Summer...

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“The men of experiment are like the ant; they only collect and use. But the bee . . . gathers its materials from the flowers of the garden and of the field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own.”

~ Leonardo da Vinci
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Somebody please tell me that summertime is the season to be busy... holy cow...

Gardening, work, the kids, work, baseball season, work... and I'm so far behind in getting my garden worked. I know summer eves go late but after standing and walking all day on the job I'm tuckered out and motivation to keep working is hard to find. But I'm getting there, I've planted trees, blueberries, flowers, dug new beds... but never got the vegie garden in so I'm guessing that it will be a job of preparing that in the fall for next spring.
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The Eugene Emeralds' season has started and it is revitalizing. There is something very special about baseball at this level of the minor leagues. The players are very young, most just out of college, a very few fresh out of HS. But they have a dream. And we here in Eugene are lucky with our old Civic Stadium. It is a beautiful old ballpark facing out from homeplate to the southeast with the south hills in the background. But it is the people... the kids especially... that make it a joy to spend 2 or 3 hours watching a bunch of men hit a ball with a stick (they're hoping they can hit the ball) and running around. And for a photgrapher a ballgame is a wonderful event to shoot. Here are few from a recent game where the players wore pink uniforms on a night dedicated to a local cancer fund:




(l to r) Austin, Colin, Dave, Jaxen, Dawn, Olivia and Connor



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I worked a show at Eugene's Cuthbert Amphitheater the other night. After working all day I was looking forward to seeing Taj Mahal. One of my longtime favorite blues musicians, Taj Mahal is someone I've never seen live. But I was so tired I didn't stick around for the show. I did however take my camera so that I could get some pictures of my friend Amy Wray's husband, John Shipe, who was the show's opening act after the original scheduled opener Susan Tedeschi had to cancel. I met Amy Wray when she joined the (too) short-lived Airship Radio Theater (see my post on ART here) and I somehow along the way enticed her into joining Harmony Event Medicine as one of our volunteers (Amy is a nurse). I had never met John and hadn't heard his music. I'm glad I got a chance to hear him perform and to take some photos. He is a talented young man, check out his website and listen to his tunes...





It was interesting that evening because we had the Eugene PD plus at least one Lane County Sheriff deputy on patrol both inside and outside of the venue, plus we reportedly had ATF bomb sniffing dogs go thru before the show's patrons entered. All the extra security (?) is because Eugene is hosting the Olympic Games track qualifications down at the U of O's Hayward Field. While the political nature of these Olympics has slipped waaaay below the public radar screen I didn't even try to get a press pass so I could do some photography at this nationally prominent event. And I love track. I haven't taken photos at a track meet since I was an under-motivated, under-achieving runner in High School.

Speaking of which... next summer is my 40th HS reunion... an event in August I'd really like to attend. There are many, many folks I'd like to meet up with again. 40 years... wow... my how time flies. That was so many lives ago.
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I managed to get out in the woods for another day of stalking waterfalls a week or so ago, here are a couple of images from that hike. God, I love Oregon's forest (I hope it shows):







Plus these from here at the farm, where they have been bailing the recent cut of the fescue (these are 6 string, 1,000 pound bales):







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My last blog post was a bit different than my usual trivial bantering (like today's post) and it drew both praise and criticism. If ever you have comments feel free to email me or post them here. I've a tough hide and can handle disagreement and critics. In fact I'm better at dealing with criticism than praise. I'd love to hear from you. It would be nice to see some visitors fill in those big blank areas of Africa and Russia. Maybe I'll need to do a post on Darfur and the old Soviet Union. Not that I enjoy writing on depressing topics but I remain amazed that tragedies like those ongoing events in Africa can remain so... unchanged and ongoing. Another subject I'll be tackling soon is the rise in veteran suicides. Did you know we now have more vets committing suicide each year than have died in all these years of George Bush's Iraq war? As a vet I can go there (criticizing the Bush war) without too much personal angst or worrying about those who are die-hard Bushites.

On a last note... we had a set of thunderstorms pass thru last night and I would have enjoyed shooting some lightning photos. But... dead batteries in the camera cancelled that. However this evening holds the promise of more, so... I'm hoping.

Until next time

Kay sh'nuk sh'ma
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“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi