Lupine in Palisade

I took this with my Polaroid and scanned it with the first color scanner I had. Using images in this way was brand new and exciting. It was also exciting that anything was growing in the front yard besides weeds, because when we rented the house (which we later bought), the landscaping had consisted of rocks and gravel heavily sprayed with herbicide. There were a few flowers, but we wanted more. We didn't realize it was going to take years of growing weeds to get the soil in condition for even the hardiest of flowers. Any flowers at all were a gigantic coup, and were much cherished. And lupine is wonderful.

April 2, Palisade: Sunset over Mount Garfield

Palisade, Colorado ~ April 2, 1996

Scanned from a series of Polaroids

Palisade, Colorado, did not have as many breathtaking sunsets as one might expect. A few miles south in Delta, the conditions seemed to be better. Maybe there was more dust in the air. But when we got a good sunset, it was usually glorious. I loved to stand outside our house and watch the colors change through the brief minutes of the display. This sunset, I believe, followed a rollicking rainstorm.

Some of these are very subtle. You may want to click to enlarge. I hadn't planned to spend the day taking dust spots out of photos, so some areas are still not too good when enlarged. I am pleased with the results, though. The colors are almost as intense as on the originals.

Figuring out how to make the scanner see the Polaroid.

I absolutely loved how the sun caught both the top of this tree and the mesa beyond (below in the photo) with its last golden light. And then there's the storm-indigo still in the cloud.

This is the last of the sun's red glow on the low mountain in the distance.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

June 22, Corona: Bernice J. Todd's 100th birrthday

Bernice Jameson Todd poses with her children and their spouses on her 100th birthday (June 22, 1991). She lived for another two years.

Back row: Chuck Hewitt, Lee Todd, Clem Todd, Ted Todd, Lois Todd
Front row: Helen Hewitt, Bernice J. Todd, Bernice Morris, Jim Morris

Scanned from a color xerox. The photo was taken in Grandma's interior patio with the big wooden table we all remember from so many family gatherings.

Pix of me with a long "slither cut"

One of the projects I started in 2008 and will continue in 2009 is putting lots of my old photos online - not only me, but mainly trips, pets, scenery, artwork, friends, places I've lived, etc., etc. I almost got into scrapbooking, but then didn't do it, and now blogs seem much better for me. Anyway, here I am with long hair and a slither cut on June 17, 1990. I scanned these from Polaroids, and I'd written the date on them. One of the problems with a lot of the old photos I want to upload is that there's no date. On the wall behind me is the corner of a huge painting I did of a dragon. I sure fit a lot of things into that tiny room. I lived there in one room and a closet for about 4 years and made a lifelong friend in Jane, who I owe a phone call or letter! I'm writing this on December 28, 2008, but I'm posting it, as usual, as of the date of the pictures.

I'd just lost some weight (a constant project), and was feeling very good. Janet, one of the people I'd had as a housemate in a crazy big Victorian with too many people living in it was an excellent beautician, and I'd finally let someone cut my hair. She came up with the slither cut, which gave me curls I didn't know I had. What a surprise! It was fun. I took these pix of myself while renting a room from Jane on Pueblo Street in Santa Barara, after I'd moved out of the crazy house with too many people.

July: Gray Collage with Fish

The bit of photo in the upper right is a picture I took and printed in Santa Barbara at Sanctuary House. I'd found some shark cartelage on the beach that day. It was huge - maybe 15 or 20 feet long. Someone said it could have been a nurse shark or basking shark. Thee was also a lot of kelp nearby. I was fascinated with shapes of the shark, so unusual, because they're rarely seen on land. The wide blob of paint to the left of the hand feeding the skull is silver, and looks better in real life. I feel like I did this one on the floor in the upstairs apartment on West Valerio (?) Street. Dates and locations will probably come together as I post more artwork. (This is the beginning of what I hope will turn out to be quite a bit of archiving paper onto the blog.)

(Dated July 1986 / Posted September 7, 2009)