Dreams

As a child I would have these indescribable nightmares where I was surrounded by this omnipotent force that I did not understand.  It was formless, yet its power was frightening to me.  Now, when I think about it, perhaps the power it had really was nothing to fear other than that it was something I could not fathom.

I am pretty sure we all dream, perhaps every night (and sometimes in the recliner) we all go there like its a distant place that we don't understand the rules of.  Some are memorable while others can be disturbing.  As I've gotten older, I don't really have disturbing dreams and some are downright pleasant and even humorous.

Some troublesome dreams would often involve being in a place that was disheveled and without order.  More than once I would dream that I was at an event and did not want to get up from the table because I was without shoes and sometimes without pants, just socks and underwear.  What an embarrassment.

Just last night I dreamed of meeting lots of pleasant people who I helped do some things and they were so nice and accommodating.  It seems I was lost and couldn't get back to the airport and received plenty of assistance from my new found dream friends.  When I woke this morning, I had the most incredible pleasant feeling all over and whether or not I really did, I thought I woke with a smile on my face.  As I rolled over, I looked at the clock and said, "Good morning, Lord!  Thank you for a great night's sleep."

Over the years the dreams had become more and more fun and entertaining.  Some of my favorites would involve flying at will.  No wings, just willing myself to fly over objects, trees and obstacles.  As it turned out, later in my life, I became a SCUBA diver and a few times I rode underwater scooters.  They were tube like devices with battery powered propellers at the rear that you could hold on to the rear of, press the button and glide underwater at a decent speed turning around and over coral.  Another way to use them was to put the nose of it between your legs, hook the side of your feet and fins to the bottom and blast off, using your outstretched arms to guide you.  That is known as "Superman."  So now looking back, the "Superman" trick was exactly what I had been dreaming of for years.  Night before last I dreamed that I could will myself into a "superman" mode and fly in the air.  I even stepped off the rear deck of my Mom's house and just simply landed on the lawn with no impact.  Lots of fun.

Now, the most memorable dream I had, and recall it often, was that I was off somewhere in a distant city driving around just looking at things to photograph.  I did that quite often in the 20 years of traveling by myself working for my company. *(Thanks, Mr. Jones.)* Each weekend found me in some often sketchy neighborhoods with my trusty Nikon on the front seat.

Anyway,  I had pulled up onto an abandoned service station at an intersection that had long been deserted.  You've seen them before; faded paint on the pumps, weeds growing up in the cracks of the concrete and dirty cracked windows on the building.  There was a sign post that once housed the oil company sign but now was nothing but a rusty rectangle holding nothing more than pigeons.  Most of the buildings around were abandoned as well.

I got out of my car, looked around and noticed the street had narrowed down to just to a little lane that gradually descended by a few feet.  Without hesitation, I followed the path where no more buildings nor man-made structures could be seen.  My walk was so pleasant with no clouds in the sky and on each side of the lane there was only one particular variety of plants dominating what looked like thousands of acres.  

They seemed to be chest high and as the slightest breeze blew, the stalks of the plants would wave the most beautiful and brilliant blue flowers that you can imagine swayed in the gentle wind. It is impossible to describe the beauty and intensity of the color.  Not only were the flowers absolutely breath taking, the little glimpses of emerald pedicels and sepals would flash beneath the blue flowers adding to the sight.  I can't stress how magnificent that field of flowers was.

Knowing no one could understand or imagine those colors, I knew they had to be photographed.  In normal times, that Nikon would have been slung over my shoulder but for some reason, I had left it in the car.   So I turned and headed back up the little hill to the car, unlocked it and grabbed my camera.  As I turned to go back and snap those pictures, I became confused and could no longer find the lane.  It just wasn't there any longer and grieved over it knowing I would never be able to prove how glorious that meadow of flowers were.

I am not a dream interpreter but I somehow like to think that this was a slight glimpse or faint snippet of heaven, that He had shown me just a bit of it and that it was not my time to see His glory.   Also, I had to return to where things of man were corrupt, disintegrating, and would eventually be overgrown by weeds and bushes.  The only way I could see that field (of dreams) again, would be when He calls me home to be with Him forever. 

Bugs and Flowers

There's a little nature park down by the river near my hotel in Dublin, Ohio, where I found a few flowers and a bug or two after a nice little thunderstorm.

