Sunday Afternoon in the Park

Sunday I was starting to get a bit stir crazy in the apartment since we didn't go out on Saturday, so we decided it was too cold for the beach, but it would be nice to get out and do some walking. So we headed off to the Orange City Park.  It was later in the day, a bit on the cool side, and the Santa Ana winds were keeping things breezy enough that most people stayed away from the park.  I've seen this park packed to the point where the Parks Department didn't allow any more cars inside.  (This park is also one of the ones that you have to pay to enter! Gasp!!)

At the Orange City Park you can go horseback riding, visit the Orange City Zoo (been there several times), picnic, ride the train, walk on nature trails, feed the duck, ride the paddle boats on the pretty big pond, and in general just get out and commune with nature.

There are lots of wild mallards and wood ducks that have migrated to the ponds at this park. I took lots of photos of them and was trying to catch them as they flew into the area and landed on the pond.  Apparently, I needed to have a faster shutter speed because all I got were lots of photos that were pretty blurry! Need to pay attention more to what I was doing!

Mike and I walked most of the time we were there, finding a nature trail we thought would take us to the top of a very high hill that I thought would give us wonderful views... the trail didn't go that high, so I didn't get the shots that I wanted to get.  Beautiful hike though!

Along our walk thru the park, we ran across four wild peacocks strolling down the side of the road.  I got ahead of them and took some photos as they approached. Beautiful birds but pretty stupid. They walked out into the road several times causing the drivers to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting them!  Silly birds!

As we walked around the park the late fall afternoon was fast losing it's light and the park lights began to flicker on. As we neared the pony ride area, the trees all of the sudden lit up with Christmas lights! Although its a bit hard to see in these photos, the lights really were quite pretty!  By the time we made it back to our car, the park was pretty well emptied. We enjoyed the solitude of the duck pond for a few minutes, watching them glide across the still waters as they began to settle down for the night. 

 

 

Last train ride of the night.





Christmas Cards, Part II

I went looking for our Christmas cards that I had made up for the past few years. I recently posted the card we will be using this year.  I found a card from 2009, but I think I sent out all of 2010's cards.  However, I'll post the photo that we used for the 2010 card.

From 2009:  This photo was taken while Mike and I were on a "Whale Watching Tour" out of Long Beach. We were just leaving the harbor when this sailboat passed behind the boat we were on. The lighthouse marks the entrance to the harbor.

From 2010:  This photograph was taken at Huntington Beach, our favorite beach for things to do.  We were getting ready to leave the beach when I turned around to get another photograph.  When I saw the lavendar evening sky, I walked back about 20 feet to include the couple that were sitting on the beach enjoying the sunset, too.  You can see the crescent moon near the top of the photograph.

Things Are Changing

Not only is the weather changing in southern California (the "rainy season" is just getting started), but there are other changes going on as well.  I wish I was in a better position to say more, but I can't right now!  Soon though! Big changes of the good kind!

We are going to go see Michael, Melissa and Jackson over the holidays and I can't wait for Mike to meet his grandson.  Talk about a Kodak moment! Guess what I will have in my hand?!  It was with real sorrow that I had to inform my family that we wouldn't be in Tennessee for either holiday as we were changing plans here. They understood and wish us well with our changes.

Mike has been working all week for the past several weeks. There hasn't been a day this month that he hasn't had to go into work for something on the weekends.  OK, take that back... he had off last Sunday. Today he went in early and we were going to go to the beach, but the weather turned on us while he was at work and now its drizzling rain.  I think that would make for some awesome photos at the beach, but I don't want to get my camera wet either!

I've got a new thing to spend my time on now... Pinterest!  If you haven't seen it, check it out at http://www.pinterest.com/.  I've spent hours on there now and have found so many ideas on things to do; books to read; crafts to work on and many other things!

Well, going to head to Michaels for a craft fixation!  Take care!

Christmas cards

For the past couple of years, I've been having our Christmas cards made with photographs that I have taken.  This year, I couldn't decide on just one photograph, so I gathered some of my favorite photos and designed a card around them.  I liked it! Once I designed the card, Mike told me to go ahead and order them. That's why I have them so early! 

If I find my 2009 and 2010 Christmas cards, I'll post them, too.

2011 Christmas Card

Thoughts to Ponder

First, a sunflower photo that I took.  I love the cheery feeling I get in looking at it!

