The Many Hats of Debi Cates

Conversation with a Camera

2011-03-24T07:49:00.000-06:00

Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.
~Henri Cartier-Bresson

The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.
~Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching

Taking photos has become integral to how I experience life.

For some years I have been on a quest to learn how to take pictures I like. The technical and creative lessons have paled compared to what I have learned. I’ve learned how to listen in on the conversation of Now.

The act of picking up my camera starts a ritual. Holding my camera in my hands silences chatty inner voices. I focus. I listen. It is then I can begin to hear the quiet stories that are being lived out around me.

I once listened to the short story of a dead beetle at my feet. I’ve listened to the dramatic tales of seeds on voyages far from home. I’ve heard the synchronized breaths of a boy and his horse, both so young as to have not yet forgotten the art of conversing with Now. I’ve heard a whole chapter in the gesture of an old man touching the place of a missing button on his shirt.

Through my camera, I’ve learned to listen much like the way my camera sees, giving attention to that which is, to welcome those vanishing, unexpected things.

Later, I look back at a photo I took and can recall the sun that hid in and out of the clouds on that particular morning. I remember my dog’s nose on my neck as I knelt to get close to a small flower. In the outer edges of the image, I recognize that unnameable sense of loss I carried and struggled to let go of that day.

The photo, even a thousand photos are still just a fraction of the conversation. When I look at a wildflower photo a year later, what I see most is myself now, different and transformed by those topics then.

Perhaps we naturally love photos, not only for their artistry, but because we recognize them as hints of the ongoing conversation we are all having with Time.

And the real beauty is that Now is always the subject.

This is an article I wrote as a guest last month for Kris Cahill's blog, where she featured "communication" as the month's theme.

Day trip to Stanton, Texas

2011-01-30T15:33:00.000-06:00

Cotton...all picked
Near Stanton, Texas

Yesterday, my daughter Audrey and I did a little daytrippin' to nearby Stanton, Texas. Stanton is "home of 3000 friendly people and a few old soreheads."

We took in the courthouse, the old jail, the 1883 adobe monastery, two cemeteries, the downtown where they hold their Old Sorehead trade days. We would have liked to have dined at the old drugstore with the real soda fountain, but sadly it's closed on weekends.

We wound our indirect way home on Farm to Market roads.

Click to see more photos from that day on Flickr.

Making new friends, 21st century style

2011-01-27T20:00:00.001-06:00

Pillow from Sue S.
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 27 2011

For dinner a couple of evenings ago, I got to meet — live and in person — a Facebook friend, Sue from Austin. We had ourselves a hoot and probably had other diners wondering about all our hand movements and outrageous laughter.

Besides having an interesting job with the Texas Historical Commission, she is quite the crafter. She calls all the knitting, sewing, basket-making, and crocheting she does, "My Other Life." I squealed when she gave me this quilted pillow cover. It was her gift as part of the game a group of us are playing in Facebook, Pay it Forward 2011 where we give one another something we make ourselves.

Cool, huh?

If you haven't "friended" me yet on Facebook yet, I hope you will.

I know what it is now

2011-01-25T22:43:00.001-06:00

Greenthread aka Hopi Tea seed head, Thelesperma spp.
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 13 2011

One of my goals has been to be able to identify winter forms of plants I love and know so well in summer. This particular dried seed head used to be a mystery to me. What an unusual structure don't you think? And no wonder I couldn't identify it; it looks unlike its summer self.

Mr C is now Three

2011-01-23T19:09:00.000-06:00

Mr C is now Three
Odessa, Texas. Jan 22, 2011

Celebrated the little man's birthday yesterday. Among his gifts was a box of band-aids. All for himself. ;)

Thatsa big acorn

2011-01-22T16:53:00.001-06:00

Burr oak acorn
Odessa, Texas. Jan 20, 2011

I love these big acorns. I like the frilly edges too. And according to this site, a burr oak is a good candidate for making acorn meal, with less tannin than other oaks. I've got to remember that next year in the fall.

Granny Square

2011-01-21T22:33:00.000-06:00

Granny's square scan (crochet)
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 21, 2011

Didn't get around to taking a photo today. So instead I scanned! I'm working on a spring coverlet for my bed, not too gaudy, but cheerful.

Free Pumpkin

2011-01-20T17:48:00.000-06:00

Free pumpkin
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 20 2011

While at the Master Gardener's plot yesterday, one of the master gardeners was visiting and tidying up. Someone had left four pumpkins and a bale of hay there. He gave me the pumpkins and he took the hay.

Time to research some recipes. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, but not pumpkin pie! I'm losing weight and I love pie just too darn much.

I'm not real sure how to prepare a real live whole pumpkin from scratch. This ought to be fun.

Fasciation

2011-01-19T21:17:00.000-06:00

Fasciation in a Sophora secundiflora, Texas Mountain Laurel
Time Machine Master Gardener's Garden, Odessa, Texas. Jan 19 2011

This odd fan form is not normal. It's is actually a kind of mutation at the cellular level, caused by a pest, genetics, damage, or other unknown factors. Some plants are prone to fasciation. I've seen it on several different specimens of the Sophora sedundiflora, one of my favorite Texas native trees. I think the form is beautiful. Apparently so do others, especially those gardeners that love, say, the cockscomb flower. Once you start looking for fascinating examples, you too will find fasciations.

West Texas Coral

2011-01-18T19:40:00.000-06:00

West Texas Coral
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 18 2011

Um, yeah, there's not any coral in West Texas. Instead this is an interesting piece of burned plastic I picked up in my wandering around the oil fields.

Soft

2011-01-17T23:56:00.000-06:00

Soft
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 17 2011

Something I brought home from East Texas. Today it got its portrait taken.

I love this cup

2011-01-15T22:51:00.000-06:00

My desk
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 15 2011

Lately, I have been thinking about my mom, even more than normal. And suddenly I realized, I've been thinking about her since I began using this extra tall, pretty Chinese cup she gave me, a cup she used for a long time. I drink out of it all day long. I love this cup even more since it reminds me of her.

Hm, some hot green tea sounds really good right now.

Red Swingline!

2011-01-14T22:32:00.009-06:00

Red Swingline
Odessa, Texas. Jan 14, 2011

Found this delightful item on the desk of a favorite customer. It is actually orangish-red, but close enough to give me a darn good chuckle. She even marked it with her initials to keep others from taking it! She hasn't seen the movie Office Space, which made me giggle more.

Excuse me. I need to do my coversheet for the TPS report now.

It's Bobble Time again

2011-01-13T21:15:00.000-06:00

It's Bobble Time again
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 13, 2011

It's out of focus, it's grainy, but man I love the composition the dried heads of sunflowers and saw-tooth daisies make in the winter, "bobbles" I look forward to every year.

I'm blogging daily again, part of my 2011 resolution. I'm even going to put up a calendar again at the end of the month. I missed doing those calendars, a visual diary of my days, many of them splendid. Here's hoping your days are splendid and filled with your wintry favorites too.

Ansel the Dog

2011-01-12T18:57:00.003-06:00

Ansel the dog
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 12, 2011

Ansel is named after the famous American photographer Ansel Adams. I named him that because I found him while I was out taking photos one day. That and because he's black and white. He was just a puppy, dumped, scared, starving, with hardly had any life left in him.

Now he's full grown, full of life, and turns out to be one big knucklehead.

He chews my shoes, my glasses, anything I touch and am stupid enough to leave within his reach. He even chewed up the rug I left out for him to sleep on. He has a deep, frightening bark and howls at sirens. He can jump the fence and will chase (to kill) any animal, even a horse. That's why he has to stay on a leash at all times. When I let him inside, he promptly pees on my furniture.

P.S. He licked my camera lens after this photo.

Cleo the Cat

2011-01-11T18:27:00.002-06:00

Cleo the Cat
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 11, 2011

What can I say? She's a cat. She's nice. She was hungry in this picture.

Bundle Up

2011-01-10T19:27:00.000-06:00

Me, bundled up
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 10, 2011

Waited until the absolute warmest part of the day before going for my walk today. It was still quite nippy. Supposed to get down to 14 (F) tonight. That's mighty cold for these parts.

Spring fever

2011-01-09T23:43:00.001-06:00

Yellow wild zinnia (?)
West Odessa, Texas. June 30, 2009

Going through old photos is giving me an early case, a very early case, of Spring Fever.

Bike

2011-01-08T19:22:00.000-06:00

Abandoned bike at my daughter's
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 8, 2011

If I was handy, I'd give this old bike new life. I love the rack on the back.

Garter stitch

2011-01-07T15:23:00.000-06:00

Garter stitch (knitting)
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 06 2011

After finishing this piece last night (it's a gift, so I can't reveal what it is), I got out my older Lumix, the FZ18. I still like its macros better than my newer FZ30.

Souvenirs

2011-01-06T21:45:00.000-06:00

Souvenirs from my afternoon walk
West Odessa, Texas. Jan 5, 2011

Chicken feather
Yucca seeds
Mesquite bean
Four-wing Saltbush seeds
Sawtooth daisy heads (with seeds, without seeds)
Unknown sticks

Memory

2011-01-05T23:26:00.000-06:00

Memory of Mom's woods, December 2010
East Texas

Lichen, beauty berry, crabapple leaves, viburnum berry, crabapples, mossy pine cone, guinea feather, dogwood berries

Crazy

2011-01-04T20:46:00.000-06:00

Crazy plant, November 2010
Along the Pecos River near Imperial, Texas

Still going back through last year's photos. No idea what plant this is! (See this link for a shot of its form)

Crabapples

2011-01-03T23:01:00.003-06:00

Crabapples from Mom's tree
East Texas, December 2010

Adore

2011-01-02T18:11:00.001-06:00

Mom, December 2010
Her woods, East Texas

Spent today going through photos. I meant to make CD archives and to order prints. I didn't get very far. I kept stopping to play with photos I liked, and to admire faces I adore.

Welcome 2011

2011-01-01T23:59:00.001-06:00

My personal pop quiz

2010-11-16T12:45:00.001-06:00

Pop Quiz:

1. Take this moment to dump any thoughts not serving you with love and peacefulness.

2. Think of three things to be profoundly grateful for. Feel gratitude for them.

3. Who is at the wheel? If the direction is wrong, change drivers.

4. What does your body need right now?

5. The past is a fading photograph. The future is a sketch in pencil. Now is your only opportunity for full reality.

For a couple of weeks now, I've been stopping myself several times a day to contemplate these thoughts and questions. What would be your personal pop quiz that would encourage more joy in living?

