Expended Energy

Go to the gym.
That’s the encouragement
¿Making us better?

Life is full of advice. Eat this, don’t eat that. We are told what to do, what to think.
My advice, expend energy to make things and make things better.
Bulked up people are attractive maybe. Muscle that is created to look at is useless.
Hands that grow food, lift up a needy person, build a bird house, feed a child, have purpose beyond a self-aggrandizing role.
Being fit is important. There are many ways to get there that has more to do with creating and building up outside of ourselves.

The latest moral emergency(s) reminds us that for as far as we have come, we have much further to go.
I am numb from it all and believe nothing to be absolute. Propaganda is not unique, it is typical for all countries.
Since the advent of television, conflicts have been brought into our homes for dinner-time viewing. It creates wealth when we watch. So, I don’t. We will not see all conflicts. Many of them have been going on for some time, but lack of interest does not make it “worth” reporting.
Yes, there are still tyrants in power that will wield that power at the expense of human lives.
Yes, the victims need help. We should be concerned. We should care and help.
As per usual, many of us end up feeling helpless. No matter what we can do, it will affect very little.
That insufficiency is constant, and frustrates those of us who live in peace.

Sometimes the best we can do is grow food, lift up a needy person, build a bird house, feed a child, have purpose beyond a self-aggrandizing role.

Image; Composite of (2) Multiple Exposure Photographs “Conflict2” –
https://bluemarblephotography.smugmug.com/Composites/Birdscapes/i-rfX57Tr/A

The Challenge

We look for them
Everywhere we walk
Everywhere we look
So strong is their pull
The ancients made them goddesses
Controlling our thoughts
Our actions
Not our own

One morning
Waking to the debris
Of imagination
Efforts of epic strength
Strewn about
Like butterflies
Or hummingbirds
Here and gone

NO MORE!
No more of this
Worthless endeavor.
A new morning dawns
And we step
Into that path
Of imagination
Hypnotized
Once again



RECENT WORK

Suspicious Goings-On

Ever feel like you’re the person standing still in a hyper fast video?
Everyone and everything around you has accelerated to unsustainable speeds. Nobody stops to just breathe and “be” in the moment. It’s all a blur.
Projection, that’s me.
It’s tax season.
We are looking to sell our home and move to a more rural community.
“Retirement” is just ahead and our whole world will change.
Or will it?
All of these whirlwinds are blowing from all directions. I am resolved to know that our lives will be upended for the next year (at least). It was so much easier to sustain the surprises and setbacks when I was in my thirties. Although, now that I think about it, maybe not.
Not too many things surprise me any more. As always, things will happen, and get done, in due time.
All things in due time.

Keep a sharp lookout for the good things to come.
Oh yeah, and happy new year. (Just a little behind)

Be on the lookout!

Found some enchanting light on the San Diego River, Mission Trails. Black Phoebe feeding among the gnats and midges.

Hidden Revelation

There are things
Hidden from our sight
Too afraid to be seen

Yet must be uncovered
To reveal the truths
Of our wonderful world

Cover photo is a simple static image on the trail. They were caught between the broken bridge and me. I moved out of the way and watched them bound away.

These 2021 4th quarter photographs complete the circle started the previous fall. The bulk of favorites being in-camera multiple exposures.

A simple reflection
Multiple exposures – one frame.
Yes, I do love the moon.
Multiple exposures. This murmuration drifted into the tower and at first I thought it ruined the composition. It’s grown on me.
Multiple exposures. Blur the light behind a mountain, set a long exposure and drag down to emulate the aurora borealis.

2022 is a transformative year for me. I will be putting things in place for retirement from the corporate world for early 2023. Yesterday I was out and about with one of my LensBaby optics. They can be challenging, just what I’m looking for.