This one gives me Narnia vibes. I was driving down one of our scenic
route roads one day, on my way to the gym, and saw the sunset, I
immediately pulled over and took off into one of the fields nearby.
I
got some great shots, but on my way back to the car, I saw these honey
suckle bushes in the ditch next to a fence and decided it would be worth
my time to climb through the brush to try to get a good picture.
A
thousand mosquito bites later, some scraped ankles and maybe a slight
side of the road flip out after running into a spider web...it paid
off.
~~~~~~~~
I haven't seen Chelsea Fredricksen Fuentes for a number of years. She grew up in Sandpoint but has spent the past several years in Florida.
Happily, we do keep in touch on Facebook.
Chelsea's mom Betty, who also moved to Florida, is an amazing lady and friend to many in the local education circles.
Plus, she occupies a special spot in my heart, thanks to her generosity with a basket filled with goodies many years ago after our house burned down.
One never forgets those moments, just as I'll never forget the day Betty and I took one of my students, Sarah, a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, to her first powwow.
Such experiences define long and lasting friendships, no matter the amount miles between in both time and distance.
The last time I saw Chelsea she was visiting Sandpoint with her mom and her then pre-teen son. Her positive parenting skills with that young man were so apparent---an impressive young man.
Yesterday, when I learned on Facebook that Chelsea had an interest in photography, noting that she had sold one of photos, of course, I had to look at her gallery.
Later, I asked her if she would pick out some photos and send them to me for this morning's post.
I learned from her information that Chelsea and I (and my friend Don Swanstrom) could be kindred spirits with our photography passions.
The photos today serve more than one purpose----showcasing her work AND to bring a little Florida sunshine to readers' mornings.
Lord knows, we had none here yesterday, which could easily be deemed the ugliest day of the year so far.
I also asked Chelsea to share a bit about her interest in photography and some info on each of the photos.
So, I'll just shut up and let Chelsea's words and talent speak for themselves.
from photographer Chelsea Fuentes . . . .
I’ve picked a few of my favorites pictures and written a brief
description about each. Photography is something I have been interested
in since I was a little girl. My dad used to subscribe to National
Geographic, and we had shelves of them in the garage.
One of my favorite
things to do was to go grab an issue off the shelf, find a comfy spot
outside, with my dog Cricket, and sit there carefully flipping through
the pages, reading and admiring the artwork. The photography always
amazed me. The vibrant colors, the beautiful scenery and the amazing
shots were mind boggling to me. That is where my passion was sparked.
Growing up in beautiful areas like north Idaho and Montana only fueled
my desire as well, I have always been a huge nature lover and seem to
have an eye for finding beauty in places others may overlook.
When
I finally decided to buy a good quality camera in 2012, I did so with
the intention of pursuing my passion, and was loving the adventure in
finding the perfect shot.
Chasing sunrises and sunsets, climbing through
weeds and cow patty ridden pastures, over barb wires and under fences, I
loved it.
Then we got robbed.
They took my camera, my laptop some jewelry and other electronics. I
lost all of my hard work and was back to square one with no camera.
I
was working at AT&T at the time, and qualified for a huge discount,
so I decided to buy my entire family iPhones. Thus birthing the idea of
iPhoneogrophy.
It was something I had never heard of with very few
people doing it at the time, so a very unique niche.
I started on the
iPhone 4s and have upgraded every other year since. I now shoot and edit
all of my photography on my iPhone 11 Pro Max.
I don’t use any other
camera or editing apps, except for the one that is built into the phone.
My intentions were to start a blog and talk about how I go about
getting my shots, but I’m more interested in taking the pictures right
now, than I am in writing about it. Haha.
In time, maybe! Anyway,
there’s a brief back story...and here are the pictures and site
address.
Thank you, Chelsea. Love your stories to go along with each.
I hope readers will take time to check out the link where you'll find some lovely work.
This one is my lucky shot. I hate telling people that I took this
while driving down the road, but I did. 🤷🏽♀️ I was on my way home
from town and saw this sunset and the horse, so I rolled down my
passenger side window and just started clicking.
Pure luck or Gods
favor? Probably the latter.
️
Ahhh so simple yet so elegant. This one is not featured on my page,
however it is one of my all time favorites. Taken outside of my moms
house, after a brief FL afternoon rain shower.
I was in her driveway,
pulling up to say a quick hello and let her love on her grand babies. I
jumped out of the car and she jumped in, and the next thing you know I’m
laying on the wet ground, a few cm away from her flowers, taking
pictures.
The water drop balancing on the edge of this petal was a
combination of perfect timing and a very steady hand.
I love trees!!! It’s kind of a crazy obsession to have, but my
heart really does get excited over a good tree. This one is on a big
farm not far from Jeremiah’s job, so I drive by it, a lot!
Sometimes
there are cows grazing under it and sometimes it’s just standing there,
alone, in all its glory.
Maybe it’s it size or it’s obvious old age, or
it could be its solitude that I’m drawn to, whatever it is, this tree
is my favorite tree.
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. You probably
would never think that this was taken in a ditch, but it was.
Walking
back to my car from trying to make friends with the cows in the field,
by my favorite tree (see above)️,
I noticed this tiny little flower by the back tire of my car.
So, once
again, there I was lying on the ground, in the ditch of some back
country central Florida road, taking up close photos of some weeds.
Beauty really is all around us; sometimes you just have to get on it’s
level to see it.
~~~~~~~
At this stage in my life, I've noticed my reading habits veering toward topics that touch me personally.
One which makes me often overly passionate, since I've always believed in dealing with facts, involves the disinformation, misinformation, crazy conspiracies, propaganda, all of which could be often be called outright "lies" that permeate our culture.
I read this morning that the pharmacist accused of trying to destroy a significant number of Covid vaccine vials had dealt in conspiracy theories and believed that the vaccine would harm people, mutating their DNA.
It may not be new information to most, but I do submit that disinformation, misinformation, conspiracies, propaganda and lies can be and have been dangerous on a number of levels.
In fact, we are seeing the results of this in our society pretty much every day, and, in many cases, it is sad.
Another topic which interests me deals with what's gonna happen to my brain during the next few years.
Dementia has taken its toll on our family and having spent a good deal of my time very close to a mother who was afflicted with dementia, I find the topic much more interesting now than I ever did during my younger years.
BTW: Viggo Mortensen of Sandpoint fame has just directed and starred in a movie about dementia. It's called Falling, and it should be released in the United States next month.
Plus, I read a story with television Drs. La Puc and Gupta, dealing with the subject of dementia and what we can do to avoid it or to maybe slow it down.
So, with no further adieu, I'll simply say the following two links are really worth the read:
Today we have what looks to be a much more pleasant day weatherwise before the next rain or snow event.
Happy Tuesday.
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