The Original Photo!

Here is the Original Image for Cogswell. 

It is about 2 miles from the Dam. I printed it

as a Palladium image, pure black and white.

The Stream in the Woods

Cogswell

On Monday, we went to the Cogswell area. This is in the mountains, about 10 miles up route 39, which is Azusa Avenue. We left about 9 and spent about 3 hours there, recorded a 2.47 mile hike, and left. We got back about about 3 o'clock, so it was a day trip, the first one we've done since Covid19.

I wanted to do some photograph work and I remembered about 8 or 9 years ago doing a Palladium print of "the stream in the woods." Furthermore, I wanted to do an HDR of each print, that is, one with normal exposure, one with one stop down, and one with one stop up, with each subject.

Here is what I did with the first one:

It's a little bit tipped to the HDR side. I cropped it from the bottom so that there wouldn't be overexposed elements in the picture! Feel free to click on this image to enjoy a larger one.






Here's the second one:

The water is placid, with a plant to the left. Something is in the tree on the right, just above the far bank. I'm not sure what it is.








Here the third:

There is a nice foreground here. But I like the non-HDR better. It is in the next slot.











The fourth:

Very nice.

Blog Post on "Deliveries 60-70 Years Ago"

Robert Chianese at Island View Media did a wonderful blog post on home deliveries made in the old days in Trenton, New Jersey. I think it’s a great read and I highly recommend it! https://www.islandviewmedia.com/single-post/2020/04/22/Home-Deliveries-Then-and-Now

Let’s go back 60-70 years to my home in Kansas City, Missouri and I’ll reflect a bit on the deliveries made to our home on West 58th Terrace.

One of my fond memories is of Manor Bread. This was in the early 1950’s. We had moved to our new house, the one we enjoyed for over 50 years. They actually had a horse-drawn buggy. They would come once a week. The driver was known to my Mom. She talked about cuisine and how he helped her.  (Manor Bread is in Facebook. “Things and Places We Loved When We Were Much Younger.”

https://www.facebook.com/groups/58116837932/search/?query=Manor%20bread%20&epa=SEARCH_BOX)

An especially favorite memory is Salt Rising Bread. This was a real treat. It wasn’t available generally, so when it was available, everybody wanted it. Salt Rising Bread! In the toaster! I still want it, and I succeeded in making it some sixty years later, but there was some trouble with the bread dough. I tried my old Crock Pot once, at 200 degrees, which was a little high for the temperature after twenty-four hours, but it did work!

There was no coal service, as we had a gas heater.  But I remember the basement room into which coal had been delivered. It was about 6 feet wide, about 8 deep and maybe a 7 foot ceiling.  It was part of the wall, but went back from the wall. It was opposite the stairs to the basement. It was on these stairs that I sat, about 60 years ago.

I had a .22 carbine, made by Remington. Target practice took place in the basement. My Dad supervised at first. I was about 10 or 11, maybe 12.  Later I was allowed to do it by myself. What we did was to shoot into the coal bin. The target device was on saw-horses. It was small, with sand between boards. I would target something, a bullseye, for example on the front side, and then shoot.

When I pulled the trigger, I was a little off kilter and the shot ricocheted. I could hear the bullet zinging around the basement!

December 13th (Communications Group Christmas Luncheon)

On the 13th of December, we had our annual Communication group party. We meet for class all semester, once a week, and now it's time to celebrate! I'll highlight just a few folks from this big group. My friend shown here worked in finance before his stroke.

This one of our interns, choosing a gift to open in the famous "open it or steal it" gift exchange.  She chose our gift and loved it!

Our other intern had her gift stolen twice, but persevered and came out on top!

Our friends and instructor.

He does a "news review" for the class each week that really provokes a lot of conversation from us! It is absolutely solid!













Our friend Mari is making a great recovery. She got the "Waterfall" which I fell for and tried to steal. The game kept going, and I thought we were going to end up with a dud, but Krista made a trade with John's wife for a Starbuck's gift card - yay!

Vince was a Yosemite Guide and is very funny. His antics crack up the class.

This is John, always with a "help you" attitude!

The last gift was some very funky rainbow silverware. I think this may have been the "dud". It looks ripe for "re-gifting." Who knows which gift exchange it will go to next?

November 28 to the 12th of December

We began this Thanksgiving with the Turkey Trot 5k.

This was swirling rain! I finished it in about 58 minutes, keep that in mind.

This is my Thanksgiving plate - and I opted for EVERYTHING! Vegan lasagna, squash soup, roasted veg, tofu loaf, and Turkey Breast, one of our contributions (which I cooked)!

We had a great snowfall on December 1. Krista called me from work to lure me outside for photos of the beautiful view! This is a selection from the many I took.













Here is the Christmas Program on the 5th. Krista and the rest of the band played backup for the kids' choir. It sounded great - They have a dynamite music  director!

On the following night, 6th of December, we listened to some terrific holiday jazz. It's the Raymond James Trio (joined by a Sax player on the 6th)!

Raymond has a interesting story: he is the son of Crosby (of Crosby, Nash). He met his father as an adult and they do some writing together.

December 7th. This is the Santa Monica to Venice 5K! I got up very, very early for this race, which I finished in 53:31. My best is 53:03 so it was close! This is just past the finish line where they said "we'll have snow." It was fake snow, from the movies. The real snow was in the hills!

 Here we have on December 8 a Party with one of our support groups, which we have attended since they formed three years ago.  Everyone was decked out for the "ugly sweater" contest. What a wonderful, welcoming group!

 On a walk thru the Claremont Colleges, I encountered a surprise. A substantial tree had fallen in the rain, in front of one of the  performance auditoriums! 

On my walks, I do 30,000 to 70,000 steps per week.










The following week, December 12, we went to the Claremont Senior Bikers Christmas party. It was packed!
  Our oldest member, Jim, was presented with a special award for Outstanding Contributions to the biker's club.

Black Sky

Oncoming snowstorm around the first of December, 2019

Snow all the way down to the foothills this year!

California White Sage (Salvia apiana). Lovely silver foliage.  In spring, it will blossom with lovely long wands of white flowers - covered with happy, humming bees of all types.  This is one of those plants that keeps bees so enthralled, they don't even seem to notice passerby.

A Palm tree gazes out toward the snow-dusted mountains. Such diverse landscapes we have, thanks to California's geography!

Exploring DStretch

    My friend Tom and his pals introduced me to an app called DStretch, which helps make faded petroglyphs more visible.
   This is an iPhone photo of a petroglyph at Bandelier National Monument. The interpretive info says this ancient petroglyph was created for a specific ceremony, then plastered over. 
Later, the plaster cover weathered away, exposing the design. The petroglyph itself began to weather, so a protective plastic cover was installed.

Here is the same photograph, after processing it with the DStretch app on the iPhone. The intensity of the pigment has increased.

This is the initial DStretch view of the same photo, but on a PC computer (CRBG).  More striking than the iPhone result!

This is a slightly redder version.

Here is a browner view.

 A well-preserved petroglyph on display at the Visitor Center.  (Unedited with DStretch)

 And the PC DStretch view.  I'm still learning what the colors indicate, and which colors are best for revealing different aspects of the various petroglyphs.  Great for petroglyph detectives and researchers, professional or amateur!

This petroglyph photo, nicknamed "Spaceship and Alien," was snapped at Petroglyphs National Monument.  Its faded portions, just visible, might be enhanced with the use of Dstretch, too!