30 Days of Photographs II: Devil

This is it, gentle reader. The last post of the 30 Days of Photographs II Challenge.

It's been real. It's been fun. At times it's even been really fun.

Mostly, it's been harrowing trying to keep up with the other wankers.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Holy crap! There is no prompt for tomorrow! Now what?

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There's probably no better prompt for this final post.

It is often the small details of something that make it difficult or challenging.

Hence this photo along with these six words.

The devil is in the details.

This beauty is called a Question Mark butterfly. Why? Damned if I know.

One last detail before you go. See that new tab up there? Yes, the one I cleverly labeled "April 2012 Madness." Guess what? There are all kinds of goodies on that page! Don't forget to stop by (especially you, my fellow challengers) either by clicking on the tab or this dandy link.

30 Days of Photographs II: Lines

Did y'all know that most of the crazies loony toons folks in this challenge are actually a bit more invested in their writing than photography? Well, now you do. This has made the 30 Days of Photographs II hell misery perdition challenge more interesting.

Check out just how much these fools can say in 250 words or less.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: The Devil. The. End. Is. Nigh.

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Before you go down that deep dark road leading to graveyards, stop!

Try not to think—for some of you this may be impossible.

Click to enlarge this photo and just look.

Which lines do you like most?

Me? I adore that gate.

30 Days of Photographs II: Outlier

I am not a quitter.

I am not a quitter.

I am not a quitter.

Neither are they—my fellow blogmates in this heinous challenge.

Check 'em out.

Yo.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Lines. Two days of normalcy. I may faint.

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This prompt screamed for birds.

In my mind's eye, I saw a pair of cardinals perched together while a lone male robin rested on a nearby branch.

It was a beautiful picture capturing the essence of the outlier in nature.

Apparently no one thought to tell the damn birds about this challenge.

With all their courting and nest building, not a one bothered to stop.

This left me no choice but to go with a synonym: nonconformist.

When I saw this, I knew I had to have it.

To make a point, I flipped it.

Just.

Like.

That.

Happy Canadian Birthday Nonamedufus! Celebrate like it's 1952!

30 Days of Photographs II: Nude

My fellow bloggiots and I have reached the apex of this challenge. It is truly all downhill from here. If you haven't had an opportunity to visit these imaginative photographers, today is the day you want to drop in on them.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Outlier. For some strange reason, I'm really looking forward to this one.

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I think nudity in art is more sensuous when there's a little something left to the imagination.

30 Days of Photographs II: My Toothbrush

I have no answers to any of your questions about how this even made the list. My best guess is the geniuses behind this each had waaaaay too much to drink and exchanged IMs or emails and thought it would be a hoot to see just how low we'd all be willing to sink to stay in this war of wills.

I for one, was and am willing to sink pretty damn low. I can't wait to see what these other certifiably insane folks did today.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Nude. Before you get the least bit excited, remember this: I am a northern New Englander.

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I wanted to photograph my complete collection of dental hygiene gadgets and gizmos including, but not limited to my Waterpik, dental floss, dental picks, night guard, morning toothpaste, evening toothpaste, my rarely-used attachment to our electric toothbrush, etc., ad nauseum. Since the prompt was singular and specific and I didn't want to break the rules again, I left it at this.

You're welcome.

30 Days of Photographs II: The Future

Since I'm desperately attempting to stay ahead of the curve ball headed straight for my face, I only know this is scheduled to post on Wednesday. For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure this is the last Wednesday of the challenge.

I'm fairly certain the other clowns in this circus are as anxious as I am for this to end. If you can, please check in on them to see how they're holding up.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: My Toothbrush. Wow.

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From the moment I saw the list of prompts, I knew exactly what I wanted to post for The Future.

On a glorious day in late March, the temperature rose to over 85° F. Once I finished working, I tossed on a swimsuit, grabbed my beach gear and camera, and flew down to the beach.

I've always believed that children are our future. I'm apoplectic underwhelmed terrified a bit concerned with the now-adult children who hold the keys to effect change in the world. I do have hope that today's little ones will be better equipped to find ways to make this a better place when they come of age.

Of all the photos I've snapped of kids since this began, I finally chose this one. Behind this barely-walking tot sits a woman in the twilight of her life. I hope we do well by both of them.

30 Days of Photographs II: Crowd

I don't even know what day it is anymore. I know it's the day to post a photo of our interpretation of Crowd, but other than that, I'm completely lost.

As are these other fallen angels who desperately want to find their way back to whatever passes for normal on each of their blogs. Please hop on over and give them a pep talk. It really is almost over. I'm just not sure when.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: The Future. I wonder what this holds.

