Week 27, July 3-9, 2022 – Wynwood, Miami – Part 2
July 9th, 2022
Category: events, people, & family
February 12, 1943 – October 9, 2021
My Dad passed away today, and I’m not sure how I feel about it, or even how I should feel about it. I remember some good times and good things that he did for our family and for me. But I remember a whole lot more that was bad; moving state to state and school to school, religious rules without grace, his anger often specifically toward me, but mostly his lack of compassion. I learned a lot from him; some good lessons, but mostly “don’t do it this way” lessons. In some very distinct ways, he helped me learn about life – as you might have guessed, both good and bad.
And while I’m not sad that he’s gone (no one deserves to suffer through cancer) there was a part of me that thought that I wouldn’t miss him, that I’d already “dealt with his death”. But I think I do miss him – there’s a part of my history and person that is missing now. Dad helped me become who I am, and that impact will stay with me, for good and bad.
Goodness, it was cold. We stood on a parking garage roof in Elgin for 2 hours, stepping back into our cars in between photos to allow the soles of our feet to warm back up. Luckily, the lunar eclipse didn’t happen during the “Polar Vortex” (that was the next week), but it was only 4° F (-15.5° C), and being 5 levels up meant there was nothing blocking the wind.
However, unlike the 2015 Lunar Eclipse and the 2017 Solar Eclipse, there wasn’t cloud cover. I didn’t stay for the entire eclipse, but I’m pretty happy with the images that I did capture.
One of our favorite father-daughter adventures is traveling to gardens and conservatories. Visiting the indoor gardens (like Nicholas Conservatory in Rockford and Garfield and Lincoln Park Conservatories) and seeing the colorful plants when it’s monochrome outside has become a highlight in the colder months. The girls bring paper, pens, and colored pencils and draw the flowers, ferns and greenery (and I sometimes draw a bit too) while I wander around and take photos.
Elgin’s historic buildings set it apart. Elgin was prosperous and large enough to support a booming downtown in the late 1800’s until the mid-1900’s. The buildings that once housed dozens of downtown shops and the historic churches are just as impressive today as they were 100 years ago. As I’ve walked around downtown, these buildings have gathered my attention; and I wanted to document the names, brickwork, and cornerstones on a few of them … which then turned into this black & white poster.
Arling
Normally, I reserve my blog for still life or wild animal artistic photos; however, this is the 100,000th photo that I’ve taken with my Nikon digital SLRs.
But there’s another reason that I love this photo: Sally and her husband Gene have almost 20 horses that they own or board; they love horses. Cynthia, my daughter, loves her toy horses; but, other than a few pony rides at the fair, she’s never around horses. Sally enjoyed seeing Cynthia’s fascination with horses turn into a love for them today. I’m certain that both of them will remember today for quite a while.
Now, back to that 100,000th photo: I’ve had 4 Nikon SLR’s now – D50, D80, D90, & the D7000. They’ve each had their own personalities, and I’ve sold each one to friends who’ve enjoyed using them as well. In fact, my first Nikon, the D50, was sold a second time to another friend. I love photography; and, like Sally, I love seeing others learn to love photography too.
…thank you Adrian for your thoughtful help,
but more than that, Thank You for your sacrifice for our nation…
