Pet Peeve

This afternoon I took my daily walk, as I always do.  After a few times around the block, I discovered a older gentleman going door to door with pamphlets.  I watched as he knocked on the doors and either handed the flyer to a neighbour or left it inside the door. 

He encountered me whilst coming back towards the road.  He slowly made his way to me, while wiping the sweat off his brow. 

“Hello, may I hand you a pamphlet?”  He cheerfully asked, as I greeted him and shook his hand.

“What is this about, sir?”  I asked whilst trying to scan the bleached out paper in the mid day sun.

“We’re trying to get the real facts out about what President Bush and John McCain have accomplished while in office”, he answered, as he smiled and continued forward.

“Ah, may I ask if you work for the McCain campaign?”

He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and replied, “No, I volunteer with a local Baptist association”.

“Well, thank you, sir…Try to stay cool in this heat…”, I responded whilst making my way towards the house.

I came in the house and laid the paper down on the desk.  I got busy doing chores and didn’t get around to reading it until about three hours ago. 

It gave legitimate facts about Bush, but what got me was the wording.  It used the words (if you want to call them that) Ya, Y’all, Darn, and Dang throughout it. 

It’s as if whoever wrote it was cogitating, “Welp, them Southerners will never understand real statistics or logical wording, so I’ll just dumb it down for them”.

Southern Americans inside the United States have the stigma of being stupid and  uncivilised.  Unfortunately due to circumstances that I could write a thousand words about, a large portion of Southern people are illiterate.  That does not mean that we are all eejits!  I rail against such notions.

I’m not mad at the man that handed me the flyer, for he was just trying to do his part for the community.  He has a right to his views as do I to mine. 

It is insulting to me and every other civilised Southern American.  Give me facts.  Give me the hard core statistics.  I’d much rather spend an hour going through a well formed report, than I had getting red faced over a thirty second scribble!

There’s one more wee thing that is bugging me.  What is a religious organisation doing dabbling in politics? 

signal

P.S.:  I let my Uncle look it over.  As soon as I get it back, I’ll put it in this post.  :)

Creepy Moon

At sunset this evening, the moon was glowing an ominous flame-orange, as if God had peeled a tangerine and laid its peel upon the moon.  I was out eating dinner with a dear friend, when I glanced out the bistro window to discover the tangerine orb hovering over a vapour laden horizon.  I came directly home whilst scanning the sky. 

By the time I got home the orange orb had transformed into a crisp light peering from the black abyss.  I grabbed my camera and headed towards the back garden.  I crept under the enormous pine trees, as the owls hooted and the bats fluttered almost silently through the night air. 

I set up the camera at the back of the property and proceeded to snap shots of the moon.  The vapour had almost dissipated from around the glowing sphere by the time I got my first shot setup.  The ambience was quite spooky, with all of the wolves howling and the air gently rustling through the trees.

After a few shots, I left the creatures to their business and headed to the house.  Some of the shots came out well, others sucked due to using auto exposure.  The moon is a tricky subject to capture.  You have to set the exposure, relative aperture (f-stop), and ISO to just the right setting depending on the light and moon phase in your area.  Auto mode will not work on the moon.  He’s a bashful rascal.   :)

Clouded Moon

Canon 400D, 300mm, f7.1, 3/5e, 400ISO  – Auto

Full Moon

Canon 400D, 300mm, f20, 1/15e, 400ISO – Manual Mode

Any questions?

XXX – Walk this Way

After writing the previous post yesterday, I went downtown to walk around and enjoy the lovely river music.  I had to park on the far side of South Main street.  So, I made my way up Main street.  I stopped in a few shops to speak to friends, and continued on my walk up to the top of north Main St.  I live in a very mountainous area.  There’s about a 150 metre elevation difference between the lower part of downtown and the upper part.

Map image

Anyway, I took a few shots along the way up and started back down the other side.  When I reached the City Hall Plaza, I caught the glimpse of a young lady in the crowd approaching me.  I knew the bow in her hair, and the blouse she was donning.  I knew the walk and the fake laugh.  It was my ex girlfriend downtown with another guy.

So, I panicked and slowed to a turtles pace until I could figure out what to do.  “What am I going to say…What am I going to say???”  I cerebrated over and over while trying not to be obvious.  I sped up a wee bit but still didn’t have anything worthy to say.  Something marvellous came over me, and a huge smile overtook my countenance. 

Just before we met in the gang of people, she leaned over and whispered something to him.  I looked straight ahead, as we passed one another.  A huge burst of laughter spilled out of my mouth. I couldn’t restrain it.  I stopped to catch my breath, and her boyfriend (I reckon) spun around and gave me that South Carolina go to hell look.  I smiled and muttered, "Ah, fair play to ya".

Bluegrass on the Reedy

She proceeded to pull out her lipstick and smile.  I can only guess she was hoping to see a fight.  Given her demeanor and the time we spent together, she would’ve loved for two men to fight over her.  What woman wouldn’t?   :)

"What the hell is that supposed to mean", he demanded with nostrils flared.

The strange thing was that I wasn’t mad nor scared.  Of course, he was small boned like me but about six inches shorter. 

Laughingly, I yanked a cigar out of my shirt pocket, tore the wrapping off of it, and proceeded to light it up in front of him.  Then, I said, "What I meant was better you than me, pal".

He turned around and muttered something like, "I aught to kick his ass".

She grabbed him by the hand and they continued walking. 

People were whispering and snickering throughout the plaza.  It was a grand end to a rotten day.  How was your day?

P.S.:  I know that I wasn’t going to post so many personal stories in the future, but I just had to post this one due to the humour of the situation.  I’m quite proud of myself.  I could have decked him without ever uttering a word.  But, she would have liked that.   :)

Water Steps