End of the Trail

Good Morning, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Threaded Ball. As you can see, I included a little bit of a glitter effect- though not quite as much as I think would be good for it. It has been a while since I added truly random lines to my works, but I decided that that was exactly what I needed here. I think I'll try it again with a silver glitter instead of one of the other colors.

Like most journeys, the one my husband and I took to Greenwood had to come to an end. The drive was longer than the Mapquest directions indicated- but that was because we stopped on the way. The funny thing is that while it was still light, I found myself continually dozing off- but as it got dark, I woke up a whole lot better. Considering how the human species is mostly diurnal, that is decidedly backwards. My husband, on the other hand, was quite ready to go to sleep when we got home!

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

A Memorial

Good Morning, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Spotlights. I didn't quite get what I wanted with this- Like that's new. But I thought it would be nice and warming on this chilly morning.

And I do mean chilly! We have experienced the first frost of the season; I could still see a few crystals of it on items that were in the shade. Other than that, it's beautifully sunny outside. I think that soon I'll step out and see what I can do about my Christmas shopping; By now, the Black Friday madness should have passed.

Over all, I did enjoy my stay in Greenwood.

Not all was happiness, though. We had to lay Pop and his wife to rest. Pop didn't want a funeral; He simply wanted his ashes and hers spread together. A pastor from a local church came to offer prayers with us, before and after the spreading. Pop had a low-growing palm tree in the back yard of the last place he lived, and there was a lighthouse ornament where it could be seen from that tree. That was where we left him, and her. It was a bittersweet experience.

After that, we stayed in his house for a while trading a few stories and memories. The thing that stayed with us was that Pop lived until the very end.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

The Town of Greenwood

Good Morning, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Lens. I really wanted to have a bunch of golden-red and violet dancing flames- but that didn't exactly happen. So I decided to dress it up a bit. What you see is the results.

Greenwood, South Carolina is a very pretty little town. It has quite a few churches, a number of picturesque neighborhoods, and a few Mom-and-Pop style restaurants as well as franchises for some of the larger chains. One restaurant that sells fantastic pizza is Mig's, which is owned by a gentleman who lives in the area. If you get hungry, by all means go there!

Greenwood does have a problem that is both amusing and annoying; Many of the streets aren't really well labeled, and a lot of the signs that are up tend to be blocked from view by other sign posts and light poles. I imagine that if anyone came there with ill-will in mind, that person would be lost in a very large hurry! However, it doesn't seem to be an issue for anyone who lives there.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

Kitties, Geeks, and Books

Good Morning, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Snowdrifts and Tree. I made it last night while attempting to create an illusion of falling snow. It worked rather well, and it seems appropriate for the last day of November.

On to our traveler's tales...

Once we reached our destination, we were greeted by a pair of Sheltie dogs: Brogan, a old dog, and the much younger Natchez. My husband and I had met Brogan before; It was funny how he tried to herd us around when one of us strayed away from the others. But he doesn't do that now, between age and hip dysplasia. The problem with his hips looks painful- but he never complained.

We also met an extremely talkative feline named Megan. Later on, even her much shyer brother Shawn made himself known.

I said Megan was extremely talkative. The truth is that she is far more vocal than both of mine put together- especially when she wants attention. Which happens to be a lot. She was very much pleased when our hostess' parents arrived; This charming couple is just crazy about cats.

It also impressed and amused me to see that the gentleman could out-geek some geeks. He, my husband, and my husband's brother spent quite a lot of time huddling over old malfunctioning computers, and having the time of their lives.

For myself, I got to sink my teeth into some of my brother-in-law's literature. He used to work in microbiology and genetic sciences. While I never did as such, biology was one of my first loves. Needless to say, I never got bored!

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

Travels of the Tigger

Good Afternoon, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Blowing Bubbles. As you might guess, I was experimenting with blurring the lines as well as overlays. The name is really more of a placeholder than anything else.

I promised to tell a few more traveler's tales, so here goes.