Photo: On the trail, "Oh! It's a popweed!"

Wednesdays are Recycle Day

2010-07-01T08:46:00.001-05:00

Wednesdays are Recycle Day. The grands love it. Mr. C loves throwing stuff into the right holes and Kit loves the cash from recycling cans.

Remember the embroidered dish towels, the ones that had chores for each day of the week? I'd like to see a green, updated version of them.

Monday: No Meat Day
Tuesday: Declutter Day
Wednesday: Recycle Day
Thursday: Repair Day
Friday: RePurpose Day
Saturday: Farmer's Market Day
Sunday: Family Day

Cooking with Cabbage

2010-06-27T08:45:00.000-05:00

Made with the outer leaves of a head of cabbage, a fun recipe the whole family can enjoy.

Good Dogs. Good Dog Food.

2010-06-25T09:42:00.000-05:00

For Ansel and Dixie. With love.

It's not as cheap as dried dog food, but I think it's a better value for the health and happiness of my dogs. They get dried half the time. Homemade, the other half. (If I were rich, they'd get homemade all the time.)

Basic recipe:
1/3 protein, 1/3 vegetables, 1/3 carb. Sometimes I drizzle some olive oil over it.

This batch:
1 lb fried chicken gizzards
1 lb thawed frozen mixed vegetables
3 cups cooked white rice (brown would probably be better).

Cost:
About 2 bucks, enough for 2 happy, medium-sized dogs for 2 days.

Three Gallon Drought Dish Washing

2010-06-23T10:56:00.008-05:00

Drought Dish Washing at the Debi Cates Home

I enjoy washing dishes. Good thing, too, since I don't have a dishwasher. The machine, non-me kind anyway.

My little house was built probably in the late 40s or early 50s. There are lots of challenges for modern living in an older home, especially one just 800 square feet. I have a heck of a time finding furniture that's sized moderately enough not to look like a gorilla stuffed in a shoebox. And don't get me started on the stingy number of electrical outlets. Thank heaven for power strips because otherwise I'd be writing this blog on a manual typewriter. Then there's the time I tried to install a clothes washing machine in the back add-on room with its badly done peer and beam floor, a funny story for the scrapbook...

Where was I? Oh yes, hand dish washing. You won't find it surprising then that my house does not have a dishwasher installed. Here are five steps I've been perfecting to conserve both water and the energy to heat it, yet to get dishes as clean as humanly (this human) possible.

1. Fill each side of the sink with one gallon of hot water. You read right, just one drought-thrifty gallon per side. And I only do dishes ~~once per day~~ depending on how much I cook but never more than once a day. The third gallon is to pre-rinse while waiting to wash (see hints below). Until this method becomes second nature to me -- it's not yet -- I've been using a pitcher to measure the water.

2. Do not put dish washing soap in the water. Instead I directly squirt my dish scrubber, the round green one in the photo. My daughter crochets these scrubbies out of tulle. They're my favorite, soft enough not to scratch cutlery and strong enough to scrub pots. Not putting a big squirt into the water, I'm using a lot less dish soap. A penny saved is a penny earned.

3. Wash the items that touch your mouth first. I learned this rule from my mother, at the tender dish-washing age of six. That would be your glasses and silverware, the dishes you'd like the most clean, washed while the water is hottest and cleanest.

4. Scrub out of the water. By washing each dish in my hand, not in the sink, I can give it a dunk in the wash side which isn't made wildly soapy by directly washing there. Then ready for the crystal clear rinse in the left side. Doing this also reduces even further the amount of soap I use since my sudsed-up scrubber never goes in the water.

5. Continue washing from cleanest to dirtiest. Common sense, I know. The wash water will get inevitably dirty as you go along, but here are a few things that might help:

Scrape: I use a rubber spatula to scrape plates and bowls, which to my delight gets them as clean as pre-wash possible. For pots and pans, Pampered Chef sells three nylon pan scrapers for $3. They work wonders and will outlast you. I've used the same one for over 15 years and it looks new. Also good for scraping off mooshed-in gunk on floors.
Soak: Between washing, I keep a one gallon mixing bowl by the sink full of water. I pre-rinse dishes in it, or soak things I know will set hard as rock, like eggs and breakfast cereal. On days I'm not lazy, I will even pour that dirty water outside onto the compost bin which in my desert clime, always needs watering.
Grease or Oil: I have a septic tank so am especially aware the bad effect grease has on drains and sewage systems. I haven't yet devised a good method for responsibly disposing of cooking oil since it is one of the things I don't compost. I try to use as little as possible, throwing away used oil in the trash. In any case, not having excess oil or grease on the dishes is helpful.
Pink Cup: I have this one small pink plastic cup, an odd man out. Since I'm not using much water, and when the sink is full of dishes, it's sometimes hard to fully rinse. I use that cup to scoop and pour rinse water when there's not enough room to dunk.

After years of washing dishes with a full, sudsy sink and after years of always rinsing under running hot water, it's a big step for me to perfect washing with less water, less expense, and hopefully less effort to boot.

What hand dish washing hints do you recommend? For those with dishwashers (the non-human kind), feel free to share your best green hints as well.

Top Three Lessons for Shopping at a Farmer's Market

2010-06-19T17:20:00.019-05:00

On Saturday, my daughter, grandkids, and I took our first trip to the Midland Downtown Farmer's Market. Here are the top three things I learned while there.

1. Be friendly.
Everyone is super friendly, even by Texas standards! But I was especially thrilled to see in person Seiko and Hoven of Milagro Farms in Ft. Stockton, Texas.

You see, we had already "met" in a manner of speaking, hanging around some of the same like-minded circles on Facebook, and then friending one another too. From their photos, I've been following along as they've transformed their West Texas family plot with beautiful cacti and rows and rows of healthy food. A photo of Seiko behind a rototiller is quite something to see.

Next time they are in Odessa, Hoven wants us to show them around our thrift stores and I want him to look at the insulation in my attic to see what he'd recommend. You know, real friends and friendly stuff.

2. Bring that extra $20.
I'd suggest you bring a little extra money because you never know what you'll find there that you have been desperately wanting.

Me, I had been searching for locally grown honey for ages. I almost kissed Dave and Marta when I saw their Golden Bouquet Honey. For more than thirty years their bees have been working local wildflowers and mesquite blooms. When offered taste samples, I tried both. They really do taste different! Wildflower honey is robust, rich, whereas the mesquite is delicate and fragrant. Clever bees.

Actually, I wish I had brought two extra $20s, one for each flavor. (It will come as no surprise to my regular blog followers that I went with wildflower honey. $19.50 for a colossal-size jar.)

3. Next time, arrive at 9 a.m. sharp.
The expression "farm fresh" is truly meaningful at a Farmer's Market. The freshest things sell out, even more so if it is the first time they are available. And sad as it might be for tardy buyers, you gotta be glad hard-working folks are succeeding so splendidly.

On the far right is Matt Hanson, aka "Farmer Matt," founder and visionary of MDFM. Currently, he is scouting for even more local farmers to meet the area's growing interest and excitement for local foods. He also invites you hobby gardeners with extra to sell to contact him. And it's not just veggies and fruits, y'all. He's looking for other kinds of local producers, like those who can provide meat, cheese, milk, and eggs for example. Or bakery items, salsas. Anything yummy. If you make it, they will come.

Lastly, I thought you might like to see my reusable produce bag filled with colorful bounty from its inaugural field use. Another Farmer's Market tidbit I observed: most everyone brings their own bags, but in case you forget it's no problem. Everyone there has plenty plastic bags -- don't we all -- saved and brought to use.

A big thanks to Farmer Matt and all the Wonderful Vendors! I'm sorry I couldn't get around to everyone's table to see, smell, and tout your wonderful wares, but rest assured I'll be back for more wholesome goodness.

My first reusable produce bag

2010-06-19T08:10:00.003-05:00

Here is my first reusable produce bag, sewn from materials on hand. The bag is made from nylon wedding tulle, and the drawstring from one ply teased out of a three-ply nylon cord. It is extremely lightweight and is washable. Another plus is it will be convenient for the grocery clerk to see the sticker code for keying it into the register. That's the good news.

The bad news is nylon is plastic. :(

But, like I've been saying over and over again to myself, one must start somewhere and every little bit helps. By using materials I had on hand, no gasoline was burned by shopping. I predict this bag will last a long time, preventing the use and disposal of a hundred of those thin plastic bags from the grocery store.

For my sewing friends, here's a tip on working with net, which is like trying to sew air. For a stabilizer, I used regular paper which I was able to tear away easily when done. Used envelopes, flattened out, would work very well for this purpose.

I used a stitch on my sewing machine that was similar to zig zag, but even more ziggy and zaggy, number 21. I'm sure that won't mean much unless you also have a Brother CS-6000i, so here's a photo (click to see larger).

Today my daughter and I are headed to the Midland Downtown Farmer's Market for the first time! I wish it wasn't 30 miles from here. Still, that's a fraction of the distance most produce must travel to get to my local grocery store, I'm sure.

Time for me to sign off now. I'll be bringing my reusuable shopping bag and this one little produce bag I've sewn so far. :)

Do One Good Thing Today

2010-06-17T11:47:00.007-05:00

Food. It doesn't get much more basic than that.
Government. Sadly it doesn't get much more basic than that, either.

Right now there are two bills going through various stages of the U.S. legislative process, one from the Senate and one from the House. The driving force is ostensibly the government sees a need to make our food safer.

How will they do this? It's the age-old answer. The government solution is to impose difficult and ridiculous one-size-fits-all regulations, but not until they are complete with, ahem, "pork" barrel spending and crazy exemptions.

Who will find this difficult to do? The small American food supplier, like those at Farmer's Markets. These are hard-working people who feed their families not only from their farm income, but also put the very same food they grow and sell on their own tables. Ironic. The ones who will be hardest hit are the ones we can already trust most.

Who will pay? You. Taxes will fund the new administration of these programs. After that, you'll pay again to suppliers who must pass on the cost of complying to you on your grocery bill. You will pay in other ways, too. For example by having fewer choices.