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The only crowd I enjoy.

30 Days of Photographs II: Fish Tales

We've rounded the bases and are heading for home. Only 7 more days until I quit blogging forever the challenge ends.

If you have a minute or two, please visit some of the other burnt-out bloggers who'll never post another photograph participating in this test of our mettle.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Crowd. I. Hate. A. Crowd.

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The State Commercial Fishing Pier—The Penultimate Place to Hear Fish Tales.

While those who fish commercially are more than willing to tell hair-raising and spine-tingling stories, they tend to be honest.

I'm fairly certain we all know where to find the ultimate place to hear outright lies fishing tales in our respective 'hoods.

If you have a minute, check out the link-up over at Finagle A Foto. I'll be judging the photographs the grammar, the spelling, the punctuation, and pretty much anything else I want for this week's contest. My job is to select the top 3 shots that best capture the rule of leading lines.

Ahem, this might be a really good time for you participants to start kissing up to me.

30 Days of Photographs II: Portrait

We're all doing just fine—thanks for asking. Sure we've been doing this for 22 days in a row, but we've got the right stuff to do this over and over again for eight more. BOOYAH!

If you have a minute or two, please visit some of the other duffers who, quite honestly, have made this more fun than I'd imagined.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Fish Tales.

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Update: this is not a self-portrait.

Where there is love, there is life. ~ Gandhi

Weekly Top Shot.

(Dear fellow sufferers challenge mates, Blogger refuses to automatically publish pre-scheduled posts. Of all the rules set forth by the whip-cracking team of Mike & Ziva, this isn't the one I long to break. Yet, break it I shall. My hand has been forced by Google's decision to "fix" every gol' dang thing it owns Blogger as well as my complete unwillingness to sit on my arse waiting for 8:00 a.m. to roll around.)

30 Days of Photographs II: Moon

Dear gawd, make it end.

Yes, all of us are still plodding, nay, slogging through this month of prompts, photographs, and a sparseness of words.

If you have a minute or two, please visit some of the other 'lunatics' participating in this month of, um, lunacy?

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Portrait. I'm not sure what I think of that.

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99% Full Pink Moon ~ Shot on April 5, 2012 (Weather wasn't looking promising for the 6th.)

I love looking at the moon almost as much as I enjoy watching birds. Because I don't use a tripod, I'm thrilled when the full moon rises in early evening.

Native Americans gave each full moon a name based on the rhythms of nature. April's full moon is most commonly known as the Full Pink Moon because pink ground phlox or pink moss was in bloom and they were so damn excited to see a color that wasn't white. Among Atlantic coastal tribes this is also known as the Full Fish Moon to celebrate the shad swimming upstream to fornicate spawn.

Here at Deckside Thoughts, my goal is to bore you to death with facts you'll never be able to use at a cocktail party keep you informed.

You're welcome.

30 Days of Photographs II: Bird

The most widespread gull in the states, herring gulls are often thought of nuisance birds. These are the gulls that flock around garbage and hover around blankets at the beach waiting for food. I like them. I love watching as they trail along behind fishing boats coming back to the harbor with the day's catch.

My obsession with birds paid dividends the day I went down to the harbor to shoot what's left of the bridge. I saw a herring gull with a breast turned golden by the slowly setting sun. I snapped a couple of shots then found a good vantage point to shoot the bridge.

I kept half an eye on the gull while I shot. After I had what I needed for this idiotic challenge, I turned to watch the gull. It rode the updrafts, lazily circled the harbor one last time, and turned west towards the sun.

It. Was. Magical.

Adult Herring Gull

If you have a minute or two, please visit some of the other incredibly bull-headed folks who refuse to bow out of this friendly month-long event.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Moon. Oh, Luna, how I love you.

FMTSO: Rule of Thirds
Sunday Best

30 Days of Photographs II: White

If you have a minute or two, please visit some of the other gol-dang fools who were just silly enough to hop on this crazy train leading nowhere.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Fire. For some reason, I can't keep my mind out the gutter on this one.

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my mind wanders back

reflects upon days long past

too often I stare

hours on the tractor

alfalfa, clover, and grass

fell under the blade

we wielded pitch forks

spread, turned, released the sweet scents,

and watched for storm clouds

piles built in the fields

gathered and pitched on the cart

forked into the loft

sweat-soaked, exhausted

we lazed on the new-mowed hay

content and fulfilled

memories play tricks

create illusions of bliss

it's risky to stare

Finagle-A-Foto
FMTSO: Time

30 Days of Photographs II: Fire

If you have a minute or two, please visit some of the other combatants who are under the delusion that this isn't a competition. Last wo/man standing wins!

