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July 31, 2006
The poem below
Well, I finally wrote Signs of Summer. It was a long time coming but now the series is complete.
Hope you like it.
Posted by OldGuy at 1:51 PM | Comments (1)
Signs of Summer
The smell of a barbecue in the air as you arrive home after work
Mouth watering you search the freezer for a steak to throw on the grill
The rumble of thunder in the distance in the late afternoon
The rain will provide a respite from the oppressive heat
Children laughing and playing in the sprinkler
Soon patio chairs will be decorated with brightly coloured towels and swim suits
The door bangs open and a voice calls
"Can me and my friends have popsicles ?"
Sitting outside until well past dark drinking coffee
Candles all around attract the denizens of the night
Posted by OldGuy at 12:24 PM | Comments (2)
July 30, 2006
Sunday Morning Musings
I guess this post belongs in the Sunny Side of Life category although it's a bit sad, at least I think so.
We went to Peterborough, Ontario this weekend to check out Trent University as that's where the lad will be going in September.
It's a nice university, quite small, and they really seem to care about their students. Not like one of those big universities like the University of Toronto where you're one of 60,000 students, more like a number than a person. I think the lad will like it there and he'll fit in well as he's not into big cities and big schools. Peterborough is a nice little town too, not too big, and very quaint and touristy. It too has a small town feel to it although it has all the major conveniences. The university is actually a couple of miles from town, in the countryside and it has the look of a summer camp. Low buildings nested along the banks of the river, lots of green space all around, and the Trent-Severn Waterway runs right through the campus so basically half the buildings are on one side of the river and half on the other. Very pictursque.
What hit me though, and hard I must say, is that this is really happening. The boy who has spent the last 18 years in our home, always around, sometimes an annoyance (what kid isn't), but mostly just a good kid, is leaving in a month. Oh sure, he'll be back for holidays, and we'll certainly keep in touch, but the truth is, there's going to be a very big hole in the family because one of it's very much loved members is leaving the nest.
They had presentations for both the parents and the students yesterday and when the lady doing the presentation started to speak I got a lump in my throat. Wait a minute I thought, this can't be happening, I'm not ready for this.
Yeah, me, who has always tried to be cool, was having a hard time. Okay, sure, I've cried in his presence before but mostly it's supposed to be moms who have trouble letting their children go and dads just provide a few words of wisdom then wish them good luck but here I was missing him already.
Who am I going to run my story ideas by ?
Who am I gonna talk to when I've discovered a cool new Photoshop trick ?
Who am I gonna watch scary movies with ?
Damn, I'm starting to cry again !
Posted by OldGuy at 4:43 PM | Comments (2)
July 27, 2006
The Proposal
Jake was 15 years old when he met Sarah and he fell in love with her the moment he laid eyes on her.
Jake's family was vacationing by the sea and Jake was playing with Sarah's little brother, who he had met that afternoon. Tommy liked Jake, as did most people. Jake just seemed to radiate good cheer and he was always willing to take a little kid under his wing and teach him how to swim, which was what he had been doing that afternoon.
When Sarah came down to the beach to get Tommy for dinner Tommy introduced her to his new friend Jake. Jake took one look at Sarah and fell in love. Jake asked where they were staying and imagine his surprise and good fortune when Sarah told him their family was camping at the same park his was, in fact they were going to be neighbours for the next few days.
That evening Jake's family had a camp fire and Jake went over and asked Sarah if she'd like to join them. As it turned out the whole family came over and they had a wonderful evening, roasting marshmallows and singing songs.
For the next few days Jake and Sarah spent every spare moment together, hiking, swimming, and just strolling on the beach. They held hands and laughed and had a great time together. Jake had never met anyone like Sarah and she had never met anyone like Jake. It was as if they were meant to be together.
On their last night together Jake asked Sarah to marry him, to which Sarah responded that they were just 15 years old and they'd probably never see each other again.
"Not right away" Jake replied, "but some day." and Sarah laughed and said yes.
The next day Sarah's family left and Jake didn't see Sarah again for several years.
