This is clearly a day late, but I lost power last night and I had a battle with my scanner that is still ongoing. These pictures are slides and the scanner wasn’t cooperating with me 100% and many of these pictures have lost a good portion of their color, but that is something I will have to remedy in the future.
This past Sunday was Hedgegeddon (pronounced Yardegeddon in the Jansonian dialect) and it was a complete and utter disaster. It rained all weekend (or so it seemed) and the rain didn’t stop for Hedgegeddon.
In the end Hedgegeddon Round 1 – You Win this Time Mother Nature! was a complete failure. There were 2 No-Call-No-Shows. 1 person backed out at the last minute. The ground was one cohesive piece of mud and wouldn’t give anything up. The chains and straps became wet and mud covered and slipped off the hedges regardless of technique. In the end, the ultimate battle between Man and Nature wasn’t even close.
The crew of Jason, Scottie D., Derrick and I were completely and utterly demolished. Even though Nature laughingly ran up the score on us at the end (like Tom Osborne teams of the past) by having my spade break in half in Derrick’s hands, our spirits are not crushed.
There is a reason that the most common signature at the bottom of my emails reads:
Man can be destroyed, but not defeated.
Hedgegeddon 2 – Suck It Mother Nature! (that is a working title) has already been scheduled. Barring rain, this time Mother Nature will feel the bitter taste of defeat. After all, the words before “A man can be destroyed…” are “But man is not made for defeat.”
Despite the Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland U. size of this last setback, the day was not without some small modicum of success:
There was actually a good thing that came out of Hedgegeddon. I stopped mowing certain sections of my yard in preparation for this unblessed event. When I stopped mowing a certain patch of the yard I found out that I have hollyhocks. Sweet!
I’m particularly proud of these hollyhocks because apparently these are a difficult flower to grow in this part of the Cyclone State. However, I can grow them without even trying. I truly am becoming a master gardener!
Here are a few other flower pictures from the Bennett Flower Gardens:
I’m hoping that there will be some moonflower and lily action in my backyard in the next couple of weeks. It also seems like the cherries will be ready for picking in the next couple of weeks as well!
Here are a handful of pictures that were considered for the last two weeks’ RWPE submissions, but were passed over for various reasons.
First, Painting with Light:
Second, Strong:
I should start thinking about COLORFUL pretty soon.
Apparently STRONG doesn’t get many people’s creative blood boiling. Only 3 submissions this week.
Christopher D. Bennett
IMAGE LOST
Dawn Krause
We ripped the ripcord on the Random Generator and it sputtered, then it fired it up and then it spit out this week’s theme:
Hopefully this theme will get more people’s creative juices flowing!
Today is Shannon’s birthday, so it must be time to wish her a Happy Birthday with a few pictures of the young lass!
So to summarize, Happy Birthday Shannon!
Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 21 was to take pictures at the Iowa State greenhouse.
Other pictures from this photo session:
It is a beautiful facility and I recommend anybody that is on the Iowa State Campus during the day to check it out. I will warn you that it is boiling hot in the “jungle room”, but it is worth it.
I was going to sprinkle this into the Personal Photo Projects, but that hasn’t worked out, so I’m going to make this the new Thursday thing for this blog. I’m going to start scanning my Dad’s negatives and posting them on Thursday. These will be posted without commentary and in no particular order. Here is the first batch:
There is a little bit of a learning curve and dusting, so my dusting skills should improve as this project progresses.
I think that anybody that has spent an extensive time with me knows the location of my favorite bridge. Despite being the scene of a tragedy, my love of that bridge has actually increased recently as it has become a community art project of some kind.
I don’t really like graffiti, but at the same time I love folk art. I like to think what has happened to this bridge is more folk art and less graffiti, but I’m truly not an expert on either subject. I don’t know why what has happened on this bridge has happened, but I love it.
Something that can’t really be seen in the pictures is that somebody has put an office chair in one of the bridge’s support columns. That would be an awesome place for a Spring through Fall office.
I had a pretty awesome Memorial Day Weekend and saw all of the right people. Plus, my grill got quite the workout.
The weekend started with FNSC at my humble abode. The group core was there, plus Jesse and Dawn. Jesse, Willy and I hung by the fire pit until about 2 in the morning.
On Saturday morning I got up early to go to the bank with Mom and Teresa to sign some legal documents involving a safety deposit box.
After that exercise I hit up Salon 908 where I put up a new 20×30 picture in the salon to replace the one that had been sold. While you are waiting for a haircut at Salon 908 now you can stare admiringly at this picture:
I also got a sheering. Now I look borderline presentable. Even though I declined the eyebrow waxing that was offered.
I went home to clean up the kitchen best that I could. I had a Chef coming over to use it that afternoon and while I know that he looks down on my pathetic assortment of kitchen utensils, I wanted the area to be clean while he made magic.
After the kitchen cleaning, I went to Reiman’s Music to take pictures of a white piano for that week’s RWPE.
Next was a trip down to Beaverdale to pick up Sara. Although the Sara pickup also involved taking out her old air conditioner and putting a new air conditioner in her house. This ended up being a more painful process than I wanted it to be, but despite having to remove a nest from her window sill, the air condition finally found its home in her window.
