Turquoise

It was windy, mostly cloudy but warm the day I took this photo on a spot along the Mayan Riviera south of Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Green Abstraction

I was walking along a trail that ran parallel to an unoccupied stretch of beach south of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, when I saw some kind of tropical shrub that was loaded with green pods. Like many things that strike me in nature, I like the symmetry in these seed pods. I wish I knew what kind of plant this is . . . .

01-01-11 Sunrise

This photo is a result of being in the right place at the right time - with the right lens, which was a 17-40 mm wide angle lens. The beach is along the so-called Maya Riviera south of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Seing the sunrise along this stretch of beach is a bit rare since there always seem to be clouds along the horizon. But on this day, the sun showed its face for about 5 minutes and so I get the great play of light along the sand.

The Bird Man And the Child

I was with a group of students in the Montmartre district in Paris and as we were walking down the steps of the Sacre Couer Basilica, I looked down and saw this man and this apparently mesmerized child. This isn't the only photo of a child marveling over birds. What is it about birds that is so fascinating to children?

Beans

These aren't just any beans. They're Kona coffee beans, ripening on the branch in one of many small coffee farms south of Kona on the Big Island. There are two places on earth that produce highly sought after coffee: Kona and Costa Rica but I can't tell you what makes these coffees so special.The day we visited this coffee farm, they were roasting and the smell of coffee wafted over the property. The young man working at the little concessions kiosk at this farm said that on the days they roasted, the smoke gave him a pretty good caffeine buzz. Kona coffee is expensive but the smoke is free.

The Wittenberg Wiener Man

I'd like to think that if I went back to Wittenberg, Germany (where Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses), I could get a better photo of the Wiener Man. Like the girl I posted a few days ago, he looks a bit suspicious. A better shot would have people waiting in line for the wurst he was selling (which I think is the best wurst in Wittenberg!). The Wiener Man would be oblvious to me and I would have a great action shot.For what it's worth, there are very few photos I've taken and posted here that I wouldn't want to take over again so that I could improve them. How do other artists deal with their old art which could be made better as their skills improve?

10-12-10 The Most Famous Warehouse?

I just finished reading a new book entitled The Kennedy Detail, which gives the accounts of the Secret Service agents whose job it was to protect John and Jacque Kennedy the day they went to Dallas in 1963. Until this book, these men had remained silent about their experience. It is a book worth reading.This is a shot of the famous "Texas Book Depository," which is now a historic landmark and a museum. If you look to the farthest window on the top floor, you can see where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that killed JFK and stunned the world. In the middle left of this photo is the so-called "grassy knoll." From which some conspiracy theorists say a second gunman fired shots.I was in the third grade when Kennedy was killed and I didn't really understand the significance of this event. Now, after more than 50 years, I can see that it was an event that changed the psyche of our nation, just as 9/11 has seemed to.I must admit that I don't think I have figured out the true meaning and significance of this event. Interestingly, the "truther" conspiracy movement has already fogged what some think is "true" about 9/11. Will it take us 50 years to understand the impact of this event?Incidentally, I have posted another somewhat similar photo of the Texas Book Depository. But today's photo gives you a broader view. I hope you don't mind.

The Orange Temple

This is a detail of one of the many photogenic buildings on the grounds of the royal palace complex in Kyoto, Japan. Like many of the places I've visited on our travels, I want to go back to this city for more photographs. When? I have no idea. . . .

Blue Abstraction

These are lounge chairs built into a swimming pool at a resort somewhere south of Cancun, Mexico. This was another abandoned photo that was re-discovered in a search for something to post to this blog. Good picture? I don't know. . . . Nice place to sip tropical punch on a warm, sunny December day? Oh, yes. . . .

What's In A Lei?

The answer to the question posed in the title is "plumeria." Plumeria are the fragrant flowers that grow on trees - but not in South Dakota. :-(These plumeria were growing in Hawaii. I was reading that in some Pacific cultures the plumeria is associated with vampires and in others the trees are said to provide shelters to ghosts. Ghosts and vampires must smell good in these places because the fragrance of these flowers is strong and pleasant.

Walls of Glass

The most famous Gothic cathedral in Paris is the Notre Dame de Paris. But I think St. Chapelle is the most beautiful, primarily because there is so little stone and so much glass in the walls.When I walked into this structure the first time, I stood for several moments in amazement. This structure was built in the 13th century. If I'm amazed, imagine how someone from the 1300s would have felt when walking into this sacred place the first time.

What If God Was One of Us?

Joan Osbourne's song "One of Us" asks an interesting question:"What if God was one of usJust a slob like one of usJust a stranger on the busTrying to make his way home?"Neither of the men in this picture is God (I don't think). And we aren't on a bus, either. We're somewhere under Paris riding the Metro. The gentleman on the left is my friend Billy, The Lutheran Minister. So I guess he's close to God. At least that's what he tells me.The man on the right was wide awake and lucid until Billy started talking to him about the marvels of Lutheran theology (or some such subject) and you can see the effect this had . . . Can you say "soporific?"But I do love my friend Billy.