LouCeeL

Haiku Friday 1-27-12, Photo365 Day 27

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

First, we bring you Haiku Friday - with its own Linky Tool so you can link in your Haiku.

As the time passes
Days grow longer, Seasons change.
And we grow older.

Spring creeps in slowly,
Flowers bloom and Summer comes.
And we grow older.

And then Winter comes,
Gravity wins, we wrinkle,
And the days grow short.

As the time passes
all things change, except changing.
Changing always does.

Link in YOUR Haiku in the Blog Hop below:

And now, because I love this shed SO much, here it is again - link in YOUR photo in the Blog Hop below the photo:

Ndinombethe.

The Music Box, Photo365 Day 26

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:45:00 +0000

I am very late posting, today. The item pictured below sits on the end table next to Grannie - it's a Music Box and it plays "Silent Night".

Ndinombethe.

Link YOUR picture into the Blog Hop below:

Wordless Wednesday 1-25-12 Photo365, Day 25

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

In Winter ...

Ndinombethe.

Add a link to YOUR photo in the Blog Hop below:

Bleak, Photo365, Day 24

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

I wonder what it's like to be a barn: to be stuffed full of hay and cows and critters of all types. I wonder what it's like to be a barn and have rooms within for special things: tools and tack and milking machines and stalls for horses and all that stuff that makes a farm go.

I wonder what it's like to be a barn.

And I wonder what it's like to be THIS barn, now old, now empty, now weathered and grey. Does it have an outlook? And is that outlook as bleak as it seems?

Ndinombethe.

Link to YOUR photo in the Blog Hop below:

Monday Meanders 1-23-12, Photo365 Day 23

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Pats vs Giants in the SuperBowl. Ho Hum.

26 days until pitches and catchers report - for most people. There are, apparently, a few teams that don't report until the 23rd. That's just mean.

The start of Spring training means it's just that much closer to the start of bicycling season. I am SO looking forward to it. New bike and all, you know ... PLUS, hopefully, people will become interested in buying bicycles from me - used, yes, but in good repair and properly tuned, ready to be ridden by new owners.

President Clinton, seen at the golf tournament over the weekend, looks a little frail to me. He's beginning to look old, and a bit tired. I hope he's well.

I forgot the Linky Tool for the photo, yesterday. *channeling Lou Costello* I'm a baaaaad boy.

You DO remember Lou Costello, right? You know ... "Who's on First?" Costello?

Anyway, this is the weirdest January weather I've seen in a long time. There are thunderstorms, right now, as I write this on Sunday evening for Monday publication, and it's JANUARY - and, since the Sun went down, it's gotten 4 degrees warmer. It's in the high 30's. And it's JANUARY. Last Friday, we had our first serious snowstorm of the year. And it's the end of JANUARY. WTF?

I am seriously in love with HD TV. That said, it's possible some of you may not have HD TV yet. If you're considering a purchase, take my advice - LED TV with at least 120hz refresh rate.

The picture below just says cold and windy, to me:

Ndinombethe.

Use the Blog Hop, below, to link in YOUR photo:

Photo365, Day22, Steely Eyed Pere Marquette

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Pere Marquette, Priest, Explorer

Died of Dysentery in 1675
Age 38
First European to winter in what would become Chicago
First European to see and explore the Mississippi
Namesake of Marquette University

Photo365, Day 21 'The Shed' continues

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Wheel Don't Wheel No Mo'

Wheel don't wheel no mo',
No insides and covered in snow,
the wagon is gone,
an' the horses done died,
an' there ain't no place to go.

Ndinombethe.

Post YOUR link to your photo in the Blog Hop below:

Haiku Friday 1-20-12 and Photo365, Day 20

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

First, we bring you Haiku Friday - with its own Linky Tool so you can link in your Haiku.

The Internet rose
and spoke loudly, with one voice.
And Washington heard.

Link YOUR haiku in the Blog Hop below:

Retired, Tired Fountain

Ndinombethe.

Link in YOUR photo in the Blog Hop below:

Brrrrrrrrrrrr

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Yup. That other shoe we've been looking for around here? It fell. In the next few days, it will probably bounce a time or two - just for grins.

It's cold. The snow won't go away - and there's more coming.

And the park looks ... cold.

Ndinombethe.

Link in YOUR photo on the Blog Hop, below:

Wordless Wednesday - Photo365, Day 18

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

The Shed in Snow

Ndinombethe.

