My Life in Bullet Points

“God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.” - Bill Watterson quotes (American Author of the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes)

• I went to shoot bluebonnets recently and realized that the lack of sharpness in my photograps over the last few months is NOT a result of bad user technique (thank god), but a problem with the auto-focus on my camera.

Its hard to tell from a tiny picture, but blow it up and it's completely blurry

• Its great to know my photography is not getting worse, but a repair bill from Nikon is not what I needed at the moment.

• Lord knows when Nikon will complete the repair and ship my camera back so I'm now experiencing serious photographic withdrawals.  All I have to take photos with is my iPhone and a little digital point-and-shoot.

• I still get reminders every now and then that I am not a professional photographer yet.  I don't quite have the mindset.  When I was taking the above photo, I parked across the street and was crouching down in the tall grass.  A cop drove by and stopped to check out my car  (he couldn't see me).  My first reaction SHOULD have been to snap a photo.  I didn't even think of it until he drove away.  (Very nice guy, I have to report.)  Oh well.  It will come.

• I added another interval to my run today.  I am up to six.  Give it another month and I'll be able to move on to week 2! :)

• The pain in my ankles when I run has not completely gone away, but, barring a few relapses, its significantly decreased.

• Maybe a year from now, when I've completed this 8 week course, they will actually have strenthened up a little bit.

• I mentioned before I have started using twitter.  I'm actually up to maybe 2 tweets a week, which is fantastic for an anti-social loner like me!  My twitter handle is @remmarkphoto if anyone is interested.

• The springtime wildlife is out in force at the lake.  I got a few shots with my iPhone.

Cute little bunny down for it's morning drink from the lake

A Yellow Headed Blackbird passing through on it's way north

• I finally got my new car!!!  My poor 16 year old Honda Civic was dying a slow and painful death and deserved to be put out of my misery.  It was a good car and I was sad to give it up, but now I have a nice shiny new (used) CR-V that I have been lusting after for several years now.

• Isn't there a rule that you have to take a new car on a road trip?

• I'm planning to visit a friend in Georgia. :)

• I just pray my camera will be back in time or I'll be shooting with a Cannon PowerShot.  How embarrassing!

• It's weird.  Once you actually accomplish a major goal, you kind of have that feeling of, "What now?" 

• Time to look at that list of things to do in my life, pick the next thing to work on and get cracking. 

• Maybe that should be to start my photography business...for real, legally speaking.

 

 

Presidents Everywhere

"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny." - Albert Ellis

All five living presidents are in town today.  Forget that it is an unprecidented historical event.  The event itself is "invitation only" so it's not like the locals can participate in said historical event.

Road closures.  That is what I'm talking about.  Half the roads in my neighborhood are closed becaus of this historical event.

On the bright side, I got up early to beat the traffic for my run and was treated to a spectacular sunrise.

I Did It!

"Wearing your running shoes everywhere this spring may increase your odds of actually running." - Unknown


...and then I didn't.  I actually completed all 8 run intervals on the first day of the second rendition of week 1.  I had quite a bit of pain in my ankles, but I FINISHED.  And then...

Day 2 the ankle pain was so bad, I could only do 4 intervals and wasn't sure I would be able to walk back without a rest.

Argh!  I even bought a new pair of running shoes (the least intense ones I could find in my size).

The only reason I'm not too concerned about the ankle pain is because I experienced it before when I started walking, but with the greater effort of pace, I am experiencing a greater intensity of pain.  Even with pre-run stretches.

I did find that, instead of running 4 intervals in a row and walking (hobbling) the rest,  it is much more tollerable if I run every other interval and walk the intervals in between.

It took several weeks for my ankles to aclimate to the regular walking.  I have no doubt it will be the same with running.  I refuse to be deterred.

I keep reminding myself that it is not how fast I progress that is important right now.  I consider it a complete success to get myself out of bed on a regular basis and moving my body as much as is possible for my current  level of fitness (or lack thereof).

As an added incentive, I am enjoying the change of landscape to spring.

Trees are budding their leaves:

Birds are strutting for the ladies:

 

 

Even a pelican passing through has stopped for a paddle.

 

 

Life is good and only getting better.  :)