25 Jun 12. Our two local grandchildren attend the same school in Seattle which has apparently decided that all children should be aware of the time of day as they arrive at school. Mounted on the outside of the building is a large clock for this purpose, and also perhaps to warn the locals when the "attendees" are about to be let loose on the neighborhood. The problem is that this clock is solar powered, which means that it isn't always operational; in fact, most days it isn't functional. Even when it is, it is off by an hour more days than it is correctly reporting the time. I have tried to photograph it on several occasions only to be rebuffed. Last Thursday we were in the area and I was able to finally get a photo of it working, at least part time. To be honest the day was a typical Seattle June day, which is to say not very nice, so I took the liberty of replacing the depressingly gray sky with something somewhat more appropriate for the telling of time. Note the seagull sitting on the minute hand. ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 5.
26 Jun 12. First, a couple of corrections, normally found buried on some page in the paper you never read. I inadvertently left off a most important word in my story about the sun dial yesterday; the word "local" should have preceded Granddaughters. We enjoy three such, two in WA and one in MD. Had my mind on the story and wasn't thinking thoroughly. Several weeks back I promised to share an image of a white Christmas Cactus, and working on the sun room all day it brought to mind that promise. Tomorrow should see the sun room almost finished, at least sufficiently so that Jan will be able to move all her plants into it and get them situated, as well as reclaim the dining room where they have been hanging out for the past couple of weeks. With glass on three sides and access to it on the forth, there will be ample opportunity for the plants to enjoy the light and us the plants. This particular shot was taken at the Ballard house in the glassed in entry way area where all the plants seemed to flourish. Now they have about 20x as much space to spread out and show their stuff. If they are like us, they will not only enjoy the area but the view which is now providing us with wildlife on a somewhat frequent basis. This last several days we have enjoyed the visit of a Black Tail doe on several occasions, a fawn strolling along the street side of the property, and, while we haven't seen for ourselves, our immediate neighbor has reported two Black Bear sightings within the week. We are anxiously awaiting a visit from one or both bears, hopefully soon. The image of the cactus blossom was taken hand held with fill flash; I've left in the grain (noise) to help reveal the texture of the flower which would be lost if I removed it. That would make for a showier flower, but you would loose the detail in the petals that are part of what make this particular flower so beautiful. As I've mentioned prior, my paternal Grandmother grew these in her flower room, and it is from her that I believe I gained my love of this particular plant. Jan now has replaced my Grandmother as the preeminent grower of Christmas Cacti. ISO 200; 1/60 sec with fill flash @ f / 9.