The night before we were supposed to hit the road, my husband tried to get some directions from Googlemaps. Note I said tried; A number of key elements were missing especially toward the destination, and nothing was mentioned about the detours. Of course, the map makers can't be expected to keep track of road construction, so that was no big deal.

However, they did suffice to get us most of the way to our destination. I was interested to see that some of the traditional billboards had been replaced by computerized boards that could switch out ads. I see both an advantage and a disadvantage to this; On the one hand, fewer billboards will be needed for the same amount of advertising space. On the other, people may find it hard to gather the pertinent information from the ads before the next one rotates in.

I-85 was the worst part of the trip; It tended to split a lot, and not give any indication of which was the right 85 for the traveler to follow. In fact, my husband and I refer to that as the schizophrenic road. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad coming back- though I will never really like it.

We didn't quite make it to our destination on the first day, both because of the road and because we got a later start than we planned. Other than our minor adventure with the motel that I spoke of yesterday, though, there was little in the way of adventure.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

America's Best Inn isn't.

Good Morning, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is a fractal by Ron Venable that he titled Enjoy Thanksgiving. He used to share these and other fractal images a lot before his previous computer died. These days, we keep what we can for him.

I mentioned yesterday that I would talk about a motel we stayed at on the way down to South Carolina. I should say that I'm not going to detail all the problems I saw there- But I will say that if I had tried to get away with as shoddy a cleaning job as was done there, I would have been chewed out- and rightly so.

If you are near the border between North and South Carolina, don't stay at this place if you have a choice. One of the first thing I personally noticed was the rule list.

There was nothing wrong with the list in itself, but a number of the rules were quite unnecessary- unless there had been trouble at the place in the past.

I also noticed a hand-written sign proclaiming a 90% sanitation rating and a no refund notice. In themselves, these would have been nothing to worry about either, though they do raise questions.

However, whoever wrote the sanitation rating sign didn't look at the rooms. There were used grounds in the coffee maker, the towels had stains on them, the toilet was running- which is a pretty good indication that something needs to be looked at, and the microwave oven was sitting on the floor rather than at least on a table where the client could use it easily.

There was also a problem with the curtains; They weren't quite wide enough to cover the windows. The front grill on the air conditioning unit had been broken in the past, and it could be seen where the plate to a chain lock had been removed from the door.

I do have to say that these people did give a small room safe and card key locks on the door. However, considering everything else I saw, I'm not sure I would store valuables in the said safe.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

The Return of the Tigger!

Good Evening, Gentle Readers!

In honor of the recent holiday, I decided to dig this picture up from the depths of my archives. It is one that I used for inspiration some years ago when I decided to start collecting family recipes into a cookbook for those without ready access to some of the gourmet foods that are often featured on the cooking shows.

Other than a couple of slow-traffic areas, and once getting very lost near our destination, our trip was fairly uneventful. However, the police were quite active during the week, starting last Saturday, when several vehicles blockaded a local bank! I've not found out what the story behind that was, but it wouldn't be the first time that an area bank was robbed. We also saw at least one accident on our way down to South Carolina, and legions of people sitting in front of those flashing blue lights. I can only say Wow!

This is the first in a small series of traveler's tales, and will include even a motel review. Sadly, I can't honestly say many good things about the place. But that is a post for another time.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

Tying up loose ends...

Good Morning, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Split Circles. I wasn't going for this specific effect at all when I made this picture: I was hoping more for a spectrum effect in the circle. However, the image does have a certain energy. Thus, it got saves. Perhaps I'll get my spectrums in another attempt.

Boy do I have my work cut out for me today! I've got an assignment or two two try to get turned in, and a cake to bake so my husband and I can take it with us to share with my brother and sister in law, and her parents. I've been wanting to bake that cake for some time, but it wasn't a good idea with all the candy laying around the house. Too, there is the fact that Randy and I couldn't hope to eat it by ourselves in a reasonably amount of time. It would be much better to share it, I think. We'll be down for about a week, so that'll give us all the time we need.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...