Birds and Bees Weekend

There's not much story to tell, other than riding around hoping to take pictures of smaller things this weekend.

The first part was Friday afternoon south of town at a local state park, where I was continually watching for rattlesnakes.  Thinking (maybe my imagination was going wild)  I heard a light rattle, I changed directions and in doing so, a large Jackrabbit hopped across the trail and scared me.  I believe I've seen deer that size in south Texas.  Anyway, the only slinking thing I positively saw was a couple of lizards.

In a small cluster of flowers, there were quite a bit of honey bees gathering pollen.

Saturday afternoon, I rode up into the mountains east of town near Sunspot.  Way out in the boondocks, I was attracted to a small waterfall near where a group of ATV enthusiasts were camping.  This time, I figured if I fell off the side of the thing, somebody might be able to rescue me.

The best part of the whole thing was a patch of gypsum weeds and thistles growing in the delta of the falls.  Dozens hummingbirds of a couple of different varieties battled for the choice flowers.  I was totally absorbed it it and shot birds until it was really too dark to be doing so.

All of these pictures were taken with a Nikon D7000 with a Tamron 60mm prime lens.  As for the bird pictures, I was not able to get very close so most of the pictures have been cropped from a larger shot, as much as 400%.

Here's a few.

 

 

 

I am not sure what this was.  It was much larger than the Hummers 

and looked quite a bit like a parakeet.

 

 

 This is not a bird but some kind of huge insect.

 

As I mentioned before, dark came much earlier than I wanted, so I left and drove slowly, being careful not to hit any of the several deer that stood on the edge of the road.

Beautiful sundowns as usual.

 

Beautiful day in the neighborhood

OK, I'm gonna have to 'fess up here.  A couple of weeks ago, I may have overdone it a bit climbing around in the canyons, causing an old knee injury to reappear.  That with the added stress of moving this past weekend rendered me down to virtually incapable of getting around without the aid of a cane.  However, with the aid of some nice meds from my doctor back in Baton Rouge, the swelling has significantly dropped but there is a little pain left.

That being said, sitting around in the hotel room is pretty boring.   Looking out the window and seeing the mountains to the east, I thought maybe I could ride up to Sunspot and perhaps see some wildlife along the way.

I did just that but larger animals were elusive today and saw only flowers, birds, bees and the occasional squirrel along some of the small roads.

Today, I decided to be amazed at God's creations in macro mode.

Bigger is not always better, especially looking up close at some of the flora.

Warm Spring Day In Tennessee

While yesterday was less than wonderful with temperatures ranging from the high 30s to the low 50s with gray skies, today was a gorgeous day. 

This afternoon, I explored local things near my hotel. One being something called the Old Stone Fort which is really an Indian mound but that's another story.

I walked some trails along the Duck River, managing to only fall flat of my face only once without breaking me or my camera. The tragedy could have been sliding off a 25 foot cliff into the waters.  It didn't look that deep but it was probably pretty cold and I wasn't ready for a swim.


Wild flowers were coming out along the rivers edge causing bugs to be out as well. While lying on the ground taking close-up pictures of some flowers, I had the uneasy feeling I was being watched.  I snapped off a couple of frames, slowly go up and saw a couple of Geezers (that would be someone my age or older) looking at me as if I were some kind of (please be kind in the comment section) nut.  I got up and nodded to them as if I were doing something important and headed back up the trail.  I suppose they don't see people wallowing around on the ground eye level to a dandelion very often.

It was a nice day.  I think there's even a full moon out tonight.

Spring is bursting out all over

As the buds begin to pop open and little creatures come out to play in the sun, so do the denizens of Lenoir, North Carolina.  Warm temperatures and shiny days bring the best out in everyone.  Reminiscent of times 50 years ago, the spirit of Andy, Barney and the characters of Mayberry burst forth with innocence as you hear gospel singing in restaurants and warm greetings between the street sweeper and shop keepers addressing each other by their first names.

Almost script like, the mannerisms of this small town, where hosiery companies and furniture lords once prospered, takes you back to kinder and gentler times.  With deep fried southern accents all the norm, you almost want to believe it's all a hoax and somehow you've been caught up in some corny play or a glitch in a time machine but the charm is very real and I like to think the world is a better place for communities like this.


Perhaps, I'll be working here another few weeks but it will take much more time than that to grow an affinity for livermush (look it up) and Carolina styled barbecue.