Connections

Been reading a lot lately. Mostly photography business books and techniques, as well as that Steve Jobs book, and listening to the Girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy audio books in my car. Good books are easy for me that way. I can listen to the audio for my 1/2 hr ride on a Friday, and pick it up again on Monday. Or I can read 2 pages of a book late at night on my kindle, fall asleep, and pick right up the next night as if I'd never put it down.
Good friendships are that way too. It's tough when people grow up and everyone goes on with their own lives, moves away, etc. There is a loss for sure, but many times you're too busy with your own life's events to dwell for long. Anyway, good friendships are like those good books. You may not keep in touch for years. But then if you do get the opportunity to pick it up again, it's as if you saw each other yesterday. Just continuing on with the next chapter, or conversation. I posted this picture on fb the other day. It was just a random shot of some wild flowers near the campground that Sue and I are at for the summer. I posted it as a way to brighten everyone's day. A huge part of my passion for photography is the connection you can make to people and the emotion that you can possibly create for them.

Russ, an old college buddy, messaged me "Awesome pic Em". Now, I saw Russ a year or so ago, prior to which was about 20 years earlier.  We were just 2 victims of the "life getting in the way of things" stage. But that comment made my day, and reminded me that good friends (and family for that matter) never go away. The connection is open and conversations continue as if they never stopped. Hey Russ, you're like a good book! But mostly, a really good friend.
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On another note, it's father's day. Thinking of my dad, and step father, and father-in-law who are gone.... :-(

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But on a lighter note, it is father's day and I have wonderful kids who I am crazily proud of. And while we won't all get a chance to be together today, it doesn't matter. We're all connected and it will be as if we were together yesterday. Love you guys! (I will see one of them today, and I'm going to whip his butt at golf!)
And right now, I'm sitting outside drinking my "Jamaica Me Crazy", looking at the beautiful trees, while chipmunks scamper back and forth across the yard. Gonna be a great day. Life is indeed good!

Have a wonderful day people...
Em

Deep in the heart of Texas

The stars at night - are big and bright Deep in the heart of Texas....

Last month Sue and I had a wonderful vacation down in Austin, Texas, visiting our daughter Taylor, and son-in-law Jeremy. We hadn't seen them since shortly after their wedding last August. Miss them bad! But we had a wonderful time. They were fantastic hosts and we love them to pieces. They love it down there, and they tried hard to sell us on moving down. While very tempting, we're not in a place to do that just yet. Maybe someday! You never know...

Anyway, this is an account of our trip down there. Kind of a long post, but I thought it would give some good info for someone planning on going.

We had left NH during a rainstorm, something it had been doing for the past month. And arrived in Austin in the rain. 1/2 hr later, the sun came out and stayed that way for the 8 days we were there. (it was raining when we got back to NH, by the way. I'm starting to grow gills).  We started our vacation by going to Frank for some gourmet hotdogs and pub food. What? don't you mean Frank's? Nope. Just plain singular FRANK.  Really good food, and excellent Margarita's and Bloody Mary's, and beer. Hereafter referred to as The USUAL., which strangely enough was a common beverage selection for us down there.  After that, we looked at some curios and oddities stores (can't remember which). And marveled at all of the food trucks they have in Austin. If you ever want to know what happens to Airstream campers...They go to Austin and are reborn as restaurants!
After that, we took a trip to the Congress St. Bat Bridge. Thousands of bats come out and night and everyone gathers to watch. Really cool.

Congress St. Bat Bridge

Followed by the USUAL at the Upper Deck. Good sports bar.  Most every place you stop at in Austin is open air eating, which is GREAT!.

Day 2, Wednesday, started out with brunch outdoors at Austin Java with bloody mary's and mimosas... Couldn't find a good website for them, but they're on facebook. Afterwards, we took a short hike up to Mount Bonnell. Climbed on the cliffs, and looked at the mansions on Lake Austin. Then we went to graffiti park and climbed around there and looked at the street art.

