Daily Photos

< July 2016 >

July 1, 2016
It took a while for him to spell out DAYTON DRAGONS. The girl on the right said, `Your name is Adam Alonzo,` to which I replied, `Uhhhhh . . . ?` [See July 12, 2008.] Mobile phone. When I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy in the company of strangers in the quiet of a railway station running scared laying low seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go looking for the places only they would know. PAUL SIMON Well, it`s a marvelous night for a moondance with the stars up above in your eyes. VAN MORRISON

July 2, 2016
Our 8:00am photo shoot started at about 10:45am, but she was worth the wait. Who wouldn`t have fun in downtown Dayton? Now THAT is a smile! Sometimes I even impress myself. A pensive pose.

July 3, 2016
Do they use a wardrobe designer or are they just poor? Balloon artiste. She was singing in Spanish, but I understood the part that went, `Hey, hey, hey!` Two and a half hours early for the fireworks show. Keeping an eye on things.

July 4, 2016
In honor of Independence Day: `Yankee-doodle-doo!` About 90% of bird species are monogamous. Your daily bug. Your monthly bunny. It was wagging its tail at me.

July 5, 2016
While taking this picture, I was reminded that adults now deliver newspapers from their cars. Sorry, kids on bikes. One of the complexities of planet Earth is that water is plentiful in some places and miserably scarce in others. The day after. Voluntary incarceration. Raindrops, dew or perspiration?

July 6, 2016
Camouflage. Both male and female worked together to build the nest. Pictures that look simple often aren`t. `Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day!` I can`t just shoot a flower anymore. There`s gotta be a bug on it.

July 7, 2016
Like Robert Frost, I took an unknown path this morning -- and that has made all the difference. I just want to celebrate another day of living. I just want to celebrate another day of life! DINO FEKARIS AND NICK ZESSES I can`t be bothered with sorrow and I can`t be bothered with hate. I`m using up my time feeling fine every day! DINO FEKARIS AND NICK ZESSES There was not another human being anywhere around. But who needs human beings after all?

July 8, 2016
The mother of all dewdrops. Woodpeckers usually don`t sit still for photos. My specialty: bugs and blooms. A sprinkle a day. We could hurt each other, but we have mutual respect.

July 9, 2016
Morning on the farm. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. These birds didn`t seem to mind me being close by, but their mother nearly took my head off a few times. Not king of the barnyard, only a pretender to the throne. Always carry a spare.

July 10, 2016
In case you happen to like yellow flowers. Are you glistening to me? I had more than 30 shots of this butterfly to choose from, and you get an unusual angle. Was it fancy, beloved, the seagulls cried: `Sing loud for love, for I love him so`? ALICE DUNBAR NELSON Prairie haze.

July 11, 2016
We both eat berries in the morning. We could really use a hawk in the neighborhood to help keep the squirrel population down. Monday morning face. Only about a billion ants. Sunrise on Green Street.

July 12, 2016
Milt Jackson `Sunflower` 1972. Listening to it now . . . Claude Debussy `Reflets dans l`eau` 1905. Listening to it now . . . It was a bad feather day. Work continues on the river (see June 29, 2016). Please build my new library faster. Thanks so much.

July 13, 2016
Gilded lily. It flew in rapid circles around slow-moving bumblebees, as if inviting them to play. Wasps are nasty and I usually don`t mess with them, but there was a photograph here waiting to be taken. A face only a mother bumblebee could love. Breakfast: crickets. Lunch: crickets. Dinner: crickets.

July 14, 2016
Butterfly lingerie. Not the hummingbird shot I was hoping for. I pay attention to the tiny and ignore the large. Believe me, they were definitely not playing. Suspicion.

July 15, 2016
You can`t have pretty pictures EVERY day. YOU ARE HERE You see all sorts of people on Fifth Street. Enchantment Under the Sea. Urban agriculture.

July 16, 2016
Not everybody likes having their picture taken. The culmination of a morning full of dragonfly photos. In this vegetable garden, the harvest has begun early. The spicebush swallowtails were running in herds. A tiny bird with a really big song.