Today, if you do one good thing, I hope it will be to contact your federal government legislators (enter your zip code at that link). Encourage them to nip this in the bud, so to speak. I sent several emails this morning and this is the one I wrote to my 11th district Congressman Mike Conaway who visits our area often. You are welcome to modify it to suit your needs.

Honorable Congressman Conaway,

I'm writing to you today to urge you to vote against legislation that would impede American access to locally grown food. In particular, I am concerned with S.510 and HR 2749.

This proposed legislation comes at a time when independence and sustainability are at the forefront of American conversations. This bill makes little sense with scant to no evidence supporting security or health vigilance at this level. I see these bills as having the contrary effect of making American families more dependent on centralized food sources (those entities that can afford to meet standardized regulations) resulting in larger vulnerabilities and risks for our country. In addition, more regulation will raise food prices, and give imports an undue advantage not having to meet these on-going inspections.

Next time you are in Midland, I hope you'll visit the Midland Downtown Farmers' Market. Last week they offered free ice cold water, summer produce including squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic, bush beans, and more. The market is growing in popularity and is a fine example of a West Texas unfettered can-do attitude.

Please vote no against over-extending legislation that does no service to the American public and damages our proud self-reliance.

Respectfully yours,
Debi Cates

Join me. Write your congressmen. It really couldn't be more basic.

I urge you to read more about these bills. I recommend this May 6th article from the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

Easy Peasy: Retractractable Laundry Line

2010-06-16T18:34:00.012-05:00

New indoor laundry line that I installed myself :)

Another simple step that's begun working for me is this retractable laundry line I installed in my shower. I don't yet have a big outdoor wash line, but this one is keeping up with my t-shirts, dish towels, and other light laundry that I've been doing by hand.

To help speed dry, I keep the bathroom window open and the bathroom door closed. Too hot this summer to do otherwise; it's been over 100 degrees almost every day this June.

Installing was easy, but I had to build up nerve to drill screw holes in the shower wall. I did some thinking ahead and purposely put the line container part furthest from the shower head, and higher too. That way it's less likely for water to get in, or worse, inside the wall through the screw holes.

The device cost under $10 and, as the name indicates, I retract the line in the morning for my shower. After that I pull it back out, hang a few pieces of laundry, and that "load" is dry by the next morning.

I figure the few items each day equals a load each week, saving electric-usage for both the washer and dryer. Plus I've been getting some stains out that I know would have stayed otherwise. Yay!

Song of Myself: Stalks and Stems

2010-06-09T05:18:00.008-05:00

Today is my birthday. To celebrate I wrote a poem to myself this very early morning, a flagrant self-indulgence, a much shorter personalization of a very famous on e*.

I celebrate myself, and sing myself.
As I am, I deserve to be. I am no victim of life because I am life.

I embrace my unironable wrinkles, etched by cycles of sun and clouds.
I embrace wild strands of gray hair, coarse and no longer repressed by the comb's convention.
I embrace the sagging chin, worn loose from keeping up.

I've heard the talk of beauty and blooms, of fecundity and fear.
But I do not listen.

Urge and urge and urge,
Always the procreant urge of the world.

There never was so much beauty as now among stalks and stems.
Blooms bud, brighten and wither. Fruits swell, sweeten, and fall.
All grass and stars.
All grass and stars.

Where are you off to, lady?

I dare not loafe.
Let me fill my baskets with the destiny of a woman's labor,
part of the ceaseless folding and unfolding.

I do not call aloud to invite my soul.
Nor do I despise the priests, nor those that consult them.
Let me wash without worry,
My soul follows like the shadows on the line.

I, now fifty-one years old, simply am.
Hoping to cease not till death.

* Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Song of Myself

Beauty and the Beast

2010-06-03T09:48:00.019-05:00

What is it? It's the interior of a freshly changed "tall kitchen" trash bag, so tidy. Beautiful, even.

Um, maybe more like a beast.

Fossil fuel energy is used to make plastic like that bag. In addition, plastic itself is made of petroleum. At every stage of production and use, plastic releases toxic by-products. News stories are revealing more and more frequently the frightening health effects from those chemicals, chemicals now found in our bodies.

Not only that, the plastic from this bag will still be around in the year 2510, or maybe 3010. No one knows exactly how long because, well, it takes so long to biodegrade.

Burning plastic to be rid of it, isn't a good option either. My son-in-law is a fireman and could tell you about the noxious plumes from a home filled with a standard amount of plastic when it burns.

Come on, this is just a bag and I'm only using one a week. That's 52 bags a year for me, one person. And 52 bags per person in the U.S. would be 16,089,372,000 bags a year. Sixteen billion bags just to throw away stuff. And since it doesn't biodegrade, what about the plastic from last year? Or 1990? Or 1950?

Every bit of plastic ever produced still exists today.

What can a person -- transitioning or not -- do to move away from petroleum-based plastic?

I could keep reducing my garbage, ultimately using fewer and fewer of these bags. There is no warning on the box, so one bag can't be all that bad. Wait, there is this one label on the box, in small print: "Not recommended for food storage." Why? Because it would leach bad stuff out into your food. Not good for food, not good for the ground, not good for you.

I could buy the oxobiodegradable plastic bag. Or I could buy biodegradable bags made of tapioca. In any case, I looked for them in my local grocery store, 2 miles from home, but they carry neither. It doesn't makes sense to me to drive across town for them, nor to indirectly burn gasoline by having them shipped to my doorstep from Amazon either.

Even if I could find some locally, a bit of googling revealed that the tapioca just entices micro-organisms to eat that part of the bag, then seeds the environment with polyethylene fragments. And the oxobiodegradable has additives that make them breakdown, releasing carbon dioxide and methane far more quickly, contributing to greenhouse gasses. Besides, I don't trust the corporate guys to tell all they know. Or even to know all they should know.

In desperation, I could at least re-use the ubiquitous plastic shopping bags that I bring purchases home in. Then I wouldn't be encouraging more plastic to be made. Since I'm currently sewing cloth shopping bags, my days of having a plethora of plastic bags are numbered, though.

I then looked in my garbage for the solution.

Monitoring my trash these last weeks, I noticed something. I throw away plastic bags. There's the plastic bag popcorn comes in, the big plastic bag toilet paper comes in, the plastic-coated bag dog food comes in. There's a bunch of them each week and not made of the kind of plastic taken by my recycle center. How ironic is it that plastic bags fill up my trash. Why throw them away in yet another bag?

Yep, I like this idea and I've begun saving my "trash" as trash bags. It will work both toward my goal of reducing my contribution to the landfill and reducing fuel consumption. Well, at least for as long as the stuff we buy is mostly, sometimes only, available packaged in plastic.

It's not a solution against the many health dangers of plastic. It's not as tidy as the bag above. It certainly won't be beautiful. But you know what I'm thinking? Those 16 billion white, tall bags bulging with garbage couldn't possibly be tidy or beautiful either.

Links
GLAD's ^®declaration of dangerous chemicals not used in their production. What is their stuff made of? It's not answered. Probably for a reason.
CNN's article "5 toxics that are everywhere: Protect yourself."
CNN's video "One woman's mission to be plastic-free."
The animated Internet sensation, "The Story of Stuff."

Budding Greenthread

2010-06-02T08:16:00.013-05:00

Greenthread bud, Thelesperma megapotamicum
April 14, 2010
West Odessa, Texas

I like the common name of this wildflower, greenthread. Its name and this image of it budding caught me today as a lyrical title, going well with the small green steps I've been attempting lately.

Wednesdays are garbage pick up day on my street. The volume of garbage I produce is an excellent way to gauge my consumption. I set a recent goal for myself to produce only one "tall kitchen" bag of garbage per week. I've done that for a few weeks now, and today my bag is even only 3/4 full. I'm making progress.

I couldn't have done it, though, until I started taking recycling seriously, plus continuing to compost. Without doing both of those, I would produce three to four times as much landfill-destined waste.

Like everything, I tried to make my recycle system as easy as possible. I know myself well enough to know if it's complicated, I'll get lazy. Now I have a lightweight plastic bin right by the trash can. Before I throw anything away, I first see if all or any part of it is accepted by our recycle center, and a lot more of it is than you might think. I don't sort at home. Once a week when I take the plastic bin to the center, I sort the contents there.

My compost system is also simple -- an enamel mixing bowl in the kitchen for scraps and a pile outside in the back for the actual composting. Everything except meat and dairy scraps go in it. I even dump liquids in it, like my cold coffee. Recently, I began using a rubber spatula to scrape the dirty dishes, which then helps make dish washing easier, too. I dump the bowl every day or two, covering it with a plate when not in use.

I put my compost pile at the edge of my garden, closest to the back door because in the 110 degree days of summer or the few freezing days of winter, I don't want to go trekking across the country-side. A person can do all sorts of things to make better, faster compost but again, I don't make it complicated. As they say, "compost happens." I dump it, I leave it. I don't worry about it attracting wild critters because I have two outside dogs. Ansel and Dixie, on the other hand, are free to eat what they will from it. And surprisingly, they do like certain fruit and vegetable scraps. At last, when I need compost, I shovel off the chunky, least-composted top layer to reveal the black gold beneath.

Now, back to my one bag per week landfill-destined garbage: there are some problems with it. I'll cover those tomorrow with some solutions I'm considering. Maybe you'll have some even better suggestions for me. =)

Transition Culture

2010-06-01T12:46:00.004-05:00

Remember when I told you I was becoming a transition person, based on Transition Towns? I'm including a video below that explains it beautifully, an interview with the idea's co-founder, Rob Hopkins. He's such a nice guy!

In brief, transition culture attempts to put into action the answer to "How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march?"

Whole towns right now, today, are transitioning away from reliance on fossil fuels, ahead of when that energy will no longer be cheap. (Oil industry experts predict the painful increase is beginning now, many years before oil actually runs out or costs more to drill than it produces.) These towns are trying out various solutions for themselves, not waiting until things will be frightening and panicky. That's the "transition."

And, you know what? Instead of feeling overwhelmed, saddened and manipulated by forces outside of myself, I'm feeling empowered and capable. By golly, it's even fun.

It Gets Better

2010-05-31T08:03:00.010-05:00

"It gets worse before it gets better." Old maxim

Arg! I don't understand why decluttering is so clutter-y.

