The Daily - October 2-4, 2023 - The Stop Over in NC

I'm taking my first leg of travel to London. First stop, Charlotte NC.

 

 
10/2/23 - Monday

 
Managed a 20 minute bike class, had coffee with Louie on my lap before wrapping up my packing and leaving for the airport. Jill did me a big favor and dropped me off. We talked a little bit about Janice and Joe - Joe is definitely getting better and hopefully able to leave the house soon. His girlfriend Jenna is staying with the family and Janice is adjusting. The cats are adjusting to their little kitten too! Flight to ORD was uneventful - here is the approach into the airport:

 

 
My flight to CLT was packed and I was seated next to a very large man but it was all ok. Teresa picked me up.

 

 
10/3/23 - Tuesday

 
Swam at the local recreational center - they have 8 lap lanes. Did 30 laps at a decent pace. Enjoyed today’s coffee outside on the garden bench by the koi pond and that was nice. The weather here is cool in the morning, a bit warm in the afternoon (80’s) then cool again as soon as the sun sets.

 

 
Went to visit mom and dad from 10 - 4:30. I took dad on a walk. He’s very slow but still able to shuffle up a decent incline on the walking trail. I retrieved their lunch and we enjoyed time together. Watched the season finale of only murders in the building with Teresa.

 

 
10/4/23 - Wednesday

 
I guess I didn’t sleep that well because I was wide awake at 5am (4am back home). I did a 45 minute strength class followed by a 20 slow flow yoga class outside that nearly killed me in my upper body. Did a final load of laundry. Picked up mom at 4pm and we left shortly afterwards for the airport. We had access to the American lounge which was nice.

 

 
Boarded the flight around 7:40 - mom’s first time in business class. The flight left on time for Heathrow. I ended up eating the meal (I chose the sea bass) because i just can’t pass it up! I realize how lucky I am to be able to fly business class. It’s really an alternate universe up here, buffered from coach.

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The Daily - September 12, 2023 - Tuesday - 31 years

It is Scott and my 31 year wedding anniversary. We celebrated with a nice meal from Texas Roadhouse, enjoyed at home. We also took a walk on a perfect late afternoon. It’s these simple things that fill me with joy and contentment.

 

 

 
I also did strength training and yoga this morning. Prior to yoga I stopped by Janice’s house to look in on her cats to find Mike there and he provided me information on Joe and that situation. As I had hypothesized, the incident happened while the processing unit was being taken out of service for a maintenance outage. These transitional conditions have a higher potential for abnormal conditions. Most safety measures and mitigations focus heavily on steady state - when the unit is operating.

 

 
I had my Global entry interview and received approval into the program.

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Ties That Bind - What Defines Family?

I had been consistently taking photos and blogging, then mid June hit and I lost momentum. I'm not sure what to blame - our area started to open up, we started going back into the office so I got busy with other things. Then I had to travel for work to a location in Kentucky, about 4 hours away by car. I stayed in Kentucky for over a week and will drive back sometime this week or next.

Regardless of that, today I'm sharing photos taken at the end of May - the "family" of Senior Addison. Why the Quotes? Several years ago, the KO family formed by combining two family units. Two sets of parents, two sets of offspring and two sets of dogs. The two families were great friends so they decided to buy a house together and join their distinct clans together. They called it their "great social experiment". The union dissolved due to new job opportunities outside the area. The KO family asked me to take photos of their clan before they parted ways. I love the challenge of new things - this large group with their dogs certainly lived up to that challenge!

For the group shots I ended up learning how to "head swap" for an optimal group shot. I only had to do this two times (thank goodness).

Family "O"

Family "K"

The Adults still get along even after living together for 3+ years.

And to earmark this unique time - pandemic masks.

Family - certainly not defined by blood, but by love, respect and friendship.

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2009 to 2019 Retrospective

Here we are, on the cusp of not just another year but a new decade. There seems to be a lot of retrospection going on amidst social media to commemorate this transition. I don't recall the same amount of scrutiny ten years ago when we fell into the "Twenty-Tens". And perusing my blog archives, there is no hoop-la surrounding this date ten years ago.

But I do notice some trends.

In 2009, I purchased my first iPhone, the iPhone 3G. I started taking more photos with that iPhone. Instagram didn't exist (I looked it up - initially released in October 2010 - I posted my first Instagram photo on December 30, 2010). I'm not sure when the Facebook iPhone App was released (can't find a definitive answer on the web). Since 2009, the explosion and usage of mobile phones (and the mobile phone camera) drove an influx of social media and photo sharing apps. People (myself included) document their daily lives via the camera on their mobile phone. And so rises the interest in seeing what we looked like in 2009 compared to 2019. And having digital photos dating back to 1999 (yes, I had my film negatives scanned starting in 1999), I can oblige.

