The Good Luck Of Bad Luck

"You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from."

~Cormac McCarthy

No Country For Old Men

I believe that quote. Actually, I live that quote! I have learned, in my old age, to not only appreciate the plan B scenario, but to thank GOD for it! So many times, while out with the camera, something will pop up, or get in the way, or just plain cause me to change course away from the picture I was wanting to get. But happily, most of the time I will see something unexpected, something completely off topic that leaves me feeling satisfied as a photographer.

 A sunset with particularly vibrant colors, a roadside memorial, a stray animal, something maybe as simple as a pair of shoes, placed outside a house on Christmas Eve, for Papa Noel. If you haven't heard of Papa Noel, or Pere Noel, go read about it, it's a fascinating variation on leaving out milk and cookies for Santa Claus. Anyway, I really appreciate feeling like someone, somewhere is looking out for me. Keeping me safe, and bringing me new insights I would have missed otherwise. Sometimes you can't plan, sometimes you just have to go with the luck, and hope for the best!

Hey, look at that, I see the word LUCKY. Let's see what it says!

Hmmm... I like that thought. That's how I met my first celebrity, Joe Montana. Alan and I were on our honeymoon, and we got in the car one day and said, "Let's just go with it" and boom, there he was, with  his family, picking out pumpkins at Pastorino's Pumpkin Patch in Half Moon Bay. October 23rd, 1990. It's like it was yesterday. Alan and I still count that among our favorite memories from our honeymoon! I wish I had owned a better camera back then though! LOL.

And now for the lucky numbers on the back of the fortune...

32, 29, 50, 44, 18, 10

Good Luck!

:)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Lucky Fortune (Set)
Photographed January 2nd, 2015
10:33 PM
HTC Vivid

Family Day 2013 (Postponed)

"Happiness is only real when shared."

~Jon Krakauer, Into The Wild

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you might know that October 23rd is celebrated in our house as Family Day! It's a made up holiday that Alan and I have been celebrating since our honeymoon in 1990. It came about by way of a chance encounter with a Bay Area sports hero at the time, Joe Montana. You see, Alan and I decided to visit the home of all things pumpkin, in the Bay Area, Half Moon Bay. It was there, at Pastorino's Pumpkin Patch, that we met Joe Montana and his family, as they enjoyed a "family day" out among the pumpkins! Alan and I decided on that day, that October 23rd would from then on be referred to as our Family Day. Well, we never had children, but we did keep the tradition. Family Day... our own holiday. A day to walk among pumpkins, and remember family we love.

This year Family Day is being postponed, you see, because we both have colds! I blame the evil elf of vacations! But, I am afraid, it might actually have been the twilight cruise on the bay we took last week. Cripes. I would rather blame that naughty elf, than that awesome cruise. Either way... we are both sick. So, we will postpone the fun until another day, sometime between now and November 7th!. It will come around, and it will be fun! And who knows, maybe that day will be brighter, or spookier, or stormy, or perhaps we will have a chance encounter with a new celebrity! No Kardashians though! I draw the line at Kardashians. We'll see. Sometimes with us Plan B works out better than Plan A ever could!

Always Keep Your Mind Open To The Possibilities!

Mood: Kachoo

~Me :)

Scenes From Family Day, 2009

From For Ellipsis

"Sometimes our hearts get tangled and our souls a little off kilter. Friends and family can set us right and help guide us back to the light."

-Sera Christaan

Family Day 2009...

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know about the holiday Alan and I made up... Family Day! For those of you who are relatively new to my little corner of the Internet, let me explain. Alan and I got married on October 13th, 1990. While on our honeymoon, we began to imagine what future Octobers might be like, especially if we had children. We decided that since we would more then likely be spending our anniversaries alone, we would come up with a special day between October 13th and October 31st to celebrate being a family, and thus, Family Day was born! Alas, we never had children, but we do have fur-babies, so that still counts... right?

Scenes from Family Day 2009...

From For Ellipsis

From

From For Ellipsis

From For Ellipsis

From For Ellipsis

From For Ellipsis

From For Ellipsis

As always, we spent the day in Half Moon Bay, California, and then took a ride along the coast to Santa Cruz, where we had lunch. We picked out pumpkins, we stopped at our favorite Organic Vegetable stand, The Farmer's Daughter, and bought some Brussels Sprouts, and Heirloom tomatoes, and had a very happy day together. I even bought a new teddy bear at Pastorino's Pumpkin Patch. I wait all year to buy a bear, this year it was a little white bear, and it was a steal at only $3.00! But even if I hadn't found the little bear, I spent the day holding Alan's hand, as we walked in the autumn sun. It was a good day!



-Carly

Round Robin Challenge: Not Of The Season

"To be interesting in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring."

-George Santayana

This challenge was my idea wasn't it? LOL. Immediately after I suggested it, the sun stopped shining in the Bay Area, and all those lovely spring conditions were replaced with rain, and chilly temperatures and well... winter conditions! LOL. Which isn't very surprising because, it's winter! SMILE. Oh well, I was able to find some suitable photos for the challenge in my archive, but that's fine too. So, for your viewing pleasure, are some previously unpublished photos that fit the challenge...