The problem is once I go to all the trouble to decide to get rid of something, it doesn't do the kindness of just disappearing. It hangs around, all dejected and sad-looking by the front door, waiting for me to figure out where it's heading.

Luckily these days we have Freecycle and Craig's List. There are also thrift stores and even the local recycle center. Should I ever feel really ambitious, I could also sell on eBay or Half.com. Dumping to the landfill, so far, is for only when all other options are exhausted.

"Less is more." Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

As I excavate (that's what it feels like), I discover how deeply it goes. What keeps me clawing at it, donating and digging while living continually with ever new boxes and ever new stacks, is a clear vision of what my purged life will look like when I'm done. Time to re-define "Grandma's house." I'd rather not succumb to the traditional knick knack, standy-uppy decor.

I envision a smooth rock or a bouquet of wildflowers to be my seasonal decorating. I envision misplacing my glasses—which I often do—to be impossible. I envision my granddaughter showing me how she can now do a cartwheel, safely in my living room. I envision my grandson reading from my select nature book collection, not sneezing from too much for me to dust.

I envision plenty of room to do and be, not searching and dreading.

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

I frequently feel at the mercy of my sentimentality. I live in a finite space; we all do. How can I keep everything without eventually filling up? Once a gift is relegated to the back of a drawer or to some back room, time to admit the gift has stopped giving.

I'm coming to peace with saying goodbye to sentimental stuff. What matters most is my making room for today's doing, not for displaying yesterday's back when.

(To any reader I've given a gift, please, enjoy it for however long it gives you pleasure, be it a year, a month, or an hour. Then, by all means freecycle, recycle, re-purpose, re-gift, sell, or donate. Even compost if it will!)

"A man can live profoundly without masses of things." Richard E. Byrd

I look forward to when it gets better, to when I'm living profoundly. Until then, I'm off to find my glasses and another empty box.

Links
For more inspiration for your own decluttering efforts, see Global Stewards' Motivational Quotes on Simplifying.

A Day for the Scrapbook

2010-05-29T09:17:00.003-05:00

Kit, Antigone, and Mr. C
My front porch
West Odessa, Texas

My daughter and my grandkids yesterday. She made them crowns (and rightly so) from things around my yard. For Kit, trumpet vine blooms. For Mr. C, stately stately chinquapin oak leaves.

What Would You Rather?

2010-05-26T21:12:00.005-05:00

"Two Eras," road trip to the Heart of Texas with BFFs Nelda and Pat, April 2010
Coleman, Texas

That's the name of a car game my oldest daughter taught me. It's simple. You take turns asking each other, "What would rather, ____ or ____" and everyone has to answer, including the asker. Like, "What would you rather, an orange or a banana?" Or, "What would you rather, have your leg amputated, or your arm?" There's no points, no winner, but it can be surprising.

What would YOU rather?

Kill a snake,
or kill a chicken?

Get an incredible deal on a new car,
or find your great grandma's diary?

Stand tall,
or get along?

What does any of this have to do with my fossil fuel reduction? Not much. Or, maybe it does.

Digging into the Deep

2010-05-25T23:06:00.006-05:00

Digging into the deep freeze, that is. More kilowatt sleuthing.

Ugh! What's in here? Who knows! Time to discard, empty, and unplug the 1980s model chest freezer. I'm sure it's terribly inefficient and a good place to cut back those kilowatt hours my electric company charges me for.

I can't quite bring myself to just dump it all, though, even unknown packages with obvious freezer burn. However, my dogs Ansel and Dixie aren't nearly so picky. Over the next few weeks, I'll be thawing, identifying, and cooking. One mystery package at a time.

My basic dog food recipe:
1/3 cooked vegetables
1/3 cooked rice
1/3 cooked meat (no bones; cooked bones are brittle and can harm your dog)

They love this recipe and lick their plates clean. But, hey, I've also seen them eat fuzzy things out of my compost bin, too.

Did you know your freezer runs more efficiently if it's full? Check it out: 5 Ways to Fill Your Freezer for Efficiency from Discovery.com.

Gotta Have Jo

2010-05-24T19:28:00.011-05:00

Seems kind of silly, but after posting yesterday I realized I wasn't entirely sure what a kWh was. I gave myself some basic schooling today.

A watt is the unit electric appliances and utility providers measure electricity usage. A kilowatt is 1,000 watts. A kilowatt hour is the same thing as a kilowatt. How are they different? Um, I don't think they are.

For my purposes, I need only understand the electric company bills me in 1000 increments, those kWh thingies.

Today I took a little tour around my house, paying special attention to items I use most often. Every appliance has their wattage listed on the back. I found one that immediately seemed like a real guzzler -- my coffee machine, listed at 900 watts. What that means is if I leave it on for an hour it will use 900 watts. Or, in the parlance of my electric bill, .9 kWh.

Holy beans, Mr. Coffee! I make coffee every day and leave the pot on for at least an hour. (Do not get between me and the coffee pot in the morning.) That means in a month I use 27 watts (.9 X 30 days) . Sure, that's only $3.30 a month, a pittance compared to Starbucking it. But here's a real kicker for me: it was 10% of my electric usage last month.

Here's another kicker that can be applied to us all: each kWh saved is almost half a kg shaved off your carbon footprint. (See "It's carbon judgment day" on Guardian.co.uk for detailed information on how to calculate your carbon footprint.)

With my mom's help (she's very smart and has done a lot to reduce), I've got a painless solution to save most of those coffee kWhs and most of the 11.61 kg of CO2 I would otherwise emit monthly. After my coffee makes tomorrow, I'm pouring it into a thermos and turning off the pot.

Which makes me think of the refrain, "How low can you go? How low can you go?"

UPDATE: Read Eeyore's comment for an engineer's calm explanation of why I might have over-demonized my coffee pot. Thanks, Larry!

Photo is your author, with my gotta-have-it jo, August 2006.

Quieting the Slurp

2010-05-23T22:34:00.000-05:00

I'm beginning to think more and more of my energy consumption as slurping loudly at the trough of diminishing fossil fuel. You could say this photo is my straw: my electric meter.

Since I posted last month where I hinted about making changes, a terrible disaster struck. The BP oil spill is tragic and a reminder why this subject is important. The need for ever more risky oil drilling isn't something just Corporate America demands. My own wanton usage has demanded it, too.

Starting last month I began seriously monitoring my electric consumption. While I didn't do anything radical like replacing appliances with a lower energy-rated ones -- not yet -- you might say I myself become an energy-efficient model.

I spent the month doggedly turning off everything when not in use. I looked at every item with a fresh eye for reduction or reuse. But mostly I spent the spring days allowing myself to feel the experience of the season. I opened windows wide when it was cool and closed curtains tight when it was too warm. To combat the heat, ironically I also spent lots of time outdoors, like when I was a kid. Remember when even the hot days of summer never seemed too hot because you were too busy doing "stuff?" (One difference now, I apply lots of sunscreen first).

Those small things apparently worked.

April...	kWh Used
2010	267
2009	691

Holy cow! I reduced a whopping 424 kWh, down to almost a third of what I used last year. And this is the lowest usage I've had the last 30 months, going back as far as my provider keeps online records. I love the financial benefit, too. Based on my current rate of .122333 cents per kWh, I have an extra $52.30 in my pocket. Mine, all mine.

To be objective about the effectiveness of my actions, though, there is one other thing. I have to take into account the weather.

Heating and cooling are the biggest consumers of energy and in West Texas most of our annual energy goes toward cooling. This billing cycle happened to be mild, cooler, than last year's. I wondered how much of my savings was due to that cooperative weather and how much to my new diligence.

Meteorologists have devised something they call Heating Degree Days and Cooling Degree Days, HDD and CDD for short. Weirdly the calculation doesn't really report days. You can learn more about it by googling it. Basically it is a number that indicates variation in temperature, up or down, from 65F for any given day. I'm using it to put temperature into the mix.

Billing period...	HDD + CDD =
04/15/2010-05/12/2010	83+71=154
04/15/2009-05/13/2009	15+287=302

The difference is significant. With 287 CDDs last year, and only 71 this, it was much milder this year. And that makes my comparison not quite apples with apples. :(

How do I incorporate this difference to fairly compare? I know that I didn't turn on the A/C or heater this billing cycle so that tells me that the 267 kWh I used is pretty much my bottom line.

As for using the degree days data I gathered, well, I have no idea how to use them scientifically in this case!

I guess it's going to take the whole summer -- June, July, and August when my kWh consumption has historically risen, yikes, over 1,000 each month -- to get the big picture of how well I will haven taken the responsibility to reduce my fossil fuel consumption.

Let's hope it's going to be a summer to be remembered fondly. Mild would be nice. If not, I'm sure I'll be hotter than last year, but also less worried about large carbon footprints and high bills. Ask any kid, they'll know the kind of summer I'm talking about.

How about you? How are you feeling these days? Cool? Hot? Saddened, maybe angered by the 5,000 barrels of oil spewing into the Gulf daily? What cooling techniques or other reductions have you tried? What worked best? Anyone else willing to monitor their use with me during the long, hot summer of 2010?

Um...Hello

2010-05-22T21:52:00.004-05:00

Pomegranate bloom and growing fruit
My pomegranate tree
West Odessa, Texas

I could write all about what I've been doing for the past month, listing reasons why I haven't blogged, and include promises to do better. Instead, I think I'll break the non-blogging ice by just saying hello.

Hello.

Small New Leaf on Earth Day

2010-04-22T07:56:00.016-05:00

On the tip of my finger the tiny leaves of the feather dalea
(Click any image to view much larger on Flickr)
West Odessa, Texas

After my Spring month of renewing, I am renewed. Have you heard of Transition Towns yet? If not, you will. Me, I am embarking on becoming a Transition Person.

First let me tell you my story.

For twenty-five years I worked as a computer programmer with decent salary. I drove 24 miles to arrive at the office, where I spent eight hours sitting under florescent lights, solving unending technical problems, and frequently enduring immense stress. Then I would drive 24 more miles back home to hopefully find a free hour or two to enjoy the parts of life that make it worth living. By most standards, it was a good job. A good life.

Last October, I was laid off due to the economic downturn.

