Coosa River at Gorman Park, Photography

Awareness of the outside world. EPA: An Introduction to Water Quality Monitoring

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Coosa River
Gorman Park
Vincent, AL USA
August 2023

Upstream. The opposite shore is Buzzard Island. More river on the other side.

Downstream.

What I Learned

Access to the Coosa River was harder than I expected, at least as a photographic subject. I could get near the river. I could see the river. I could not get to the river. The riverbank is lined cheek by jowl with private house lots. Most of the public access spots are boatramps with a couple of picnic tables plonked down as an afterthought.

The Cahaba River has more public parks along the banks. It is also closer to town. I suspect these are related facts.

Technical Details

Clouds. f/13.0, 1/125 sec., 66.0 mm, ISO 100. Manual. Cropped

Upstream. f/11.0, 1/125 sec., 56.0 mm, ISO 100. Manual.

Downstream. f/10.0, 1/125 sec., 18.0 mm, ISO 100. Manual.

Ramp. f/10.0, 1/125 sec., 56.0 mm, ISO 100. Manual.

Sign. f/5.6, 1/125 sec., 48.0 mm, ISO 100. Manual.

A centered meter can still give over- and under-exposed photos. I need to remember that the meter gives me the average of the scene. (I think?) Shady trees need different light exposure than the bright, sunny sky.

Last week [Creek, Photography]

River photos [Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Lesson Thoughts, I Has Them

Awareness of the outside world. @_.andrepaz._ April 22, 2020 (Instagram). World map with continents represented by animals, by Andrea Paz González Dettleff. Hat tip to A.

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Wait? What? A horse show? A saddle seat horse show? [Fun In The Sun, Show Report SSF Summer 2023]

Yes.

Am I still over Academy? [Second Show, Same As The First, Show Report, Heathermoor Farm Summer Show 2022]

Yes.

Am I still tired of beginner horses? [That Noise Is Me Stomping My Feet]

Yes.

Have I found anything to replace them?

No. Back I go.

Instead of riding for its own sake, did I take a lesson with Optimus specifically for the show?

Yes.

Am I looking for two local shows in order to scramble onto the bottom of the points ladder of the Adult Academy division so that I have somewhere amusing to go in the depths of January? [Dinner and Ribbons, ASHAA Banquet for the 2022 Show Year]

Possibly.

Am I using the driving class to chase points for more exciting year-end fluffies?

Also possibly.

Conversely, am I using the excuse of year-end points & and a banquet in January as motivation?

Definitely. When one’s lifestyle is only slightly more active than two geriatric Bassets, it really is time to get off the couch.

Is it helping get self through August? [Here Comes That Month, State of the Now]

Yes.

Would I rather be so busy preparing for the American Eventing Championships that I don’t have time?

600% yes. Or, in an ideal world, both.

Is Skittles helping with clean-up for the show?

Of course!

Onwards!
Katherine

Fun In The Sun, Show Report SSF Summer 2023

Awareness of the outside world. To be in the arena. DFL beats DNF beat DNS. Mail & Guardian: ‘Last-place finishers are not losers’, Collinson, 2004. Dated. Article feels the need to define a “blog”. 🤣 DFL: Celebrating last-place finishes at the Olympics. Because they’re there, and you’re not. Blog ends with 2004. Data still interesting. Similar to the Red Saddlepad. [Two Finish Lines]

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Stepping Stone Farm Summer Fun Show
Chelsea AL
Sunday 13 August 2023

Roy
4. Academy Driving, 1st of 1

Optimus
26. Academy Showmanship Adult WTC – 1st of 3
27. Academy Equitation Adult WTC – 2nd of 3

Thank you to the Rath and Gray families for sharing their marvelous horses.

The photographer declined photo credit. Thank you for the pictures!

Videos by my stellar IT tech.

Dammit Jim, I’m a Saddlebred!

Saddlebreds go from standing in their stalls to trotting in the ring. My horse needs 20 minutes of easy walking to get his head in the game. Don’t cross the streams.

At the show, I didn’t want to do any warm-up. We didn’t need it at a performance level and Optimus had other riders. So, I figured a few minutes of gentle strolling back and forth would give him a chance to loosen up. ‘What is this?! If I am walking anywhere, I am walking back to my stall thank! you! very! much!’

I had to get a person on foot to lead me over the spot of shade in which we had been quietly standing before I forgot myself.

Sorry, dude.

Onwards!
Katherine

No Photo is Good News, Milton’s Foot

Awareness of the outside world. An official Hawaiian history timeline with a wildfire update banner at the top of the page, Go Hawaii: A Brief History of the Hawaiian Islands. More history, Smithsonian: Hawaii – History and Heritage, 2007, American Masters: Learn about the rich history of Hawaii, 2022. Personal essay, Medium: An Ignorant Mainlander’s Primer on Hawaiian History, Corey B, 2022.

