Musical Echoes

This weekend I attended a Native American music festival, taking in the beauty and majesty of the culture…. as well as enjoying great food.

Throughout the day exceptionally talented flutists performed, some bringing a dozen or more different instruments on stage during their session. The songs were moving and achingly beautiful.

Each performer would also offer stories about their music, either telling folktales about the first flutes, or about what the songs were saying. A few of the performers also sang in their native language… it was amazing.

Seems that I can’t find enough superlatives to describe the event, but suffice to say I stayed the whole day.

And the dancers, in full regalia… I was literally on the edge of my chair watching.

One of the dancers explained that their regalia was like a family photo album. With different pieces handed down through generations or given as gifts from friends. He said that the dances also told a story.

The Hoop Dance, performed by two different dancers, using anywhere from one to 24 hoops, showed the connection between every one and every thing. We all play an integral part in this world, he said, and we have to work together to conquer hate.

Wearing a long skirt, adorned with 365 sliver cones, the Jingle Dancer performed a healing dance. Her movements adding a soft chiming sound to the music.

Traditional men and women’s dance were also performed, both somber and exciting to watch.

If you ever have a chance to attend such a festival, go! The dancers and musicians love sharing their talents and culture, and you will be richer for it.

You can click on any image to see a larger photo, or the series as a slideshow.

(Photos shot with a Nikon D60, using an 18-55mm, 55-200mm, 20mm f/2.8 wide-angle, 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, Nikon CoolPix S205 and/or iPhone4)

For more photos, please visit my Flickr photostream.

Submitted to Unknown Mami’s Sundays in My City

Oakland: forgotten cemetery

Before heading out for my weekly photo hike, I put out a question to my online friends, asking them where I should go… beach, woods, cemetery or backroads. The vote, overwhelmingly, was cemetery.

My friend Kath, suggested the venue first, saying a cemetery would be a good place to photograph, in honor of a short story I’m writing with fellow blogger Lance, he of “My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.”

(If you’re interested in the escapades of our heroines, Pauley and Vivian/Millicent, check out “Pauley” in the header nav bar.)

One of my favorite cemeteries to visit is St. Michael’s in Pensacola. It’s located near downtown and is steeped in regional history. After doing a little Google-recon, I found an old graveyard in Panama City to visit – Oakland Cemetery.

Where St. Michael’s is well-maintained and manicured, Oakland is…. sad. So many of the grave stones were toppled and broken. Ledger stones worn smooth over time. Sand and weeds obscuring any legible names or dates.

Many of the stones marked graves of Civil War soldiers, Union infantrymen from as far away as Michigan. One section of the cemetery, spanning almost the entire width of the park, two burial sites deep, was all children. Perhaps the devastating result of an epidemic.

Where St. Michael’s is garden-like, peaceful and serene. Oakland left me sorrowful and restless. Heartbroken that these graves had seemingly been forgotten.

You can click on any image to see a larger photo, or the series as a slideshow.

(Photos shot with a Nikon D60, using an 18-55mm, 55-200mm, 20mm f/2.8 wide-angle, 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, Nikon CoolPix S205 and/or iPhone4)

For more photos, please visit my Flickr photostream.

Submitted to Unknown Mami’s Sundays in My City

Juniper Lake

This week I headed back to one of my favorite stomping grounds - Blackwater River State Park near Holt, FL. Every time I hike there, I find something new.

Walking around Juniper Lake, I wandered off the trail (luckily, my smartphone has a compass and GPS), and found the abandoned pilings from an old boardwalk. The path was lost through the underbrush, but the trail head was still visible, and much too tempting to not go exploring. I had to wonder why the boardwalk was taken down… I need to concoct a story about it.

I will admit, I was also hunting for alligators, but was only able to scare up a couple of little green and brown lizards, and a fat, muddy swamp turtle. Better luck next time…

You can click on any image to see a larger photo, or the series as a slideshow.

(Photos shot with a Nikon D60, using an 18-55mm, 55-200mm, 20mm f/2.8 wide-angle, 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, Nikon CoolPix S205 and/or iPhone4)

For more photos, please visit my Flickr photostream.

Submitted to Unknown Mami’s Sundays in My City

Off the beaten path

I’ve mentioned before how much I love having a state park practically in my backyard. I can hike and kayak there, and with my annual pass, it’s some of the best money I’ve ever spent.

With Spring Break still in full swing, I’m staying close to home to avoid both the beach crowds and insane traffic. What I didn’t anticipate, and I should have, was that the park would also be inundated with extra people.

It was a beautiful day for a hike, even with the added foot traffic. I took Asta with me, and enjoyed having my little Chester along for the fun. We took a lap around one of the two park trails. One trail hugs the bayou shore and the other, the one we took, wends around what used to be a lake.

Preserve restorations on the lake have helped it revert back to the natural wetland-creek that it once was. We tracked an ibis for a while, and scared a troop of turtles sunning on a log. Unlike our other Lab, who contrary to her dog instincts hates water, Asta is going to be a swimmer. I may have to get her a life vest and take her canoeing this summer. That will make for some interesting photo opps.

