12 of 12

"12 of 12" is a cool concept developed by Chad. On the 12th of every month you take 12 pictures to show how you spent your day. I've been meaning to do it for a couple of months now but always forget about it until the 13th. This month it just happened to be the day the family gathered to celebrate my Dad and Sister's birthdays so I already had a reason to snap some pics. (Their birthdays aren't the same day, we just consolidate and have a big gathering).

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8:25am. Asheville, NC. My reminder to do "12 of 12" this month.


12:19pm. Black Mountain, NC. On I-40 East heading towards my parent's house for the birthday festivities.


1:11pm. Hickory, NC. Success! Arriving at their house.


1:12pm. Hickory, NC. I'm greeted by my niece, nephew, and mother at the front door.


1:14pm. Hickory, NC. Just in time for way too much mom-cooked food (it was all delicious, Ma).


3:11pm. Hickory, NC. My niece is going as "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast for Halloween this year and had to model the dress for me.


4:00pm. Hickory, NC. We spent most of the afternoon outside since it was a gorgeous Fall day. Here are the kids riding their bikes and big wheels.


5:24pm. Hickory, NC. It's become a family tradition to have balloons at every birthday gathering, and at some point before the day is over we go outside and release them into the sky and watch as they float away. I had the white one this time.


6:16pm. Hickory, NC. Mom's flowers are still looking pretty good. They probably only have a few more weeks before the cold weather gets them though.


6:23pm. Hickory, NC. Taken by my 4½ year old niece. She has a good eye for detail.


6:36pm. Hickory, NC. Sun's starting to set, almost time to go home.


7:17pm. Morganton, NC (or thereabouts). On I-40 West headed back home. Not a bad day at all.

Kids

This picture is from Chester, South Carolina and was taken in the year 1908. It's from one of my favorite sites in the web, Shorpy.com. The site has pics dating back into the early 1800s and the quality of most of them is simply amazing.

I look at pictures like this and get drawn into the people and their surroundings and try to imagine what their lives must have been like. And not just for the instant in time when the snapshot was taken. The children below have all more than likely lived out their entire lives and moved on to whatever comes next. They were probably approaching the ends of their lives when I was just starting mine. I find that incredibly interesting.

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It makes me wonder what people are going to think in 2108 when they look back at some of the photos on sites like Flickr.

Catching Up

Not much happened today so I think I'll catch up on a few things. Last Monday (Nov 19th) I was up early walking the Shelbster and was able to snap a few pretty good foggy morning shots:





These were taken from the edge of my apartment parking lot, and you'd never know there was a smelly dumpster only a few feet behind me. The field where these were taken has been the focus of several of my pics and looks great in the winter covered in fresh snow.

I also decided to buzz my hair last week. It's not really too much of a change in appearance for me since it was slowly taking care of thinning itself pretty well; it's more of a psychological thing. I've finally reached "that point" when my hair isn't going to be lush and magnificent anymore and it's time to put it out of its misery and just keep it shorn from now on. And truthfully I'd already reached that point a few years ago, I was just hanging on and trying to get as much time out of having hair as I could. And yeah there are a few little gray bastards poking through there. No worries though, it's time to start aging gracefully I guess.