Author: Peg

In a fit of boredom yesterday I decided to figure out how many “animals” live in the Old Bat Cave. My earrings and hair sticks not included. Surprised to find 16. And, I am not sure that dragons count as animals.

Surprising how many animals share my studio apartment!

Exactly how bad will next week be for The Orange Lord. Expect more than normal weirdness. It will be be some sort of end of summer fit of madness. Even crazier than “normal”. 

Still “death cleaning” my photo collection. Nothing made it to the dumpster. But, I processed another book. Only 2 books and 2 boxes of photo left. 

As was our custom in those days, we went on a 4 to 6 week road trip in the fall after we finished working at Harpers Ferry Park. In 1995 we some to have crossed Canada and then turned south and east through Utah.

And, we ended up in Kansas. 

WordPress isn’t working correctly. Well, that worked. Let us see if we can make a real post now. OK, here goes. Hope this will publish.

Well, I took the day off from work today, because of the hurricane. Never-mind that the hurricane is 5,000 miles away. But, I thought you would like to see how worried my home folk are about the coming storm. 

Did it. I actually took a fist full of negatives and prints to the dumpster. As well as some crap  to our “What Not Shop”. Real progress is being made. 

Today, I am messing with prints from 1990-1991. At that time, I was playing with one of my favorite cameras. The Zeiss Ikoflex 1a. It was a twin lens reflex camera – sort of a poor man’s Rolleiflex – and it had been my father’s. 

I always printed the Ikoflex photos in full frame as was the fashion back in the day. Especially when using 120 film. I still have the camera. And, I believe 120 film is still manufactured. But, I sure don’t have what it takes to develop and print my own photos anymore. 

The Ikoflex is a decoration now. As is it’s buddy an old Yashica.

We lived a couple of miles from this establishment and it was a favorite subject. And, that would be my beloved Alpha Romeo in front.

This is one of my all time ever favorite photographs. I didn’t take it. Some fellow traveler in the South Pacific did and sent it to me. We did that before we had email. And, a phone that took pictures.

That trip to French Polynesia was the first time Carlton had been anywhere that wasn’t all nicely western civilization white bread. And, it was his introduction to Polynesia. Which became an important part of his later years.  

Well, it is dinner time. So, this is it for today…

The food gods were a little crazy today. That insane Texas culinary offering “Chicken Fried Steak” appeared at dinner tonight – perching atop a raft of asparagus. K-Bob’s would not do this. Apparently, our chef will. She also puts artichoke in her otherwise excellent crab cakes. (I did not have the chicken fried steak riding on asparagus. )

And, then earlier today at my hospital – I encountered this tragedy:

Back at the photo project for a bit this afternoon. This set of photos I scanned in September 2013 and they were sort of just floating around in my Lightroom Catalog. The prints no longer exist. Don’t know when I pitched them. But, I do remember that scanning was much harder than my current Shamu the Phone 2 method. Not to mention the fact that the scanner didn’t make the move to The Asylum.

Point is: I don’t miss the photos. And, I rounded these images up into a nicely named folder inside my Lightroom Catalog. 

1986. That was a long time ago. Before “the internet” as we know it. But, we did have CompuServe and dial-up acoustic modems. Funny, no one remembers acoustic modems fondly. Not even old women. 

Ah, Mother Nature – just when I am feeling all tired, grumpy, frumpy and old – a monarch butterfly floats in front of my lens. 

Not much to record as far as my garden efforts – which were de minimus this weekend.

There is vast nothingness in this half of the weedlot – I plan to put an Elephant Ear bulb there next year. Turns out Elephant Ears and Taro are very close relatives. And both are considered invasive in Florida. But this isn’t Florida. 

This section of the weedlot is OK. Not great, but OK. I plan to put in some Spanish Blue Bells for a little late spring interest in the fall. Spanish Blue bells are supposed to be rabbit proof. I am hoping the Elephant Ear can out grow the bunnies.

Not much happening in the wild child garden box. 

Wow, two nights out in one week! I am getting to be a real party animal. Tonight, I am going to a musical event that involves a couple of 75 mm antitank cannons. What’s not to love about that?

And, I think that I am officially 1/2 way finished with my photo binder project. Still haven’t tossed any actual photographs yet. They are hanging out in a shopping bag, just waiting to go down to the dumpster. 

