Religion ???????

Henner Pond

The End of Lever Hill Rd.

The 'Henner Pond' photo was taken Opening Day of Archery Season for Whitetail Deer. I spent that morning and afternoon, sitting on the top of the hill, in the woods to the left. I watched the sunrise and the sunset. That day, from my blind, I managed to anger some red squirrels, see a flock of Wild Turkey forage past, watched many Does and a Spike Buck, graze across the field. Never knocked an arrow and never had a shot, but it's a day I will never forget.

The second photo was taken a couple weeks later at the other end of Lever Hill Rd. This is Fall in the Southern Tier of New York State. The Pennsylvania State Line is about 15 miles away. I believe that this is some of the most beautiful country around. My Friend owns property here. I get to spend time here, in solitude. I enjoy hunting and fishing. I am not a very successful hunter or fisherman, but I enjoy the experience.

I am lucky enough to have land to hunt on, in the Southern Tier and in Northern New York inside the Adirondak State Park. The cabin in the Adirondak Mountains is 10 miles off of the nearest Highway. We lease the land from a logging company which is part of 50,000 acres. If you want to be alone, THIS is the place to go. We call the cabin 'The Taj'. I try to get up there alone, but also enjoy when any of the other 5 members are there. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to get to within 1/3 of a mile from the cabin. I don't have a 4WD or an ATV so when I go there alone, I have to pack in all my food, drink and gear. It's work that I enjoy. To be so far away from the nearest human being, and in a place where you may not be at the top of the food chain, is a feeling that is hard to discribe. The property in the Southern Tier is much more accessable and is less than 15 minutes from town but when you get back to the camp area, you can be in solitude.

In my life, and from my experiences, I find it hard to believe in a God. I do not have anything against anyone who believes there is a God. In fact, I think for some people it is a very good thing for them. Just don't try to push it on me. I have read about most of the major religions and the closest thing I have come to how I feel is what the Native American Indians believed. They basically believed in an 'Earth Mother'. She is not to be abused. Never take anything that you don't need or take more than you need. Always be thankful for what is given to you and give back to the earth. Before Europeans came here, they did not believe that ANYONE owned the land. If anything the land and the things on it, owned you. What the Europeans and thier Gods dubbed 'Savages' were a peacful people who lived the life of Mother Earth. Now after some several centuries of raping the planet, many are starting to believe that their idea may have been a good one.

As I stated above, I do not believe in a God. The closet thing that I have in my life that could be considered a religious experience is when I am sitting in the woods, or on the lake, with no one around. Eventually I get to a point where my mind stops thinking and the only thing that I am aware of is what I can see, feel, hear and smell. Now THAT is livin'......

Windows to the Soul......

They say that eyes are windows to the soul. Eyes are amazing organs of the human anatomy. The gift of sight is amazing enough. From spending much time, working in dark rooms of Kodak's Research Labs, I used to ponder the thought of being blind. I would be awed at what I could accomplish, without sight. Kodak taught me how to be blind. By working in total dark, with at most times, dangerous chemicals, you learn just what you can do without the luxury of 'seeing' what you are doing. My exposure to blindness was pretty much limited to seeing a few blind people on the street, with dogs or canes, or Jose Feliciano, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. With Jose, Ray and Stevie, I would often wonder why they seem to always be looking up to the ceiling when they were performing. I found that working my hands in total dark, after a short time, I would find myself looking up to the ceiling too. It was uncontrollable. The only thing I could figure was that it must be one of those human instincts that you are born with, as a way of somehow protecting your eyes from things that can fly into them. One of the wonders of life.

Hearts and Flowers Hex

I made this 'Hearts and Flowers Hex' a couple of years ago. Inspired by another Amish Hex Sign. Growing up in Northern NY Dairy country, I remember seeing these here and there, mostly on barns and farm houses, and I always liked the simplicity of the designs.

Road Rage vs. Road Royalty

Every once in a while, the news media will throw us a story of some idiot who actually kills someone in a fit of "Road Rage". I for one, am not immune to this syndrome, and at times would like to throttle some idiot that defies all the rules of being considerate of others. These people, I have dubbed to be "Road Royalty". They believe that the Streets, Roads and Highways are there for their personal use, and to Hell with 'everyone else' that has the audacity to use them.
Have you ever been on a divided highway and you come upon a long line of cars, backed up in the left lane ("The Passing Lane") because there is a car in each lane, driving at less than the speed limit, and one would not pass the other ??? The perfect example of Road Royalty. These people would not pull over if there was a near death patient in an Ambulance behind them. They don't have to.... They have a destination that over rides any other objective of others on their highway. Road Royalty don't seem to realize that those two or three mirrors in front of and to the sides, are to make you aware of what is behind you. If another vehicle should pull up behind you, it's not because they want to get a better look at your ride, it is because they would like to drive a little faster than you, and it would be nice if you would just pull into the right lane, and let them be on their way. It's not your responsiblity to assure that everyone should drive under the speed limit. When you find yourself looking down a completely open highway, with a view for as far as your eyes can see, you may want to take a peek in one of your mirrors and notice that long line of cars and trucks behind you, pull over and set them free. What harm could that do ???
After the media advertised that SUV's are safer to drive than lower riding cars, SUV and large truck sales went through the roof. First of all, have you ever noticed that the bigger the truck or SUV, the smaller the driver. It a power symbol for these people. They drive around in their living rooms, playing with their "control panel", driving down the middle of two lanes, because they can't stay in one lane, and could care less about exhibiting common courtesy to anyone. If you attempt to pass them, they speed up so they can be in front. I believe that if they could, these people would drive sideways and take over three lanes of highway, not just two.
AND OMG !!!! The worse thing that could come along is Cell Phones, followed by Texting. Now they can drive around in their living rooms, talking and texting to all their BFF's. They already are unable to do ONE THING at a time (like driving a car) now they have yet another toy to distract them. One more reason to be oblivious to what is going on around them. One time, I had a lady, driving 40mph, come off an entrance ramp and cross three lanes of 55mph traffic and didn't even bother to use her directional lights. After I dodged a few cars that were slamming on their brakes and taking evasive actions, I see as I pass her that she had a cell phone in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other and I could see smoke coming up from the cigarette that she had in the ashtray. No hands on the steering wheel. I was so thankful that she had applied her makeup before she got on the expressway.