Graffiti Park

Following that, we walked around the capital building in Austin. Beautiful building. Would have gone in, but it looked like there was a big tour of elementary school kids waiting in line, so we opted out.
After a little break, the Taylor and Jeremy took us to the Salt Lick in Driftwood for dinner. OMG. Ribs, and brisket, and sausage, and steaks, oh my. A great BYOB restaurant. We had a great time, and ate to our hearts content.

Salt Lick BBQ

Lastly, we went to the White Horse Bar to get a taste of honky tonk and blue grass music and Lone Star Beer. Followed that up with a long nights sleep.

Day 3, Thursday, we took the grand-dogs down to the Green Belt. It's a place on the river, where you can bring your chairs, and swim and relax. (when there is water). It was dried up a month before we got there, and with the rains, filled up for our visit. It's dried up again, I hear.

Piper at the Green Belt

After a wonderfully relaxing day at the crick, we went out and over indulged that The Home Slice. Holy cow, their pizza was as big as Texas, and soooo good. We got so full, we could barely drink the rest of the night. Barely. We had a late night of music and drinking planned on 6th st., and being full was not a great way to start. We went to a bar to have a drink and check out some music before we were supposed to see some friends of the kids play at another bar. This one had just opened and the bar band was just tuning up, so the bartender gave a free round. And we felt obligated to have another round..Ug. Too full to drink...But we managed.

There must be 100 bars on 6th st. and every one has bands playing. Crazy. We went to the Mohawk to see Whiskey Shivers and Shakey Graves play. The Mohawk is a really neat multi-tiered venue. Anyway, W-S plays bluegrass, and I really enjoyed them. Never appreciated that kind of music before but do now! And Shakey Graves is an awesome singer/guitarist. Taylor and Jeremy met him last year and hired him to play at their wedding. I've become a big fan of his. Great guy, and a really good friend of the kids.  Check him out on You Tube! : Shakey Graves

Shakey Graves

It was a great day..and we didn't make it home till 1am or so...good thing we're still young! :-)
A-hem.

Day 4, Friday, After sleeping in, we went to Whole Foods for lunch. Holy cow! What a store! This is the headquarters, and it's more like an experience, than a grocery store. (We actually got lunch here twice this week. Yes, that good!)
Then we spent a few hours walking around the Zilker Botanical Gardens. A beautiful park. Very relaxing.

At night, we had dinner outdoors at Shady Grove restaurant. It was a hot night and we had THE USUAL...Lots of The USUAL. A really cool restaurant.

Day 5, Saturday, We started out the day at with a delicious brunch at Red's Porch, and ate on the upper outside deck. Great company,  very relaxing. Tried a new food. Frito Pie (Homestyle blend of chili, cheese & (of course) fritos). Yumm!!!! Finally, a food invented with me in mind. Afterwards we went to Callahan's General Store where we tried on cowboy hats, and looked at chickens and goats and pigs for sale. Very neat store!

Your's truly, and daughter Taylor

At night we went to the Spider House in Austin which is a big ol house where tons of bands play every night. A very cool place with lots to look at. We went there to see Shakey Graves again. He put on a great show and I got some good shots. (practicing my concert shots). Another night of music and beer followed by a late night breakfast at Kerbey Lane.

Day 6, Sunday, We drove about an hour to San Antonio to see The Alamo. It was cool to finally see it, but I must admit it was little disappointing. Not sure what I was expecting, but it was interesting to read a little of the history of it. I do want to read more and will try and find a good book about it's history. Afterwards, we went out on the River Walk, which is a beautiful (and busy) place. Had some mexican food for lunch, drank THE USUAL, and actually paid to have a mariachi band serenade us. Hey, why not! After lunch we went to Louis Tussaud's Wax Museum. I think Louis must be Madame Tussaud's less talented grandson. The quality of the wax sculptures was laughable. We had been to Madame's in NY, and loved that one. Oh well, live and learn. Louis is owned by Ripley's and is not associated with Madame's. We still had a good time (Especially when Taylor climbed into a horror scene and jumped out when I came by. HOLY CRAP!) Scared the heck out of me, and then I roared with laughter. Later, Jeremy hid in a haunted closet and scared me also. They're trying to kill me I tell ya!