I read an article several months ago and I came across this list.  I was truly touched by what it said and I've tried to follow the advice it gave.  Has it helped?  Yes.  Is it as easy to do as it seemed to be? Yes.  And no. 

See what you think.  This is no way an endorsement for anything!  I don't know who this guy is, whether he has written a book or what. I just thought these were something to think about and try to implement into my life.

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

1. Be impeccable with your word:  Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2.  Don't take anything personally:  Nothing others do is because of you.  What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.  When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't make assumptions:  Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama.  With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4.  Always do your best:  Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.  Under any circumstances, simply do your best, and you will avoid self judgement, self abuse and regret.

Monkey in the Pumpkin Patch

Photography mission:  Halloween Gobins and Ghouls.  I didn't have a model to photograph... my grandson who is going to be a skeleton for Halloween lives in Texas... I'm in California.  Second best idea: call a friend of ours who has a son just 2 days younger than our grandson and they both share the same name, Jackson! Can I borrow him? Yes.  Problem solved.  We agreed to meet on Wednesday.

We went to a local pumpkin patch and Jackson was quite the inquisitive one wanting to hang onto my camera for me.  Bless his heart, he just didn't understand why I said, "No way little one"! I told him he was just too cute, but even for all that, I wasn't about to let him have my camera!  He eventually got distracted by a dog in the next field and said, "woof".  We applauded his vocalization and he joined in on the clapping!

He finally had enough with the monkey hat and tried to take it off, so we decided to call it "done" freed him of his monkey hat. Thank you, April for letting me photograph Jackson.  He certainly does help make up for missing my grandson!

Speaking of Time...

A couple of weeks ago I was looking thru an old photo album that I unearth from the bottom of my closet. I found a photo of me and Mike at my Senior Prom. Now that was quite some time ago... OK, it was back in the dark ages!  I thought with all of my teenage heart that I loved him more than anything. Oh, what I could tell myself now! After 32+ years of marriage and 3 years of dating, I love him more now than I ever thought possible.  With time and age, we've come a long way.

And Speaking of Time...

I was looking thru an old photo album a couple of weeks ago that hasn't seen the light of day in quite some time and found my Senior Prom photo. Mike took me to my Senior Prom!  So I thought, OK, here is proof of the passage of time. As much as I loved Mike back then, I really had no clue! 32+ years later, I love him even more.

Time

Time. It means different things to different people. Some times it goes by so slow, you think you're going to scream and sometimes it goes by so fast, you wonder where it went.  

I've been working back in time. By that I'm talking about the genealogy. I've been working on a "time line" for my Kelly family. The Kelly family is my father's mother family.  When I submerge into working/researching and deal with the names and dates, it becomes second nature to think about "what was it like back then"? 

I found some city directories from the town the Kelly's lived in in Massachusetts. They skipped some years in between, but from 1886 to the mid 1960's, the Kelly's were alive and well.  The city directories are fascinating in reading from one year to the next as you follow the families growth and dispersal over time.  They tell you when someone in the family "removed to another town". They tell you when someone died when the survivor is listed as the "widow of".  They tell you where your ancestors were employed and on occasion, the address of where they were employed. You can tell who is related by the number of people residing at each address. Even children that were students in High School were listed. That's a great number of years in those city directories!

                 Kelly Brothers circa late 1920's early 1930's                      

                 Kelly Bros.building in 1996

My great grandfather, John B. Kelly owned a furniture manufacturing company in this town. At one point or another, he employed more than 75% of his relatives living in that town. Not that he employed them all at once, he didn't, but over time, he did. Over time, the company went from making reed baby carriages to living room and dining room furniture. 

Over time, the family moved on. My parents moved south to Tennessee. My siblings live in Tennessee, Louisiana and California. My children live in Texas and Tennessee. 

I was in Texas when my grandson was born. I was there when he turned six months old. He has just turned a year old last month. That time was gone in the blink of an eye.  This month, in a few days actually, my oldest son will turn 29.  Now where did THAT time go?  

Time. Hold it softly, it won't be here long.