Not surprisingly, since then I've had time to do some thinking. I've been thinking about the decline of my health due to lack of exercise, fast food, and continual stress. I've been thinking about all the apparatuses that it took to keep that commuting job -- the clothes to buy, the vehicle to ever maintain, the need to pay others to do what I didn't have time to do or learn to do myself, and even the medical expenses related to poor health maintenance. Saddest of all, I've been thinking about how during most of those hard-working years, I was raising my children, children I didn't have time to give enough of the simplest and most important thing of all -- my patience, my attention.

I wasn't unaware of my predicament. I simultaneously dreamed of getting out of that work-spend cycle and was also terrified of doing so. Inside me, though, was a young 70s chick who never stopped dreaming of a simpler, more valuable life. The dream included time to garden, to crochet, bake bread, learn about plants, read a book a week, know the seasons intimately and not just from a glass window. More importantly, my heartfelt dreams included time to listen and to love. Somehow I did squeeze in a few of those things through the years, but time was time stolen from housework or from sleep.

Everything has changed. Not only am I off the treadmill -- it basically took my getting kicked off to get here -- but I don't want to get back on.

My story now is that my children are grown, but my grandchildren are very young and live just a mile away. Another "small new leaf," the one pictured on the right, is my grandson, Little C Man, helping me with some garden chores. I want to be the grandmother to my grandchildren that my grandmothers were to me -- patient, loving, and bestowing ancestral resourcefulness.

Now I'm almost 51 years old but my "Real Age" is a shocking 9.2 years older than my calendar age. The good news is I have time to focus on taking care of myself with exercise, giving up my bad habits, and eating better. I have plenty of time in the day to do these things and I might end up having more time in my lifespan if I do.

Even the Internet is something now added to my personal equation of changes in my life, although not all that new. Still, it's a fabulous tool, and getting fabulouser all the time. With it we can now can research any subject, any problem, any plan, and seek out like-minded others with no more than a few keyboard clicks.

My past is indeed gone. Gone is youth, but also gone are old fears. I like being here now. I like being one of many Americans prepared to change. It's exciting and promising to begin my conversion to a Transition Person, transitioning away from reliance on fossil fuel. We have traveled so far on this road that it won't be easy. Luckily, we also live in a time of great ingenuity and connectedness. Besides, hasn't the most precious collections of wisdom -- those of religion -- emphasized exactly that? In virtually all religions you will find the premier lesson that ease is not equated with quality of life, with quality of spirit. Some struggle and a lot of honest work is good for us.

Rest assured, I don't plan to regale you with thoughts on being against anything. We're all more than a little sick of that. I'll be focusing on what I am for. I'm for having more time to be in the moment, more sense of global responsibility and fairness, more physical exertion, more abilities that are resilient against down-turns or corporate strategies, more empowerment. And at the heart of it, I'm for more optimistic action to improve quality of life for this and many next generations.

But I don't plan to talk much more about the idea of what I'm doing either. Yawn. Instead I'll be writing about how I implement changes. I'll be thinking this through more thoroughly in the days and weeks to come. Questions I'll be asking myself are: How exactly will I measure my reduction? What is a measurable goal? How do I simply not trade one pollutant for another? How do I improve my health sufficiently to become physically able to do the things that will need to be incorporated? How can I reduce my own piles of stuff without dumping in the landfills? How to stay focused on facts, not politics? And even how will I financially support myself in a way that is in balance with these goals?

A tall order. And just the kind of thing I've always wanted to do and be.

Renewal Time

2010-03-19T12:06:00.002-06:00

"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -Anais Nin

A few days ago, on March 16th, the day and night length were equal for where I live. Globally, tomorrow is the March Equinox, and for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the first official day of Spring. Ten days beyond that is another important date for my Odessa neighbors and me, the average last date of frost.

It's time to get busy. To bud. To blossom. To bloom. It's time to break from blogging. It's time to dig.

I'll see you again after my new garden is firmly planted.

Who was Omid-Reza Mir-Sayafi?

2010-03-18T07:00:00.019-06:00

Who was Omid-Reza Mir-Sayafi? I knew him well.

He was just your average, ordinary guy. He had this one well-worn shirt that made him feel good whenever he put it on. He had this funny childhood story he loved to tell when his family got together although every one already knew it by heart. He used to beg his mother to prepare this one dish, but there was one vegetable he couldn't stand no matter how it was cooked.

He had no idea what women really want. He sometimes had simplistic opinions about complex politics. He had misunderstandings about life in other parts of the world. Not everything he believed would have been met with universal agreement, not by a long shot. Sometimes he believed his own conceptions as if they were facts.

The more time you spent getting to know him, the more you found a beautiful, sweet side. True, he also carried some deep hurts that seemed puzzling and even contrary. Some things he did were, how shall I say it, irritating. But he loved deeply. And was more loved by others than he knew.

He had a life-long passion upon which he could rhapsodize for an hour to the unsuspecting.

He had rows of days so good that he forgot that bad things don't only happen to "the other guy." In his heart of hearts, he believed he could make a difference, even if only to just one person. He trusted that even the saddest things would work out for the best. Every night, he hoped tomorrow would bring the answers to the problems of today.

How do I know so much about Omid-Reza Mir-Sayafi?

I didn't even know his name until some days ago. I know these things about him because he was human. What I wrote about him is all true. About him. About me. Re-reading it, isn't it true about you as well?

There is something, though, that sets Omid-Reza apart from you and me. He was arrested for a thought, an opinion that he wrote on his blog. For being human, you might say. While in prison, and under the worst of circumstances, he died. He was 29 years old.

No one is for sure which blog post got him arrested. It's hard to say because he didn't write a very political blog. His blog has been taken down, but his story lives on thanks to newspapers, writer s, friends, bloggers worldwide and even some who must remain anonymous.

What I do know about him is very little. Mostly I know just the few facts I've read about his death. I think he speaks for himself best in this passage from one of his blog posts (translated into English), and the sad image he selected.

I learned that the salvation is not achieved by wandering through the primrose path of sticking to the dogmas and the preordained codes. But it is in having faith in the dignity, nobility and liberty of the human beings. I learned that humans are not a bunch of weak slaves or debilitated beings, but they are commanding and free agents who can create whatever they wish. I learned that I have to learn in order to set myself free. I learned to unlearn whatever I had learned earlier in my life and found my thoughts on a firm and correct base from the scratch. I learned I had been moving on the wrong track for 20 years. I learned I could be born again in any way I'd want to.

Who was Omid-Reza Mir-Sayafi? Just an ordinary guy who had his basic human rights taken away. Today I am not writing really about him so much as I am standing with the thousands of others who are imprisoned for the crime of being ordinary humans daring to speak.

Tagged: OR318

One, two, three...Pop!

2010-03-17T07:00:00.002-06:00

"One, Two, Three...Popweed!" Lesquerella fendleri 1, 2, 3 Click on any to see larger
West Odessa, Texas

Popweed, also called bladder pod, is one of the earliest blooming wildflowers here, a native. Not only does it bloom early, it blooms long, all through summer into fall.

You just gotta love that sweet little yellow face. Later when it sets, I'll show you a photo of its seed bladder that makes the popping sound when stepped on.

And if that mockingbird don't sing...

2010-03-16T07:00:00.001-06:00

"And if that mockingbird don't sing..."
Odessa, Texas

Probably just needs to warm up a little first.

Gopher Plant

2010-03-15T10:28:00.005-06:00

"Gopher Plant" Euphorbia rigida 1,2,3,4 (Click any to see larger)
Master Gardener's Compost Garden
Odessa, Texas

There were two shocks awaiting me when I visited the Compost Garden.

The first was the whole garden had been sheered back. It was quite severe to these untrained eyes. I hope the weed whacker operator knew what he/she was doing. Time will tell.

The other shock was this one blooming plant, left untouched. Its chartreuse blooms were eye-popping against an empty backdrop. I had seen the gopher plant there before, but had no idea it bloomed like this, and so early. Nor would I have guessed it to be part of the Euphoriba family until seeing its leaves as part of what we consider the flower, although the real flower is very tiny. The gopher plant is native to Africa and the Mediterranean. The most famous euphorbia would have to be the poinsettia native to Mexico.

Links

A List of plants at the Compost Garden.
Wayne's World has been serving the Internet community curiosities for almost ten years, and has a superb illustrated article on the Euphorbia Family.
There is even an International Euphorbia Society!

Okay, who's the clown?

2010-03-14T11:04:00.001-06:00

"Okay, who's the clown?"
Odessa, Texas

A Congregation of Henbit

2010-03-13T09:14:00.009-06:00

"A Congregation of Henbit" 1,2,3,4 (Click any to see larger)
Parker Heights Christian Church
Odessa, Texas

I spent time with a little bit of henbit. Nice name, "henbit," don't you think? I can easily image chickens voraciously pecking at this early bloomer, greedy for some fresh greens. I feel the same way, although henbit is considered a tenacious weed by many who prefer monoculture lawns. Wonder if it grew to a foot or two instead of only a couple of inches, would that change public opinion?

Oh, here's another tidbit about henbit. It's part of the mint family. When something has square stems it indicates part of the mint family. And mint almost always means edible. Not always tasty, but edible. BUT when in doubt, don't put it in your mouth!

Links

According to Backyard Nature, you can make a salad from henbit. I would love to try it, but only with henbit grown where I could be sure there were no chemicals applied.
DiscoverLife.org has lots of other photos. Henbit's other names are "giraffe head" and "deadnettle." I still like "henbit" best.

Rising to a fevered pitch

2010-03-11T21:43:00.005-06:00

Spring 2010 welcomed weeds left: unknown, on right: mustard weed
Odessa, Texas

You know you are rising to a fevered pitch for spring when even the appearance of mustard weed makes you happy.

I've Never Been So Glad

2010-03-10T08:40:00.002-06:00

I've never been so glad to see a dandelion
West Odessa, Texas

First dandelion of 2010. Hello gorgeous.

First tree blooms

2010-03-05T08:00:00.001-06:00

Fruit tree (perhaps pear?) in early bloom
West Odessa, Texas

This was a sight for sore eyes yesterday! Enjoying its fresh appearance, though, quickly turned to worry. It's rather early yet, and another frost is very possible. So, I'll do like this bee in the inset and just enjoy.

Big house on the Prairie

2010-03-04T17:27:00.005-06:00

"Big House on the Prairie"
Midland County, Texas

I've been busy, busy, getting ready for the crafts show this weekend. Of course, I'm hoping to sell everything and to come home empty handed except for mucho moolah. :) We'll see, we'll see.

