Meanwhile in Charlie Land...

Walkie? What is Walkie? Where did she come up with that?
Then she called me Chucky and Charles.
Oh sigh.

I suppose since she thinks I am cute because I am so little she can get away with things like that.

Well dang it. I am cute. Just look at that face!

Or even my butt view.

I am ever so adorable.
And I am learning to use that to my advantage.

I give her those big ol' eyes when I want something. I don't hop around, I don't whine or cry, or bark. I just look.

And she melts.

If she picks up car keys I go stand by the door. I like the car seat thing, I like to go with her. Most of the time I can't. I'm okay with that.

Other days when she puts her boots on I just look up at her and then go stand by the door. When she gets out that cord, I know I've won!

I can even grunt once in a while to get her attention. I did that the other day when she said she was going to the creek.
By the time we got to the water, she took my cord off so it wouldn't get caught on anything while we hiked.

She can jump those huge areas of water. I spend my time going around or finding rocks to use to get through the creek. The ice cold water on my tummy is bothersome but when it is really hot, I don't mind.

We got to one part of the creek that she always likes to stop at. I like it too. When hiking with her or with a group I know that I can take the deer trail up the bank and into the woods.

So SHE started setting her camera thingy up and told me "YOU better stick around Charlie and don't wander!"
What did I really hear?

"Hey Charlie, I'll be busy so why don't you follow all of those neat smells? I'm sure you'd rather do that than stay with me!"

She bent over to do her thing and I crept up the hill. Oh the smells were delicious and I could hear those pesky chipmunks in the distance. Perhaps I could catch a deer, or squirrel, or something else! Maybe there would be deer poo to roll in or even nibble on.

Pretty quick I heard her calling my name and she was not a happy human. In fact she started even using some words I'd never heard of before. She even screeched out my name and used Charles and some other forms and it sounded like she was having some sort of breakdown fit type of thing.
I got worried and left those delicious deer droppings and turned to run down the trail to her.

Phew. She was okay and not frothing at the mouth. She had that angry look on her face though so I just stopped and gave her my big eyes. She reached down and whisked me up and hugged me even though I was wet and muddy.
She put the little cord on me and said something about NOT letting me loose again on this hike.

So much for smelly things in the woods.

She explained to me how she was doing an experiment with multiple shots exposures and then combining them to do something. I had no idea what she was talking about.
I didn't want her to screech again so I decided to pretend I was interested.

See?
I even walked under her tiny tripod stick thingy while she was doing camera stuff. I just laid down right there and stayed.

She seemed a bit uptight about that, but she said she still got some cool shots.

And after she was done, we picked stuff up and headed home.

The way home was rather boring, she kept the line on me and kept a sharp eye out too. I didn't think I could get away with anything.
That is, not until she had to use both hands to open the gate and I shot through to chase a little bird on the ground.
I almost got it too.

I sat in her lap later in the evening while she told the old fella about our adventures. She said something about Morris never chased anything and he should have and how I wanted to chase everything even though I was so little.

Interesting. What does she mean by so little? I think I am just fine like I am thank you very much.

Yeah.
And if she says Walkies again? I'll go. Why not?
It is good to get her out and about for fresh air, she seems happier after I walk her.

Signed~~
Charlie

Gearing up for the Fair

I've narrowed down the final photos I'm going to exhibit.

It took a lot more time and effort than I thought it would.

One of the hardest categories I had to deal with was "Nature".
According to Photographic Society of America Nature is:
Images used in Nature Photography competitions may be divided in two classes: Nature and Wildlife. Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food.

Well okay, then I had to re-think my idea. I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for, but my Nature submission was finally narrowed down to this:

Good old coral fungi and a slug!

I'm still struggling with the 'Winter Scene'.
I thought about the snow scene of our farm but then got sidetracked into other winter scenes.
I admit, winter is my favorite time of year to do photography.
And... I take so many shots in the woods and on trails that I hike ...it is hard to chose.
The pasture after our freak April snow storm.

The creek after week of ice and cold, then a melt.
Hubby likes this shot because of the cool ice and the water.

Then another favorite of mine the melt down in January.

But the winner may be this one. Taken at Parfrey's Glen on an ice hike with my friends.

Well, winner for me that is. I spread the photos out on the table and stand back as a judge may do and then just let my eyes roam over the shots.

Which one grabs the eye?

Hard to say. And then again, each judge has their own likes and dislikes. Are my 'scenes' not wide enough? Are they too focused? Do they want more color?

Oh boy, you'd think I was obsessing about this and you are right.

My domestic animal shot for black and white.

And the one I chose for Landscape.

