Winter: It’s a wrap
Though I did not brave the icy streets in my car, like my friend Earl did on his Winter Tour; I don’t have a four-wheel drive. I did go for a walk this morning with Hobbs, of course. The temperature was about 15° F, but the sun was shining brightly. I did have fun watching Hobbs slip and slide on the ice. I saw him take several nose-first dives to the ice. He’s short, so not to far to go from head to ground. 
Today’s forecast called for clear skies, abundant sunshine, and rapidly rising temperatures. They indicated that the temperature would reach into the mid 30’s by about 2:00 PM. It is now 12:05 and the temperature has increased some 21 degrees. It is now 36 degrees outside and rising. I would imagine that it might hit 40.
The neighborhood kids are trying to get their last rides on the sleds. They can go down the street for a while, then they hit the slush and have to push themselves. I would imagine that they have about 30 more minutes. The snow is no longer crunchy, but is glistening a bit.
Hobbs, as usual, is doing his bit to welcome the sun back. He can enjoy himself in any type of weather … except rain! As far as winter goes in these parts, that’s probably a wrap, though old man Winter could drop by for a surprise visit, but who knows.
A non-snow photo for Paul M.
In his post, I can dream, can’t I?, Paul Maxim was lamenting the cold weather and subsequent photos posted on various blogs of cold, snowy places. He posted a beautiful shot of Middleton Place, one of the tourist areas in the Charleston area. A place that I’ve never been.
So, I just thought that I post a nice shot of the Ashley River that I took the other day. There is no snow. Mind you, the wind was blowing and the temperature was plummeting, but you can’t tell that from the photo, so it’s OK.
The weather here in Charleston, SC has been pretty chilly. We’ve had 20 degree temperatures most every morning. Right now it’s 27 degrees outside, but fortunately, we’ve not had any of the white stuff. I can hardly imagine what would happen here if the flakes started to fall. I think that it would be worse then Charlotte. Last year in Charlotte they closed some of the schools because there was a FORECAST of snow!!! No actual snow fell, but the schools were still closed. Amazing!
Anyway, here’s a non-snow photo just for your Paul M. Just doing my little bit to help out against S.A.D.
Oh, and about that T.V. watching. I’ve not had a T.V. for months and months. This morning, I was at a hotel in Fayetteville, NC, in the lobby. The television was on. I could only stay near it for about 5 minutes, before I had to leave. I thought that I was going to go insane! I don’t miss the boob tube!
Stats and stuff
Nope! It’s still free!
I’ve mentioned before that I have a Google Analytics account. For the most part, I ignore it. There are times when I’m curious about what has happened over the last X period of time. I think that it is rather natural to have a look back at the previous year and see how things looked.
As I’ve been running Google Analytics for about 2 years, I had something to compare. I compared 2009 to 2008 and found that this blog is remarkably consistent. Remarkably! Both years, on nearly every statistic were very close. Now, in this super-duper-grow-grow-grow American economic ideal, this is a very bad thing, indeed. Very bad. My blog has been tagged with the “S” word. Stagnant! Well, that’s not entirely true. My visits were up 25% but my page views/visit was down by about 3%.
I don’t get all wrapped up in these things, but they are interesting. I guess that the blog is showing growth. The one thing that was consistent through both years, visitor loyalty (THANK YOU!). That is, 60% of my visitors are repeat visitors. I’m not sure if this is a good or not good thing. I think that it is good. So, I’m keeping a steady flow of new visitors as well as keeping a good number of the ones who stop by.
A good amount of traffic was driven here by SoFoBoMo. People really like the Taking Basketball Photos article. It’s among the favorites, along with D300 Auto Focus.
This is the beginning of year 5 and I have no plans to make any major changes, or even minor ones for that matter, but who knows?
I heard a quote yesterday: If you want to prove that god has a sense of humor, make a plan and try to stick with it!
Middle age/Middle Passage
I used to laugh when I saw the stereotypical middle aged guy portrayed in Hollywood movie. A classic example of this was in the movie, American Beauty. At the time that I watched it, I could not appreciate the story line beyond the surface; however, now that I’m smack in the middle of the middle passage, I can understand a bit better. Kevin Spacey turns in an excellent performance as a guy who is trying to navigate this middle passage the best that he can. He’s reached a point in his life where he’s done all the right things, said all the right things, been the best dad, husband, etc. that he can be, but there is deep dissatisfaction. I think that I’ll put the movie in my Netflix queue to watch it again.
I’m a big fan of Robert Longpre’s website, Through a Jungian Lens. Robert made a comment the other day on one of my posts. In it he said:
I can see it:”He said all the right things to all the right people, always with a gentle smile. He made us all feel loved, valued and at the center of the world. He was focused on us. Trouble is, we never, ever got to know him. He was like the perfect mirror for us. I wonder what he was really like, you know, who was he?”
This quote, I think, sums up the deep feelings in the middle passage, or mid-life crisis. Somewhere between 40 and 60, you reach this point. I’m 47 and haven’t a single clue as to who I am. Sure, I’ve worn various roles: Father, husband, caretaker, friend, etc. With respect to culture, etc., I’m a kind, considerate, polite person. I was taught that. In some ways, as Robert put it, the perfect mirror. However, in the second half of life, middle age, other feelings start to emerge. That shadow side that was suppressed for so long wants to assert itself. The other side that we disavow, but that really completes us. That part that wants something more from life than to just be a yes man, to have the right job, right house, right spouse, the smile on the face. There is a hunger, a deep hunger, to discover one’s true nature and desires. The earthquakes of the soul begin.