City Lights

2010-03-02T20:06:00.002-06:00

"City Lights"
West Odessa, Texas

Today's Luxury Bits:

Morning coffee
Afternoon nap with Cleo
Banana split on sale

Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder

2010-02-28T05:05:00.006-06:00

"Nothing but Mesquite" and "Not a Woman in Sight/Side" 1,2
Midland, Texas and Odessa, Texas

Today's Happy Bit:

Been a long time since I entered the weekly 2 Things Challenge. This week is "Ugly/Pretty." For fun, I'm not saying which I think is which.

Anyone can join. Any medium welcomed. A challenge and a hoot.

Old Man's winter Beard

2010-02-27T13:19:00.005-06:00

"Old Man's winter Beard" more at Flickr
(Clematis drummondii, aka old man's beard, aka Texas virgin's bower)
along a fence line in a field of mesquite
Midland, Texas

Today's Random Happy Bits

This quote by Texas legendary author, J. Frank Dobie, "If people are to enjoy their own lives they must be aware of the significance of their own environment. The mesquite is, objectively, as good and beautiful as the Grecian acanthus."

Links:
Texas Monthly, January 1986, "Voice of a Mythic Land" photo and one page article about J. Frank Dobie.

Nothing But Blue Skies

2010-02-26T23:15:00.004-06:00

"Nothing But Blue Skies"
Between Midland and Odessa, Texas

Today's Random Happy Bits

Succeeding at an annual project, again.
Laughing with other women.
Friday afternoon with no one but myself to answer to.

Electronic Winter Bouquet, in the Manner of John M. Mora

2010-02-25T11:05:00.005-06:00

"Electronic Winter Bouquet, in the manner of John M. Mora"
Digital invention using Apophysis (2.08 3D hack) and Gimp (2.6)

Very late one night, I played with a newly installed copy of Apophysis. Apophysis is a fractal-making, free software. After playing awhile, I came up with this image, a piece that I could appreciate because of the privilege of following John M. Mora's work. That was Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I read John's post announcing he would stop blogging to attend to life's other priorities. "For now." I'll miss having regular doses of his work to see, but owe him thanks for his innovations in art. I wish him the best in everything.

Fallen Bouquets

2010-02-24T18:46:00.010-06:00

Fallen agave stalk and fallen tree
West Odessa, Texas

Random Happy Little Bits

Movie: Rapa Nui
Place: Easter Island
Admire: natural adornments

I have, too.

2010-02-23T22:17:00.014-06:00

Row of Texas sage at an abandoned house
West Odessa, Texas

I have, too! Been busy that is, even though I've gone quite a number of days without posting here. Here's some things I've been up to.

Taking photos. (Surprise!)
Uploading photos on my stagnant Flickr acount.
Being the last photography buff on the planet Earth to fall in love with Flickr.
Buying a year's subscription to unlimited uploads on Flickr for a mere 25 bucks.
Trying to stump Flickr with my weird organization desires. Flickr doesn't bat an eye.

Thinking a lot about creativity.
Emailing with Kris, my Creative Roundtable cohost.
Uploading that discussion on CR, "10 Ideas to Boost Work's Value"
Creating a couple of bird icons to represent Kris and me. Kris is the tall lithe bird. I'm the short squat bird.

Experiencing some warm fuzzies for the feature-rich program (with a "meh" name) XnView, to create contact sheets for my photos. Oo la la and it's free.
Enjoying the photo resurgence of A Man A Woman with a completed Issue 5 and new Issue 6. Woot!
Facebooking with friends and family. Uh huh, that is too a word.
Painting until I ran out of prepared canvases.
Playing with the grandkids until I ran out of gas.

And there you have it. The many hats :)

Double Fun!

2010-02-18T21:53:00.005-06:00

"Virgin's Yellow Room" and "Under the Aqua Sea"
Double Exposures with my photos, using Gimp 2.6

I've been getting used to using Gimp, the open source image software program. For years, I loved Photoshop, but I had a computer crash so decided to venture to something new. Something I could, ahem, afford.

These two images are my celebration of learning how to repeat the process of "double exposures" that I had enjoyed doing so much in Photoshop but didn't believe existed in Gimp. An afternoon dedicated to play ("What does this do, I wonder, hm?") revealed the missing holy grail!

Say, this ties in nicely with this week's current discussion"Thinking Outside the Toolbox" at Creative Roundtable!

Weedy Alley Trees

2010-02-15T02:08:00.002-06:00

"Weedy Alley Trees"
West Odessa, Texas

All this week on Creative Roundtable, we'll be posting a very interesting series called "Thinking Outside the Toolbox." We've collected stories by various contributors who tell about an Aha! moment when they used an unusual tool or used a tool in a not usual way.

Look for the first installment in that series late in the day today.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T08:45:00.002-06:00

Prickly pear pad
West Odessa,Texas

I've been saving this heart photo just for today, just for y'all!

A Contrast of Weeds

2010-02-13T10:32:00.002-06:00

"A Contrast of Weeds" 1,2
West Odessa, Texas

For Monday's Creative Roundtable, we'll be discussing "Thinking Outside the Toolbox." With multiple contributors, we'll be sharing stories about using tools in innovative or nontraditional ways. Hope you'll join us, adding your comments about tools you've used creatively.

(Weeds are definitely in my toolbox.)

Look Up

2010-02-12T14:00:00.006-06:00

"Look Up" 1,2
West Odessa, Texas

We don't have many tall trees around here (not natives, anyway), but we do have a couple of plants that will naturally grow tall: Spanish Daggers (yucca) and Century Plant (agave) bloom stalks.

I find both of these I photographed curious, though. The Spanish dagger has been "pruned" by something. According to the naturalist crowd on Facebook, it could have been done by a pack rat. A pack rat who doesn't mind climbing apparently.

I'm not sure I've seen century plant pods that look like this one before. There was another century plant next to it and its pods looked like, well, normal yucca-like pods. Did this specimen not get time to set its seed pods? Too tall for me to investigate!

Walk and Talk with Me

2010-02-11T21:42:00.007-06:00

Walk and Talk with Me, 1, 2, 3, 4 Feburary 7, 2010
West Odessa, Texas

1. This tangle is another view of Virgin's Bower, bereft of blooms or plumes. Those who follow my blog have an idea how much I enjoy photographing this plant. I've often thought of making a list of my favorite plants. Then changed my mind when I realized it would be easier to make a list of those I don't like. And right now, in February? I can't think of a single plant I don't like.	2. After you've been taking photos a while, you come to a sturdy conclusion: the lighting makes all the difference. I'm such a predictable goofball -- when I see something like this, so beautiful to me, I literally gasp. When my dogs hear that gasp, they get excited, "Yay! We'll be getting out of the truck here!"
3. There are lots of old, abandoned houses in West Odessa. (Along with lots of building of new ones, odd as that may seem.) I suppose that's one of the reasons I live here, why I'm willing to put up with a lot of the junky-ness of it. I have photo themes. Certain themes, like old clotheslines, will always prompt an immediate stop for photographing. The older, the better.	4. This day, I got a little far from home, ended up near the train tracks on the way toward Penwell. It seemed ironic to me that this train -- a really long one -- would come by just as I was thinking very badly of the knuckleheads who had been dumping tires and water heaters under the overpass there. Why ironic? "Great, here comes more future junk."

Nature's Vignette

2010-02-09T17:08:00.003-06:00

"Nature's Vignette"
West Odessa, Texas

This is a little scene from my outing with the dogs this weekend. I've shared photos before of the dwarf desert holly (Acourtia nana) all up close. This photo is how it appears in situ, and how it catches the light.

Previous portraits of the dwarf desert holly from this blog:

...

Under the Overpass

2010-02-08T10:36:00.003-06:00

"Under the Overpass"
Near Penwell, Texas

My dogs, Ansel and Dixie, and I got out Sunday to take photos for most of the day. It's been a few weeks since we've had a real outing, causing me to begin feeling a touch discombobulated. Now I feel set right again. The dogs, too.

Winter Garb 2

2010-02-07T10:06:00.005-06:00

"Winter Garb 2" another unknown plant in its winter dress
Morgan Marsh, West Odessa, Texas

Winter Garb

2010-02-05T13:29:00.002-06:00

"Winter Garb" unknown plant,
February 4, 2009 (last year)
Race Field, West Odessa, Texas

The weather forecast is mild weather the next few days, in the low 60s. I'll be visiting my two citizen science plots, Race Field and Morgan Marsh. Joy! I'm going to keep a lookout for this plant and bring some of its stems home. I want to take a look at its structure with my hand lens, and maybe try to get some extreme macro shots too.

I wonder what this plant is? It's impossible to look it up in my Texas plant books which only identify plants during their blooming season, not in their winter garb. In order to find out what plant this, I'll have to watch it until it grows again.

That's got me thinking about some kind of simple, ecologically sound staking system. What I want to do is to mark plants like this one so I can follow them throughout the seasons. This morning I remembered I have some dyed wool yarn which would be organic and visible. Rather than staking the plant itself — I don't want it showing up in photos — I'll look for long twigs lying on the ground to stake nearby, tying the wool on them.

Which brings me to my next question: Wonder how long before I begin to see my wool markers in the decoration of nearby pack rat nests?

Links:
In this Wikipedia article on pack rats, I learned some pack rat nests in the Southwest US have been carbon-dated to 1,000 years old, with recent research dating some to 40,000 years! Pack rats are a common desert mammal and their nests, called "middens," are interesting in their own right. Besides natural ingredients like mesquite, yucca, and cactus, it's not uncommon to see middens decorated with beer cans, bones, and scat.

February Red

2010-02-04T22:28:00.005-06:00

"Warm February Red"
Sam Houston St, Odessa, Texas

Oh, if my pomegranate tree only produced like this one.
"Cool February Red"
Sam Houston St, Odessa, Texas

It would be a real contest between the birds and me.

Where Have I Been?

2010-02-03T11:43:00.003-06:00

Oh, where have I been? My head has been in the clouds!

I've been in my studio — aka the office, aka the craft room, aka the junk room — painting. Painting, a lot. And painting just about anything that seems fun to me. These all are acrylics, sometimes added collage elements, sometimes a touch of color pencils, on 8"x8" MDF panels.