Worldwide PhotoWalk 2011

The weather was beautiful, the photographers were fun to be with and the Mission of San Juan Capistrano was absolutely gorgeous with all the flowers in bloom, the swallows flying everywhere, the hummingbirds dive bombing and the butterflies flitting inbetween the two! I tried to avoid looking for images of the Mission before I went and I'm glad I did because I was truly seeing it for the first time. A lot of history there and the place where we ate lunch is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in California. Such a neat place! All the houses were right on the gravel road (yes, gravel!) and most of them have been turned into antique shops, tea shoppes, cafes, pottery studios and the like. Very "artsy" crowd down that way.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the walk.  The last one is my favorite photo of the day- and it wasn't even taken at the Mission.  In fact, it was taken at the cafe where we were scheduled to meet after the walk was over and have lunch. I got there a bit early and went inside to get a smoothie. As I was waiting for it to be made, I walked over to the window and that was the view.



Worldwide PhotoWalk 2011

Check List

My Photowalk is tomorrow morning and I'm so excited!

Created a Flickr account (as needed for sharing our photos after tomorrow); Check.
Charged all three batteries for my camera; Check.
Formatted three 4 gig memory drives and the 8 gig memory drive so I have PLENTY of memory for photos; Check.
Cleaned the lens, lens covers and dug out my tripod out of the closet. (Not taking the tripod, but am taking the monopod); Check.
Cleaned out my camera bag; Check.
Been to the ATM for the $$ for the entrance fee for the San Juan Capistrano Mission and lunch after the walk; Check.
Gassed up the car; Check.
Took the car in for it's recommended oil change today; Check.
Went to grocery store and got some bottled water and graham crackers for snacks; Check.
Printed off the directions on how to get there... even if it is straight down the I-5 and follow the Mission signs in San Juan Capristrano; Check.
Phone number for the group leader; Check.
Dug my hiking boots out of the closet; Check.

Located my "Photography Hat"; Check.

This is me last year at the Temecula PhotoWalk!

I think I'm ready!

Excitement!!

The Genealogy Bug Bit Again!

I've been doing genealogy on and off since the early 90's during the infancy of the internet and the "hay day" of the genealogy boom. I met many, many cousins (both "near & dear" to "the further up the tree, the better")! Thru emails, letters, forums newsletters and everything in between, my database swelled to 9000 souls in just a matter of 24 months. I was hooked and adding ancestors became one of my favorite things to do. I was online for hours at a time, answering emails, reading forums, answering questions on those forums. I had bookmarks for as many as 43 family surnames that I would routinely read and reply to! Brick walls I would run up against would crumble and fall when I set it on the back burner and moved on to another family to spend more time researching. With so many surnames, it was easy to keep moving on to another one!

So after many years of that... I had to move on to something else. I HAD to take a break! (Photography... have I mentioned anywhere that I love photography?)

Then last month I was trying to find something on Mike's mother's family. Holy moly... the genealogy bug bit again! I've been spending hours researching this branch of the family that I really didn't get to as much for one reason or another, but now I'm spending time with these families and putting together the missing pieces. I am amazed (all over again) at how many times these various families interacted with other families I've been researching. Several of these families left North Carolina together and settled very close to each other in middle Tennessee. Mike's grandparents are found on the 1930 census (at ages 18 & 14) living a farm away from each other only to be married 2 years later.

My database now has over 10,000 related souls (my side and Mike's side of the families) spanning from the very early 1600's thru the present. Amazing how they all connect! Below is the oldest photo I have and then the newest!

PhotoWalk 2011

I participated in Scott Kelby's Worldwide PhotoWalk in 2009, 2010 and now this year. The first year I participated, I went to Old Town Orange. Part of Forrest Gump was filmed there. It is a pretty part of the town of Orange, obviously the "old part"! It was great fun walking around and taking photos of whatever happened to catch my eye. This particular PhotoWalk took place two days after I got back from a week of driving from Tennessee to California with Mike's aunt and a friend of hers. We had the best time stopping at various places and spending time there. The best stop was the Grand Canyon. Still at a loss for words on that one!

To learn more on the PhotoWalks, go here: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/.

Here are some photos from the "Old Town Orange" shoot from 2009.

The second PhotoWalk I participated in, I drove down to Temecula from Corona, a distance of about 35 miles or so. The old part of Temecula was where we went and it was a fascinating mixture of "wild west" to "fortune tellers".

Here are some of the photos from the Temecula PhotoWalk in 2010.