You can click on any image to see a larger photo, or the series as a slideshow.

(Photos shot with a Nikon D60, using an 18-55mm, 55-200mm, 20mm f/2.8 wide-angle, 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, Nikon CoolPix S205 and/or iPhone4)

For more photos, please visit my Flickr photostream.

Submitted to Unknown Mami’s Sundays in My City

Green thumb: spring gardening

A few weeks ago I weeded my two raised planters (the extent of my gardening ambitions), and this weekend, I finally got my spring planting done.

I put in a few strawberry starters, a new adventure for me since I’ve never tried to raise fruit before. The Mister wanted me to try, so… I dedicated a single planter for the experiment.

In the other, I have jalapeños (a plant I’ve had a lot of success with) and a few herbs – Thai basil, and cilantro, along with a pot of chocolate mint. Not sure what I’ll do with the mint, but it smells wonderful.

Over the past several years, I’ve usually put in tomatoes, but this year I’m trying something different with them too.

My planters sit in the far southern corner of my backyard, where I suspect they don’t get a sufficient amount of direct sun – I have lovely plants, but they suffer from bloom drop. I’ve rarely had more than a half a dozen toms ripen to maturity.

This year, I’m trying to raise my toms in patio pots, which I can position on my… wait for it… patio, where they can get adequate light. I hope this works, because there is something magical about the taste of homegrown tomatoes eaten fresh from the vine.

I have a little more room in one planter, so I plan to get in some more gardening this week. I just need to decide what I want. Suggestions welcome, fruit or veggies – Northwest Florida, Hardiness Zone 8B.

You can click on any image to see a larger photo, or the series as a slideshow.

(Photos shot with a Nikon D60, using an 18-55mm, 55-200mm, 20mm f/2.8 wide-angle, 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, Nikon CoolPix S205 and/or iPhone4)

For more photos, please visit my Flickr photostream.

Submitted to Unknown Mami’s Sundays in My City

Water logged

The recent deluge of rain made St. Andrew’s State Park in Panama City a bit water-logged, flooding the lower section of hiking trails along Gator Lake. I was still able to get in a good walk and snapped a few shots around the high water. The tiny island in the middle of the lake was, as usual, brimming with nesting heron and ibis (Ibix? Ibises!).

A small family of cormorants, a mother and five juveniles, were paddling around among the reeds, but my loud Sasquatch feet scared them off before I could snap a photo.

The Spring Breakers were out in force, so I avoided the beach. Traffic was nuts. Within an hour, I saw two out-of-towners pulled over for speeding (I know they were speeding because they passed my car like I was sitting still – karma has her own blue-light special), and two more accidents with multiple emergency vehicles. Hopefully, there were no serious injuries.

You can click on any image to see a larger photo, or the series as a slideshow.

(Photos shot with a Nikon D60, using an 18-55mm, 55-200mm, 20mm f/2.8 wide-angle, 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, Nikon CoolPix S205 and/or iPhone4)

For more photos, please visit my Flickr photostream.

Submitted to Unknown Mami’s Sundays in My City

Taking it to the streets

In lieu of a photo hike Saturday, Mister went with me to the Big City to take our little Asta to see a specialist about her injured hip. Our vet sent us with a referral to an orthopedic doc to get a second option about whether the pin holding the break together could be removed.

With her last X-ray, and surgery notes in hand, we went into this appointment with trepidation. There was no telling what this doctor would recommend.

Asta wasn’t too sure about the car ride, wandering over the back seat of our car, and me, for most of the hour drive. Finally at one point she did try to relax a bit, giving my sore legs a break from her little paws digging into my thighs while standing to look out the car window.

She was very relaxed at the vet’s, waiting patiently to be called back for her exam. The doctor was gentle with his manipulations of her legs and paws, even squeezing her toes to make sure she had sensation in her feet. We found out that at some point her right scapula had also been broken, but it wasn’t clear if that was also from the car hitting her, or from before that.

After checking her out, the doctor said he wasn’t recommending surgery at this time. The break was in fact not knitting as well as he expected after this long (two months). He suggested physical therapy, something I had asked our vet about before and was told there was nothing like that I could do.

I’m not going to be doing any deep tissue massages, rather he wants us to walk Asta… a lot. The idea is to fatigue her good back leg enough that she is forced to use her injured leg. Initially we were told to keep her off the leg to let it heal, now she needs to start putting weight on it again. Walking we can do.

After four weeks, if she’s not using her leg more, then we have two options. One: remove the pin and do nothing else. She can get around pretty well using only three legs, and the doc said it would NOT be inhumane to leave her alone; or Two: remove the pin and redo the surgery, using a plate instead of pinning. I’m not excited about that second option.

My hope is that since she was using the leg before, that she will again. It’s just a matter of time. We’ve already gone on our first walk around the block, and now, I can take her with me on some of my photo hikes. I am excited about that.

(Photos shot with a Nikon D60, using an 18-55mm, 55-200mm, 20mm f/2.8 wide-angle, 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, Nikon CoolPix S205 and/or iPhone4)

For more photos, please visit my Flickr photostream.

Submitted to Unknown Mami’s Sundays in My City