The first one was taken last autumn at Pastorino's Pumpkin Patch. What caught my eye was the gorgeous springlike flowers in the those lovely pastel colors, and right in the same frame was the very symbol of autumn... a jack-o-lantern. The scene just appealed to me somehow. Some of my very favorite things, coming together in one pretty little shot. Photographic bliss!

Roses In December?


I consider this rose one of my Christmas/Hanukkah presents from the last holiday season. It started to bloom early in the week, but opened completely on Christmas Eve. Roses, in December? I love my roses, but I had a terrible year with them. Between the ants and the aphids, my lovely roses ended up all but dead. I had given up, but this hardy little rose came through for me. My favorite of all the roses, it's called Green Ice. It was a nice surprise. It has encouraged me to start getting the garden into shape for this spring, beginning next month. Wish me luck!

Be sure to visit all the participating Robins for this challenge. Simply follow the links below...

Linking List ** Welcome New Members!**

Carly... Ellipsis
Posted!

Monica... Photographer's Choice
Posted!

Karen... Outpost Mavarin
Posted!

Gattina... Keyhole Pictures
Posted!

Terri... Ways I See The World
Posted!

**Gwenlyn... Greenchair
Posted!

Vicki... Maraca
Posted!

Suzanne R... SuzyQ421s Photo Blog
Posted!

Jama... Sweet Memories
Posted!

Linda... Mommy's Treasures


Marina... Milepebbles
Posted!

Jill... South Bay Soliloquy
Posted!

Julie... Julie's Web Journal
Posted!

Kathy... Through the Viewfinder
Posted!

**Chris... Camera Obscura
Posted!

-rRose... WAIT-NOTYET-MOUNTAIN RIVER WHISPERS


Annie... Pictures of Craziness


Sherrie... Sherrie's Stuff
Posted!

**Basir Seerat... Basir Seerat's Photography


Connie... Far Side Of Fifty Photos
Posted!

Wammy... The Ellis Family Cincinnati
Posted!



Remember, there is still time to play along with the challenge, but if you can't make it for this round, stop by the Round Robin blog on Sunday to find out what our next challenge will be. :)

-Carly
"Pumpkin And Flowers"
Pastorino's Pumpkin Patch
Half Moon Bay, California
October, 2008
Afternoon

Good Photo? Bad Photo?

"I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don't find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges."

-William Albert Allard, "The Photographic Essay."

I have learned something about myself when it comes to my own photography, sometimes it is a good idea for me to take a step back, before deciding whether or not I like a photo I have just taken. Take the above photo as an example. Last Wednesday, I was in Half Moon Bay, very late in the afternoon. I stopped at Pastorino's farm, to photograph the magnificent wealth of flowers they have in bloom right now. It is really spectacular, everything is in full bloom, and the variety is endless. As gorgeous as all the colorful flowers were, for some reason I found myself attracted to the white daisies. They were amazing, and with the low flowing fog, just making it onshore, and across the farm, it gave everything a ghostly appearance. Fog is a strange thing, it can flow on one side of a building, completely shrouding it, while the other side can be completely clear and sunny. Last Wednesday, it seemed to be flowing across the field as if to cover the more colorful flowers, while it made the daisies glisten. :) Magic!

There was exactly one butterfly to be found, this gorgeous, American Painted Lady, (Vanessa virginiensis). This is my favorite butterfly to photograph. It is a happy little girl, and the colors on her wings are stunning. I am fascinated by the pattern of her wings as well. It is small, only about 2 in, across. I don't know, maybe I kind of know what it's like to be the little one on the block. LOL.

Anyway, as I said, there was only one of her fluttering among the daisies, and the mist was beginning to roll in a lot heavier, so I knew I only had a few minutes to make my time with her count. I followed her from a proper distance, as to not spook her, and tried really hard to get a shot that would show her full beauty. Well, I ended up with a lot of misty photos, and some shots where she wasn't quite in focus, and then I have this one. As you can see, I got her in focus, but the mist and the flowers surrounding her distract from her a good bit. When I first began to edit my photos that day, I thought about cropping out the surroundings, but somehow it just didn't look right. I decided to put it away for a few days, and take another look this weekend.

Yesterday, I took the file out again, and for whatever reason, when I looked at it a second time, I kinda liked what I saw. I don't think it's the best I have ever done, but there is something about the photo that draws me in. I see all the mistakes, and unfortunate elements to it, and at the same time, it gives me a good feeling. I am not exactly sure why I didn't like it at first, maybe I shouldn't try to edit photos when I am that tired. Maybe I needed a few days to work through how difficult it was to get the photo, and be proud of myself for how hard I worked at it. It's difficult to pat myself on the back when I have done good. Silly. No one knows better then I do what level of effort I put into something. Right? So, for whatever reason I like this photo. I like the memory of taking it as well. It was a productive day with the camera, and a good day to let the camera process my thoughts. :)

-OndineMonet
"Misty Vanessa"
Half Moon Bay, California
July 11, 2007
Afternoon