I'm building up an inventory for opening an etsy shop.

January 2010

2010-01-31T23:59:00.010-06:00

Plants:
......
.........
.........

Places:

People/Essays:

My Weird Eye:

Arts 'n Crafts:

Naked Lotebush

2010-01-21T07:07:00.004-06:00

"Naked Lotebush"(Zizyphus obtusifolia)
West Odessa, Texas

This is the season when the lotebush is nothing but spines. No leaves. No blooms, no berries. On this specimen there isn't even any overwintering ovaries. Just a plant of pure spines. This is a young specimen, with spines about two inches long. I've seen older bushes where the spines were longer than my hand, at about 6 or 7 inches. Nothing to sneeze at. Or, worse, accidentally trip into!

Actually, tripping in the desert rarely turns out well.

An interesting photo essay on Sibley Nature Center site, which includes this about the remarkable ovary adaptation:

"Lotebush is a common shrub species found mixed in with mesquite bushes and tasajillo (christmas cholla cactus). When it blooms in May and June many species of insects come to nectar on the sticky waxy flowers (which are half the size of an adult human's pinkie fingernail.) After it blooms, the ovaries remain as discs until the following April and early May when blue berries appear, 11 months after insects pollinate the flowers. One other species of plant (a cactus known as Mammalaria vivipara or chilipitin cactus) on the Llano Estacado also displays this adaptation to the rainfall regime in the region (heaviest in May.)"

Milkweed, Some Moments Later

2010-01-20T11:16:00.008-06:00

"Milkweed, Some Moments Later" 1,2
Time 5:10:42 and 5:11:24 pm, 42 seconds
January 14, 2010
Race Field, West Odessa, Texas

After opening this milkweed pod, and seeing the seeds all lined up inside it, I thought of the children's hand rhyme, "Here's the church, here's the steeple. Open it up, and here's the people." The seeds look a little like members of a church choir, don't they?

This photo was taken at my second adopted citizen science location. I'm calling it Race Field because it is a large open field behind a horse race arena. I chose to adopt and study it because it's the epitome of an untouched West Odessa.

For now, anyway.

Marking the Occasion

2010-01-19T13:35:00.015-06:00

Some of you remember that my blog started off as "A Photo A Day." That was way back in February of 2007. This is now my 700th post. To mark the occasion, how about a list of the top ten things I've learned about taking photos since then. Nothing earth-shatteringly new here, mostly a reminder list, really.

#1
Take my camera everywhere.

And if at all possible, I stop when I see a photo opportunity, not waiting until the next day even. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back to find that once delightful bloom beyond its prime. Or the roadside has been mowed. Or the entire field has been paved.

That's what happened to this photo's location, one of my all-time favorite places, now literally a parking lot.

"Golden Globes," October 2008, Interstate 20, Odessa, Texas

#2
Take photos every day.

But two or three times a week is serviceable. Once a week is bad. Zero per week and I get downright cranky.

Thankfully, though, taking photos doesn't necessarily mean going outside. Sometimes when I can't get out, the outside comes in.

"A New Friend" September 2008, West Odessa, Texas (my bathroom, to be exact)

#3
No, you won't remember.

I keep a little notebook with me to record places I go, names of people I photograph, and even ideas for future photos. I used to say of course I'll remember. But I've learned I won't.

Like this perfect pomegranate tree, as big as a shade tree, taken back when I believed I would always remember where it was.

"Pomegranate" July 2007, Somewhere in West Odessa, Texas

#4
Go! Rain or shine.

I've shot through my rainy windshield. I've pushed the shutter button with frozen fingers. I've dropped sweat from my face onto pretty little wildflowers.

I try to remember even just a little weather can make a more interesting photo, and a memory. Dress accordingly.

"The Day It Never Rained" June 2008, My brother Casey, Between Seminole and Lamesa, Texas

#5
My camera and I see differently.

I can't describe this technically, but I know what we see with our own eyes is not a perfect match to a camera's capture. The trick, then, is to learn what your camera will do with what you give it, and "collaborate."

I think that's why I've stuck with a Lumix brand (four years, three cameras). We've built our collaboration. Besides, I now have three batteries, two home chargers, one car charger, and a number of cards that all fit my camera, side benefits of sticking with a brand.

"Salvia's Song" February 2009, West Odessa, Texas

#6
Ignore "That won't work."

I was frightened when I first poked my camera into a flower: "It will be crap and I'll ruin my lens trying!" Since then, I've kissed a thousand flowers, and my lens keeps on going after a thousand cleanings.

Each time I go out, I include trying a "Nah, that won't work" shot. It usually doesn't. Sometimes, it opens a whole new world.

"New Camera" June 2008, West Odessa, Texas

#7
Shoot the breeze.

I'm no stranger to strangers. I feel comfortable talking to just about anyone.

Oddly, though, I get nervous taking photos of people. I suppose it's because I really, really, really want them to turn out well.

I've learned that talking while shooting people, asking them questions and shooting the breeze makes me less nervous. Them too.

P.S. Most people say yes, when you ask. Even if they at first say no.

"Abraham & Penguinito" February 2009, West Odessa, Texas

#8
One word: Prune.

Because this spider wove stems into her turret, I wouldn't prune for this shot. But, trust me, I have plenty where a jutting piece of grass over the very center view or beer bottles in the background should have been pruned.

By pruning, I'm not talking about anything environmentally unsound. No, I mean just take out the stray stick, brush off some distracting dirt, and generally pay attention to the whole, not just the, er, hole.

Take plastic bags with you. Pick up trash for bonus karma points!

"Spider Style" May 2009, West Odessa, Texas

#9
Be a tourist.

How many cotton fields have I seen in my life? How many tumbleweeds? How much red, sandy dirt? Too much, too many to count. Still, I'm really only a visitor, a tourist in this place and time.

There is no such thing as ordinary, except as a judgment. On the one hand, it's a challenge to take photos of what I've seen a million times. On the other, what else should I take photos of?

"One" January 2008, Martin County, Texas

#10
Don't worry. Be happy.

Taking photos is somewhat of a ruse. Having some good photos, a bonus. The real enjoyment is being outdoors, walking, open to seeing. If some photos turn out well enough to share or remind me of good times, it's icing on the cake.

And the best part? There's always today to get out for more photos and for more seeing.

"Winter Tapestry" January 2009, East Loop 338, Odessa, Texas

(And a Bonus)
Embrace Happy Accidents.

If you take photos, you'll have some happy accidents. They are yours, just as much as the shots you wrangled and poured your soul into.

You got up. You got dressed. You got out.

You pointed. You clicked.

It's truly yours. Embrace it.

"Two Photographers at Dawn" June 2008, Master Gardener's Compost Garden, Time Machine, Odessa, Texas

Who Are You

2010-01-14T11:26:00.000-06:00

"Who Are You?" Little dry weed like salsify, but much smaller
Morgan Marsh
West Odessa, Texas

I don't know what this plant is. It would be rather easy to identify if only it were summer and assuming it were blooming. In its current winter form, I'm drawing a blank except it reminds me of salsify, also known as goatsbeard, but on a much smaller scale.

This plant is from a nearby acre lot I'm calling "Morgan Marsh." It's not a true marsh — nothing like that near me — but rather a low-lying area that accumulates extra rainfall, sometimes floods, and because of that has a diverse collection of wild plants. I've recently adopted it, meaning I'll go once a week to take photos of the plants, bugs, and critters that make it home. It's my "citizen science" project, a suggestion Burr Williams of the Sibley Nature Center often gives nature enthusiasts.

For a personal challenge, I'd simply like to learn to recognize local plants in not only their summer appearance, but their winter one as well. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Links:
Sibley Nature Center serves the Llano Estacado, an area spanning almost 40,000 square miles of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. A map of the Llano here.
J.B. Calvert has an interesting write up describing the Llano.
As an example of Citizen Science, there's TexasInvasives.org an initiative to manage non-native invasive plants.
If you are interested in what might be available in your area, try Googling your location plus "citizen science" to see what comes up.

Old Ephedra

2010-01-12T23:23:00.006-06:00

"Old Ephedra" 1, 2, 3, 4 (Click any to see larger)
West Odessa, Texas

Do these plants look 200 million years old?

Of course, these three specimens (the two on the left are the same plant) are not anything near that old, but they do have a long lineage as members of a class of plants that goes back to the Triassic period. Ephedras, of which there are about 40 species worldwide, are unique enough to have their own genus, family, and order.

As you can see, they don't have leaves, but rather conduct photosynthesis in their stems. Ephedra is a small, sprawling perennial shrub, prefers dry climates, and reproduces by cones. The appearance of cones explains one of their common names, "jointfir." Ephedras are also sometimes called "Mormon tea," prepared as tea and used medicinally by American natives and settlers for everything from colds to syphilis. Another common name is "clapweed," although I believe the poor souls who used it continued to suffer.

According to the Sibley Nature Center, there are three common species of ephedra locally: Ephedra torreyii, ephedra coryii and ephedra antisyphillitica. I'm not sure which I have pictured but next time I talk to founder and director Burr Williams, I'll ask if he can distinguish them in these photos. The Sibley site has lots of information and photos of ephedras, depicted in a great variety of environments and throughout the seasons. As always, the center is a valuable resource to me and countless others in the Llano Estacado.

The funny thing to me about ephedras is that it's not one of the plants commonly known here, although it is plentiful. Granted, it's not showy, so perhaps that's why. I'm thinking with some pruning, it could be a nice xeroscape specimen. Its flowers are tiny and stunning in macro. When spring comes, I'll share some close-ups with you.

Links:
The University of Arizona Geosciences department, focusing on its pollen
Wikipedia's Ephedra genus article (mostly above my head)
Very informative article by Susan E Meyers of the USDA National Forest service (pdf)
More than 50 results for ephedra on the Sibley Nature Center site.

Escape into Fencescapes

2010-01-11T21:31:00.009-06:00

"Escape into Fencescapes" 1, 2, 3, 4
January 11, 2010
West Odessa, Texas

It was a beautiful day here today. Only as the sun slipped down did it get cool enough to wish for a sweater. I spent a mostly stolen, blissful two hours out taking photos.