After the binders are done, I have a couple of archival boxes to deal with. 

The 1987 Circle the South Pacific trip ended in mid-May in Aitutaki, Cook Islands. We spent a week in Aitutaki.  It was very undeveloped then. We only had cold water and we had electricity occasionally. 

I would have long since stopped lugging jammies around. We are eating Weet-Bix – but we are in Fiji. Interesting time to be in Fiji – they were having some sort of revolution, our hotel’s plan to ensure safety was to keep the lovo – sort of a Fijian imu – going and just feed any army that came through. 

When Carlton posed by this statue of Captain Cook in Napier NZ – Carlton hadn’t discovered history yet. 10 years later he was all over Captain James Cook. Of course, Capt Cook was the real man behind Capt James Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. And it was Capt Cook who wrote “ambition leads me … farther than any other man has been before me”.

I seem to recall that I didn’t pay enough attention to the sign. It was a long walk. 

Enough of 1987 – I’ll try to finish up the South Pacific trip tomorrow. Big accomplishment today was “checking” the taxes. The “guy” does the taxes. I “check” them. Last year, I found a mistake. This year was OK. 

Now, how shall I get to Kona this year? All plane, plane and train, go east instead of west? The earth is round. No reason not to take the long way home.

In 1987, Carlton and I headed off for 4 months in the South Pacific. I insisted that we only take a little carryon bag each. But, Carlton found room for his jammies. Which he always wore completely buttoned up – like he was the leading man in a 1930s film where everyone slept in twin beds. 

Damn, I was young then. Not sure I could make it up there anymore. Well, lets see – 1987 – 30 some years ago. I wasn’t all that young. 

From today on the bus. Those guys don’t know each other. 

One does not get to be a little old lady without admiring some damn fine scenery along the way. 

Made much progress on my photo project today. I am almost half way through the binders. Took 7 binders to the dumpster today. Also ditched many of those things that were called “print files” which are actually archival print, negative and slide sleeves. 

I still haven’t parted with any actual photograph. But, I am almost there. 

This sort of pre-death tidy up is hard. I am not downsizing because I am moving to a new apartment. I am not getting rid of the stuff that belonged to a much loved but very dead husband… I am getting rid of stuff because I am the one who will be dead. Swedish Death Cleaning isn’t for wimps.

As far as I know, I am in good health – of course – like Carlton, I am not much of a believer in much of the testing and medicating that we the elderly are subjected to. So, I don’t actually KNOW that I am in good health. But, I think I am. 

Speaking of health. Employee Health went out for dinner tonight. Well, part of Employee Health.

We had a good time. Funny observation. The youngest person and the oldest person came to dinner via public transit/Uber the others came in the privately owned vehicles. Not thinking this bodes really well for the automotive industry. 

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia The Summer of ’92. I was hating life. Working the front line of visitor services. But, I was doing a lot of black and white photography. And, that was a great place for B/W. This is one of my favorites from that summer. It could have been from the Summer of ’65, 1865.

On the other hand, Carlton was having the time of his life. It was his first summer doing really solid interpretation. He discovered his passion at the age of 58. When he died, he was looking forward to another winter of talking about Hawaiian history. He had 20+ years of doing what he loved. In places that he loved. And, some places that he only tolerated. But, as long as he could “do history” he was a happy guy.

But FINALLY, I am doing something about all of my old photos. I could do nothing and when I die, someone will take them down to the dumpster. But, I need to do it. I need to be the one who dumps them. We are talking about binder after binder of old photos. All from film-time. 

I have an OK DIY copy stand set up in my room. And, I am photographing my photographs using Shamu 2. I had one of the binders that I photographed printed – just in case someday I absolutely have to have a hard copy of these binders. The print quality wasn’t National Geographic good. But, National Geographic isn’t going to print any of my stuff.

So FINALLY… I am getting this one done. It will be done before I go to Hawai’i this winter. 

Oh, and my photo books… Maybe I’ll leave money for a memorial cocktail hour at the Asylum saloon and the books can be passed out as “funeral favors”. Don’t worry, I am pretty sure I have more photo books than friends. But, free booze might increase my number of friends.