I feel this does justice to the wide open landscape definition and it really is a true photo of our area. Perhaps not enough wow in the color, but that is okay.

My color reflection shot is hands down one of my favorite photos from Jersey Valley last year.
However, due to the recent floods, Jersey Valley may once again be gone. I don't know if there will be money to replace the wing dam that broke.

Enough obsessing.
I'm going to visit with some 4H kids who do photos each year to see how to properly exhibit the photos on Tag Board.

I am entertaining becoming a 4H leader again.

But that is another story all together!

I'm going out and enjoy this thing called sunshine outside.

Teddy Bear ~ Percy

"It's hot and muggy," my husband said. "It's awful out there."
I nodded and shrugged on my backpack.

Indeed it was. Hot and terribly muggy. Too hot to take a dog with me, so I stuffed a second water bottle into the side of the pack.

I really didn't need to go out hiking. I was sure the fences were okay. I'd done quick check during morning chores while it was raining and everything was working as it should have been.

We'd had about 3 1/2 inches of more rain overnight and somewhere around 3AM, I'd awakened to lightening, thunder, and the sound of heavy rain pouring down outside.

My only thought was that of Percy, the Teddy Bear, the Creek Bear. Was he high enough? I left him out of flood range, but...the sounds of the pounding rain on the steel roof left me full of doubt. Stupid me and my fun ideas of having toys sit and watch over the creek.

But really, I just couldn't help myself. I like the forest, I like the woods. I like wandering with a sense of freedom. If I don't get to wander for a few days, I begin to feel like a trapped animal and get snippy and snarky. The walls of the house are nice to keep out the weather, but dang, don't let it keep me in!

Besides, I wanted to try something I'd read about. Instead of using an ND filter to 'shoot' scenes of water, I'd try a different method. No filters. So I took my Olympus camera with the broken lens thread. I couldn't add a filter if I wanted to.

And off I went into the heat "to check on fences" of course. And...to check on Percy of course. If you haven't guessed it by now, I have an affection for toys and photographing them in nature.

I found Percy safe and sound sitting high up on the bank. I plucked him off the blue plastic chair by his ear and took him along. He was wet, soggy, and still rather muddy. I was beginning to like this Teddy Bear. He had character.

I stopped in the shade to set up a shot of the 'beach'. The new flash floods had changed the creek flow and washed away a lot of sand and silt. I noted the new face lift and liked it. Mother Nature had re-arranged the bulldozing work to her satisfaction and mine.

 3 bracketed shots merged

I took the shots and then moved on. Water dripped down my face and into my glasses. I stopped to put on a sweatband. I picked my way upstream to the middle dry run and stopped.

Water was still flowing from the ridge top above and emptying into the creek.
I set Percy down in the water flow and watched curiously as the mud from his backside rinsed off and clouded the creek.

f22 @ 1 second

The sun had disappeared under a cloud bank and I shot this without bracketing.

No matter, Percy was now wetter and heavier, but I picked him up and continued upstream. I considered setting him down and just grabbing him on the way back.
I even tried it but picked him up again.
I don't know why.

By the time I picked my way over the slippery rocks and got to the where the fence-line is supposed to be. The sun was out strong and hot. I had finished one water bottle.
I sat down on a mossy rock and decided to just sit for a bit. Water dripped off my chin and dropped onto my lap.

Oh wait. Wasn't I supposed to be checking fencing?

I pulled off my boots and socks and put my feet in the creek. I tried to sit Percy up next to me, he kept slipping sideways. Maybe he just didn't want to sit there.

I thought about checking the time on my cell phone in the backpack, but I let it be.

I decided to try the merge method of shooting the little pond and the tiny waterfalls over the rocks.

I packed up and headed back. I started in on the other water bottle and carefully picked my way back to the trail with Percy in tow.

I kept trying different spots to photograph the Teddy Bear, but none seemed to fit.
Until I got back to the rock where I'd set him a few days ago.

More rain was predicted for the overnight hours and I wasn't going to loose any sleep over a Teddy Bear, so I took Percy with me.

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir

Perseverance

I keep going back and it isn't because of the beauty of the creek.

It isn't always beautiful.

Just over a week ago it was rather dull looking and choked with weeds. Yet I still came.
I still sat by the trickle of water and just opened my mind.

I often go by myself with no dogs. No other people. I sometimes prefer it that way. The creek becomes something else when I invite others to explore it. I do enjoy it, but I enjoy keeping the creek secrets to myself also.

Sometimes I just stand there and do nothing.

I simply admire those familiar rocks and trees. These places that bring me great comfort and at times sadness too.

Yesterday was one of those days that the creek felt like a secret place.

