 |
| The Wilkes Street Tunnel, originally build for trains to and from the water front. |
 |
| I loved the colors in these. |
 |
| About a mile from Home on Washington Street |
 |
| The Panda Agrees |
 |
| It snowed, and melted off all in the same afternoon, it was 84 two days before. |
 |
| First Blooms of the Season |
 |
| Along the back fence |
 |
| Huntley Meadows |
 |
| Dyke Marsh, looking north to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, we live directly west of this, on the second ridge. |
What did I part with? One lens I had two of, I sold the less desirable of the two, the other two were for a camera system I no longer use. One of them has a great story, I bought it in a moment of desperation in Paris, to replace the only lens I have ever broken. I dropped a lens on a stone floor in the Louvre. Before breakfast the next morning I went to a camera store across from the hotel, and he miraculously he had a lens that would work, a slightly better lens than the one I broke. I was shocked to find one that would work. The other lens I sold was given to me, and I never used it. It didn't sync with the cameras I currently use. The camera I sold was a nice quality Nikon compact, that neither of us use any longer. Our phones take better photos and are easier to use. I took it out last week and used it for a couple of hours, came home and thought, I will never use that again.
The equipment didn't sell for much, $104 total. Not really worth the drive and the time. So why did I sell it? It was sitting in a drawer, useable, but unused by me. Loved, but not being enjoyed. Someone will use it, two of the lenses are for film cameras that have become popular again. Selling them to someone who will sell them on, was passing them onto the next user. I hope that they are enjoyed, loved, and create stories for the next user. Maybe someone will drop a lens on a stone floor and desperately need a replacement, and KEH will suddenly have two in stock.
There were a few items that I didn't sell. A film camera body, that was in the wrong color, and has little demand - no offer.
Another no sale was a nice digital that is just one generation too old, the offer was less than $5 with a recommendation to "find someone who will use it, and give it to them." I will. This triggered a story, a confession. A couple of years ago I gave away a 16mm Bolex movie camera, a really good one with three lenses. I had owned for 40+ years and never used it. I bought it from the original owner in the early 1980s. I traded emails with someone who was borrowing cameras like this to make movies the old fashioned way on film. He didn't own one, they are hard to find and expensive when you do. I sent it to him as a gift to the next generation.
What do we have in our lives that we don't use, that someone else might love and enjoy. These are opportunities to make difference in someone's life. Remember in the end, you can't take it with you.
2: How often do you go grocery shopping?
3: How do you get to the store and back?
4: Could you shop without driving a car?
5: If you could have one store within easy walking distance, what would it be?
My answers:
1: How far away is your nearest grocery store? There is a latin specialty market about half-a-mile away, for a general supermarket about 2 miles as the streets wind around.
2: How often do you go grocery shopping? About once a week, I would like to buy less and go more often.
3: How do you get to the store and back? We drive, though the condo does provide bus service a couple of days a week.
4: Could you shop without driving a car? Limited shopping yes, there are three stores that are options, two of them are near metro stations.
5: If you could have one store within easy walking distance, what would it be? I know they are expensive, but Whole Foods, if they would build a store in place of the falling down parking garage at the metro station life would be easy.
Please share your answers in the comments.
Our challenge is to create and share, to create a legacy, that will trigger memories long after our time. Most of us hide away our creations, afraid that our work is not worthy, not good enough. Your work is precious, it is your legacy. Legacy is not about the riches you leave behind, it is about how you are remembered, how you want to be remembered. To be remembered for your creative endeavours, create and share your work. Create work that has meaning for others, for others to have and to hold onto. I have crochet throw my maternal grandmother made for me, in colors I selected. I have another my one and only Aunt made for my great grandmother. These are tangible connections from those two members of my family, to me today. They are the legacy of those two loved one's.
It was in the summer of 1985 or 1986. I was working for now long gone Laurel Homes* in Orlando Florida. We were opening a new community called Arbor Woods North out near the University of Central Florida. In a rare step for that company, at that time, we hired an interior designer to decorate and furnish a model home. It was a 2-bedroom, 2 bath, about 1,000 square feet (a little less than 100 sq. meters.) Our target was young, recent graduates, first time home buyers. And we hit the market right, we sold half of the community in just a couple of months.
The designer came up with the idea of doing the model to attract female buyers. The color scheme was light and bright, with celery green paint, and pink carpet. The pink carpet was a bold choice, but it worked. It felt very comfortable for single women, and very old Florida. The designer reasoned that if young single men, thought young single women were buying there, they would also. (That part didn't work, there were very few women buyers, and those that did buy were not interested in men.)
The living room in the model had a light tropical print sofa, and glass topped tables. On the tables at each end of the sofa, was a lamp, that combined a coil of brass as a base, perched on that was a pale green grecian amphora, topped with a shade. The young designer was finishing up the installation and she asked me what I thought.
Then for some reason she asked specifically about the lamps. I honestly answered that the lamps looked much better turned on, than they did turned off.
That triggered a breakdown, tears and shaking. She kept repeating, "I knew no one would understand what I was doing, I knew everyone would hate it!" I didn't hate it, in fact I it worked as a model showing what could be done with a relatively small space.** I swear I meant no harm. And the lamps stayed for the duration of the project. ***
*The company was named after the founder's favorite cow.
** One exception, the glass topped table in the tiny kitchen was to large, I begged them to put in a drop leaf table, and was told "I didn't understand design."
*** I was onsite as we were setting up and moving in. The desk for my office arrived, and wouldn't fit in through the door. We lifted it in through the window. I was not there when it came time to move out of that office, the guy couldn't figure out how to get it out, and took a power saw and cut it in half. The next day he asked me how did you get the desk in there? Sometimes you really should ask the person who helped put it there.
 |
| Photo From https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122233334282262582&set=pcb.122233334540262582 There is generally a special pleasure in seeing photos of places I have been, and I have traveled a lot in north America and Europe, so it happens often. There are places we have traveled to, to see things that we have seen and read about on blogs. Inspired by Angus we spent a few hours in St. Andrews last spring and I am often thrilled to see his photos of places we visited, and wishing he would post a travel guide so we could have found a few places he frequents that we didn't stumble across (there is a great bookstore there - someplace.) Glasgow was not on the original agenda for our visit to Scotland last May, it was added when I found a good price on really nice airline seats from there to fly home. We were so glad we added Glasgow, we really enjoyed the city and the people. It is post industrial city with amazing architecture. We arrived in Glasgow by train from Edinburgh, the train station is a masterpiece. We were so enchanted by the area around the station, that we walked back there one day to explore.  |
Where have I been this week? The gym, the pool, Whole Foods, the Farmers Market, Mt Vernon, Old Town for a walk, Harris Teeter (local supermarket.)
What have I been up to in the kitchen? Fried Shrimp, coccus, and salad. Pork Tenderloin, and focaccia. Butter fried chicken, cauliflower au gratin, and cornbread. Beef and Guinness pies.
What made me smile this week? I was in my local independent bookstore on Saturday afternoon, and it was packed with people browsing and buying books. It is nice to see people reading, and especially nice to see them doing business with a local merchant.
Who have I talked with this week? Ruth, Lynn, Amy, Michelle, my sweet bear, Marcel, Warren, David, Linda, Paul, and Tom.
What random thought came from a comment this week? I posted last week about Huntley Meadows. Two things notable about the place. It was a military test zone for decades. It was converted to a wildlife preserve about 40 years ago, it is amazing how nature heals. Beavers. For several years there was a shallow pond with trees around the banks. The Beavers were taking the bark off of the trees, so the rangers ringed the trees with fences. The Beavers responded by by removing the dam and draining the shallow pond.
