

A. I love real trees, but I like the fake ones because they don't carry as big a fire danger.

6. What Is Your Favorite Carol?

A. I really like "Christmas Time Is Here" from, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

7. What is your favorite Christmas dinner?

A. Autumn Baked Ham, Whipped Sweet Potatoes, Creamed Peas w/onions, Plum Pudding, Hot Baked Dinner Rolls, and Fruits of the Forest Pie.

8. Do you wear a Santa Hat at Christmas?

A. Sometimes, and then other times I wear antlers. :)

9. Have you ever seen Santa delivering gifts?

A. Of course, I tune into Santa at NORAD every Christmas Eve!


And so, there are my answers. :) Care to play along? Just copy and paste the questions into your blog and answer away, but please remember to comeback here and leave me a link to your entry so I can see what you wrote. :) Thanks again Suzanne. :) Click here to see what Suzanne's answers were.

-OndineMonet
"Ross At Christmas"
December 11, 2007
Evening