Completed 25-July-2010
I call this design 'Life Hex'. It is imspired by the Amish Hex Sign of Life. The 12 spokes represent the months in the year and the blue wave border represents the endless waves of eternity and long life.

The Good Ole Days in Sackets Harbor, New York

I grew up in Sackets Harbor, a small town in Northern New York State. I photographed this pamorama of the harbor in June. Except for a short period of time, at the start of my Senior Year, when I lived near Buffalo, NY, I went to school in the same building from Kindergarden to Graduation. My class had 38 kids. Although I didn't realize it so much then, it was a great place to grow up. Nobody locked their cars or homes. Everybody knew everybody, and usually everybodys business. If they didn't know, they would make up something. I believe the population at the time was about 1000 people. The village is near the mouth of Black River Bay, just South of the St. Lawrence River. We lived with four very distinct seasons. The Fall foliage was usually spectacular. The Winter had lots of snow. Springtime was always a renewel of everything, and Summers were alot of fun. Swimming and fishing in Lake Ontario. As kids, we all pretty much had the whole world to run around in. At least it seemed that way, for a time. We were generally poor to middle class people. Unlike it is now. There appears to be plenty of money in Sackets these days. It seems like it is the place to be, in the Summertime. Definately alot more activity than when I grew up. Our Protestant Church had a bell tower that tolled the hour and half hour time. I lived less than a block from it, and you pretty much knew what time it was, 24 hours a day. There was a run down building on Main St. (that is now a Comedy Club) and there was a red box attached to the wall with a button inside that the town cop would push and sound a very loud siren, everyday at noon and 8pm (a curfew for kids under 16 to GET HOME). I really do miss "The Good Ole Days".

Less than 1%

I took my Mom to the hospital today, to attempt corrective surgury for an abdominal aortic aneorism. This was a scheduled surgury that has been in the planning for about a month. She had to see her PCP, cardiologist and a vascular surgeon and everyone OK'd her for the surgury. At 80 years old, any surgury is major. Everyone gave her the green light, but everyone wanted to list all the 'bad' things that 'could' happen. Now, I know, that they have to do this to cover their butts from a malpractice law suit. This list had many possibilities of things that could go wrong, and I could see that it definately got my Mom's mind spinning and upset her. The doctors and I had explained to her that the corrective surgury was much more desireable to what could happen if it burst, and she would be in an emergency situation that almost certainly end in a bad outcome.
Now, this morning, just before she was going into surgury, the doctor again retold her of the bad things. And, again I could see that it upset her. His major statement, in an attempt to ease her fears is that "there is less than a 1% chance of having a heart attack and possibly death." At that moment it hit me. ANY percentage, above zero chance of Death, is not a good thing. A 1% chance of death makes the 99% chance of survival much less appealing than the number should imply.

I enjoy making Celtic Designs

I have a high school classmate that writes a blog, and she told me about blogging. Her blog is interesting and I access it quite often. Recently, I noticed some very good photography that had been posted on another classmates Facebook page. The Photographer ended up to be the author, Jon Katz. He has a blog site that I have been reading for the last couple months. He and his wife are VERY interesting people. I find myself visiting his blog everyday. He has inspired me to give this blogging thing a try. I think I have somethings to show and say, that just might be interesting to someone, other than me.....

My name is Harry. I am 58 years old. I worked for 30 years as a Research Technician for the Eastman Kodak Company. During this time, I was lucky enough to have met some very fine photographers who inspired me to delve into the world of photography. Through my job, I learned, what I like to call "the secret of film". Meaning I know how photographic film is made and how it works. I spent far too much time living and working in Dark Rooms. It was very interesting work and occupied my hands and mind, and provided a steady paycheck. But I digress.... More on that later. Anyway.... I have been an amatuer photographer for about 40 years and plan to post some of my photos here. I hope you enjoy them.

Since I was forced into an early retirement in 2000, I decided to take a night class in Making Stained Glass. I have since become a Starving Stained Glass Artist. In this time, of the 21st Century Depression, there isn't alot of spare money out there to buy art. So my sales are not enough to support me completely, but, I pay my bills and for now, that will have to do.

My life has been interesting, to say the least. I have been an observer of life and tend to view it a little differently than most people. I believe that there are two things that have enabled me to survive some very trying times. Music - has ALWAYS moved me. It has soothed my mind through times of insanity and pain. Humor - I figure, if you can't find the humor in life, it's time to check out. So, I laugh often and can find the humor in many corners of life.

I hope to reveal my life to you, and hope you can see yourself in some ways. I would be thrilled if I could inspire anyone to be the best that they can be. To live a good life. That is my personal goal, and I plan on chasing it down, one of these days.

Being my 1st entry, I am going to attempt to post a photo of my latest sunset, and my latest glass work.