The air was heavy, warm, and humid.
The creek was cold and refreshed from the latest 2" of rain.

A fog hovered above the creek.
It was dark and the trees were silent and still.

I had a gambit of emotions run through my head as I carefully picked my way along the rocks.

When I stand still and let the forest and creek surround me, I feel small and invisible, yet large and powerful, and meek and humble at the same time.

I simply stand and am amazed.

I reached the spot where the trail heads back home and glanced up to see the lonely Teddy Bear that I'd found after the flash flood.

He simply looked so lonely.

I posed him on a rock and took this shot in the heavy fog.

Suddenly my Creek walk took on another feeling.
The feeling of sadness and loss.
The Brown Teddy Bear looked and embodied so much loss and emotion in this single photo that I was stunned.

He had been swept away with another Teddy Bear in a huge flood and had been found.
He'd survived mud, rocks, rushing waters...

He was Hope
He was Love
He was Lost
He was Sadness
and
He was Perseverance...

Stuck inside

Being stuck inside is always a bit of a bummer.

But then sometimes I get out somethings and do some painting, or some still life...
Or
Toys and do some photography.

It can be nice and serious stuff.

It can be whimsical...

Or completely made up stuff that I've messed around with adding layers...

Or some fractal edits and creations...

Or, I can edit through a program called DeepDreamGenerator...DDG and get some more odd and interesting 'art'.

Strange...

Frightening...

Angelic...

Or go back to using things around the house such as discarded toys and old tea cups...

Whimsical...

Cute...

And...things on hand.

I hope not to be stuck inside too long today. Charlie has a yearning to go for a walk.
At the moment, he is content to lay on the porch and watch the world go by.

Playing with kids...I see....

I had started a long drawn out post explaining what happened to our area and all of the towns devastated by flooding from the 12" of rain falls that we had just north of where I live. Some places had 10", some had 12".

It is too overwhelming to try to even explain.

So I just want to say, that the local people have been helping other local people. It comes from the hearts and souls of those around us.
~~~~

Yesterday was gorgeous and beautiful after sunrise. Charlie decided he needed a morning walk and so we went.

We walked out along the gravel road and just enjoyed the fresh morning air after two days of heavy rains.

He did a road inspection first. It seemed everything was to his liking.

Next was the hay field inspection.

His conclusion is that it could use a cutting and baling so he could walk unencumbered.

Evidence of the hard rains showed up in the morning light. However, we still have a road and we are not under water.

When we got home, Charlie got a bath. So many days of a short legged dog running through sand, dirt, mud, and wet grass makes ... little dog a bit smelly.
He took his bath fine, no whining no fuss.

Later on we had visitors who wanted to go down to Awesome Creek and go rock hunting.
And boy we did.

The kids asked to bring Charlie. Well, why not?

Rock hunting or creek exploring with Allie can be very interesting. Here she is wearing a plastic bag as a hat. She is intending on catching water bugs and any other cool insects she can find.
This way her hands are free to catch the bugs. Well, that is what she told me.

The basket was for cool rocks to be collected in. We had invited another friend who absolutely loves rocks and loves to look for rocks.

The boys got busy with carving their initials into a log. I had told them it was just fine.

Note Allie on the hunt for something. It was about this moment where everyone got distracted and...Charlie disappeared from our watchful eyes.

Suddenly our fun hike turned into a "Let's FIND Charlie!" I didn't start to really feel upset and scared until he'd been missing and not coming to our calls for about 10 minutes. Believe me, it felt like hours.

We found him, he looked smug and happy. I re-attached his cord and decided not to let go of him. This happened once before in the very same spot, so I suspect that he was tracking a deer trail just above the log that the boys were working on!

We ended up near the Red Clay and everyone wanted to 'paint' themselves.
And why not?

It felt good.

And it was perfectly silly!

Never doubt Allie though. When she gets 'into' something, she goes ALL of the way!

And then she asked if she could...paint Charlie red with clay.

And Charlie was very willing.

He seems to love whatever Allie has to do with him.

We hiked on down to the where my fenceline is and most everyone rinsed off...
except for...
Allie....

The Queen of Red Clay and mud.

Most everyone rinsed the red clay off. Allie didn't want to. I dunked Charlie in a pool of water to get some of the clay off.

I didn't bother rinsing my legs, arms, or face, either. It felt fun to be silly.

I suggested a first rinse before Allie went home.

I knew the water in the small stock tank would be warm and just perfect. The Red Headed sisters were quite curious about the small human in their water.
I was going to dump it and rinse it out later anyway....

When I got to the house with a wet red clay dog and full of red clay myself...my husband stared at me as if I was from another planet.

Then he said, "Oh playing with kids again I see."