Three Strikes and I'm Out

You would think, after all the rejections I've gotten from art shows, that I would be immune to disappointment. You would be wrong. Each and every time I get an email that begins with, "thank you for applying," I know it means no. I applied to three shows, striking out on all. At least one of the shows had the courtesy to show you your odds once the jurying was complete. 109 photographers applied for 22 spots. Not very good odds at all. If I knew what I was doing wrong on my applications, I'd do things differently, however, I don't know what the problem is.  Maybe next year...

Some folks tell me not to take it personally, but that is easier said than done!

Today's weather report called for "gale force" winds; although we don't share the same spelling, I kind of like thinking of myself as a force of nature. After weeks with daily highs in the 80's, the wind and cool temperatures feel both invigorating and CHILLY.

Those same winds began in the middle of the night, waking me several times, the last of which was around 5 this morning. Because I missed the lighting of the "Tower of Light" last evening, I thought, why not go see it this morning since I'm already awake? Well, why not indeed.

Except, when I got downtown around 5:45, the tower was dark. Same goes for the Lake Eola fountain, by the time I parked my car, making this shot a moot point. Without the fountain, well, it could be any city!

See what I mean?

Yesterday morning, Bruce and I did our yard work, which if you live in Florida is a year-round affair. Remember how I told you a month or so ago how my beautiful spicy jatropha plants adjacent to the pool were a mess? Well, it seems as if Mr. Lawn Spray guy killed, or at least stopped the scale damage, but still the plants were dire. In case you're wondering, scale looks like this on the under side of the leaf,

while the top of the leaf is covered by a nasty, sticky black residue. See how it even got on the house?

After trimming them to a manageable height, I scrubbed the black stuff with bleach, removing most of it. As well, I used the high pressure nozzle on the hose to spray the dickens out of the plants, removing a little more of the black, leaving scraggly, ugly plants to, please, please, come back!

We had a little gathering of red winged blackbirds, along with some serious blooms and buds on the red hibiscus!

While doing the trimming, the scale reminded me of a "flocked" tree, something folks like to add to their Christmas tree. Speaking of Christmas, I saw this on my way home this morning!

Apparently they want to be the first on their street with a light display? Well, I've been thinking of Christmas myself, more so as to the gift part. While at the post office shipping gifts to England, I saw this highly decorated VW.

My plan was to ship early, hoping the packages would go the slow route, and perhaps the cost would be less. Forget that idea. Despite wrapping everything in tissue paper, minus even tags, they got me pretty good. The happy news is, that with my horrible memory, it won't be long before I've forgotten the rate! A silver lining to every cloud my friends. :)

Shipping to England is nothing compared to replacing windows in ones home, something I'm looking into. The Pella guy came to the house yesterday, measuring the windows, and leaving us with an estimate. According to everything I've read, and I've read exhaustively, three estimates are better than one. Why, pray tell do I want to replace the windows? For both aesthetic, and practical reasons. Opening many of them takes the strength of Samson, while others, once open, have a mind of their own, sliding shut. So, that's the practical part, the other is that I think lighter frames on the windows will look better than our current bronze color (see above). Bruce didn't leave for Miami until about 4, so he was home to hear the presentation, such as it was. Neither of us were all that impressed.

This morning, following the post office run, I drove out to Mercy Drive, my old stomping grounds, visiting Father and Sons, a dealer that both sells, and installs, windows from several manufacturers. Who knew there were so many to choose from? I do now.  Friday at two in the afternoon, presentation number two.

On my way home I saw two things that may, or may not, interest you. One is this road,

which I came across by accident. When we were young, our father was both in business and good friends with Mr. Heatherington, who lived way, way out, or so it seemed to us as children. Our dad was a Mechanical Engineer, and the side business had something to do with cars, although, my older brother and sister probably know more than I do.  Anyway, it was just this year that I saw the obituary for Mr. Heatherington, who died aged 90 something. I can't seem to remember if Tom Price was born in 1914, or 1917, in either case, he would be 90, and then some, had he lived. As it was, he died in 1981 when he was 67, which seems pretty young by today's standards.

Driving home on Princeton, I saw the house where Astronaut John Young lived.

I wonder what he thought about his middle name while growing up? Bill is the only one who really disliked his middle name, that is until he learned that his Uncle Rolla, killed in the Pacific during WWII, earned the Purple Heart. He's good with it now.

Sometimes when people ask me for my card, after giving it to them, I mention that I write a blog, but then, I find it difficult to tell them what this blog is all about because as you well know, it could be about anything on any given day. What do you think I should tell them?

Finally, Monday evening we went on a proper date to the movies, seeing this sweet film. See it if you can.