Walking at Sunup, Photography at Sundown

For the first time in a little while, I went for a walk in the neighborhood this morning. The summer birds are here. Mockingbirds and House Finches abound. I love listening to the mockers on my walk, especially.

I was nice to get back out there. I had a little cold two weeks ago. Last week, the gym at work held a special "Mind/Body" week, and held yoga classes of different kinds each morning. Great fun, and great exercise, but I couldn't walk and go to the classes. Then I whacked my little toe on something...thought I'd broken it. That kept me off walking for a few days.

I'm convinced that those little toes are God's way of slowing you down, and reminding you to walk mindfully. For something that doesn't stick out much at all (mine angle in, actually), they sure catch on passing obstacles often.

For fun, I've been messing around with our digital camera. You know all those mystical symbols on the controls? And all the deep, dark recesses of the Function menus? I found the owner's manual for our camera online, and have been slowly working my way through it. This evening, the sun was heading to bed for the evening and I took a few minutes out in the yard to see if I'd learned anything.

Here's our young son, goofing off and having fun. The sun was behind me a bit, hence the "one eye closed, with assistance" pose. Nothing says "lazy days of summer" like PJ's and vampire teeth.

This nice flower is one of our Agapanthas. I was trying to find an exposure that blurred the background beyond recognition, to put all the attention on the bloom. Couldn't quite get it, but I rather like the shadows the late afternoon sun brought out in this pretty blossom.

Here's my favorite from this afternoon. My wife and the kids went to the beach this afternoon. These sandals were left on the front porch, still dusted with fine grained happiness. I'll admit that the shoes were "posed," to get interesting shadows. I really like the way the composition came out. I tried a few different options on the exposure. This is the best of the lot.

Think I'll bring the camera to work tomorrow and see if I have time during lunch to take some more shots.

Food log:

Breakfast: granola with bananas, 1% milk

Lunch: roasted pork tenderloin, grilled asparagus, barley salad

Snacks: small handful of cashews

Dinner: leftover pork with leeks, leftover grilled veggie stack...ALMOST as good re-heated as it was the first night. Yummy.