December, 2009, we took our first family cruise to the Bahamas and spent the Christmas holiday with my parents in Florida.



The photo used for 2009's holiday card:


And here we are in 2019's holiday card:


My extended family, from our trip to Hilton head in August:


We've all gotten older, my kids are all grown up and fortunately, we all enjoy good health. I don't blog as much as I did in 2009 (I logged over 600 blog posts that year - yikes!) and I don't take my DSLR out except for special occasions. I feel like these trends may change in 2020. I feel like I could take my DSLR out more, and I feel like I could write / blog more. I know I can spend less time on social media.

For even more fun, here's the family photo we used for 1999's holiday card. This was the first year I sent out a family holiday card. I still have it (and the subsequent years').


Here's wishing everyone a great new year with continued blessings into 2020 and the next decade.

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End of Summer Family Photos in the Prairie

Back in July I took photos of my good friend, Grace, and her lovely family using the backdrop of the prairie. I've taken their photos over the last three years and unfortunately, this may be the last time as they move back to the west coast. I wanted to capture the essence of the prairie setting as a reminder of their eight years among the cornfields. Of course, the prairie style park right in our neighborhood provided the perfect setting.





I befriended Grace through yoga class at the local YMCA; when she expressed an interest in running, we started running together. She and her oldest son are natural runners and I will miss their energy and exuberance on our group runs.



Today's Photo tip - Reducing Glare from glasses
One challenge for photographing a person wearing glasses like David here is minimizing glare or reflections from the lenses. The first photo has more glare than the one above. About half way through the shoot I realized there was a lot of lens glare; I re-positioned myself and the subjects to minimize it - this entailed moving to an area where the light was more filtered (like in the shade) and positioning the camera higher. Bonus tip - utilize a step stool to gain height (especially for us shorter people). Aside from my camera and lenses, the step stool is my most utilized tool while taking photos of people.

Grace, David and boys - we miss you but I know I will see you again!

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New York State of Mind

From my visit to the Big Apple back in August. Erica and I traveled there with my sister and her family via train from Boston. It was an unexpected, last minute trip. We crammed a lot of stuff into 48 hours - the Natural History Museum, the 911 Memorial and Museum, the MET, walks through Central Park and a ferry ride to Brooklyn for its amazing pizza.

Manhattan at dusk, from Brooklyn Park:


Cousins having a blast:


Julianni's Pizza, so yummy!


The Brooklyn Bridge At Night:


Bright Lights, City Nights


Later this week - Scenes from the Highline.

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Family - Group Photo Tips

It's that time of year for family gatherings and holiday greetings. Coming soon to your mailbox - photo cards from friends near and far.

Companies like Shutterfly and Tiny Prints make it super easy to create these photo cards and can serve as a fun keepsake for years down the road.

I've saved our family's Christmas photo card since I first started sending them out, from 1999. Back then, you had to order multiple copies of your 4x6 photo and slip them into a card sleeve.

Some handy tips for taking your family photo:

Get everyone (including parents, even grandparents) in the photo!

I know many parents simply include photos of the kids. I really want to see you, too!

Get close together, hug each other.




Don't be afraid to make your subjects laugh


Then so something fun.


Selfies work, too!


Have fun with those family and group photos!

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Remembrance

I learned of some very sad new on Sunday - that my cousin, Lily, who was pregnant with twins, had gone into pre-term labor and as a result, delivered two precious babies. Unfortunately, at 22 weeks gestation, their little lungs underdeveloped, both wee Beatrice and Aaron peacefully passed away. These photos are for them and parents Lily and Scott.







"We do not have control
over many things
in life and death
but we do have control
over the meaning we give it.”
― Nathalie Himmelrich

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Five Amazing Sights - Kauai, Hawaii

I have a few sights to share from our trip to the island of Kauai, Hawaii!

Yes, that's why its' been so quiet here - between the trip, the 4th of July holiday, catching back up at work and my photo hard drive crapping out, I've been too busy to blog. No worries on the hard drive - I had a full back up of all my files. More on that in a later blog post. I know you would rather see photos of Kauai instead of hearing about file back ups (but seriously, if you haven't backed up your files / photos, please DO IT NOW!).

1. The southern part of Kauai - the Poipu Beach area. This beach is called Shipwreck's beach and was great for boogie boarding.


