Pam's Week 26: Fireworks Emulating Heaven, Til There are No Stars Any More...

Anyone who knows me very well at all will know that I have been a huge fan of the Tragically Hip since my old friends and KMart colleagues, Chris and Leigh, introduced them to me back in the Up to Here days.  I have seen them about 11 times, from small bars in Grand Rapids, MI to huge outdoor festivals in Chicago and Winnipeg, the 2 millenium shows in Toronto, and everything in between.  As soon as I read that fireworks was one of this week's topics (and you may recall that Sharon tricked me and I thought it actually belonged last week), this song popped into my head and hasn't left.  I know that my kids are more familiar with the Katy Perry song "Firework" but that just wouldn't do for me.

This is the first week in a long time that I didn't totally procrastinate and run out the night before the end of the week and attempt to cram in a bunch of photos.  That being said, I was out and about yesterday thinking I was all done when I suddenly realized that I was still missing one of the topics.  Oopsie.  It probably was a good thing that I didn't procrastinate as we were wanting for clear skies and sunshine all week again.  On the plus side - the grass is green...

Anyways, here we go....

Red and White

All the way back from Mount Pleasant last weekend, I pointed out all the nice red barns against the bright white clouds and thought I should stop and take a photo of one of them in an attempt to have something less obvious as my red and white photo but alas, it didn't happen.  So, possible the most obvious red and white possible - our flag.

I also took this photo of my kids yesterday during the brief hour we braved the cold to attend our local Canada Day festivities.  It's more red than white since Danica needed to leave her coat on for fear of frostbite on July 1st...

Pattern

This is the photo I essentially forgot about.  I had taken some pattern photos earlier in the week, however, they were all in nature and since "abstract in nature" was a topic for next week, I felt like I should try to do something different.  Unfortunately, my attempts were not too successful.

One of our oldest streets used to be cobblestone at the south end of it for most of my childhood (and obviously before that).  Recently, they repaved the road but used the cobblestones for crosswalks.  I thought it could be a cool pattern.  Maybe I should have parked my car, braved the rain, and tried for some different angles.

Speed

Somehow when I read this topic, I automatically assumed this meant fast speed.  Fast is one of next week's topics though so perhaps slow would have been another acceptable interpretation of speed.  That's not how I interpreted it though so you may have to look at two similar fast pics in a row!

Boat

This was another topic I thought of taking last weekend while en route to Mount Pleasant.  Mackinaw City and all those other small little Michigan towns seem to have some of the biggest boats I've ever seen.  They are likely more yacht-like than boat but it still would have worked, I'm sure.  We didn't end up stopping near the lake though so that never happened.  Instead, I took pictures of some of the boats around Topsail Island while out walking and photographing with Sharon the other day.  We really liked how the sunlight was reflecting in the rippled water (she may have a similar photo as she was taking some too but I haven't read her blog yet so I'm not sure).

Q

Do you realize how difficult it is to find "Q" in an unexpected place?  Or at all, for that matter.  Sharon and I walked around Bellevue Park turning our heads in all sorts of ways to try to find something remotely resembling a Q.  Then I saw a Dairy Queen cup on the ground and pictured it with a spoon angled properly and decided I could recreate that at home.  This is a pineapple pie I'd made for Father's Day but it hadn't set properly so it still sat, with it's friends, in my freezer.

Not completely convinced I would use that photo, I relied on my old and lately neglected friend, Google, and almost slapped myself.  You see, while Sharon and I were at the park, I saw this chain and tried to make it work as a Q, never actually looking at the rings themselves in this manner...

Now, I made this black and white, as I did with the pattern photo above as well, so I'm not sure why they show up in the folder as such but then reverted to colour when I put them in the blog.

Fireworks

Finally we have the "magic topic".  That would be the topic that matches the title of the blog post.  I have to admit that these photos were taken last week at the National Indigenous People's Day as we arrived too late and the fireworks ended up being set off too far away from where we were standing for me to get any decent photos.