One weekend 10 years later, Jake was invited to a wedding by a friend. Imagine his surpise when, at the reception, he saw Sarah sitting with a group of friends. He knew it was her the moment he saw her as she really hadn't changed much. She still had the same soft brown hair, doe eyes and lovely smile and Jake fell in love with her all over again. He asked Sarah to dance and she said yes and they had a wonderful time together. Three days later Jake asked Sarah to marry him again. Sarah said they'd really only just met again and Jake replied "not now, but some day." and Sarah smiled and said yes.
They were married 6 months later.
And 60 years later, after they'd had three children, and several grandchildren, and spent a wonderful life together, Sarah lay dying in a hospital bed. Jake asked Sarah to marry him again and Sarah responded that she'd like that but she didn't have much time left and Jake replied "not now, but some day" and Sarah looked lovingly at Jake and said yes.
Posted by OldGuy at 6:37 PM | Comments (5)
July 26, 2006
Update on the Photo Restoration below
I frequent the Photoshop Cafe and it was suggested that I blur the edges of the photo a bit and make the right nostril a little lighter as this would make it look more realistic so I did.
I do indeed prefer the results.
Posted by OldGuy at 9:22 AM
July 23, 2006
Sunday Morning Musings
Well, I'm back at last. It seems like an age ago that I last blogged so it's great to be here again.
I've spent the last month chilling, sleeping and getting the arthritis under control and what a difference it's made. I said to my son the other day that the last time I had a whole month off was, well, never (unless I count that spell when I was out of a job several years ago).
Anyway, I feel rested although it'll be tough to get up early tomorrow morning because I've gotten used to sleeping in every day. I've been taking naps in the afternoon too so I have a feeling my first day back will be a test to see how long I can stay awake.
It' been quite something to spend so much time with the family too and I'm definitely going to miss that, especially as I was mostly just taking it easy all the time. Oh, I did a little work here and there but only when I actually felt like it, there was no pressure to get anything done if I didn't want to. Most days I just took my medications, ate, slept and puttered.
I did work on my Photoshop skills some more. The pictures above testify to that. That's a picture of my grandmother on my mom's side when she was young. The first photo is the one I had to work with and the other is the restoration I did. It's not perfect but I think I did an okay job. It took me quite some time, but like I said, I had plenty of that.
Hey, I've learned a few things in the last little while too.
Like you have to take care of your health if you want to have a decent life. Okay, so you're thinking "well, d'uh, no kidding genius" but I've always let my health take a back seat to everything else. But after a while it gets to you and you realize that if you don't do something you'll be in serious trouble and your life won't be worth spit anyway. And besides, if you feel good, you can interact better with those around you, you're more patient, more fun fun to be with, etc.
Hey, I finally had a story idea, I'll write it up some time in the next few days.
And thanks to those of you who dropped by to say hi and offer some encouragement. I'll be popping in on all of you this week.
Cheers and have a great week.
Oh, and one other thing. I decided I'm gonna battle at BOTB again after all. Hey, it was always fun so what the heck.
Posted by OldGuy at 7:16 PM | Comments (4)
July 6, 2006
Still At Home
I'm still kinda itchy tonight. I went to see my doctor a few days ago and he no longer believes I have shingles, he thinks it's an allergy or some sort of skin problem so I'm on a much stronger cortisone cream; it's supposed to clear up the rash, at least temporarily, but he's also making some referrals so I can find out exactly what is causing it. The arthritis management is also being kicked up a couple of notches. Hopefully all this will work itself out soon. In the meantime I'm still at home resting and spending time with my family.
I haven't written much lately but I've been continuing to work on my Photoshop skills. You can see another experiment here. This is my first try at a 3D object. The pictures are from my son's commencement again. The one on the left is the lad and his mother, the one one the right is the lad, the princess, their great-grandmother (my wife's grandmother) and yours truly. I tried to get a picture on the top of the cube too but no matter how hard I tried the picture would look terribly distorted when I fitted it in so I decided to add the date instead. It doesn't look too bad and it's a nice memento.
I know I promised you folks "Signs of Summer" a while back but as I've said many times before, I don't feel very inspired when I'm under the weather. I've been giving it some thought though and it's coming soon. Can't have only three seasons in the series eh ?
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll be doing some blog visiting this weekend so I'll drop in on some of you.
Cheers, and take care.
Posted by OldGuy at 10:04 PM | Comments (4)