Taken yesterday from the front porch rocking chair, my elderly cat Wilson passed away peacefully in my lap in the same spot this afternoon. The sun was shining and birds were flitting about.

This morning he gave me a head bonk and was purring even as his energy was waning. He was 15 and for 14 of those years was FIV positive, which meant an indoor life away from my other cats. He befriended the dogs instead and became a constant lap fixture.

He had a happy, healthy life right up until the very end when he started losing weight. I'm so glad I did not put him down as was suggested when the virus was first discovered--I would have missed out on all these wonderful years!

Woman revisits her schoolhouse and memories of those days return....

One of the good things during this time of the year is that when the leaves are falling I already can see the sparkles of the water over the pond from the window.

Once Upon a time.....

I discovered this old abandoned house on my walks in nature here where the ravages of time work irrevocably. Examining the house, I found this scene as indescribable fascinating as the life up here. In my imagination, sits an old man after his working in the woods and eating in the back porch, here and enjoying the tranquility, the indescribably beautiful view and weighing his tired bones in this rocking chair before the fog up here takes the land back into his arms again.

Prompt: A digital fine art of a vintage porch on a sunny day, with a large American flag banner hanging from the ceiling, a patriotic wreath on the door, and two empty rocking chairs on the porch. The porch is surrounded by lush greenery and colorful flowers in large pots. The style is realistic and detailed, with soft lighting and a warm, inviting atmosphere. The image is framed by the porch railing, with the American flag and wreath prominently displayed. The rocking chairs are positioned near the center of the porch,

The digital Fine Art was created using Google ImageFX and Photoshop

In his favorite rocking chair just before a baby came a took it from him. Still missing you very much my friend Tiger

A rocking chair in the verandah of a home stay in Coorg inviting you to relax, feel at home and soak in the beautiful view of the garden and distant mountains. Shot at dawn.

Canon F1, FD 24 2.8, 1/15 at f/11, Fuji Provia 100.

Spotted at an oceanfront hotel in Ocean City, a seaside resort on the Atlantic Ocean in the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Print size 8x10 inches. Happy Bench Monday

aka The Color of a Brisk & Leaping Supersampled Day

The BBG Files? Well, I have quite a few (non-xpro) blue Supersampler images, and -fiona- has decided to call me Blue Batch Guy. I think that an acceptable compromise has been reached, however: BBG. ;) She's very cool, and has shot some wonderful doubles/multiples, so why not?

Anyway, to celebrate the weirdness that is Leap Day, here's an oddity from The BBG Files! Cheers & have a great Leapend! ^_^

Abandoned House, USA

Jonnie Lynn Lace ©

Usually you can see the

old lady out on the porch,

just rocking and rocking.

Today, it being a bit raw,

she was absent.

I just love her tiny American flag....

Thank you, SO much, to EVERYONE that had a thought to spare in regards to my precious Sakura and her health.

We went in last night for her "grade 3 heart murmur" (pretty serious stuff) and after listening to her heart for a good 5 or 10 minutes, the specialist decided he did not even hear a heart murmur. We did a quick echocardiogram, just to be absolutely certain, and her heart is clean as a whistle! (A very bloody whistle?)

I guess these mistakes happen and it is difficult to tell irregular breathing apart from a serious heart murmur.

He did, however, say that she was chubby. Haha!

Only very special mice get to dress up and sit in their very own rocking chair! This *grandma* is patiently awaiting a letter from her son with news about his visit during the holidays!

I know this is a bit early to post for the holidays, but in this day and age, *snail mail* is such a thing of the past; no one knows how long it will take to arrive at its destination anymore?

And with 73¢ for a first class letter, how many people will still be sending Christmas cards? I'm just too darn old-fashioned . . . so much JOY has been stripped from this fast-paced world.

Praying for a restoration of HOPE and PEACE.

Goldfield Nevada

With the recent security upgrades now completed on his deck, Stormtrooper Bruce was anxious to check out his quarters to see what, if anything had been disturbed. But more importantly, he had to check on the abandoned secret room hidden behind his quarters, fearful it was no longer a secret.

STB: Hello my little friends. Did you have company while I was away? I'm relieved everything looks exactly as I left it. None of my traps have been disturbed, The dead spider is just where I left it and my brewskies are still in the fridge!

Mice:

STB: Yes, I know. I don't come here very often, so you probably feel this is your secret room and I'm the intruder. But I come bearing wedges as a peace offering.

Mice:

STB: It's so nice in here, a great place to escape from you-know-who where I can't be found. Actually, it's two and a half you-know-who's. So I may have to start coming here more often. And don't worry, you'll get more wedges when I come back.

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Viewing Large is always fun. Just click on the image.

I don't go out looking for pictures. I go out, and if something catches my eye, that's reason enough to photograph it.

- Henry Wessel

"A Southern porch, 4 rockers, and a swing....ready and waitin'! The child in me wants to say,

'Beat'cha to the swing!' LOL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wish we all could have a rocker on this porch and sit & visit the whole day long! But unfor-

tunately it'll have to be 1st Come, 1st Serve! So, Y'all hurry on down and claim your chair.......

and remember, if I do beat'cha to that swing, I'll be real sweet and share it with everybody!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wishing you all a Happy Week ahead!"

~Mary Lou

On the back porch of an abandoned house on highway 45 between West Point and Tupelo.

The sun sprinkled light into a tiki hut overlooking the marsh at Grassy Waters Preserve in West Palm Beach, Florida. See this, and more on my website at www.tom-claud.pixels.com.

