And here they are. Getting closer to the end every day. Can’t believe the year is almost over, and I still haven’t missed a day. Came as close as I could to missing one this week, but remembered at the last minute. I think my favorite this week was the outdoor shot on the only beautiful day we had this week.
Here they are—the last leaves of the season. Red and yellow, almost ready to fall from the tree. If I had taken this exact photo a week ago, you wouldn’t have been able to see the sky in the background. Autumn is turning to winter, and the leaves are nearly gone.
I don’t think I’ve shared this particular spot on Redmond Ridge before. It’s on one of my six-mile routes, and I’d say I pass it once or twice a month. It offers a long view down some wetlands that probably stretch about three-quarters of a mile. When I first took a photo of this years ago, I sent it to my buddy in Canada, and he once asked me, “Where’s the moose?” I had to agree with him that the pond in the foreground looks like a perfect place for a moose to feed. Now, whenever I think of this spot, I always look for the moose. Still not there. But I did put a red poppy in the scene because it’s Remembrance Day in Canada and I want to remember my good friend who served his country.
I know. We have an Alexa. Actually, we have five Alexa devices. We use them to control a bunch of things, mostly to turn lights on and off, set timers for food, and find out how old someone famous is. Today, Amazon offered us an upgrade to Alexa+, their new AI-powered digital assistant. So far, the only change I’ve noticed is that she now has eight new voices — most of which I don’t like. Four masculine, four feminine, all young. I realize that we are over the hill, but we’re still pretty tech-savvy, so why not a voice that sounds older than 30? All this to say, tonight, here’s a photo of our bedroom Alexa. She speaks in a feminine voice.
Sorry about posting two small photos in two days, but the weather has been horrible. Lots of—no, tons of—rain. Build-an-ark kind of rain. Just constant for a couple of days. But we handle it well, so that’s okay. One of the few problems with this string of outdoor lights is that sometimes they leak, and water gets inside the glass. Then it trips the outdoor circuit that controls our plug, and these lights go out.
Another very rainy day. Keeley and I went out for a long walk when we thought it would be clear for a short time, and we got about a mile away before it started pouring. Needless to say, we returned soaking wet. But this afternoon, I did go out to Trilogy’s club to work out. We have a walking track on the second floor that I use when it’s raining. The view from the track looks down into our club’s swimming pool. Most days around 3:00 pm, we hold a two-hour family swim. Grandparents can bring their kids and grandkids to swim in a very warm and safe pool. The deepest point in the pool is 3 feet 6 inches. Mason and Maylee used to come and swim before they got too big to spend time with grandpa—too busy dating, playing in the band, and doing all the other things teenagers do. But family swim today was quite popular.
Long day today. Spent half of it in Urgent Care. Everything is fine, but they had to run a lot of tests to find out. Always an adventure. Tonight, Kathleen and I were watching TV when I suddenly remembered I hadn’t taken a photo yet. So, that became the weekly Keeley shot because she’s always available as a model. But this is a great photo because it shows one of her quirkiest traits—she can sleep with her eyes open. Seriously.
Thought I would show you the final dish.
Haven’t done a food shot in a while, so here’s what we had for dinner. It’s called Spiced Seared Eggplant with Pearl Couscous, and it’s one of my favorites. If you leave off the finishing yogurt, it’s vegan, so it’s rather healthy for you. Leaving it with the yogurt (which is damned good) still makes it vegetarian.
In photography, there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality. —Irving Penn
