Hot Air Balloon Fiesta Part 1

After watching prismatic colors float across the sky all last week; yesterday we made the sojourn to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I say sojourn with tongue in check, since we only drove 3.3 miles to the Park-and-Ride location nearest us. Then, rode the bus less than ten miles. This is one of the largest Balloon Celebrations in the world, and people travel thousands of miles to attend it. For us, it was more of an emotional and awe-inspiring "sojourn" than anything.

To begin with, Tom was quite cross... asleep at 11:30 pm, woke up at 4:30 am, no Coca-Cola, and "the bus was bigger the last time (he) rode it".


Once we arrived and Tom paid three dollars for a 16oz Pepsi, AND he snatched back his sweater (which I was wearing under my rain coat), all was right with the world. He had a delightful time, as did we all.

We arrived at the park around 5:30 am for the Dawn Patrol which gave us a taste of what a Balloon Glow might be like.


As the row of balloons lifted off, they synchronized and flashed their burns.


(Yeah, you try taking crisp night-time photos of moving objects without a flash!)


I am glad we arrived so early because after the Morning Glow lifted off, things happened so quickly!


Before we knew it, we were surrounded by balloons... which are colorful, but also noisy! The crews are all a-chattering, the balloon chasers are departing, fans are inflating the balloons, and the propane tanks are burning all around.


This is perhaps my favorite photo of the day. What do you think?


After feeling like you are being swallowed by bright colored "tents" on all sides...


...you turn around and see the sky filling with colors.


You realize that you are in the middle of Mass Ascension.


Words (and pictures) just can not describe it... which is saying

My Review of Gigaware 7" Hi-Res Digital Photo Frame

Originally submitted at RadioShack

Display your favorite photos on your desk with the Gigaware 7-inch high-resolution digital photo frame.

Gigaware® 7" Hi-Res Digital Photo Frame

Still Lovin' It!

4out of 5

Pros: Easy Photo Upload, Clear Image, Viewable from Many Angles, Quality Construction, Easy To Use, Attractive Design

Cons: Buttons on the Back, Photos Always Same Order

Best Uses: Photography Display, Home Decor, Desk, Gift

Describe Yourself: Quality Oriented

Primary use: Personal

Was this a gift?: No

Just returned from my Aunt's House, where this item is used. I played with it when we first got it (around Christmas) and again just now. Still loving the ease of use. Just turn it on and the show begins! Occasionally, it stops displaying photos, she turns it off, resets the memory card, and turns it on... it's good to go.

While there, we ran the same file folder through my laptops screen saver, and we noticed this picture frame was much easier to view from any angle, while the computer screen has to be tilted to just the right angle. After comparing them side, but side, I'd still like to have one of these frames for myself (since it's just so easy to see from anywhere in the room).

The "Random" photos tend to alternate between two spots in the file list, jumping from point A to point B, and moving forward one photo at a time (A1, B1, A2, B2, A3, B3, etc). This works well for watching an ongoing story.

Every time the display is turned on, it starts at the very beginning, so, it takes many hours before she can see the "newest" photos in the group. With over 1500 photos currently on the disc, it would be nice if it would start at a different point each time, or at least remember where it was at when it was turned off. Or perhaps, it truly could be a RANDOM display of the images. Perhaps the software could have options of how to display the images (sequential, random, and always start at beginning).

The play, pause, forward and rewind buttons work well, but being on the back of the display, she seldom uses them. I think these buttons would receive more use if they were on the front of the frame.

Even with the images always starting over and the buttons on the back, I'm still thinking of getting one of these for my own home. It's got such great image quality and is just tranquil to sit and watch!

(legalese)

Sock Puppet

Recently I've saved a few socks for something crafty.

Friday, Jack and I read a story ("If you give a Moose a Muffin" by Laura Joffe Numeroff) and in it the Moose made sock puppets. Since then, Jack has wanted to make some too...


Tom and Frank were out, so I took the opportunity to work with Jack on it. He picked the sock, cut the shapes and choose the yarn colors. I put the needle in and held while he pulled the yarn through. I also felt really good about doing a project with him, while it was fresh in our minds.

There are still boxes all around, but I was able to put my finger on the supplies AND put the things in my mind (unpacking boxes, prepping for a trip, surgery, etc.) aside in order to grasp some of those fleeting moments of childhood and spend a little time with my little-one. It makes me feel good and happy.


PS: This sock puppet also works well to make "Dragon Punches" (when worn on the hand), "Dragon Kicks" (when worn on the foot), and "Dragon Tickles" (when worn by Daddy!)

A Bit More About My Ear

I'm a bit surprised that it's already been over a year since I last wrote about needing to have an ear surgery to restore some hearing. Certainly a lot has happened during the intervening time, but, well, they do say "time does fly!"


