On Sailing, Focus, and … Ice Cream!
Please note: I’ve added a few updates to the remodeling gallery (latest — 10/30), for those following along. (Thanks.) More soon.
While my house remodeling continues, I’m much more restricted on what I can work than I imagined. There have been several power problems, and I’m without my big computer for days at a stretch as one circuit or another gets worked on, tripped, or whatever. Therefore, all of the big hardware is really only available on the weekend.
First Fall Foliage (2009)
Well, except this past weekend, when it was so cold here in Macon — it was 35 degrees this morning! — that I had to break out the portable heaters. Which, of course, won’t work on the same circuit as the big computer; the combination causes an immediate tripped breaker. Ah, life in a [partial —Ed.] 1933 home.
Glad to be here.
Anyway, thought of the above photograph after seeing the first “foliage” here in Georgia. It was brown; I have a feeling it’s going to be a generally-brown fall around here. Nice to see some Maine color, at least!
That same trip around Maine netted one of the best treats I’ve had in a loooooong while — a Maine wild blueberry … frappe:
Gifford’s Maine Wild Blueberry (Frappe)
Ayuh, was that good. Flavorful, thick, creamy, local — very near ideal.
Apparently I’m not the only who thinks so, either: Gifford’s chocolate ice cream just won a big national award. Well done, folks!
If I’d brought some of that home, it would go into the fridge-freezer. Conveniently enough, the front of the fridge is exactly where I want to go next:
Maine Windjammer Postcard (on the Fridge)
When I went sailing this summer, it was with Maine Windjammer Cruises, a three-boat outfit in Camden; the postcard was a giveaway to anyone who’s sailed with them — and I enjoy seeing those old schooners every time I dive into the fridge.
As an aside, the rest of the visible fridge-front, counterclockwise: The Last Meow (at bottom) is hilarious; Macon Arts is a great organization (x2); scene from old Boothbay Harbor, Maine (as a magnet); the Patriot Act is still an abomination; another Boothbay magnet; the mouse still yearns to be free; “Slow Down! We Only Have Nine Lives!”; Maryann’s awesome Macon stone faces (distorted in this shot — her Framed series is better, anyway, IMHO); Doug’s card; and a magnet from the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida.
The schooner photograph on the fridge offers me a(nother) chance to talk about my style of photography — and remind folks that I take that “slightly different focus” thing seriously. Because while the above is good, it’s not what I prefer.
Indeed, here’s a similar one from my trip. It was taken at dusk in a Northhaven inlet, and was the first time all three boats from the Maine Windjammer Cruises fleet had been together outside of Camden proper:
Maine Windjammers, Together (in the Pulpit)
Again, nice. Damned good, even. (Thanks to the crew for rowing me out.)
But it’s not one of this year’s five-star photographs. Why? It’s a cool shot, sure, but it doesn’t really tell a story. My best photographs do — they lead you in, and get your imagination firing on being part of the scene.
Like this:
Coastal Maine Windjammer Cruises
My favorite of the “bowsprit” series taken on board the Grace Bailey, and the second five-star photograph from Maine. Cool.
The Maine preview gallery has been updated with these shots. More soon!
As always, thanks for stopping by.