Discarded

"Each year one vicious habit discarded, in time might make the worst of us good."  Benjamin Franklin

Mr. Franklin had it right.  I don't know about you but I certainly have many habits that could be discarded.  I have also lived long enough to be able to discard some of my worst habits over the years and, on each occassion, doing so has helped improve my life.  Am I good yet?  Well I am working toward that goal.  Maybe someday, if I live long enough...

Discarded

Details:
iPhone, native camera  app, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Fencing in or fencing out?

Fences...  What are they really for?  Do you fence to keep yourself in or do you fence to keep others out?  Love your neighbor as yourself; but don't take the fence down is what some say.  What say you?

"The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out."  J. R. R. Tolkien

Fencing in or fencing out?

Details:

iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio

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To everything there is a season

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted..."  Ecclesiastes 3

It definitely is the time to pluck up the sunflowers.  The season has changed and winter is approaching.  There are mornings now when I must where a hoodie and gloves just to stay warm. This kind of weather is hard on the flowers.  Oh, but what a wonderful season is ahead.  A nice blanket of snow will be welcomed.  After all, it is much easier and quicker to snow blow the driveway than it is to mow the lawn.  Yep, to everything there is a season...

To everything there is a season

Details:
iPhone 6, Camera+, Snapseed, Retouch, PhotoStudio


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The Day Dawn is Breaking

"The day dawn is breaking, the world is awaking, the clouds of night's darkness are fleeing away.  The worldwide commotion, from ocean to ocean, now heralds the time of the beautiful day."  Joseph L. Townsend

Just another scene from my morning walk.  It's a beautiful day!

The day dawn is breaking

Details:
iPhone 6, vividHDR, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's....

Lego Man Joe seems to be flying over the city looking for opportunities to spread truth, justice and the American Way (are you old enough to remember that?).  Look!  It's a bird.  It's a plane!  No, it's Lego Man Joe!

However, contrary to popular belief, Lego Man Joe cannot really fly.  He (much like his hero Chuck Norris) just jumps and then decides when to come down.

It's a bird!  It's a plane! No, it's....

Details:
iPhone 6, vivid HDR, Snapseed, TouchRetouch, Filterstorm, NoiseMaster, PhotoStudio


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The Amen of Nature

Blooming flowers are becoming fewer and fewer as the cooler autumn air rolls upon us.  Nature's cold spell is about to hit.  I was intrigued at this lonely blossom all alone in a heap of drying flower foliage.  One last blossom that has not yet given up--still fighting to show the world it's majesty.

"The Amen of nature is always a flower."  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

The Amen of Nature

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Monsters

Mike and Sully are in the neighborhood.  Looks like they are checking out the Halloween decorations for the upcoming holiday.  When I see stuff like this I have to wonder--Where do people store these things all year?

"There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them."  Andre Gide

Monsters

Details:
iPhone 6, native camera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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God's Coloring Book

Fall is such a gorgeous time of the year.  God gets out his watercolors and Crayolas and creates the most beautiful, unmatched canvas masterpieces.

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  Albert Camus

God's Coloring Book

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Golden Hour

I love the Golden Hour--that gorgeous time of the evening as the sun sets and the sunlight color turns warm and bathes the surroundings with the beauty that takes the imagination into fairy tale land.

"Two golden hours somewhere between sunrise and sunset.  Both are set with 60 diamond minutes.  No reward is offered.  They are gone forever."  Horace Mann

Golden Hour

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, MobileMonetHD, PhotoStudio


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GOOD MORNING sunshine!

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."  Marcus Aurelius

GOOD MORNING sunshine!

Details:
iPhone 6, native camera app, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Plum Graveyard

It's October and all around the neighborhood Halloween decorations are in full bloom.  Witched, skeletons, goblins, grave markers--they are all there.  At the same time the weather is changing, leaves are falling off the tree, grass is going into hibernation and leftover fruit is falling to the ground.  So, although I don't have any Halloween decorations out yet, I do have my own graveyard of sorts.  It is the area under the plum tree.  I call it my plum graveyard.  And boy, does it smell.....well, it does smell!  Guess I will have to go harvest all the dead and decaying fruits this weekend.

Plum Graveyard

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Waiting Still

Waiting again.  Waiting still.  I thought they said "fast food".

"Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we are waiting."  Joyce Meyer

Waiting still

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Love makes the world go round

Around our home there are often many different creations that get baked in the oven.  All of them, all of the good ones anyway, have that deadly, addictive poison in them--sugar!  Ya, you should try and eat "just one"...  This batch was created as a handout for a Sunday class after a lesson on love.

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round.  Love is what make the ride worthwhile."  Franklin P. Jones

That is not a quote from the lesson but is one that comes to my mind when I see these sugar cookies arranged in a circle on this tray.

Love makes the world go round

Details:

iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio

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Up or down?

"The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down."  Samuel Jackson

This staircase, at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City, looks a little like a staircase to heaven--well okay, only to the 3rd floor, but the rise into the blue sky invokes the heaven feeling to me.

Up or down?

Details:
iPhone 6, vividHDR, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Transcontinental Railroad

And where were you on May 10, 1869?

Okay, so you are not quite that old--only feeling like it sometimes....  That was the historic day that the Union and Central Pacific Railroads met and joined their tracks at Promontory Point in Utah to finish the transcontinental railroad.  This mural in the old Union Pacific train depot located in Salt Lake City commemorates and documents that great historic event (for those of us who were not present).