Then was Todd and Peggy’s wedding. They got married on a golf course in Pleasant Hill. It was an impressive affair that included a free round of miniature golf, a photo booth and fireworks.
After the wedding Sara and I went to a bridge overlooking 235 so that I could work on a Personal Photo Project that will be published on July 9. It was from this experience I learned that another criteria that I should look for in photo assistants is the ability to turn a blind eye if I want to do something that is slightly illegal or dangerous. Sara doesn’t like it when she perceives me to be in “danger”. Of course, I already knew this from Personal Photo Project No. 16.
After dropping Sara back off in Beaverdale and doing some final tweaks on her air conditioner installation I voyaged back to Boone. A trip that takes quite a bit longer now that the Highway 17 bridge over the Des Moines River is closed until August.
I was hoping to make it back to Boone to hit the tail end of Nate’s birthday bash at The South Side, marking my triumphant return to the Boone Bar scene for the first time since 2008. However, I pulled back into Boone at roughly 1:40 and decided that it wasn’t worth it to go for 5 minutes. So instead I returned home to the Clockwork Couch and watched the tele.
Shortly after I got home Nate and Bethany returned home. They were both staying with me for the weekend and we talked briefly before they both crashed.
I got up early on Sunday morning and went to church. After church I grilled out with Nate after he returned from a poor round of golf with his friend Ryan. Earlier in the morning I had inadvertently interrupted Ryan’s vomiting efforts. It must have been quite the party that I missed.
Tim had bought a Nate a birthday cake with Nate’s 3rd or 4th grade picture on it. Most of Nate’s picture remained, except Nate’s face. Apparently Ryan had eaten Nate’s face the night before. After we were done grilling, I had some of Nate’s cake.
Later Nate proclaimed that the chicken wings he had made in my kitchen on the previous day were the best that he had ever made. This was a bold proclamation. Just ask Corey Faust if you doubt the veracity of that statement. Nate is going to make these legendary wings next time I go to Minnesota. Looks like I might have to cash in on that when I go see The Swell Season at the end of July!!
After resting from the grill, Jill came over and picked me up. We hit Jen and Derrick’s for a barbecue. Derrick grilled up bratwurst with pineapple in them. It was decided that these brats tasted slightly breakfasty. Even though Webster doesn’t consider breakfasty to be a word. They were still tasty. Plus any chance to eat burgers made with Derrick’s super secret burger recipe is always a great time.
I got to watch the Gorshe Baby Ultrasound for the third time. I still have no clue about the sex of Baby Gorshe, but I enjoy watching the video nonetheless.
After a lengthy discussion about the greatness of Daniel Tosh, we left while Derrick napped on the loveseat.
The next morning I slept in until 9:30. That is a late morning for me, except on the occasional work day. Nate, Bethany and I grilled out for lunch. By this time, my grill was definitely entering the danger area that cause the fire during the 2009 Road Trip Planning Barbecue, but it made it through another meal without incident.
After the meal Nate and Bethany packed up and I burned Bethany a copy of Strict Joy for their car trip home.
I then grabbed my camera and took a few pictures.
After taking pictures I went to the cemetery. At the cemetery I ran into Carla. We walked around the cemetery for about an hour. Then I went home and prepared the house for an impromptu family barbecue.
I didn’t clean the grill, but it did manage to make it through yet one more meal without erupting into flames. I should clean that at some point.
After the family went home I rested on the Clockwork Couch and watched Wooden Shoes. A movie made my a fellow computer miner by the name of Scotland Thompson. If you want a review of the movie, too bad, but I will loan my copy out.
I would like to report to interested parties that do not know yet…
Willy did finish his 100 Mile Race this past weekend.
Willy knocked out 100 miles in La Grange, Wisconsin as part of the weekend of Kettle 100 Endurance Runs.
He ran 100 miles in an official time of 28 hours 24 minutes 29 seconds.
I know, pretty insane!
Last week’s theme really fired the imagination of some contributors as multiple people submitted multiple images for PAINTING WITH LIGHT.
Mike Vest B
Christopher D. Bennett
IMAGE LOST
Carla Stensland A
IMAGE LOST
Carla Stensland B
IMAGE LOST
Dawn Krause A
IMAGE LOST
Dawn Krause B
IMAGE LOST
Justin Whitaker
Dawn Weekly Poem
Painting with Light
Oh the ache
and cold of the dark
A searing pain
has left it’s markGloomy days with
impending doom
Lead us toward our
eventual tombWait for the light
to paint the sky
Raise my spirits
and hopes to flyCradle my heart
in His warm hands
With promise of
happier lands
The Random Generator has been randomizing and it has spit out this week’s theme:
To answer the inevitable question- “No, you can’t take my picture for this theme.”
Housekeeping Note
Thanks to the 10 or so people that “Like”d the Photography 139 Journal. However, I am removing that feature because of hierarchy issues. However, you will still have the ability to like individual posts. So if you like this post and have a Facebook account, feel free to “Like” away.