Fair Weather

I got the opportunity to volunteer at the American Red Cross (National Capital Area chapter) display at the Montgomery County Fair. I have been a Disaster Instructor since 2002? (somewhere around there), and have been known to help out with the occasional Public Affairs task.

The weather was surprisingly lovely, not the typical August sauna we have around these parts. It took me right back to my underspent youth, eating things that are incredibly bad for you, then riding probably safe carnival rides. Ah, those were the days.

From ARC at MoCo Fair

The view of the display was before we were evicted from the Fire Department's booth and exiled to the vendor area (the "Chilly Mall" - although it was cooler outside). I think it was fairly ridicuolus for the fire officials to get all shirty about us being there. We were told that we could come - we wouldn't have been there otherwise. But whatever, a lot of folks are getting preparedness information.

By the way - are YOU prepared for a disaster?

Cherry Parfait

One of the things you'll notice pretty quickly is that roses are my favorite flowers. A trait I shared with my dear Grandpa, who also gave me my occasional Southern drawl.

The snaps were taken at Brookside Gardens on 03 Aug 2008. It's one of the better gardens around, and one that I can afford to go to (yes, it's free).

These are of a Cherry Parfait rose display. I love roses like this - that start out one color, and end up something else.

On small problem is that I haven't figured out an easy way to get my EXIF data (the techmical stuff like shutter speed) from Picasa to Blogger yet. Something to work on...

Welcome!

I've got to admit, I've never been particularly good at introductions. I'm definitely not good at introducting myself... so I guess it's good that "a picture is worth a thousand words," isn't it? With that, I should have War and Peace in no time.

The pictures I'll be posting are little pieces of me, both the mundane and important parts of my life. I'll try and show how my images reflect me and how their creation affects me. Maybe they will affect other people too... we'll have to wait and see.

My hope is that with my practice and your feedback, I have a shot at getting better at this photography thing. And if I can become a better writer as well, that's an added bonus. I welcome comments, both kind and challenging. I'll do my best to respond, whether I agree with you or not. I don't welcome trolls, so if you don't have something useful to say, well... bugger off, then.

I'm currently using a Kodak DX7590 as my camera. It was a Christmas gift from my Dear Husband a few years ago, and I've been using it ever since. You'll see my "digital Brownie" in a later post...

With that - let's begin.