Day 7 Monday, Sue and I used this day to relax since the kids had to work. At night though, we headed to Austin and had dinner and drinks at Opal Devines. Good food, service wasn't great, but the poor waiter was serving upstairs and wasn't told he had a table outside. Oh well, we got a free round for our troubles.

Day 8. Tuesday, Sad day. Had to leave our kids behind and get back to NH. But we are comforted in the fact that Taylor and Jeremy have a wonderful life in Austin. We're so proud of them, and thank them for the wonderful times we had there. They are great people. We'll be back...

The stars at night - are big and bright
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The prairie sky - is wide and high
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The Sage in bloom - is like perfume
Deep in the heart of Texas.
Reminds me of - the one I love
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The cowboys cry - ki-yip-pie-yi
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The rabbits rush - around the brush
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The coyotes wail - along the trail
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The doggies bawl - and bawl and bawl
Deep in the heart of Texas.
(June Hershey/Don Swander)

To see more scenes from Austin, check out this link to my website: More pics on my website

Finally! Finished my "What I did on vacation" post....

Coming soon... 1001 ways to pass the day in the rain in NH. Ug...

-Em

Where's Em?

Keep reading... you just may find me.

Yeah, I know I keep promising to blog more, but I tell you it has been a busy month...The whirlwind started on the day before my birthday (4/27). Had some of the kids over for dinner. One of the things I got was this awesome birthday card that Ashley made for me....

And so began the month of indulgence...Lots of food and drink..

Next stop was a weekend trip down to Provincetown, MA. with my wife, and mom  to visit my brother John. He is a master craftsman down there. (check out his work at http://www.studsandmore.biz, or on face book (Studs and More). I hadn't had a chance to see his work up close and in person before, so I was happy for the opportunity.  Sorry to say I only got a pic of this gorgeous ceiling he was building in a cottage,

and this one of some custom cabinets he was building.

Great work! So proud of John. I also got to hear him sing karioke at the Governor Bradford. Never heard him sing before, so when I heard him, I thought "That can't be him. Must be some effects in the microphone". Nope, because the next person sucked...So it was his voice, and I was totally blown away. Wow.

So, we had a good couple of days visiting. Stayed at the John Randall House Bed and breakfast. Great bunch of people there. I highly recommend it if you ever go. Clean and cozy place. Many thanks to the manager Bob for his hospitality.

Here are a bunch of pics from the weekend.

The "Post Office". Great place for lunch

Also ate at Bayside Betsy's. Good food there!

Town Hall. The architecture and design in this town is beautiful

Long Point Lighthouse

Tulips

This was a hood ornament.

A squirrel with a real dead rodent in it's mouth

Takes all types!

The Library, taken early one morning

from the end of the pier.

I was up a couple mornings at 5:30 to try and catch the sunrise.

Too cloudy to get a decent pic. But I did get bronchitus. Boo.

Lots of fishing vessels. Love this shot.

Up on one of the dunes at Herring Cove.

There were whales swimming in the cove, but I couldn't get a shot. 

At Race Point Beach (c-c-c-cold)

at Race Point Beach (Deb Bell, Sue Swanson, John Swanson)

Sunset at Herring Cove

Took pics of 2 couples there. They saw a photographer

and asked if I would mind taking their picture.....

Glad I could record a great memory for them.

Shot of the moon from Herring Cove

Race Point Lighthouse from Herring Cove

The Pilgrim Monument

Great museum there. Unfortunately, the tower

was closed that day. Was opening the next day

for the summer. Bummer.

My brother did the floor of the museum! Great job!

Pilgrim monument

Bleeding Hearts

The Public Library

An artist's shack I found on a morning walk

You found me!

Anyway, it was a wonderful weekend. My brother showed us a great time. I had an awesome birthday, and so glad we had a chance to go visit. We'll be going back!

Next up? Working on shots from our vacation in Austin TX.. Hopefully I won't make you wait another month for that.

Em