Wildcard

Funnily enough, this seems to be the topic I am struggling with the most these days.  Maybe it's partially because the weather has sucked so we haven't really done anything out of the ordinary or gone anywhere interesting, but I have been having a difficult time thinking of something new and creative to do for this topic.

Geese in the river in front of the bridge at sunset...

Danica and her friend, Sophie, in front of their cabin at summer camp.

It's funny actually because as we were packing her up ready to go, Danica kept expressing her reservations about going this year.  She ended up loving it last year, but she went the same week as Duncan so she felt somehow safer and protected.  I told her she would have to show Sophie the ropes, thinking it would make her feel better as this is Sophie's first year at this camp.  She kept saying she wasn't sure she wanted to go any more.  Then we arrive and she happily takes the bed under Sophie's and the two of them go running off with their counselor without even a goodbye to us!  We had to call them back for hugs and kisses and a quick photo.

Hopefully the weather is more cooperative this week.  I'd hate for it to rain all week when she's at camp but I am also selfishly hoping for some sunshine for myself and my own motivations!  I am also hoping for sunshine for all of you as well as I am not completely selfish!

Sharon's Week 26: But not a real green dress, that's cruel

So is everybody singing the Barenaked Ladies song now?  My weekend has been filled with music...not so much photography but a lot of music.  I am at my friends' in Timmins and we spent Friday evening listening to a huge variety of music on Apple Music, enjoying songs from the Canada 150 playlist along with favourties we came up with as we went along.  It was so much fun (especially the If I Had A Million Dollars song) and it made me wonder why the heck I don't listen to music more often myself.

Yesterday we spent at the Stars and Thunder festival grounds listening to some great artists perform, visiting with friends and enjoying the most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen (and probably will ever see).  This was the final day of an eight day event which had some pretty big name musicians (David Wilcox, Sass Jordan, April Wine, Hedley and many others) come to this small city and with a nightly fireworks competition (which unfortunately had to be cancelled on three nights due to winds going in the wrong direction and spewing embers onto the crowds).  I came only for the Canada Day extravaganza.  I saw Sons of Maxwell (the lead singer is a real cutie), Johnny Reid (awesome Scottish accent) and Keith Urban (who won my heart even though he is fairly country and I DO NOT like country music except the stuff my dad sings).  The truth about Keith Urban is that he looked really good in his t-shirt 😁.  And he gave Carla's friend's son his signed guitar while he was wandering around in the crowd.  What a night that boy had!

The fireworks were the program from the Ukrainian team that was cancelled earlier in the week.  It was so unbelievably beautiful and the music that it was set to added so much.  I was not able to photograph it because no cameras were allowed in the park at any time.  Security was so tight, they stripped the camp chairs that everybody had of their carrying bags looking for contraband food and who-knows-what-else.  On a side note, no outside food or drink was allowed and yet the food lines were hours long.  Carla, Paul and Colleen waited for an hour and 45 minutes for food for our group and that was considered short when compared with some others.

Since I worked longer hours all week in order to leave early to drive to Timmins on Friday, I didn't get out with the camera.  I wasn't worried, thinking that I could certainly get a lot of interesting photos at the Canada Day festivities.  When I arrived and Carla told me that Friday's fireworks had already been cancelled then that no cameras were allowed in the venue, I gave up all hope of completing this week.  I have just barely enough photos and none extra to fill the pages of my project photobook.

red and white

Carla, her daughter Mya and her mom June all decked out before heading to the park.  Mya prefers the first photo and I like the smiles in it best but I like the composition of the second photo much better.  I couldn't decide which one to use so I am including both.

pattern

This is the reflection of the mast of a sailboat in the water.

speed

I donated about a litre of blood to some mosquitoes and black flies along the side of Highway 17 on Friday in order to get this photo.  I would have liked to stay longer to have more variety to choose from but I couldn't do it...waiting for more interesting vehicles and having better luck with positioning in the frame was just not possible.  Mya said I had to use this photo...even though the vehicle is cut off, she likes it best.

a boat

Thankfully, Bellevue Park has a marina.