I found another yucca without pods but rather aerial plantlets instead, which I'll post in a FB album for the Burr Williams Sibley Center crowd. This one was very green and thriving. Wonder if I planted one of the plantlets how it would reproduce when it matured? By traditional pods or plantlets?

For some reason, I was especially enchanted with taking portraits of our local species of ephedra today, which I'll post here tomorrow. Or perhaps if I could just get my act together, post on my nature blog, Leaves of Eve. I should gather up information about ephedra, from my books and online, and begin fulfilling my one of my 2010 goals, pursue a more dedicated nature self-education.

I saw a woodpecker — not the red ladder back kind maybe a ~~yellow flicker~~ ~~gilded flicker~~ northern flicker. That in addition to the normal crowd of critters: a cactus wren, gray cardinal, several horses, even a miniature horse, goats, a dead dog, several living dogs, a cat sunning itself atop a gazebo like some kind of funny finial, and a red-tailed hawk hunting over a field.

But what do I show you today? The delightfully weird landscapes I saw in a metal fence.

(Do I seem less weird if I say I see nature in them, too? A face, a tree, a baby bird, and clouds.)

Sun Dried Tomato

2010-01-10T20:17:00.003-06:00

"Sun Dried Tomato"
Antigone's Tomato Garden
West Odessa, Texas

A sun dried cherry tomato to be more exact, still on the vine.

I Got Ink

2010-01-09T23:53:00.002-06:00

"Forever Love" 5"X 5" acrylic on canvas by Debi Cates

No, none on my body. This is a prototype of some tattoo-inspired pieces I'll be painting to sell at our local seller's corner for Valentine's Day.

This reminds me of my Dad's tattoo. He got it back the day when only sailors got inked. He was 19 years old, in the Navy, in the Phillipines. And it doesn't take too much to assume he had probably partied pretty hardy during some shore leave. He had just the one, classically located on his upper arm, a heart with a ribbon going across it, my mother's name on the ribbon.

Misspelled.

Oh, Dad. If he were alive, I'd call him up Sunday morning and tease him unmercifully about that.

Quiet Corners

2010-01-08T13:58:00.008-06:00

"Quiet Corner" 1, 2
West Odessa, Texas

I'm sure there was plenty of traffic noise, people talking, dogs barking, and other cacophonies going on while I was taking these photos, but when I look back on the experience I remember nothing but the sound of my own breath. And the sound of the light. Except I suppose light doesn't have sound. It just seems like it does.

Fire and Ice

2010-01-07T01:15:00.000-06:00

"Fire and Ice" 1, 2
January 1, 2009
East Loop 338, Odessa, Texas

I'm still plugging away at backing up photos to CDs. It's sort of fun going through old photos, weeding them out ("weeding," get it?), if I didn't it would take three times as many CDs and time. Goodness gracious, I do take a lot of photos of the same exact stuff, over and over. And over. I must enjoy it or something. :P

Time to Back Up

2010-01-06T23:57:00.003-06:00

"Time to Back Up" 1, 2
January 11 & 12 2009
Ranch Road 1601, Crane County & Master Gardener's Compost Demonstration Garden, Odessa, TX

How far behind am I in archiving my photos to CDs? I'm just now backing up January 2009 photos. Bad me. I hope you have done a better job. If not? Get crackin', misery loves company!

That's So Wo Wo

2010-01-05T23:14:00.008-06:00

"That's So Wo Wo" 1, 2, 3, 4 (Click to see full image)
West Odessa, Texas

Sometimes things in West Odessa are not all delicate weeds with soft focus backgrounds. Sometimes things in West Odessa are, well, just so Wo Wo.

Wo Wo? Sounds like the word "woe." Twice.

Remember back when the comedian Jeff Foxworthy did his "You might be a redneck" jokes? It's very much like that. My favorite of his is "If your porch collapses and kills more than six dogs, you just might be a redneck."

In West Odessa, we might add our own version, "If Jesus sits in a chair on your front porch, you just might be Wo Wo." And if you take photos of Jesus sitting in a chair? I'm afraid to know the answer.

A Touch of Weed Frost

2010-01-04T14:07:00.006-06:00

"A Touch of Weed Frost" 1, 2, 3, 4 (Click any to see larger)
January 4, 2010
My Home, West Odessa, Texas

And to complete the picture of Jack Frost's work today — frost on weeds, of course! One day I'll know their names for certain as well. For now, I know the first is part of the amaranth family. The third is from the morning glory family, quite a surprise to me, as it was growing wild behind my shed and I had no idea.

A banner day today. One, two, and three sets of wandering through a frosty wonderland. Heaven.

A Touch of Tree Frost

2010-01-04T13:36:00.006-06:00

"A Touch of Tree Frost" 1, 2
January 4, 2010
My Home, West Odessa, Texas

Frost on my Afghan Pine (Pinus eldarica) and on the branches of a neighbor's Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis). Both trees are very drought tolerant and the willow is native to Texas. The Afghan pine was my little living Christmas tree in 2001, decorated with nothing but red cayenne peppers from my garden. Now it's all grown up, a real outside tree.

A Touch of Passionflower Frost

2010-01-04T13:16:00.005-06:00

"A Touch of Passionflower Frost" 1, 2
January 4, 2010
My Home, West Odessa, Texas

A photographer's delight — a delicate touch of frost on everything this morning! Here it is on my passionflower vine (Passiflora caerulea).

A Hare's Breath

2010-01-03T12:47:00.012-06:00

"A Hare's Breath" 1, 2, 3, 4 (Click any to see larger)
January 2, 2010
West Odessa, Texas

Yes, the expression actually is "a hair's breadth." But for these pictures — of tenacious, diminutive hanger ons — I imagine a single light breath of a hare could send any one of them far from home.

These are more alley shots, my new unlikely favorite destination. I'm still meandering West Odessa's alleys, enjoying their hidden treasures, and saving gas. For the most part it's a place I can poke my camera at all manner of subjects, at my leisure, without making anyone uneasy.

I say "for the most part" because there are some who do take quite a lot of notice of me. Dogs.

Yesterday I was told off by a grumpy unkempt lady who didn't like hearing her dog bark at me. Interestingly she began with, "Can I help you?" but didn't mean to help me at all. "Ten minutes is enough," she scolded me, the length of time she figured her dog had been at it. Perhaps she had been trying to nap?

I would have explained about the great light at that time of day, about how I was hoping to capture the way weeds were glowing, even show her a shot or two on the LCD, which in my experience usually softens even hard cases who are suspicious of my intentions. But something about the way her hair was standing on end all over her head said she wasn't the receptive type. So, I only said I'd be done in just a few more minutes. Then she cooed to her dog, "It's okay, precious," and went back inside. Her dog barked at me for another ten minutes.

And it was in that (second) ten minutes I took the first photo above.

Do you go to great lengths
for the just right light?
Perhaps you'd also enjoy
one of these past posts ->

The Unbearable Lightness
of Being

Two Photographers
at Dawn

Mr. Elkins Does His Own Laundry

2010-01-02T23:45:00.012-06:00

"Mr. Elkins Does His Own Laundry" 1, 2, 3, 4 (Click any to see larger)
January 2, 2010
West Odessa, Texas

I met Mr. Robert Elkins today. I made my acquaintance by simply saying, "Don't see many people hanging up laundry any more." And he agreed. He explained he doesn't like using his electric dryer if he can help it.

Mr. Elkins is a West Odessa resident, here more than 50 years. He worked the oil fields before he retired, worked as a roughneck and then a driller. I asked him who he worked for. He answered, "Everybody." I chuckled. I shared with him that I understood that too well. When I was a young bride, my roughneck (a "chain-thrower") husband had 13 W2s the first year we were married. Mr. Elkins smiled and agreed that's the way it was.

You couldn't give Mr. Elkins a million dollars for any one of his eight dogs, not that he believes in selling or buying dogs. They keep him going, he told me. His favorite is Pepper, the smallest. I asked why and he said because she is always cheerful and had never met a stranger. Right on cue, she rolled on her back for me to pet her little belly. Still, he didn't intend to have quite so many dogs. Take, for example his newest dog, Amber. Amber belonged to a neighbor, but the neighbor was gone for weeks at a time and she was left starving. We both shook our heads at that, two dog-lovers with ten dogs between us.

I made a new acquaintance today. Mr. Elkins does his own laundry, but this afternoon I helped him hang up the sheets.

Like stories about old timers?
Me too. Perhaps you'd also enjoy
this past post ->

Black and White
Or, The Barber Who Doesn't Want to Be Famous

2010 With Flourish

2010-01-01T06:18:00.008-06:00

Collage of my photos, made with the free image software Gimp 2.6

Thank you to all my visitors in 2009. It's been my pleasure to share my corner of the world with you. Here's to friendships, blogging buddies, and kindness galore. Happy New Year.

December 2009

2009-12-31T23:59:00.003-06:00

Some Leaves, a Bird, Snow Falling, and a Flag

2009-12-31T10:07:00.009-06:00

"Rust" 1, 2, 3, 4
West Odessa, Texas

Some leaves, a bird, snow falling, and a flag. Rust is inevitable. Being unhappy over it is not. (So says this creaky 50 year old.)

So long, 2009.

Like the offbeat? Abstract?
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these past posts ->

Bones and Ice

My Secret Industrial Side

Gifts Opened

2009-12-29T17:30:00.007-06:00

"Gifts Opened" 1, 2, 3, 4
December 23, 2009
West Odessa, Texas

On Christmas Eve, I spent the rainy afternoon meandering, as I frequently do, around West Odessa. My mom tells me that since I was a little girl I would point out to her little vignettes that I'd notice. I still see them, even hunting for them now, camera in hand. And I'm still pointing them out to her, even though we are miles and miles apart. She is a sweet and faithful reader of my blog. Hi Mom!

With Deepest Affection

2009-12-28T14:26:00.008-06:00

"With Deepest Affection" 1, 2, 3 (click on any to see larger)
Multiple locations, multiple dates, multiple beauties

If I pull this off -- that is, posting these pictures of women I love, shot with things they love -- without getting deep into hot water, it will be a miracle. I am brazen!

Beauty #1 taken with the sign that hung many years on her parent's store in a small Texas farm town.
Beauty #2 taken with her very own oil field dog house -- quite the nab -- now used for horse tack storage.
Beauty #3 taken while sitting among wildflowers out in the sun, always her favorite place to be.