May, 2012

20 May

The angels sigh…

By Silver Blue

…the little girl cried…

The tears run rings around my eyes.

There’s something about angels that make for good photos. Well, most of the time:

(This was back when I used to decorate the mantle at Christmastide.)

This was from filter manipulation. I have numerous filters that I never use. Perhaps I should look into doing more work with them.

Someone be a dear:

Go help that angel out. She seems to be stuck in a rose bush.

Here’s the mantle as it was decked out in 2004:

Finally:

My Angel Bear. She’s a tree topper, but tends to live her life without that discomfort these days. LOL.

(That’s Icee Bear and Snowflake Bear beside Angel Bear).

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/ma-trr.mp3]

Silver Blue, who sometimes feels like an angel flying too close to the ground.

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19 May

Signs of times gone by.

By Silver Blue

The Big Bad Wolf.

My second-most all-time favourite rollercoaster in the world. (The most favourite? “Gemini” at Cedar Point, Upper Sandusky, Ohio).

Howl I miss this coaster. Oh, sorry for the misplaced pun. šŸ™‚ I’ve heard differing stories as to why Busch Gardens, Williamsburg removed the Wolf. Ridership was down. (Huh?) The ride had reached the end of its serviceable life. (Possibly, but Nessie is older and still running). The ride was one of three remaining in the US of its type (where you were suspended UNDER the tracks entirely enclosed in the car), and the company who made it (and produced maintenance parts) went out of business, therefore they couldn’t keep it running. (Probably.)

It’s taken then a few years, but the new coaster, Verbolten (also a trek through the Black Forest) opened on May 18. Haven’t ventured yet. Will do so, though, on my next trip to the Gardens.

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/dd-hltw.mp3]

Silver Blue, who does enjoy a good thrill ride every now and then. šŸ™‚

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18 May

Knock Knock!

By Silver Blue

Sorry, Gnome-one’s home!

Came upon this tree in February. I thought it looked like there was once a Gnome door here, but they went south for the winter and boarded it over. Maybe they were tired of being harassed by myriad squirrel.Ā  Regardless, it made me smile to think about, and still does. It’s a neat tree.

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/jw-sb.mp3]

Silver Blue… who is looking forward to his birthday on Monday!

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17 May

If you need a quarter…

By Silver Blue

….perhaps you shouldn’t be shopping at the Dollar Tree.

I mean, it’s not like it’sĀ  a pay toilet. (Who remembers those?)

Silver Blue …. with nothing more to say. (Hopefully this will post. I’ve got it on a “future post”.)

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16 May

Milking it.

By Silver Blue

Years and years (and years) ago, when I was growing up, my Grandmother bought an old milk can. It was restored by mom and her sisters. Sanded down, repainted black, and an applique decal from Root’s Lumber applied:

From that point forward, it always sat near the doorway between my Grandmother’s living room and the “middle” room (formerly a dining room). It was still sitting there when she passed in 2008.

Strange how some things just seems to have been around forever. Sort of like a pair of teacups that had been on a shelf in her kitchen for as long as I can remember:

They’d hold her rings when she’d do the dishes… and sometimes, they’d hold change or her watch.

The restaurant is long gone, and I’ll have to question my parents about the significance of it, as I’m sure there was one.

Silver Blue, over and… out.

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15 May

No laying down on the job!

By Silver Blue

Look, I know you’re tired. *I* am tired. But that’s no excuse. Look at you:

This is an amusement park. NOT the ruins of Rome.

Oh wait. It WAS over by the “Escape form Pompeii”. Maybe there’s something to be said about this.

(In an interesting side note, this was taken in March 2011. By the end of the season 2011, and in 2012, the statue is back on its pedestal.)

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/rome.mp3]

Silver Blue, who’s feeling rundown, much like that statue. It’s going to be an early night. TTFN.

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14 May

Fountain of…

By Silver Blue

….well, not youth. I was doing a function far, far too early one morning in Newport News City Center when the opportunity to capture the fountain on the square presented itself.

Something about the play of clouds, the rising sun, and the … feeling of “spring” in the air made me decide that this was the one shot that captured it all. (It doesn’t hurt that I know the credit union on the right, either. LOL)

One of these days I’m going to have to go back up and capture some shots at sunset. Of course,Ā  Mother Nature would have to cooperate, something she’s not wanting to do here recently.

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/sb-tse1.mp3]

Silver Blue, who has always had an affinity for water…the second element.

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13 May

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

By Silver Blue

Today, I honour my mother. Mama Silver Blue. šŸ™‚

Us, in 1972, Charleston, SC. I still have that candy dish that’s on the site table… beside the family bible.

Winter of 1973. Why mom’s wearing dish gloves is beyond me. Or how we managed to keep Tiny, our chihuahua on that straw hat…. The pipe was one of Dad’s… a real corncob pipe!

June 1987. Graduation from High School. Oh, how I’d love to write a letter to myself back then. The mistakes I’ve made; the successes I’ve had…

A few months later, at the installation of Christopher Newport College’s (then) new President Santro.Ā  I loved mom in this outfit, which is why she wore it to both events.

Going out for crab legs at (the now closed) Captain George’s Seafood Restaurant in Hampton, VA in 2008.

Finally, the only real professional photo we’ve ever had taken together….

November 2011.

[audio:https://www.eyesofsilverblue.com/wad.mp3]

Silver Blue, who is blessed to have the mother that I do.

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12 May

Pushing fluids.

By Silver Blue

Have a nasty, non-productive cough. Myriad bizarre nightmarish dreams overnight. Ergo, rest, and lots of fluids have been the order of the day.

So, drink up, and rest. Yes. I think I shall. Have to be on my game tomorrow because Dad and I are taking mom for crab legs at Capt. George’s for Mother’s Day. That will make her happy! (Yes, she already knows of the plan.)

Silver Blue… who has decided that Ginger Peach tea with orange blossom honey is something that is HIGHLY underrated.

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11 May

Correcting a mistake.

By Silver Blue

You can tell I’m an amateur. I was photographing an event indoors in bad lighting on Wednesday night. Today, I went out shooting in broad daylight.

Ahem. I forgot to reset the ISO on my camera, ergo, I shot everything, in bright daylight, AT 6400 ISO. Now, if you don’t know what that does, allow me to demonstrate:

Severely overexposed. Basically useless. Thank the stars I was shooting in dual mode: RAW + JPG. Using RAW, I was able to recapture some of the detail and using a saturation on the sky, I was able to come up with this:

Not perfect my any stretch of the imagination. Fortunately, this church is local (New Mount Olive Church in Hampton), so I’ll be able to get by later this summer and take some CORRECT photos of it. Sigh.

Maybe I should have just stayed in bed this morning.

Silver Blue, signing out.

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