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: White. I'm tempted to post a graph of the lack of ethnic diversity in my neck of the woods.

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With a Red Flag Fire Warning in effect for most of our region, I wasn't burning anything anywhere for anyone.

Instead y'all get this — a not very brilliant sunset seen through the forsythia bushes in a neighbor's yard.

If this doesn't work for you, just look up at my header photo. That was one fiery sunset—way back in October.

I hate rules.

::sigh::

I had this scheduled to automatically post at 8:00 a.m. this morning.

Don't ask me why Blogger decided to ignore the rules of the challenge.

If you're having difficulty using Disqus, it could be because I was an idjit and agreed to beta test Disqus 2012. It doesn't support IE8.

30 Days of Photographs II: Time

If you have a minute or two, please visit some of the other gol-dang fools who were just silly enough to hop on this crazy train leading nowhere.

Mike WJ, Ziva, 00dozo, Bryan, Elizabeth A., John Nonamedufus, Katherine, Kristen, LaughingMom, Malisa, Mariann, Meleah, Mo, Nicky & Mike, Nora, and Tanya.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Fire. For some reason, I can't keep my mind out the gutter on this one.

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my mind wanders back

reflects upon days long past

too often I stare

hours on the tractor

alfalfa, clover, and grass

fell under the blade

we wielded pitch forks

spread, turned, released the sweet scents,

and watched for storm clouds

piles built in the fields

gathered and pitched on the cart

forked into the loft

sweat-soaked, exhausted

we lazed on the new-mowed hay

content and fulfilled

memories play tricks

create illusions of bliss

it's risky to stare

Finagle-A-Foto
FMTSO: Time

(Extra) Ordinary Matters ~ 23 Years

Yes, this is still 30 Days of Photographs II. I just got tired of typing that in the title.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Time. Piece. Of. Cake.

April 15, 1989 ~ April 15, 2012

"Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. 

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."

As we stood before the JP, we shakily promised each other everything forever. We chose the Gibran quotation for its simplicity, beauty, and the message we believed we understood.

We practiced the vows but paid no heed to the cautions in this poem. It took time, pain, and willingness for us to finally understand, appreciate, and practice the wisdom of those words.

We are not one.

We do not complete each other.

The "ties that bind" once threatened to strangle us.

While we're each moving in the same direction, I walk a path far different from the one my husband walks.

Without our autonomy, we would never find our way back to one another—to that together place that belongs only to us.

Happy 23rd Anniversary, Hon.

It's been a hell of a ride.

30 D . . . Ah, heck, it's just wood

If you're looking for my Sunday Best or Weekly Top Shot, trust me, this isn't it. You can find that over here.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Ordinary Matters. Yeah right.

30 Days of Photographs II: Forty-Two

This is not the photo I had originally intended to post. Sadly, I used my mulligan yesterday by breaking the 'one photo' rule. Instead of risking Ziva's wrath yet again, I'm going with this.

::sigh::

Each of these six tulips has seven petals.

I checked 'em all to be sure there were exactly 42 petals.

While flowers may not be the the answer to life, the Universe, and everything, they sure do make the world a much prettier place.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Wood. This one could get ugly.

30 Days of Photographs II: Pleasure

I'm going to let y'all in on a little secret. We're only 13 days into this prompted photographic journey and I'm exhausted. When I dove headlong into this marathon, I'd read the rules and skimmed the prompts. Post a current photo, accompanied by no more than 250 words, for 30 consecutive days based on each day's prompt? Sounded like a cakewalk to me.

I read all of this in the wee hours of April Fools' Day—oh dear gawd, the irony. Without hesitation, I opened a new post, inserted a photo I'd taken after March 1st, and published my first post—two hours late. Yep, that's one of the rules. No matter which time zone we're in, most of our posts hit the blogosphere at exactly the same time. It. Is. Beautiful.

I find pleasure in the simple things many people take for granted or don't even notice. What gives me the greatest pleasure is anything that brings a smile or a raucous belly laugh to my sometimes too serious self, delightfully surprises me, or leaves me in awe.

Photography is how I express all of this and so much more. When words fail me, as they so often do, I shift my perspective and start shooting—straight from my heart.

This week, I've logged many hours in the car and on foot trying to find opportunities to complete the list of prompts.

Along the way, pleasure found me.

This juvenile red-tailed hawk attempted to snag dinner. Unfortunately we were both fooled by the wooden decoy.