Q

I personally think that this looks like a fancy sort of Q where the stick runs along the bottom rather than through the circle.  You may not agree but it's my party.  I also had a brainwave and photographed my friend Carol's motorcycle (the front wheel with the fork thing that attaches it to the rest of the bike looks like a Q but again, Mya prefers this one so it's the one I am using.  This one is more colourful anyway.

fireworks

😢

Like I said, they were outstanding but I didn't have access to my camera and tripod.  I will photograph the American fireworks on Tuesday night and include a photo next week.  This photo was taken with my phone and in no way does it do the display any sort of justice.

wild card

I am so short on photos this week.  This was one of my attempts at a Q, thinking that the stem and bud below the daisy would be like the stick part.  Didn't work out but will sub in as my wild card this week.

Here is a photo (not mine) of what the crowd looked like from behind.

Not sure how much you can see there but Keith is looking good in his t-shirt.

Pam's Week 25: Strawberry Fields Forever

Oh, what a week.  I'm not really sure what it was but it just seemed like there was not nearly enough time all week to do what I needed to get done.  I would blame Sharon for making me stay up past my bedtime 3 nights in a row but I don't think it's entirely her fault.  I think part of it is just all the activities winding down in anticipation of summer.  Now if only the weather would cooperate....

I should warn you in advance that I am not overly thrilled with some of my photos this week.  Some of the problems were with inspiration but I think execution just ended up being the biggest problem.  I ran out of time so just shoved some pictures into the topics even though I really wanted to retake them.  Some of them were taken the wrong week as Sharon tricked me into taking Fireworks photos with her this week when it's actually next week's topic.  Anyways, without further ado...

I'm going to put the photos a little out of order this week.  As Sharon pointed out - it's my project and I can do what I want to!  (Did you read that in song?  That's how I wrote it!)

Starts with X

Obviously the first words that came to my mind were also x-ray, xylophone, x-acto knife, x-rated.  I then had an a-ha moment - xenophile:  a person who is attracted to foreign people, cultures, or customs.  I decided this could describe Robert and I but with his crazy schedule these days, there were no opportunities to take a photo of the two of us.  This week, though, a guy my brother went to Sunday school and maybe highschool with a number of years ago was visiting with his 2 kids.  His family was here a couple of Christmases ago and our kids got along really well.  His kids were excited to see mine again so we got together on Thursday night.  The plan was to try Disc Golf but Mother Nature thwarted those plans so instead we headed to McDonald's and then onto Elliot's Ice Cream.

These kids are all the products of xenophilia.  My kids exist because a Canadian woman and a Filipino man fell in love.  Kenji and Kaede have a Canadian father and a Japanese mother.

Silhouette

This ended up being more of a semi-silhouette but Sharon assured me that is a thing.  Just so you know - getting Riya to sit and stay while I squat in front of her and point a camera at her is no easy feat.  Multiple treats were involved in the making of this photo.

And yes she was sitting atop a picnic table to get her high enough to make the photo work.

A Field

Since the title song kept floating into my head every time I read the topic list, I decided taking a photo of a strawberry field should be my goal for the week.  Last night after dropping Danica off at her Brownies campout, I decided I should head to Thomson's Strawberry Farm on my way to Sharon's for Games (aka Blah Blah Blah) Night.  The problem - on the way to Danica's campout location, I picked up a large drink at McDonald's and proceeded to drink it.  As I arrived back in town, I contemplated stopping somewhere to use a bathroom but decided I could hold it.  I drove all across town, still thinking I should stop but didn't really want to, and to the farm.  I got out of the car to take a couple of photos but quickly decided one of them would have to do as there did not appear to be any place I could cop a squat and relieve myself and I was heading towards an accident.  As soon as I arrived at Sharon's, I jumped out of the car, ran past her and into the bathroom (thankfully Levi got out quickly as he heard my desperation as I explained to Sharon why I was being so rude).  It took me much longer than the 8 seconds Sharon has informed me a woman's pee should always be...