On July 10th, I went to bed with my ear hurting, I put some drops in and told Tom "we're going to need to get this things fixed soon." Then, at 2:30 am I woke rubbing my ear in my sleep... vigorously with the palm of my hand. This action caused the dislocated titanium prosthetic incus to rupture the tympanic membrane. That is, a small piece of metal is now sticking through my ear drum. This does a few things: causes pain, significantly reduces hearing, and continues to damage the ear drum.

Owing to moving and needing to find new doctors, and already having a visit to my ear doctor planned the first week of August, I went to Phoenix to meet with him and have my suspicions of the course of events and the course of action confirmed. While I trust my doctor greatly, he did recommend a colleague in the Albuequerque area. Thing is, I can have surgery (in Phoenix) September 16th... I couldn't even see the new doctor until the beginning of October and surgery would have been towards Thanksgiving. Did I mention that this thing hurts?

So, I've decided and made arrangements to travel to Phoenix to have the surgery, then to stay with my Father-In-Law for the ten days post-op until my follow-up visit.

The bad news in all of this is that each surgery I have (this will be the third) increases scar tissue, there is a decreased blood flow to the area, and oh-yeah, a decreased chance of success. I've begun to wonder when I might bite the bullet and tell them to stop trying to fix the hearing and just leave the wire out... thus guaranteeing deafness in that ear. It's sobering, but as my Grandad said, "as long as you have hope, you keep trying."

So, this week I've been making preparations to go for another Phoenix trip, this one involving a lot of rest and light-lifting (nothing over ten pounds for a month), so the boys will need to be able to load and unload the van for us.

The surgery is on Thursday, September 16th; wish me luck!

Perfect Light

I take a lot of flower photos.


I think it's in my blood, flowers, I mean.


I come from a family of green-thumbs and while my personal ability to grow flowers is, shall we say, a bit lacking, I have found my knack for sharing the joys of flowers to be in my ability to capture them with a camera.


Or, at least I think so.


It all started when my Aunt Lou.


She's one of those green-thumbs who also happened to own a Flower Shop I was raised in, handed me my camera and sent me out to photograph her irises, daffodils, and tulips (no bulb flowers in this set of summer-time photos though).


For a while, I seemed to be inspired to take flower photos whenever I return to her mountain cabin.


Now, I do it anywhere and everywhere... even expanding into fruits and seeds as subjects.


I will cause the vehicle to stop and even make U-turns whenever I see a bright bit of color along the road.


It's gotten to the point where the boys even find flowers and point them out for me to photograph.


Of course, on our recent trip, I found "a few" flowers to capture, but one day in-particular, I found a flowerbed I'd been eye-balling in this amazing light of the nearly-setting sun.


Take a look at these photos!


The flowers just seem to glow!


One other thing about all these flower photos.


When I just took "casual" photos (and I do mean casual for me, but probably not for most people, I've always been a bit of a camera-hound) of "normal" things, I never thought to take flower photos. However. My Great Aunt Adeline and her brother (my Grandad) both took photos of things I found, well, weird.


They took, or shall I say, they TAKE, photos of flowers and food.


Now, here I am, doing the very same thing.


This shutterbug thing too must be in my blood.

Play, Play, Play!

Brother/Uncle's for morning swim.


Mom/Grandma's for afternoon BBQ.


Friend's for evening meal, playtime, and sleep-over.


Raid friend's sewing room for obsessive scrap sewing (these blocks are cut 3.5", the record holder (in this group) has 24 or 25 different pieces of fabrics.


Come to think of it, this may also be my record for the most blocks pieced in one sitting!

Crazy?

I think so!

But, oh-so-much-fun!!!

Drive Time

We departed (shockingly) as scheduled by 6 am and were immediately blessed with an amazing sunrise. While I’ve witnessed many gorgeous sunsets in Rio Rancho, this was the first sunrise I’d seen… and it was impressive enough to make me contemplate getting up early just for the occasion.


At the Arizona/New Mexico border, I saw the most stero-typical oriental tourist… one shot from the driver’s seat captured her:


Gorgeous blue skies on the high-plains:


More blue clear skies in the mountains:


The blue skies stayed with us all the way down to The Valley of The Sun:


I also think of this mountain as being covered by “Marching Cacti Soldiers”.


I just love the desert-scapes as seen on The Beeline Highway.


We stopped by the house Tom and I owned in Mesa. I was delighted to see only two changes to the front yard landscaping AND to see how well the yard has come in (when we left it had only been planted about two years.)


Can you see why I so love to drive in Arizona? It is SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I love me home-state!