One very hungry and disappointed youngster heading out in search of edible prey.

These markings on its back form a Rorschach inkblot with ever-changing interpretations.

Yes, I broke the 'one photo' rule because these 45 minutes were some of the most extraordinary I've experienced in months.

Tomorrow's prompt is: Forty-Two. Ziva and Mike? You. Will. Not. Break. Me.

Camera Critters, Weekly Top Shot, Sunday Best.

30 Days of Photographs II: Fear

While it may appear that this juvenile red-tailed hawk is frightened of that crow, I was there and saw this whole thing unfold. A few crows were hanging out, minding whatever business it is that crows mind, when the hawk appeared out of nowhere and scared the living crap out of them. As crows are wont to do, the entire group took wing and did their best to chase the hawk away. It didn't go far and didn't seem to be at all impressed with their numbers or their annoying cawing.

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Tomorrow's prompt is: Pleasure. BOOYAH!

30 Days of Photographs II: Wheels

I have this wikkid pissah cool photo of something perfect for today's prompt.

I've decided to hold onto it for one of the other idiotic outrageous inspired prompts.

These vintage Austin Healey Sprite wheels are brought to you by some unsuspecting customer at Brits Bits. The gratuitous reflections are especially for Mike WJ.

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Tomorrow's prompt is: Fear. At this point, I'm more inclined to post Overwhelmed.

30 Days of Photographs II: Waiting

When my company moved from its office in the city back to where it all began—the lower level of my boss's home on the edge of a small town—I was unhappy about becoming a commuter. Over time I've come to enjoy the quiet of this rural area. One thing I can't get accustomed to is the hens. They're dumber 'n bricks.

Each time I go out to stretch my legs, catch a breath of fresh air, and look for birds, butterflies, and dragonflies, they come running out of the coop and wait along the fence. They track my every move. I have never fed them and yet every time they hear the office door open, they flee the coop into their open pen, hang out along the fence, watch me, and wait with a look of hope in their otherwise dull eyes. It's almost as though they believe one of these days, I'll head over without my camera and sprinkle some appropriate food for them to nosh. Hope, like their other well-conditioned responses, remains eternal.

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Tomorrow's prompt is: Wheels. The NASCAR haulers don't roll in until July. Woe is me.

NOTE: Yesterday I neglected to mention that there is a new bridge being built to replace the Memorial Bridge. The Departments of Transportation of New Hampshire, Maine, and the US will all share the cost. The original cost to repair: $59.1M. The cost to build a new bridge: $81.4M. Not only is it going to cost more, we lost a piece of history. That's what I hate most of all.

30 Days of Photographs II: Something I Hate

Any photographer who's learned a few basic techniques knows the importance of drawing the viewer's eye to the subject of the shot.

The Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, NH, erected in 1923 to honor those who served in World War I.

Where does your eye go when you look at this? (Feel free to click to enlarge it to humongous.)

Everywhere all at once and nowhere in particular?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

That was my intent.

Why?

Look at this mess!

On the far left is what remains of the footing for the middle span of what was once a truss drawbridge over the Piscataqua River. To the far right, it's still possible to see the mostly intact northern-most span. It will soon head down the river, out to sea, and join the southern and middle spans in Quincy, Massachusetts (or thereabouts) where it will fetch a tidy sum as scrap metal.

This was completely avoidable.

The Great State of New Hampshire and this Great Country's Department of Transportation were ready to put up the bucks necessary to repair this historic and much-needed bridge. Sadly, the legislature in Maine: The Way Life Should Be (and seldom is), was not. Had they agreed to pay their share to renovate way back in 2009, the picture above would look a bit different. Sure there would be equipment everydamnwhere but one of the region's historic structures would still be intact—undergoing repairs to make it viable for another 80-100 years.

July 2011: the final inspection to determine if this piece of history would be repaired or torn apart.
Caught this with my phone while waiting to cross over to Maine. Little did I know this would be the last time.

There were three bridges connecting NH to Maine. Studies have proven that all three are necessary to accommodate the heavy traffic this tourist mecca endures.

Now there are two.

More studies have shown that the next drawbridge up the line—The Mildred Long Bridge—will need repair fairly soon to remain safe. I wonder what Maine's legislature will do this time?

Tomorrow's prompt is: Waiting. Since we've all waited for something, this should be a snap, right? RIGHT?

30 Days of Photographs II: A Stranger

I'd never met him

watched him struggle and realized

he'd never met grapes

Tomorrow's prompt is: Something I Hate. Still trying to figure out how to photograph apathy.