Transcontinental Railroad

Details:
iPhone 6, vividHDR, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Union Pacific Depot

1909 Downtown Salt Lake City--the Union Passenger Station was completed.  Providing joint train depot services for the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Railroad and the Oregon Short Line Railroad.  The depot served as Salt Lake City's railroad transportation center into the 1970's.  Now, this grand hall serves as the grand entrance to the Gateway Mall in the city.  

"There's something about the sound of a train that's very romantic and nostalgic and hopeful."  Paul Simon

Union Pacific Depot

Details:

iPhone 6, vividHDR, Snapseed, PhotoStudio

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Leftover scraps

I am sitting in the kitchen watching the master chef make sugar cookies.  Hearts, bats and pumpkins are the shapes of the day.  As each shape is cut there are leftover scrap trimmings that get put into a pile.  Ahh, leftovers....  Not for long.  Once the leftover pile is large enough it is rolled out, pressed flat and covers enough surface to get another cookie cut out.  Gotta use it all up.

"It's not leftovers that are wasteful, but those who either don't know what to do with them or can't be bothered."  Julian Baggini

Leftover scraps

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Will it blend?

Now here is a branded corporate headquarters entrance!

I stopped by the corporate headquarters of Blendtec yesterday because I was driving by and because my Blendtec blender container had a leaking seal.  The seal between the blade and the exterior gear had worn out and was leaking.

This is not a new problem.  I actually bought my Blendtec blender a long, long time ago.  In fact, it was not even labeled a Blendtec but is a K-Tec blender.  Over the years the company changed the name to Blendtec and has since branded its products with Blendtec.  So yes, I had a Blendtec blender long before they became famous.  I love it so much!  I have personally convinced dozens of people over the years to go out and buy the Blendtec blender for the best blending experience ever.  I am a raving fan.

I now have over 2,500 blends on my blender motor (yes the blender counts the cycles).  However, over the years the seal on the container has repeatedly broken down and leaked.  I have now gone through three blender containers.  Not a good omen for my favorite kitchen appliance.

So this time I hand carried my third broken container into the corporate headquarters to discuss this repeated problem.  I had it so long it was no longer under warranty.  However, the lady at the front desk was very kind and super friendly.  She could not find me in their system--not too surprising since I bought the blender so very, very long ago.  So she added me to the system, gave me a new container and registered the new container in the system.  Even though the container was out of warranty, she did not ask me to pay for a replacement.

Yes they have had a product issue with this leaking seal.  But WOW!  What great and friendly customer service.  And by the lady at the front desk!  She did not even have to send me to a customer service person.  She handled it herself and I walked away impressed!  Thank you Blendtec!

And I love their new headquarters building entrance.  I just had to grab a picture of it.

Will it blend?  (if you have not seen the YouTube videos under the "Will it blend?" channel, you are missing some great fun)

Yes, it blends!

Will it blend?

Details:

iPhone 6, Native camera app, Snapseed, PhotoStudio

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Going down!

MAYDAY!  MAYDAY!  I've been hit!  I repeat, I'M HIT, WINGS DAMAGED!  I'M GOING DOWN!

In fact, the poor creature is already down.  Down and found dead, stiff and dried up on my front lawn after a wind storm.  Looks like the windstorm flak took out part of his wings and....  Well, I don't know much about the life cycle of dragon flies--but I do know that this one has seen his last flight. Yet I cannot help but admire the beauty in nature's wing design.

Going down!

Details:

iPhone 6, ProCamera, Filterstorm, Snapseed, PhotoStudio

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What's inside?

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

What's inside?

Details:

iPhone 6, vividHDR, Snapseed, WrapCam, PhotoStudio

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Bad Boy Tomato

"It's difficult to think of anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato."  Lewis Grizzard

Unless, of course, you are staring down this "bad boy" garden beast...

A little post-processing and application of a symmetry filter turns this last-of-the-tomato-crop fruits into a menacing creature looking beast.

Bad Boy Tomato

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Feeling the heat

Ronald Reagan said, "When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat."

Well, Lego Man Joe is feeling the heat today on this hot seat.  I thought about using "toasty buns" as the caption but decided that "feeling the heat" works better once I found the quote from Ronald Reagan.

Feeling the heat

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Handy Photo, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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The Handy Photo app let me expand the canvas around the candle image and also cut out Lego Man Joe and then size and paste his image over the candle flame.

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Blind staircase

This shadow play created by the sunlight through window blinds creates the image of a staircase.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Blind staircase

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Them bones...

It's October already.  Some folks can hardly wait--you know the ones....  Those that love Halloween and break out the yard and home decorations in mid-September.  Well, I for one waited until we have been in October for over a week before posting any image relating to the upcoming holiday at the end of this month.  This one was found during my morning walk in the front yard of one of those who just can't get enough of this holiday--the front yard was covered with them bones...

In pondering an inspirational quote that goes with this image I looked through several and finally settled on this one which seemed fitting:

"We can imagine our bodies being destroyed, our brains ceasing to function, our bones turning to dust, but it is harder - some would say impossible - to imagine the end of our very existence."  Paul Bloom

Them bones...

 Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Daily Workout

Lego Man Joe gets in his daily workout.  Time for mine...

"True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; they two are ever united."  Wilhelm von Humboldt

Daily Workout

Details:
iPhone 6, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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