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Milton was shod last week.

He’s been sound from his abscess for a while. [Home Team Update for the Beginning of August 2023]

I was expecting a dramatic, post-abscess photo op. [Milton’s Foot Diagnosis Develops 2020]

Nada. No gaping hole. No channels dug through the foot.

Which is good!

In this case, I will take a lack of media.

I wonder if it was because the abscess resolved so much faster. The nastiness didn’t have time to burrow around in his foot. The heel blowout still looks hair-raising, but hasn’t bothered Milton since it opened. Yay.

Onwards!
Katherine

Muse Goes Back To School, Fiction

Writer: Hello Muse.

Muse: Hello. Another holiday movie?

Writer: No. I guess you could call it an Occasion Movie, the occasion being kids going back to school. Probably a made-for-TV movie.

Muse: An After School Special?

Writer: No. So much no. I may be a hack and a shill for corporate advertisers, but even I have my limits.

Muse: Good to know.

Writer: Several of the producers were sending their kids back to school. They got to talking. Gave them an idea. If they are doing it, so is a large segment of their audience. They want to develop something to use around this time of year.

Muse: But you don’t have kids. You don’t interact with kids in your day-to-day existence.

Writer: I know, right?

Muse: Lean into it. How does back to school effect people without children?

Writer: Well, Traffic for one.

Muse: School buses?

Writer: Yes. But also regular traffic. Mom and Dad and assorted caregivers are all getting up to get tots on the 7:20 bus. Then they go to work. Traffic gets compressed into a tighter time frame.

Muse: I’m not seeing a traffic movie.

Writer: Actually …

Muse: Focus!

Wrtier: Let’s see. What happens when one segment of society relocates en masse? Places that were full of kids are suddenly empty. Pools. Parks. The barn aisles are quiet. The summer camp industry shuts down for the year. [Back To School]

Muse: I’m not hearing sparks.

Writer: (ponders) … kids go back to school … adults who have jobs at school got back to work … teachers, chefs, janitors, administrators … kids start a new grade … start high school … start college … Gaaaaaa. It’s all been done.

Muse: What do you mean?

Writer: So many movies. Adults go back to school pretending to be kids, or as adults who need to finish high school for plot reasons.

Muse: What about adults who go back to school for real? As adults?

Writer: (ponders) … finishing a Master’s … ESL … Executive MBA … GED … overcoming the odds … education is important … move over Horatio Alger … it’s an option … let call that plan b.

Muse: You don’t like it?

Writer: It feels too earnest. If we are going to sell people on spending their free time back at school, we have to make it sound fun. Kids have just spent the day there. Adults probably still have exam nightmares. We have to put sparkles on it.

Muse: The anthology approach?

Writer: I like the idea of being able to tell several stories at once. But I used the short story concept last time. Doing it again feels like a retread. They’re gonna want a shiny new idea. [The Summer Movie]

Muse: Turn it sideways.

Writer: (stands up, looks at screen sideways, sits down)

Muse: Very funny. Instead of telling one story after another, tell them consecutively.

Writer: (blank look)

Muse: Not ringing any bells?

Writer: I feel that you are broadcasting but I am not receiving.

Muse: What uses an ensemble cast?

Writer: TV show! Night School! Like Night Court, except with school! Oooh, gotta love it when the elevator speech writes itself.

Muse: (sotto voce) The light dawns.

Writer: We have all kinds of options with casting. Ongoing characters as teachers, and chefs, and janitors, and … wait … do principals work at night? … never mind, I can find out. Guest stars as characters who attend classes. We can have story arcs of different lengths all interacting with each other. An arc could be two shows, or an entire season. Or an arc stops when a person leaves suddenly because that’s what happens when people have to fit school around their lives.

Muse: (smiles)

Writer: We can get advertisers to sponsor scholarships to real night schools. Name recognition! Branding! Actually doing some good.

Muse: (watches writer’s moving fingers fondly)

Writer: (looks up from keyboard) Thank you, Muse.

Muse: You’re welcome. It’s good to see you working.

~~~ curtain ~~~

Afterword

The muse fiction sketches are still me talking about story ideas rather than creating a full-blown piece of fiction. At least I am coming up with story ideas, and at least they are presented in fictional form. Turtle steps.

Free Fiction 4U

Speaking of back to school and good stories. Dartmouth Alumni Magazine: The Devil and Dan Club, Collins 2011. Project Gutenberg of Australia: The Devil and Daniel Webster, Benet, 1936.

Onwards!
Katherine