I thought I wanted one without the buildings but I liked the blue sky and white fence in this one.  (Geez - this was the first one I took - I could have saved myself some pain had I jumped back in the car right here!)

Swirl

It was clear to me that this had to be a photo of ice cream.  Luckily Sharon had a birthday and therefore needed an ice cream date to celebrate.  This is one of the photos that I imagined quite differently.  It lost something in execution but ice cream isn't particularly forgiving and sometimes you just have to make do...

Jump

As we dropped Duncan off at my parents' last night en route to Danica's campout, I made Danica get out of the car and jump a little for me.  I'm not going to lie and pretend I spent loads of time trying to get this to work.  As soon as I got a photo of her in mid-air, we were on our merry way.  Looking at it now, I realize that it's blurry and I should have tried again but I am now kid and dog-less and now about to take jumping selfies...

Bark

Yet again, I thought my idea was brilliant, my execution, not so much.  I decided to take a photo of Riya barking.  Did you realize how quickly a dog's mouth opens and closes during a bark and how difficult it is, at least with a point and shoot automatic camera, to capture that movement?

Wildcard

I have the same creepy ship in the fog and the rolling fog photos as Sharon but decided to go with this one instead.  It was taken out at Pointe Des Chenes as we searched for silhouettes.  I liked the bright orange tree in the middle of all the green, the reflections in the water, and the lilypads.  I just wish the blue sky showed up properly and didn't white out.

And that is all for this week.  Now I should go shower as we will be leaving shortly to head to Mount Pleasant to see Journey.  I'm just a small town girl.....he's a city boy.....we aren't going to Stop Believin'!

Sharon's Week 25: There Are So Many Colours In The Rainbow

Today, John would have been 26.  In honour of this, his first birthday since his tragic and unexpected death in October, a tribute.

My title is a lyric from the Harry Chapin song, Flowers Are Red.  The gist of the story, you can see from the chorus below, is about a boy who thinks outside the box.  It suited John perfectly.

Teacher:

Flowers are red, young man

And green leaves are green

There is no need to see flowers any other way

Than the way they always have been seen

Little boy:

There are so many colours in the rainbow

So many colours in the morning sun

So many colours in the flower

And I see every one

Pete spent a lot of time planning the music for John's funeral and this was the final song.  I had never heard it before but I listen to it all the time now...never without tears.

John was that little boy.  He didn't fit into any boxes...the educational system had trouble figuring him out, his family had trouble figuring him out and sadly at times, John had trouble figuring himself out.  Despite the societal brick walls that don't bend for people who see the world differently, John grew into a brilliant, creative, caring and unselfish young man.

I wish we had more time together, John.  I realize, too late, that I could have learned a lot from you.

About the photos, I wanted to make this blog as colourful as possible in light of my title.  I was limited by some of the topics but I did my best to see all of the colours of the rainbow.

I'll begin with my most colourful photo of the week...

swirl

I got out the light table, glass pyrex dish and food colouring again (thanks to Donna for suggesting that last year).  I had fun and made a lot of photos but wow, the flaws that show up on the computer screen...little tiny bubbles that settled on the glass, tiny cat hairs that floated into the water and small imperfections in the glass were invisible to the eye but magnified to immense proportions on the computer.  I did some corrections in Lightroom but that was tedious and since they are only for my use, I let many of them be.  Here is my favourite swirl.  I'll put several more at the end of this post if you want to have a look.

a field

I thought of more lupins but between last week and this week, they passed their prime and anyway, we saw lots of lupins in last week's post.  Here is a small part of a large field of daisies on the side of the road where the Fort Creek section of the Hub Trail meets Third Line.

silhouette

On Monday evening, Pam and I headed out to Pointe Des Chenes for sunset (we were out past my bedtime!).  There wasn't a lot to put in front of the colourful sky for a silhouette and I wasn't happy with anything I got so on Wednesday evening (after ice cream and before my birthday fireworks) Pam and I headed to the locks.  The sun sets behind the steel plant and I hoped for something there.  The sky was gorgeous but I only got semi-silhouettes again (I have been trying for four years now).  I adjusted this a bit in Lightroom to make it more fully silhouetted.

