CALM

We could all use some. Legal tip for Americans: do you you have your advance care directive and durable power of attorney in order in case you can't make your own decisions? Free forms are widely available online. Your state bar association's web site is a good place to look.       

RELIEF AND REFRESHMENT

I'm not out on the street much these days, mostly home to office and back, making it hard to get material. My neighborhood isn't very visually interesting (although I could try harder). There are lots more orchid pictures but I thought I would give you a break. This is at the botanical garden. You can get relief, steal a roll of toilet paper and get a little pick-me-up all in one stop.

Sunday is the thirteenth anniversary of this endeavor. What can I find that is worthy of the occasion?          

YOU WOULDN'T KNOW THEY WERE ORCHIDS

Trying to think of better, stable times. Not getting crazed but I'm pretty high risk. My rheumatologist called yesterday and said she doesn't want me around more than 10 people and doesn't want me to go in stores, period. So let's be calmly meditative. 

The association I get with this image is the corps de ballet, softly dancing and softly seen, after maybe a second glass of wine at intermission.      

WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

More from the bumper crop of orchid photos. It's so difficult to decide which to select. Then, even with my mid grade Photoshop skills, there are so many ways to interpret the raw image. It's sort of like looking at sheet music of something you will perform in public and deciding how you will make it sound. Do you prefer the color or the B&W?          

MACRO

I got some decent pictures at the orchid show last weekend but too many of them had poor focus. For the many years I shot with Canon 5D series cameras there was a solution - macro lenses. They are designed to focus from a very short distance so you can get great close-ups. My Canon phase ended because my decrepit frame couldn't take the considerable weight. Now I shoot lighter and smaller Fujifilm X-T cameras but I didn't have a lens that got way in close.

So I blew a wad (well, not a big one) and got a FF macro lens this week. Mrs. C and I went back to the orchid show yesterday and, wow, what a difference. I've got images that might last until toilet paper is back in the stores. (None in the local supermarket today but two local restaurants are giving out a free roll with every take out order. Brilliant.) 

These examples look like vicious little monsters, don't they?