There were several rocking chairs like this one, all lined up on the wooden deck so that guests could sit and stare off into the ocean. This one was by itself, and I was able to get a nice 3-image handheld HDR shot...

Note: this photo was published as an illustraiton in an undated (mid-Dec 2010) blog titled "Photos of St. John's, Antigua, and Barbuda." It was also published in a Jan 10, 2011 blog titled "The Rocking Chair Test – 31 DoBA – Day 10."

Moving into 2011, the photo was published in a Jan 27, 2011 blog titled "How do you define Lifestyle Design?" And it was published in a May 15, 2011 blog titled "When Should Musicians Retire?" It was also published in an Oct 7, 2011 Folk Rock blog, with the same caption and detailed notes that I had written on this Flickr page. And it was published in an Oct 14, 2011 blog titled "Geschichte der rechtwinkligen Körperhaltung." And it was published in a Dec 12, 2011 blog titled "La lettre UFE de décembre dédiée à la future retraite des expatriés."

Skipping 2012 (why not?) and moving into 2013, the photo was published in an Oct 31, 2013 blog titled "Why you must become an investing expert."

Moving into 2014, the photo was published in a Mar 12, 2014 blog titled "24 Wise Words Of Wisdom To Get You Through Your Life," as well as a Mar 14, 2014 blog titled "23 People Posted The Wisest Words They’ve Ever Heard. The Results Are Brilliant."

*************************************

After three months of rain, snow, and freezing temperatures, we finally decided that we had had enough of winter in NYC; and when some friends told us they had enjoyed the peace and quiet of a low-key beach resort in Antigua called Galley Bay, we decided to try it out.

It definitely was low-key: except for a brief period around Christmas, children are not allowed. So the beach was filled with an assortment of ThirtySomething couples, as well as retirement-age folks from Canada, England, and various other places. There are three restaurants at Galley Bay, and they were mostly full for every meal; but the beaches weren't crowded at all, and I never did see anyone using the grass(!) tennis court.

The weather wasn't spectacular: lots of clouds, and brief periods of light rain almost every day. But there were also periods of partly-sunny and all-sunny skies, and the temperatures were mild and pleasant. All the usual TV channels were available, so we could keep up with the news back home; and a flaky Wifi network made it more-or-less possible to stay connected to the Internet.

But mostly it was very quiet. And very peaceful. And very relaxing. And we'll be returning a mere one week before the official arrival of spring in New York City ... which means that the worst of winter is over. All I can say is: good riddance, winter...

From Shoreby Club, Bratenahl, Ohio

sitting in an air conditioned room, watching cable television, just after eating most of my ice cream.

so rough.

And observing

The sun creeping in my daughters bedroom at 4.30pm - rare for it to be seen really at this time of the day/year in London!

......So Many Tales Yet To Be Told...

Made for the Masterminds weekly group challenge...173: These Boots *are made for Walkin*

www.flickr.com/groups/masterminds/discuss/721576259809190...

A scene on a back porch of a lonely, abandoned Victorian house in rural Edgecombe County, NC.

Old Habana Section in La Habana, Cuba

Featuring Spartacus

Photograph Taken April 02, 2012

The front porch of the beautiful Crestmont Inn Guesthouse, Eagles Mere, PA

handwritten on slide, “Christmas 1957"

The tote bag is taking it easy on the rocking chair

Best viewed large.

it's pointless for me to keep doing a 365 when most of the photos are of nothing (you guys haven't seen a lot of the stuff i still have to upload...), so i might switch to a 52 weeks

anyway, here's an empty living room :o

Waking up my little bundle of fur as payback for her nighttime antics that wake me up-usually around 3. Turn around is totally fair play.

De-focused apple orchard bokeh...shot with the Helios 44M. Makes your eyes go a bit funny but I like the odd strange image ;-))

Beautiful porch setting in Wells, Vermont..

An old rocking chair within a derelict house

Note: I chose this as my "photo of the day" for Sep 17, 2015.

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In August 2015, I had the great pleasure of taking a week-long photography workshop in Rockport, Maine under the tutelage of Peter Turnley. Its main theme was street photography, and we made several visits to working-class neighborhoods in several Maine towns where (unbeknownst to me) there are large populations of working-class immigrants from Somalia, Sierra Leone, and various other countries around the world.

In addition to the Sony RX-10 and Sony A-7 cameras that I normally use, I also rented a brand-new Leica “Q” camera for the class. It’s roughly equivalent to driving a Rolls Royce, which I’ve never done; and because the list price is $4,000 for a camera with a single fixed-focal-length 28mm lens, I very much doubted that I would buy one for permanent usage.

Peter Turnley strongly suggested that I should consider buying the camera and getting really comfortable using it. Maybe he’s right; but there are all kinds of reasons (which I won’t bore you with) why it doesn’t make sense for me.

Perhaps the most important reason is that, at my fairly modest level of skill, I don’t think I would actually produce *better* pictures with the Leica. There are a lot more “fundamental” things for me to master first, and I might *never* be good enough to really take advantage of what the Leica is capable of doing.

So, when I got back to NYC at the end of the week, I packed the Leica in a box, and shipped it back to the rental agency from whence it came. It was a good experiment, and I’m glad I did it. But at least for now, I’ll stick with my Sony cameras.

I've uploaded roughly half a dozen "test shots" that I took with the Leica. I was intrigued to see that some of them were "fuzzy," which implies that I didn't focus properly, or perhaps I used such a wide aperture that the DOF was too shallow.

None of them are prize-winning shots by any means ... but for me, the most important conclusion was that I probably could have gotten just as good (or just as bad) a result from my Sony cameras...

From times past, sighted in LaHave, NS