Funny story, we had to cross the train tracks from the train bridge to get where I wanted to go and while we were up there, a train decided to come.  We were stuck on the wrong side of the tracks after sunset, surrounded on three sides by water with no place to go, me without a jacket and with time running out before the fireworks would start (it turns out that even though it was a long train, we had plenty of time to get to a fireworks-watching spot because they were soooooo late - again, I was up past my bedtime).  What do you do when you're stuck with nowhere to go?  Take a picture of course.

starts with X

I have to credit my brilliant son for this idea.  Levi kindly helped me think of words other than xylophone, x-ray and Xerox.  He told me that xenon gas is used in neon lights so I set out in search of purple neon lights (apparently neon is a general term and the type of gas used affects the colour of the light).  I like this sign.  It has no xenon but it has personality.  Oh, yeah, I was up, yet again, past my bedtime that night!

This sign is on the side of Wacky Wings.  The word "crossing" is pale purple in real life but it doesn't show very purple in the photo.  Take my word for it or head to Wacky Wings on Lake Street for dinner and check it out.

jump

Levi wouldn't help out with this.  I didn't think you'd really want to see Smaug's food (live crickets) jumping in their container and I didn't have the courage to ask kids at the skatepark if I could photograph them.  When I was at Maxine's having my elbow taped, I asked her to help me think outside the box.  Instead of doing that, she volunteered to  jump off a swing for me.  We headed to the park behind her house.  The people there with their kids were four teachers that I work with and they thought it was pretty funny.   Now, teachers across the Sault will think that OTs are weird.  Thank you Maxine!

bark

This birch tree with the shadow caught my eye while we were at Pointe Des Chenes.

wild card

I've got a few.  Let's start with my birthday fireworks (officially Aboriginal Day - soon to be Indigenous Peoples Day - fireworks, but we all know they were for me 😁).

And we have the creepy ship in fog.

And we have the coolest fog ever!  Look at how it is floating in waves.

Here are some more of the swirly photos.

And now, just because it is my Friday off and I can, I am heading for a nap 😊.

Pam's Week 24: Don't Just Stand There, Bust a Move

There were so many songs that popped into my head for this week's post.  Sharon stole the line "I like to move it, move it" but there was also "Swing low, sweet chariot" and a 1992 favourite, "All I wanna do in zoom-zoom-zoom-zoom and a boom-boom" from Wreckx N-Effects "Rumpshaker".  Anyone who knows me well, though, knows that "Bust a Move" is my jam.  I know all the lyrics, it's a tune guaranteed to get me on the dance floor and I even have a shirt with the lyrics to one of the verses on it.  Clearly, it was a no-brainer.

This has been quite a week.  It started out beautifully with my accidentally stumbling across the perfect photo for one of the topics when I took Danica and her friend, Ila to the park last Sunday afternoon.  I was sure this was going to be the week where all my photos were done ahead of time and not left to the last minute.  Boy, was I mistaken.  I had googled some ideas for one of the topics but never got around to attempting to execute it until last night.  Some of the others required a photography dictionary as I really didn't understand what effect I was trying to achieve.  To make a long story short, Sharon texted me yesterday to invite me lupins stalking with her and essentially acted as my tutor and dictionary and helped me take most of the pictures.  Maybe my mom will be happy to know that I didn't just procrastinate while she was paying for my education; it's a life trait!

Between last night and today, I have spent approximately 8 hours organizing and cleaning the playroom, including steam cleaning the area rug (thanks Dad!).  I want to get started on my room and cleaning out my closet but felt like taking a moment to write and post this blog would give me a much needed break from dust and thinking of how to rearrange and organize things.

Usually I try to post the pictures in the order they are listed on the schedule but I'm going to shake things up a bit today.  I thought maybe I would start with my first photo taken this week as it may still be my favourite, and not just because it features my daughter...

