Dance After Dark Photography

I don’t normally go for the forwarded things. Long questionnaires just take up space and only get read by stalkers. I’m caving on this one because I’m still having back problems. I want to remember more adventurous times. I’m not really going for the “things I’ve done that you haven’t,” though many of these are pretty unique. These are mostly fond memories.

10. I shook hands with Orel Hershiser. He was very nice and very polite. It’s a small thing, but he made a point of remembering my name over the course of the day. I’m not one to be awestruck by celebrities, but that impressed me.

9. Had my arse handed to me by a Capoeira maestre from Brazil. Nothing says humility like getting your butt kicked in under 60 seconds. Thus we learn, right?

8. Witnessed two gorgeous sunsets at White Sands, NM. Obviously two different days and two trips, but it’s one place. I’m counting it as one.

7. Survived pneumonia at the Harvest Faire in Williamsburg, VA. Despite being violently ill and losing my voice, I had a blast. Apparently I rasp with an Irish accent.

6. Survived pneumonia AGAIN at the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful, foggy, very wet, and extremely cold. One day I’ll make it to the North Rim, in summer.

5. Rampaged throughout New York City with my best friend. Sure, other people have visited NYC, but none of you have been there with Charlie. So nyah.

4. Spent hours exploring the many ruins at Chaco Canyon.

3. Took pictures in Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon just outside of Page, AZ. Harley Klemme from Overland Tours was our guide. He rocked mightily. I look forward to going back.

2. Sprinted up a cliff in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico just in time to catch the sun setting over distant mountains. Bounding from rock to rock up the cliff took me less than 60 seconds. Getting back down took 10 minutes. Adrenaline is my friend. Reckless stupidity, too.

1. Fell off a mountain in Highlands, NC. There’s a beautiful spot called Sunset Rocks that looks out over Horse Cove Valley and the aptly named Whiteside Mountain. Yippee for sliding down a rock face and hitting trees several hundred feet down. This is by far one of the dumbest mistakes I’ve ever made, but the story is fun to tell.

Well, it’s been a rough week. My back is hurting again in a non-specific “you’ve done too much” sort of way. The drive down to the Everglades didn’t help matters, and yesterday was back-spasm crisis time. Today is at least a little better, hence the coherent thoughts. Couldn’t have managed that yesterday.

Mike asked me to house-sit over the weekend, which was fun in a strange way. I always like spending time with their dogs. They’re well-trained and, for the most part, very well-behaved. Mike & Shawna also have two pigs, Bree and Cu. Bree, the female, is usually the most friendly to me, whereas Cu has been stand-offish at times. I fully admit that I don’t understand all of their body language, so I have trouble interpreting some of their actions. I don’t know what constitutes a contented noise vs. “go away before 300 lbs of pork charges you.” They all sound the same to me. At any rate, this weekend Cu came up to me for attention and Bree kept her distance. I don’t know whether it was endearing or frightening to have a tusk-bearing pig nuzzle my leg.

The guest bed killed my back. It was a combination of the bed and my inability to sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. That’s why yesterday (Monday night, that is) was a crisis for me. Much pain and hurting, and much grouching at co-workers.

On the upside, I took some nice photos on Mike’s property. Pine trees, pine cones, random birds, and cool reflections in a couple of ponds. It was fun. One of these days I’ll photograph the sunset from the 415 bridge over the St. John’s River. That’s the best view of the horizon we have around here.

Before work tonight (Tuesday, that is) Charlie and I went to Sifu Paul’s kung fu class out near UCF. It was nice to see Justice & Patty, and though I wasn’t up to participating I did get some nice photos. Charlie joined in and had loads of fun. I’m seriously considering the class. I want to sit in on another, or preferably participate, but so far it looks like exactly what I want to learn. Unfortunately, I have to consider whether I’m physically capable. We’ll see.

Scott, Jenn, and I went to the Everglades. It was hazy and drizzly, but we had fun and got some nice photos. More in my Back to Nature gallery.

No, I’m not talking about the movie. Time for a little nostalgia and introspection, folks, so feel free to skip this one.

It’s Groundhog Day. I suppose that’s not a monumental occasion for most people, but this is the third Groundhog Day since my grandfather passed away. Today would have been his 83rd birthday. He served in the Navy during the Korean War, and I remember how proud he was when he showed me an old defused bomb he’d gotten as a souvenir.

He was the only person I knew who drank Pabst Blue Ribbon, and before I knew what beer was we’d have big family barbecues and he taught me what to dig out of the cooler for him.

Grandpa had a stroke… Wow, how long has it been? It was years before his death, many years. He had to relearn how to talk, and as is common with stroke victims, the only words he could remember at first were curse words. Thus everyone in the family got a new name, and mine was “Damnit Damnit Shit Damnit!”

He had skin cancer and had to have a big portion of his nose removed. He didn’t like the prosthetic they made for him, and eventually he abandoned it. Now I don’t even remember what he looked like before. Mostly I remember him laughing, but sometimes I remember the waxy, yellow face in the casket.

I remember the old “invisible elephant under my chair” trick. Some smells stay with you, even years later.

Every time I came over to visit he’d ask me two questions, always in the same order. “How much do you weigh?” I remember how he’d nod approvingly and smile because I always weigh more than I look like I should. Grandpa was proud of “husky boys,” as Grandma always put it. Next he’d ask, “Whatcha driving?” He always wanted to know the horsepower. I think I let him down there, but he didn’t mind too much.

We didn’t do most of the “standard” grandfather-grandson things, or at least I don’t remember them. Mostly, I remember going with him to his favorite bar as a little kid. He’d set me up on the stool next to him, and he’d buy me soda while he talked to his friends and said, “That’s my grandson.”

I wish I’d known him better.