July 17, 2016
`Ain`t got no money, got no money to lose. Some people call it freedom, but I just call it the blues.` R. B. STONE People are defined by what they`re for -- and against. Breakfast: worms. Lunch: worms. Dinner: worms. Bees, butterflies, dragonflies, yes. Mosquitos, no. My wish for a hawk has been answered (see July 11 above). There are TWO hawks, so watch out squirrels!

July 18, 2016
I told you I ate berries for breakfast (see July 11 above). A sign that says KEEP OFF only makes it more enticing. Hostility. Dance like no one is watching, but someone probably is. The Chinese character for `dig here.`

July 19, 2016
There`s a showoff in every crowd. Pass the salad dressing. There has been a lot of growth since May 8, 2016. Selfie in a bubble. Morning on the prairie.

July 20, 2016
I can`t pose insects, birds and animals, but I keep taking photos until they position themselves in the pose I want. Going up? Good for you. Bad for you. Break time.

July 21, 2016
Descending. Reflecting. Growing. Flying. Shimmering.

July 22, 2016
I try to avoid work zones, and work in general. YOU ARE HERE Saints alive! Urban blight. Reminiscent of November 1, 2009.

July 23, 2016
My new neighbor across the street (see July 17 above). My tranquil visit to the garden was ruined by a crowded estate sale going on nearby full of noisy people/vultures. My first challenge is to find the scenes to photograph, and the next is to capture them in a compelling way. A couple of bees came at me today, which is unusual. Maybe I smelled particularly sweet this morning. To walk among beauty, and preserve it for me and you.

July 24, 2016
It was way too hot to take photos outside today. But we did it anyway, despite the heat. It was even hot in the shade. I spent the rest of the day indoors with the AC on. If you`ve got it, flip it.

July 25, 2016
Old fat spider spinning in a tree! Old fat spider can`t see me! Attercop! Attercop! BILBO BAGGINS Good morning. It`s not a stray cat if it comes to the same house to eat. This morning`s tranquility was spoiled by chatty ladies jogging/walking past. Sidewalk chalk has come a long way.

July 26, 2016
Where am I going? I don`t quite know. Down to the wood where the bluebells grow. Anywhere, anywhere, I don`t know. A. A. MILNE She turned to the sunlight and shook her yellow head, and whispered to her neighbor: `Winter is dead.` A. A. MILNE I could hear from the may tree the blackbird call, but nobody listened to it, nobody liked it, nobody wanted it at all. A. A. MILNE He and the Forest, alone together -- the springs that come and the summers that go, autumn dew on bracken and heather, the drip of the Forest beneath the snow. A. A. MILNE There`s nobody else in the world, and the world was made for me. A. A. MILNE

July 27, 2016
You`re not the only one who likes sunflower seeds. Don`t get around much anymore. My neighborhood will soon be a very unpleasant place. What the world needs now. This is as good as it gets for hummingbirds this year.

July 28, 2016
Things are looking up. Briefly beautiful. First hawks, and now this. Remember back when the sky was blue? If elected president, I promise there will be free chewy granola bars and can openers for everyone!

July 29, 2016
Shoulda gotten the electric fence. Has it been 13 years already (see June 8, 2004)? I can`t overemphasize the importance of background in making a good photo. I had the wrong lens for this shot, but here goes. And one more bug on the way back to the car.

July 30, 2016
I took this quick snap as soon as I reached the stage. Later I took lots of careful pictures, but couldn`t top it. You see, I told you (see July 18 above). Saints alive! Is it fair that he gets to wear earplugs? It`s the Dayton Ginger Festival! [See July 24, 2015]

July 31, 2016
Women`s stentorian voices destroyed the morning calm, but they grew quiet as they approached me. `Are you shooting those flowers?` one of them asked in hushed tones. `Yes,` I whispered. `Don`t scare them away.` I saw this rabbit beside the road as I drove past, so I pulled over, parked the car and walked back for it. Beside the fountain. Cinderella story, outta nowhere, a former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a miracu-- It`s in the hole! CARL SPACKLER Quite early one morning.

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