2. Hule'ia Stream, where you can kayak or SUP downstream, flanked by the Hau’pu Mountains


3. The Kilauea Lighthouse - on the north east side of the island


4. The Waimea Canyon - dubbed the Grand Canyon of Hawaii


5. The Na Pali Coast - a truly amazing and magical place, only accessible by boat, foot (difficult hike) or helicopter. The background setting of several Hollywood films.


All photos were taken with my iPhone 6. Once I get my hard drive situation stabilized, I'll be able to get the photos off my big camera and write up proper blog posts on our amazing adventure!

Shared with Five on Friday

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Oh The Places You'll Go - The Class of 2015

Congratulations! Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places! You're off and away.


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

OH! The Places You'll Go!
You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers who soar to great heights.


And Will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed)

KID, you'll move mountains!

So... be your name Lindsay or Jack or Aiden or Bray,
Or Amira or Erica or Ariam or Jay
Today is your day
Your mountain is waiting, So..... get on your way!


And we'll be there to support you if you need it - come what may.


Congratulations to the Class of 2015!

Quotes from Dr. Seuss

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Biking The Carriage Trails

I don't think the words "I'm Bored .... There's nothing to do here" should ever be uttered when vacationing near Acadia National Park. We've already covered hiking - numerous times in fact! We've covered kayaking. We covered just a TINY bit of the great eats we experienced during our trip. (which makes me think I need one more vacation post, even though it's been a month since our visit!)

Aside from hiking, biking is probably the next most popular activity at Acadia. An extensive network (45 miles) of Carriage Roads were developed through the efforts of John D Rockefeller Jr, who wanted to travel via horse and carriage into the heart of Mount Desert Island. The Carriage Roads today allow bikers, hikers and even horse riders to enjoy the beauty of Acadia.

We rented bikes early in the morning before the crowds and heat. Bikes are rented outside of the park, but there are a couple bike-centric shuttles that transport you and your bike from the Bar Harbor Village Green to Eagle Lake, a great place to start your bike adventure. Another option is to bike from Bar Harbor to Eagle Lake, but that route was mainly up hill, so we opted to take the shuttle.



The roads are mostly shaded with gradual uphills and downhill sections. I won't lie - there are long stretches of those gradual uphill that will give you a good workout, but it is an enjoyable ride nonetheless. Just take a rest break every now and then!


Vista of Eagle Lake, along our ride:


At one point, a crowd of people stopped along the road - there was a young buck in the greenery, having a bite to eat:


The Carriage Roads give you access to the arching granite bridges that are unique to the Park. The Duck Brook Bridge was on our route out of the park.


We spent 2-3 hours on our biking adventure. You can really make an entire day of it by packing a sack lunch or stopping at Jordan Pond House for something to eat and drink. Many people bring their own bikes in, but we found the bike rental option to be the best for us. Another great activity in Acadia.

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Family Photos

Who Thought It Would Be Easy to Get a Decent Family Photo?

One of the goals of our family gathering was to take a big group family photo. The last one I have was taken when my kids were very young, my sister only had one kid and my youngest sister wasn't even married. It must have been taken in 2002!

I was given the task to coordinate the group family shot. Unfortunately, I left my tripod and home, so I rigged up a structure to hold my camera - it consisted of a lawn chair, two rubbermaid bins and towels. I don't recommend this approach, but it worked for us. I also didn't have my remote shutter release (again, lack of planning on my part), and instead used the interval shooting feature on the camera. With the interval timer, the camera fires off "x" number of shots, waits a time interval, then fires off another round of shots. The user configures "x", the time interval and the number of rounds. I find it to be faster than using the simple delay timer which only yields one exposure. Of course, a capturing a 14 person group is going to be a challenge - you add in toddlers and silly teenagers and you need as many exposures in as little time as possible! The interval timer is feature available on newer cameras, so check your user manual.

This one wasn't too bad and taken early on. I noticed the shots taken earlier were better than the later ones. Must be a function of attention span.


In between intervals, I had to run back to the camera and trigger another set of shots. The camera took a round immediately after I triggered it, so there are always some photos with out me. I wish we had a video camera to capture all the running around in between takes.


When I went through the photos, I thought this one was going to be the keeper:

But there's something amiss - my silly son and his silly rabbit ears behind his cousin!

I ended up cloning them out (it's not the best job, but it will do):


After about 5 takes, the natives were getting restless:


I didn't realize I had lost all control - of my husband!


And with that, the group photo shoot was over. At least we'll always remember how much fun we had taking them!

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