Use the Blog Hop below to link in YOUR photo:

Another winter, Photo365, Day 17

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Another winter has come. Another season of cold, then warm, then cold again, loosening my joints and connections, hastening me towards my end.

One day I shall collapse, my roof fallen in, my tenuous walls crumbled to bits and pieces, suitable more for firewood than protecting my innards.

But for now I still stand, offering a leaning place for wheels that no longer wheel, a growing place for mosses and ferns, a shelter, however bare, for the occasional critter that might wander in. Or fly. Yes, sometimes they fly in.

It's a good thing they have feathers. I'm so cold inside.

Ndinombethe.

Monday Meanders 1-16-12, Photo365 - Day 16

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

I wish I could count. I'm supposed to have an I.Q. somewhere in the high 140's and yet I find myself constantly going back and editing, changing, and otherwise modifying published posts because I can't count the number of days since I started Photo365. Maybe it's the ADD. There is the fact that publishing a photo a day means that, for January anyway, the DATE should give me a clue. You'd think .... Wait!! Something shiny !!!

I said the Giants would win. They won. I said the New Orleans would not win. They lost. All of that said, I have no more opinions about playoff football. It's 33 days until pitchers and catchers report. As a Cubs fan, I am steeling myself for a season of re-building, losing, frustration, and unfulfilled expectations. I also expect it to be a lot of fun watching the kids play - the kids they've got now - the kids that will grow into the players they will build around going forward. It's going to be hard - but it's going to be fun.

I really love our Keurig machine. So do my nerves. Does anyone besides me know that people who drink a lot of coffee and people who smoke (I do not) are often self-medicating to beat the symptoms of ADD? Not consciously, I might add - it's just an instinctive response.

The picture, below, is Day 16 of Photo365. Park benches never look more vacant than they do in snow.

Ndinombethe.

Photo365 - Day 15, Honey-Do

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

For the longest time we've had lighting in our home that I was not happy with - a kitchen fixture that used to turn itself off if it was left on too long, and a foyer light that was uneven and garish. Yesterday, I replaced them - as evidenced by the parts and pieces you see in the photo below - wire nuts, brackets, and screws ...oh my.

Wire Nuts, Brackets and Screws ... Oh My.

Ndinombethe.

Photo365, Day 14

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Near to the shed I've published photos of here, sits this old barn. No longer used for the stuff of farming, it and the grain store sit side by side, waiting for whatever ever fate awaits them, the houses that grew in the fields they supported now giving shelter and support to the children that have taken the place of the crops.

Ndinombethe.

Haikuy Friday - Photo365, Day 13

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

First, we bring you Haiku Friday - with its own Linky Tool so you can link in your Haiku.

A photo a day,
for one lap around the sun,
Photo Three-Six-Five.

Ndinombethe.

And now - one last picture of the old diner - because you haven't seen it from every angle yet.

It is cropped, it is "sharpened", it is contrast adjusted, and it is "color removed".

I'm done with her for a while.

"We don't see things as THEY are, we see things as WE are." ~ Anais Nin

In place of Velvet Verbosity's 100 Words - Photo365 Day 12

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Once Upon a Time ...
"What's yers, Mac". The waiter waited patiently while the first guy in the lunchtime rush made up his mind.

"Ah ... I'll have a hamburger, Ollie. Oh, and a piece of that apple pie over there. Might be the last one for a while ..."

The waiter paused as he reached for the pie holder.
"Why? What's goin' on? Somethin' happenin' at the plant?"

"Layoffs. Half of second shift and 25% of days."

"That's not gonna be good fer business. The owner here been talkin' about cuttin' my hours as it is. Damn. Do you think they'll close?"

"I don' know. They shifted a lot of production up to Canada and down to Mexico. Rumor has it they're gonna shut this plant down in 6 months."

The waiter placed the pie in the counter next to his customer.
"What'll happen to this place if they shut down the plant? You guys are all we got. Without you guys in the plant, this place'll just dry up and blow away."

Ndinombethe.

Wordless Wednesday - Photo365, Day 11

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Old, Disused

Lonely

Ndinombethe.

Photo365, Day 10

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

It Was A Dark and Creepy Night ...

Actually, it was my front porch and I had my pajamas on (I don't normally wear pajamas, but you wouldn't want me out there naked, would you?), and the camera was ready for experimentation.

My next task will be to figure out how to take scientific quality photos of the moon.

Next full moon. It's cold out there.

Ndinombethe.

