Tonight's Photowalk...Some Things I Hadn't Seen Before

I set up my camera to take a time lapse video of the sunset. It didn't turn out like I thought it would, but I like it nonetheless. 

The rest of the photos were taken as I walked to the end of our street. They're mostly flowers, but that makes sense because some of the most beautiful things I see outside are the flowers in bloom.



I love our huge snowball bush. I wish the big puffs of white would make it until Memorial Day, but I don't think they will. They're perfect right now. Maybe, maybe--we'll see if they do make it so we can take and put some on my mother's grave.



Irises are always incredible. We have some that are such a deep purple, they're almost black. I can take pictures of those all day.



There's a winged angel in my neighbor's yard I don't think I've ever noticed it before. For me, there's something about winged angel yard ornaments that is a little...off.



The sunset wasn't as brilliant as I suspected it would be, but I love how it illuminated all the freeway light posts. They look so small and insignificant next to the sunlight.



All in all, a good day for a quick walk up and down the street.

There's Some Building Going On...

The foundation's poured; the framing began today. It's good to see another building going up. There's less and less of it nowadays. Of course, where we live, there's less buildable land available. It's all being gobbled up.

Tonight, as I was grilling dinner for possibly the last time this year, I looked around at the neighborhood. From the end of our street, I could see twelve houses.

And I've seen every single one of them be built.

The oldest home I could see was my childhood home. It's the home getting an upgrade, hence the foundation and framing. The first home on the street was temporary. My parents bought a mobile home and parked it in front of our house as they built the home, something I'm sure is not possible today. Once we could live in our house, we moved the mobile home to a mobile home park.

The house across the street came next, then the three at the far end of the cul-de-sac went in. Then came the red brick home next to ours. From there, it took decades for the other homes to pop up. The house north of us was built. Then our house, my sister's house, the house built on my brother's lot (that he sold...), then a house north and east of us, and finally, the last open lot on the street got its house.

Twelve homes, built between 1970 and 2014. 

 I don't feel particularly old, even though I am, relatively speaking. To those older than me, I'm still a pup. To kids and teenagers, I'm ancient. I've seen changes in my home town and even on the street in which I live. Unlike some, I'm glad to see another structure go up, even though it's an addition. It means people are living their lives. It means dreams are being fulfilled. Yes, we were the first, but will not be the last. I'm glad there's some building going on.

Breaking Out The Drone...Again

It was years ago. We had just received some inheritance. We were at a hobby shop, I saw the drone, and I bought it. It's not a "top-of-the-line" model, but it's better than those twenty dollar versions. The problem isn't the drone, but my inexperience in operating it. I'd love to get good enough to take great pictures and videos with it.

Hopefully, time will tell.

Over the weekend, I visited another hobby shop. I had to pick up a battery for the drone (the two I had previously sort of blew up...). They found one in the back and I was off and running, or flying, as it were. Tonight was such a perfect night to dust off the drone and see if I still knew how to operate it.

Turns out, I'm about as good as I was before.

I took three videos of my flying attempts. I could only include the shortest video here because of size restraints. The drone made a rather abrupt landing, or I guess I made an abrupt landing and one of the landing supports fell off. In drone flying, landings are SO SO SO important--the same as flying close to power lines or large pine trees. Luckily the damage was easily repairable. I fixed the landing gear and hit the brilliant blue skies again. I did get some views of my neighborhood and house that I just don't get anywhere else--fifty feet straight up.

I'm always excited to see the finished product, but as I watched the videos I realized I've got a long way to go. I need to be much smoother. Watching what I captured can give a person a headache, or make them seasick--sort of like watching The Blair Witch Project, or Cloverfield.

No, drone operation/photography is a work in progress. Like anything, you get better with practice. Now, if I can just keep the drone it in one piece long enough to learn, I'll be fine.