This is a time of intense growth and necessary suffering that goes along with it. Thinking back to my SoFoBoMo book, In Retrospect, it rather reminds me of middle school. That was a tough transitional age, but totally necessary.
In the evening, when all is quiet, the questions arise: Is this what you want? Why are you still doing this type of job? What about your photography? What about the things that you want from life? Have I simply ’settled’ all of my life? Sometimes I just want to yell from the rooftop: “Who the hell am I and what is the purpose of all of this?!!!”.
I know that this growth is necessary and it is a gift; however, sometimes, I just want to know where I can exchange this gift or get a refund! If you are interested in this, a great book is: The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife by Dr. John Hollis. I have it as an audio book and have listened to it a couple of times already. The book talks mainly about how this time is a time to have a great relationship with yourself, your true self, whoever that is. It’s about taking responsibility for yourself and knowing that no one, absolutely no one, can make you happy in this life. That’s up to you, but first you have to dig a bit and find that quiet voice, all the while removing layers and layers. This excavation is tiring work, but rewarding.
I cannot possibly state in words how much I have changed in the past year. I can probably state that it was probably the very small tip of a very large iceberg, however. I think that there is a lot more to come. Still learning …
Connections
It is always very meaningful to me when a new blogger stops by my blog. I always wonder how they found me on all of the cyber noise. It’s really nice when they decide to post a comment, or two, or three. But what is even more rewarding is when shortly after they appear here and I am reading their blog that I see some of my old familiar blog family posting there a day or two later. I like that!
Such is the case with Chris Klug’s blog, Patterns of Light n’ Dark. Chris stopped by for the first time, I believe, last week, made some nice posts, and hung in there when my Spam Karma 2 kept telling him that he was a spammer and refusing to post his comments. Well, SK2 and I finally came to an understanding, I think, and now Chris can post.
Chris was, in a former career, a lighting designer and his photographs have beautiful lighting. I’ve been looking at them and trying to see what I can learn from them.
Now that I’m going on year 4, which hard to believe, I can think of many of the people who have dropped by and visited during that time. Sometimes I go back through old posts and see their names, click on their links, and a lot of times am disappointed because they are no longer blogging. However, there always seems to be someone new to come along, for a season, and add a new dimension to this blog.
I just love it! It’s one of the things that makes blogging very much worthwhile.
Social Networking
A few months ago, I would have never even considered having a Facebook account. What for? Well, now I have one. It’s funny what being on your own for several months will do to you. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a big fan of TV, save for watching an episode of House or two. Sometimes the TV will go for weeks on end without being turned on. If I want video entertainment, I’ll watch a Netflix instant movie or watch something on Hulu, but, for the most part I prefer to read.
I can deal with lots of alone time, but sometimes I just want some interaction. My favorite person to hang out with and talk to is my wife, but she’s not here in Summerville right now, nor is she in the country for that matter.
So, I decided that I would join Facebook just to see what it was about. I know that Tony has a Facebook account and cannot seem to wait to get home and see what’s going on in his account. I told him that I had a Facebook account and asked him to add me as a friend. He said “No way!”. I figured as much. I’m pretty sure that I don’t even want to know what they talk about.
Well, I joined and have found a few of my high school friends online. I also found a young lady that I used to work with, Stacey, It’s kind of fun to see what people are posting. It’s pretty superficial and a great waste of time, but it is interesting to see who’s doing what and where they are living.
I was having lunch with a former coworker and friend of mine, Rajesh. He’s a single guy and I asked him what single guys did during the weekend and evenings and he said either watch TV, play X-Box, or drink. It didn’t sound so appealing to me and he agreed. I suggested that he take up a hobby. LOL!
During my 8 months here I’ve done a number of things to keep busy so that the evenings don’t seem so long, but sometimes it would just be nice to have dinner or a movie with a friend and just chit-chat. I’ll probably dabble in Facebook for a while, but I sincerely doubt that it will hold my interest long.
Anybody else on Facebook? I looked at Twitter too and decided that Tweeting’s not for me.
End of a chapter. Beginning of another
Welcome to the world, children!
Well, this chapter is finally finished! I spent the weekend in Columbus, OH attending my son’s, Pedro, graduation from Ohio State University. It’s been a long, and at times, very arduous journey, but at long last, he has graduated! Now, he just needs to find a job.
The graduation was not without a bit of drama, though. On Friday, I called him to see how he was doing and he sounded a bit down. I asked what was wrong. He said that he had failed one of his classes and would not be graduating, but that he was going to talk to his teacher again and his counselor. We canceled our flight reservations. Later on, he called back to say that the teacher had made a miscalculation in the grades and that he would indeed be graduating. Fortunately, we were able to get the same flights for the same price!
So, off we went to Columbus. As it is only 7.5 hour drive, all of the ‘jets’ between here and there are commuter jets, otherwise known as puddle jumpers. We flew from Charlotte to Washington, DC, to Columbus, OH and back again in jets that held approximately 48 – 60 people! Tiny little things. This evening was pretty bad as there was lots of turbulance in and out of New Jersey on our way back. It was a bumpy ride, but we are home safely and now instead of having an Ohio State student, we now have an alumnus!
Congratulations, Pedro.
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