Month: August 2016

I guess you could say zoodling is a kind of doodling.  That’s sort of what I did to this photograph…I doodled around with it because it didn’t turn out exactly as I envisioned.  And, the subject is “zoodles” so I guess zoodling fits.  Let me explain.   Zoodles are zucchini noodles, something Paleo enthusiasts substitute for real noodles.

I may have gone around the bend a little with this Paleo thing.  I’m trying to follow the plan, at least until I lose the weight I want to lose.  I have managed to drop 9 pounds in 6 weeks (11 more to go) so I’m happy about that, and I’m really enjoying the food, and I think that it will be easier to eat a Paleo diet on the road than a low-fat, weight watcher sort of diet.  But, I’m still wondering when the cavemen started making ham and bacon and making smoothies. 😉 Not that I’m complaining…the bacon is what hooked me on this program to begin with and it’s been painless to give up dairy and grains, something that has really surprised me.  I have stretched the limits a little by having an espresso every morning but I buy my espresso beans from a responsible roaster (Vaneli’s) and have cut way back on my consumption of Zinfandel which has also probably also helped contribute to the weight loss.

But, I digress.  Zoodles.  Along with spaghetti squash which purports to substitute for spaghetti made with semolina (not really but I actually enjoy it), zoodles, zucchini in spiralized form, are also a sort of trompe l’oeil  (or should I say trompe l’estomac?).  I decided to try out my new spiralizer for a Paleo meal of zoodles with roasted red pepper sauce and meat balls.  When I looked at the pile of zoodles, I thought there might be a photo op but the shots I took just didn’t do anything for me until I edited this in Topaz Glow, using one of the liquid filters.  It bears little resemblance to the original but I think it makes an interesting abstract.

My nephew, Michael, an astronomy enthusiast, annotated the photograph of the Milky Way I took on June 8 at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.  He  previously annotated a Milky Way photograph on this blog (click here) which I took the same morning, but this one, apparently, had more detail.    The legend at the bottom, “with circles and arrows and a paragraph … explaining what each one was” (sorry, I couldn’t resist, and my apologies to Arlo Guthrie) refers to the reference numbers added to and notated on the photograph.

The male Anna’s hummer let me get fairly close while he perched on a branch near the fountain after he’d chased away a little flock of bushtits. I was hand holding the D5 with the 300 and the 1.4x teleconverter, but no flash.  It always fascinates me that the light has such a profound effect on the colors of a hummingbird’s gorget.  As he turned his head, the feathers reflected the indirect morning light revealing colors ranging from crimson to black.  From some angles, and because I didn’t use  a flash, it looks as if he has no bright colors at all.

For this post, I tried something new to me in WordPress:  a slideshow.

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My friend Cindy hosted a girls’ night out at her home a couple of nights ago.  She has an impeccable entertainment style which she seems to achieve effortlessly.  We were greeted with an irresistible array of meats and cheeses to tease our palates, a charcuterie worthy of the finest Paris bistro .

During my brief, 5 hour visit to Yosemite in June, I did get a few shots of iconic views in the park.  This is Yosemite Falls, thundering down the mountain at the peak of its flow.  As I write, the Yosemite Falls web cam shows that it is now a mere trickle.

I probably shouldn’t be writing anything, after consuming most of a bottle of wine, but since it’s a milestone birthday for me I guess I can do what I want.  I’m having wild caught, fresh Coho salmon and asparagus for dinner with cantaloupe and watermelon with mint for dessert for my birthday dinner.  I took this before I began to consume the wine, while I waited for the grill to heat up.

I can’t turn back the clock, so I think my only choice is to embrace it.  Turning seventy years of age, that is.  Seventy kind of snuck up on me, but, I don’t feel like I’m that old.  I don’t act like I’m that old.  And, I certainly don’t look anything like the blue-haired “print dress and prune juice” crowd that we used to mock when I was a very young waitress at a resort in Wyoming’s  Grand Tetons fifty years ago.   Times have certainly changed and with it, attitudes and perceptions about aging.  The Baby Boomers are starting to turn 70.  The Baby Boom began, statistically-speaking, in 1946, so I am one of the leading edge Boomers. I am happy that we have never accepted what was once the norm for past generations and despite our chronological age,   we remain active and engaged in the world around us, with open minds, vastly improved health,  and longer life spans than any previous generation.  In my case, I am healthy, active, enjoying life, and always searching for another adventure.  I have lots of friends who keep me young, laughter is an integral part of my life, and I have a passion for photography that keeps me inspired, always on the move,  and on a continual quest to take better photographs.   Hell, seventy might just have a little trouble keeping up with me.

The leaves on the valley oak bonsai that my mother planted from an acorn in a small pot more than 40 years ago, glow for a few brief moments midmorning as the sun rises and lights them from behind.  They form an X but I’m not sure what spot they’re marking.