Swings

I honestly was trying to think of alternative meanings for the word in order to be more creative but since this blog is PG, I thought taking a photo of swingers would be frowned upon.  Besides, where would I find swingers willing to pose?  There are many rumours of people who do such things in town but I'm not about to ask any of them if it's true and if I can document it with photos.  The thought makes me a little sick, actually.

Luckily Danica and Ila wanted me to push them while they were on this swing and I just couldn't help but whip out my phone to take a picture of the two of them.

These girls are seriously the cutest.  They have been friends for about 5 years now, which is an accomplishment when you're only 8.  They met at preschool and were basically the first friend each other ever made on their own (as in not family friends).  They've been in the same class ever since and even their teachers comment on what a refreshingly nice friendship it is, especially for girls as the girl drama starts so young these days.

Zoom In

You wouldn't believe how relieved I was to learn that this topic was just as simple as it sounds - zoom in on something.  I do this all the time!  I can do this!

While we were at the lupins last night, there were dragonflies and huge bumble bees that were flying among and landing on the lupins.  After waiting patiently for far too long, one bee finally cooperated and started taking the nectar from lupins that were nearby.  I've included two as I like the clarity of the bee and how you can see his wings in the first photo but I like how he's flying towards the lupins in the second.

Motion Blur - Object

Yep, this is the topic I needed translating and tutoring for.  Apparently Sharon was thinking there would be a nice breeze that would make the lupins move nicely and allow me to capture some nice motion blur.  Unfortunately, for the first time ever it seems, the air was still with nary a wind to be found.  Sharon then thought if I slowed my shutter speed and opened my aperture as far as it would go (I think that's what we were doing), I might get some nice blur; that failed miserably as too much light was allowed in with my limited aperture opening and I just ended up with white.  Not to be defeated, Sharon then pulled out her tripod and using her good shoulder (but bad elbow), she helped me set up my camera and proceeded to create lupin movement that I attempted to capture as blur.  Who knew this was so difficult?  I thought I was good at blurry photos!

S

I was just telling Sharon how I envisioned scroll work in an s-shape and voila - one appeared on the post outside someone's house in Echo Bay.  We stopped and in spite of feeling rather self-conscious standing in a stranger's driveway, snapping photos, I took a couple and then deciding the view from the reverse side would be better, I snapped another.  I then, of course, had to figure out how to flip it as I am no longer a young child who is making her 's's backwards still.

Peeling Paint

Like Sharon, I had an image of multiple layers of paint peeling back or at least an interesting looking peel but it was not to be found.  Reality was actually just fading paint or lots of rust, not at all how I pictured it.  Then I remembered that our front post is in desperate need of repainting and with Sharon's help holding back our overgrown burning bush, I found proof that we need to repaint the post.  I liked the effect of the black and white with the accent colour of the petunia.

Citrus

This is the topic I had googled for ideas and finally tried  to execute last night.  It didn't work out as I'd planned.  My microplane thing wouldn't slice through the lemon or lime skin and I couldn't slice it thin enough by hand.  I am also not blessed with a light table like Sharon so tried to create one using the glass out of a picture frame and a flashlight.  I should have gone ahead with the joke photo I'd sent Sharon earlier in the week of one of my other LCBO purchases a couple of Fridays ago.

Wildcard

This afternoon I decided to take Riya for a walk at Hiawatha as I love this part of the Pinder trail and I needed a wildcard photo and figured it would at least be something different for once.  I forgot, however, to bring bug spray and the mosquitos were out in full force.  I also realized I needed to pee and was not wanting to try out my "Whoa, Bear, I'm a human" line out in reality and had visions of getting lyme disease (thanks, Maxine).  Needless to say, the walk was much shorter than anticipated.

I was also kind of happy with how this lupins photos turned out so decided to include it here too when it could have counted as "zoom in".

Just a rather interesting aside (or I thought it was anyways), when looking through my lupins photos, I realized that I caught a spider on one of the lupin petals when attempting to catch the bee.  I hadn't realized it when I took the picture yesterday.

I guess I've been procrastinating long enough now, though, and should return to cleaning my room and closet.  Wish me luck!  Have a great week!