BEST TO ALL IN 2015

WINTER SOLSTICE SPIRIT

Credit: knowth.com

The following YouTube video was produced by tubelookjohn. The video was shot at the prehistoric New Grange structure is Ireland. His accompanying beautiful music captures the sense of spirit and mystery of our Winter Solstice.

EGGS IN A GLASS JAR

Photography became a real interest to to me when I began blogging in 2008. I started with a point and shoot camera that my eastern daughter gave me for Christmas. From that little camera I became hooked on photography. I started devouring books on photography and watching online photography videos. This eventually led me to buying a new Rebel T3i camera that required me to practice  the tricks of using it. Then my son gave me a Nikkon Coolpix that is smaller than my Rebel but is great when it comes to capturing subjects -- good for on the go use. 

Anything goes when I am shooting. As an example, I took the above photo of farm eggs a few days ago. My son had put the above eggs in Kerr canning jars as they took up little space on the fridge shelf. When I saw them sitting in the fridge I brought them out to a window ledge where they reflected the sunlight. To me they looked rather funky in the jars. I snapped their photos about 20 times before I got the one and only that I liked.

I have found that photography is about your eye and your feelings as well as the mechanics of using your camera. I don't pretend that I will ever be a famous photographer Why would I do that --  when I am having so much fun just playing with my cameras.

TRANQUILITY -- UNTIL. . . .

I spent my weekend reading, writing and (and no not arithmetic) cleaning up my blog a bit. I read many blogs that were new to me and many that I have followed for some times. Such pleasure I receive when I take the time to read blogs that cover many topics and are from many parts of the world. Hurrah for the internet -- it enables us to discover the rest of the world as well as our own. I discovered subjects that are important (at least to me) that I don't find being addressed by news services such as MSNBC and CNN to name a few.

Tranquility was the tone of my day.

Until I decided to read the major news sites.

I found some disturbing news to me personally. It  was that American worker's pensions are under attack by Congress. They want pensions to be reduced. There is a law in place that pensions cannot be touched by law yet Congress apparently has found a way around it hoping that U.S. citizens will not notice it until they get a notice in the mail saying -- sorry we just can't have you receiving the money that you paid into your pension plan. 

I know this will mean reductions for over a million folks especially older ones that worked and paid into retirement plans for many years, feeling secure it would be there at the end of their employment.

I feel there is a Congressional dark side to this whole reduction fiasco. Click here to read how this all came about also, how it will be carried out. 

WEEKEND THOUGHTS

Guernica

Pablo Picasso --  Spain, 1881
(Credit: Museum of Modern Art)

As I sit here this morning, many thoughts run through my mind about our nation's plight over recent current events in our nation. I turned to arts and literature to emphasize what we are up against today in the U.S. The painting above by Pablo Picasso was painted in Spain, it is rather generic -- it was his plea against barbarity. 

And in literature I found this:

Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is... we cannot expect things to be much better in this world... We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in killing we set back the progress of humanity. ~~ Rachel Carson (credit: Hay Quaker)