The power of the sun, we all know, can be harnessed and used for household power. It provides the source of life for growing gardens, it can majorly affect moods, mine in particular.
The more I get in touch with Mother Nature, the more I get in touch with myself. I have learned I am severely affected by the weather. Gray gloomy days make me gray and gloomy. Bright sunny days make me bright and sunny. Stormy days are dramatic, and so am I.
And sunsets take my breathe away. Like this one from the other night.
Finally got my solar system up and running. Thus, the free flowing, stream-of-conscience post. I’ll write more about it later, but must say, clean, quiet, 24 hour power is a thing of beauty!
Here they are, my picks for the top six. (I tried to limit it to five, and could not.) Please, take a few minutes, look at all of them, and write a comment about which you like best. If you can, share why you like it best and why you think it deserves to be my new header.
Well, I missed it, but sometime today, this blog got its 500,000th visit. Thanks all of you for your support and encouragement.
Okay, time for a new header. I’ve decided on a different kind of contest. Everyone, even prior winners, can submit a photo to me, even if you have already submitted it before. Out of those, I will pick what I think are the top contenders and publish them. The ones I choose will be based on these factors: 1. Photo quality; 2.How well it both fits the size and look in the header constraints I have; 3. The uniqueness of the subject matter (must be shot in Big Sur); 4. How well it depicts Spring in Big Sur note this is the last, and least important factor). They must be submitted before 9 pm on the Ides of March, to me at kwnovoa@mac.com – email only. Once I post my choices for the top photos (how many will depend on how many satisfy the above factors), all readers will have a chance to comment on their favorite and provide the reason why. I will then choose the winner, considering the above factors as well as reader input. The winner will get a $50 gift certificate to the Big Sur business of their choice. (Rocky Point to Ragged Point) The winning photo will be given exposure until I decide to change it. Have fun, everyone! Remember the header constraints re size, which are posted at the end of the “Notices” sticky post on top. (760 pixels by 150 pixels)
Here are some samples in the correct size:
Some photos look good in this format, other really beautiful photos do not. It is easy to make your photo fit this format. In your photo program go to “crop” after choosing that, look for “constraints.” In the constraint menu, choose “custom” there you will type in 760 by 150 and crop it to size. In my iPhoto, I can move the crop over the part of the imagine I want included. Submit this “cropped” version to me for the contest. Good luck! Professional photographers, please feel free to put a watermark or copyright notice on your photograph. Since this contest, I will be the one choosing, it won’t be a problem for me, and will help protect your art.
And now for something a bit different. I had the opportunity to go to Quartzite recently with my aunt and uncle. What an experience that is! The biggest convergence of RVs, old farts, flea market/gem show, and dumb asses. But lots of fun. My uncle would often build a fire in his portable fire pit between our 2 RVs. These were taken one night. Enjoy this psychedelic fire!
I didn’t want to write this morning, for fear I would jinx myself. Now that I am safely escounsed in my own home, I figure I’ll give it my best shot. It was actually a good day, no hi-jinxs came my way today.
First, Zebras were close to the road today, so I took advantage of it. This is for my friend Rose, who has a thing for Zebras. It think it is their cute little butts. But who knows? Maybe its the black and white of it all! Zebras for Rose
(YAY! It inserted!) For those out of the area, when Hearst built his castle, he imported some exotic animals, among them, the zebra. Now the herd of a dozen or more are healthy and happy with lots of “home-like” land to roam.
Second, here are a couple of shots of the rock drapery on last year’s Alder Creek slide. You should see those rock climbers lay this stuff down. Such talented people Cal-Trans has working for it. Bottom of Rock Drapery, Alder Creek 1/13/12 Top of Rock Drapery, Alder Creek 1/13/12
Wow! Two more photos uploaded AND inserted! This is my lucky day!
And lastly, I warned about accepting advertisements. Well, I added two links on specific prior posts a couple days ago, and today, I am adding a new link to the right under a new category for “Sponsors.” These are for people who pay me for providing a link to their site. You can ignore them, but it would probably help me if you could click on one, once in a while. Right now there is only one, but since it leads to a fire fighting course, I thought it was very worthwhile. The money I was paid for these three links is enough to cover the donation I made earlier this week to the BSVFB, so it all comes around in the end.
HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH EVERYONE! And it looks like Kate is no longer “unplugged.” (Thanks, Neil for pointing that out.)
I can’t believe it, but I finally got the last 5 photos up, so voting has now begun. You (and your friends) have until Sunday night at 8 pm to vote for your favorite for my new header. I didn’t want to take a chance, so view the photos in the post immediately below this one, and then vote here. More news later today, as I have a number of things to report, while wordpress, the internet goddess, and my computer are being cooperative.
FINALLY, the long awaited photo contest final 10. Thank you, all, for your patience, particularly those photographers who entered their work!
I am beginning to think this contest is cursed. I tried all night to get the other 5 uploaded, but no luck. So no voting until I get the the other 5 up, and it looks like, based on the behavior of wordpress, it will have to be in a separate post. I’ll try again tomorrow, and I’ll let you know when voting opens.
