Time And Video

I have been trying to get caught up with photos from my latest adventures but also thought I would give you a look at what I have been up to that slowed me down as I worked on them.

Some of you are aware I have a You Tube Channel that I use to host the videos I present on this and another site. You Tube has started a feature that allows you to create an introduction video for your channel. After putting up over 30 videos (not a huge number but a lot for me) I finally decided to put up an intro video so that viewers had a chance to understand my channel and maybe decide to look around.

I will confess that while I love doing video, I subscribe to the school of thought that wants to get beyond putting up a raw unfinished product, and so... it takes me a little while to put one together. One (wo)man shops usually work that way. But I hope you like what I've done and the channel intro is provided below.

Now to just find the time to upload my pictures from a recent Feather Horse festival. 

Hope this picture increases your patience while you wait...

Christmas in January...Oh My!

I know I have been away, and was shocked to discover just how long (since October). I started a new adventure: doing a podcast and was surprised how much time had been sucked up getting the project going. It was suppose to be so simple, 10 to 12 minute segments. how much time could it take. boy was I wrong.

Just before Christmas I decided to wander around St Augustine to take photos because there are always wonderful sights in the square during that time of the year. Somehow due to the events of the season I forgot taking them. So here I am in January discovering the photos that were so pleasant I decided to go ahead and post them anyway. As usual click each photo for a better view. 

The little podium that sits in the middle of the Square was all decked out. With just a few items they were able to transform it into the spirit of the season.

Just behind the podium was this wonderful Christmas tree that several kids stopped by to shake the presents. Despite being out in the open, it almost felt like you were in someone's living room and Santa had made an early stop.

A close up of one of the ornaments was a great treat. It sat on the podium and you can just make out the poinsettia behind it and the Christmas lights just below it. 

I ran into this flower on a side street as I wandered around the city and could not resist taking a photo. I never seem to get over my wonder coming from a cold climate that in the middle of winter in Florida flowers still bloom.

City Hall was part of the light show. It always holds good memories for me because the Lightner Museum, one of my favorite places, is in the upper levels and government offices occupy the lower section. There were several people like me waiting for the sun to go down to take photos. I was even asked to take a picture of someone with his camera. Imagine that!

But the event we were all waiting for did not disappoint. As the sun slowly went down, the entire square lit up with what seemed like a million Christmas lights that lined the trees, the street, and every inch of greenery. I never grow tired of the spectacle of it all each year. 

So you see why I couldn't bring myself to file these photos away. January, is still a great time to experience a little wonder.

Dragon Boat Racing: A Rising Team Sport

 I've seen Dragon boats before and enjoyed the colorful nature of the boats gliding across the water in exotic places in Asia. But, I was surprised to learn that it is now one of the fastest growing sports here in America and a race was being held in my city. I always welcome a chance to get a little sun and if I am able to take along the camera, then it really becomes something special. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

I arrived at the Jacksonville Landing to find the various teams in arm straining practice on the St Johns River as they prepared for their specific race. Watching the groups it became easy to understand why the sport is growing... it is work that is just plain F-U-N. Their I said it, the magic word: fun!

Unlike rowing in the Olympics, Dragon Boat racing does not require loads of experience, and getting together once or twice a week allows people to interact with others, develop stroke rhythm,  and most important group spirit. Throw in a touch of whimsy as coxswains can have all manner of headdress and I could see myself laughing with each stroke.

Competitions have taken place annually for more than 20 centuries in parts of China, but dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning in Hong Kong in 1976. Little by little the sport has spread over this country as more people like me are drawn to the team/fun aspect. I noticed several companies have gotten into the act and developed their own teams

If your team did pretty good in your competition, a line of congratulation was formed to high-five  each member for their work in the effort. I really liked this team. They really had spirit.

They had a pretty great Coxswain headdress as well. 

There were trophies that made the heart pound for the more competitive,

and champagne toasts for the group that stuck together to enter the race. 








There is so much to love about the sport...

especially when you consider it was a beautiful day, that offered a chance to ride down the St Johns River, under your own steam with a group of friends.

A Mandelbrot Set

I have written in the past about my love of fractals and always welcome the chance to illustrate my latest find. I ran into this YouTube video that is simply amazing and could not resist showing it. The complexity of such simplicity is amazing. Keep in mind as you watch the figures flow that each movement is a mathematical formula that is ever shifting.

I stumbled upon it while looking for something else (isn't that always the way) and was taken by the work involved . I think you will be too.

The Mayor of Hemming Park

It's easy to not see people who are homeless because to see them reinforces our own worst fears regarding health, safety, and the sometimes fragile nature of our own lives. Despite our desire to avoid, we encounter them in cities large and small and sometimes wonder what caused them to fall off life's highway and end up homeless. The reasons are numerous from drugs, mental health issues, or financial set backs; but once there, it is ever so hard to climb back out of the hole that homelessness becomes.

 Every city has an area where the homeless congregate and for my town it is Hemming Plaza. It is a park in the heart of the city which rests in front of all places City Hall. The park itself harkens back to a time when downtown was bustling but has fallen on hard times because for the most part it is now a place for the homeless to watch the day flow by. My photography group decided to do a give back project and hand out personal hygiene products to people in the park while doing street scene shots in the area. An interesting way to watch the day flow by for photographers.

I encountered Roy, who I call the Mayor of Hemming Plaza, because he was personable, and seemed to go out of his way to help the other men who frequent the park. I didn't ask for a story of how he ended up homeless and he didn't feel the need to provide one. It is what it is as the saying goes, and we bonded over stories of the different cities he had drifted through which made for good conversation.

He went into the grim details of the dance involved in living on the street and bouncing from shelter to shelter while working odd jobs to maintain a small day to day existence. Gaining a foothold was a difficult task even sometimes when he had money in his pocket. He didn't mention the mental processes he went through to one day decide no matter the challenges he was determined to get off the street, but one day it simply came to him.

He mentioned he was a military vet and used that as an opening for temporary shelter and later began to build on the sense of stability that provided. He ultimately was able to get a little place with a bed, a few

pieces of furniture, a TV, and his prized possession a refrigerator. Simple things by normal standards but for him the act of being able to take a shower when he felt like it, watch a TV show, or walk over to get a snack from his "box" without having to depend on anyone else, were major accomplishments. 

He still does odd jobs to support himself and enjoys his little creature comforts, but in between the lines I could hear that the pull of the street is still strong despite it's struggles. The way he describes it you just know that Roy fights an ongoing battle to stay off the street. Returning from time to time to Hemming Plaza I guess is his way of scratching that itch. 

I was glad my group had chosen this project because it opened my eyes in a number of ways. That fact alone allows me to say:  The next time you encounter a homeless person before you turn away, put yourself in his shoes. I say that because Roy is a small success story that is still being written.