Monday Meanders 1-9-12

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

TEBOW!!! The kid's pretty darn good. One only hopes that he learns to trust in his own skills and competencies and realizes that God ain't got nuthin' to do with it. I'm willing to bet good money that God don't give two shits about how Tim Tebow's football games turn out - He doesn't help - He doesn't aid - He doesn't guide the ball into a receiver's hands. Please, Little Timmy. Cut it out. We all know you're a good Christian little boy. Just stop it. Take some credit for what you do. Because it's you that did it. Not Him.

On a more realistic note ...

Today is the first day back to work after a nice week of vacation. Nothing could be as restful. This will be the last "staycation" for a while. A long while.

I made a trip out to the diner over the weekend, and took more pictures. The old Western Clock Co. (Westclox) factory, there in Peru, Illinois, was set alight by a couple of teenagers recently, and the diner is close by that old factory. I needed to make sure it was okay. What I found was that someone had set a fire in one small section of the diner which burned the wooden window frame out of the metal shell of the diner. I don't know how long ago that might have happened - I don't think it was coincident with the factory fire. But it was recent.

Between posting pictures here and on 365project.org, and writing blog posts every day, this is getting to be rather time consuming. I gotta figure this out. The only thing I can afford to do right now is MAYBE crop a photo, and render it B&W. There is no time to learn to be better at Photoshop - and that was supposed to be, at least in MY mind, part of the reason for doing a Photo365.

I love my new camera. It is SO cool. Tonight, weather permitting, I'm going to take some shots of the moon - just to see how that all works out.

LM (Love Muffin) has been ill the last couple of days. Y'all send her big sloppy kisses, okay? Just look for "Annie Lohman" on Facebook.

Nobody's Home - Redux part 2 - Photo365 Day 9

Ndinombethe.

Photo365 - Day 8

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

I made a trip out to the once and former diner that I have published photos of in the past, yesterday. I try to go at least once a year (it's 50 miles or so away), in order to document her gradual, graceful decline.

I took several shots that will show up here - one at a time.

Ndinombethe.

Photo365 - Day 7

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

What you see below is La Casa Lohman, taken with the camera mounted on a tripod, cropped to get it small enough for Blogger, but otherwise untouched - SOOC. Actually, it's a RAW, cropped and saved to a jpeg. Just so you know. Number 1 Son's car is in the driveway and yes, the coach light in the yard IS crooked - it's on the list. Somewhere.

Ndinombethe.

Haiku Friday 1-6-12

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

The grass is still green
Few clouds and bright sunny skies
This strange, strange Winter.

Ndinombethe.

Photo365, Day 6 - The Shed, again

The last, for now.

Please slow down ...

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

It's friggin' THURSDAY already. STOP!!! I am on vacation and I want it to last. It's going by too fast.

I did get on my bike yesterday, though. Not very far and not very fast. Too cold, really. And I signed up for the local fitness center. 10 bucks a month. Hard to beat that bargain - I can lift weights, walk the treadmill and ride the stationary bikes. Good times. So I got some things accomplished.

But there's just not enough time in the day.

Below is the second picture I am publishing that was taken at "The Shed". It is Photo365, Day 5. This photograph is SOOC - Straight Out Of Camera. It is a jpeg, yes - so the camera did some work on the RAW, itself. But it is at the "Standard Photo" setting - no adjustments have been made to the camera that would alter this photo.

Wordless Wednesday 1-4-12

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Alongside the Shed - Day 4 Photo365

I've driven past this shed along the road
perhaps a thousand times.
I've finally taken some pictures.
This is but the first.

Ndinombethe.

The first day in 2012 that begins with 'T'.

noreply@blogger.com (LceeL) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Crap. All of this is going by way too fast. It's the 3rd of January already.

I gotta start buying Christmas presents.

Today is day 3 of my Photo365. Today I am going to add "Blog Hop" code at the end of the post so that others publishing photos, today, like my friend Jientje, in Belgium, or Tara, in Florida, can readily link in their photos and you can easily find them.

The picture that follows is of a Historical Marker, hidden away in the middle of an industrial area, driven past by thousands every day. Few stop. Few see the marker or understand why those huge rusting statues stand off to the west of Harlem Avenue, just before you get to Interstate 55, when you're headed south. In 1952, when it was dedicated, it was one of only two historical landmarks in the State of Illinois. Today there are more than a thousand. This was among the first.

It marks the Chicago Portage - 7.5 miles of cross country that, 350 years ago, was the way you got from the Mississippi Watershed to the St. Lawrence Watershed. A Continental Divide that 99% of the people in and around Chicago have never heard about.

And below, a detail from the above. In color.

Ndinombethe.