Daily Photos

< June 2022 >

June 1, 2022
A decorative way to say `Keep Out.` The finest in avian portraiture (see April 18, 2020). I watched this fat bee stalk and attack other insects when they landed on a flower. Today`s flowers exist in order to create tomorrow`s flowers. Nature tells us very clearly what our purpose is. Wait -- something seems to be happening (see February 21, 2022).

June 2, 2022
I heard the Mexican Hat Dance and knew I was in the right place. Son del Caribe opened the 2022 Levitt Pavilion season. The audience was encouraged to get up and dance. In a salsa band, everybody is a vocalist and a percussionist. The younger they were, the more freely they danced.

June 3, 2022
And just like that, I have things to take pictures of again. Amber Knicole: she sings, she spins, she puts on a spectacular show (see July 19, 2019, and August 31, 2018). The string section of the band Mojoflo. The gold jackets surprised me. The show was fun for young and old.

June 4, 2022
Congratulations and best wishes to Keegan! He`ll soon be running an obstacle course at West Point. Besides the obstacle course, there was also a slide. Cocoa was there to make me feel welcome. Years of gymnastics classes have paid off.

June 5, 2022
I ordered a new book about Paul Laurence Dunbar. It will be delivered on June 27, the same day he was delivered in 1872. There`s a new movie of `West Side Story,` so I added the soundtrack to my already extensive collection. Every weekend from April through October, streets in the Oregon District are barricaded. What`s good for the restaurants and shops is bad for the residents. Thank goodness for YouTube videos to help me figure stuff out (see October 17, 2017, and January 8, 2021). You want to buy notecards with my photos, right?

June 6, 2022
There were no screaming children or weddings in the park this morning (see May 1 and 29, 2022). There was only a groundskeeping crew at the park. What harm could they do me? Well, the groundskeepers politely informed me that I had to leave so they could do their work. I said, `Let me get just one more rabbit shot.` My neighbor, an ex-photographer, wants to sell me a 14-piece studio lighting kit for $25. Uh . . . okay.

June 7, 2022
I`ll bet you can guess what song they were singin`. I took pictures as awards were given to theatre kids. They were excited to win awards. They were REALLY excited to win awards. I took this from Row N. The people right in front of me in Row M didn`t hear a thing. I love my camera.

June 8, 2022
Great, just when I need to walk outside. My new rear wiper performed well (see June 5 above). I hope your pail is filled with things of value to you. Apres la pluie. Impressions of Jackson Street.

June 9, 2022
I sha`n`t be gone long. You come too. ROBERT FROST There are free shows three nights a week nearby. Here`s why the free concerts are free. A band I`d never heard of is now on my playlist. Most of the time he played trumpet with one hand while playing a keyboard with the other.

June 10, 2022
Movie memorabilia or garbage? The New Respects from Nashville played Dayton tonight. The group is made up of two siblings and a cousin. Just three of them: they were good, good, good. `You wanna take my picture?` `That`s why I`m here!` (see March 28, 2014, and February 1, 2016)

June 11, 2022
The vegan robin. The Buick Riviera has always been exceptional. She has aperture settings on her t-shirt. A fashionable Saturday in the Oregon District. If I stand in front of him for a long time, I might make it into his painting.

June 12, 2022
I was planning to take pictures of a jazz festival today. But the weather forecast predicted rain all day long. So early this morning the jazz festival was canceled. I quickly had to change my plans for pictures today. And the day was mostly sunny instead of rainy after all.

June 13, 2022
After a rain, mushrooms pop up like -- well, mushrooms. Apropos of nothing, since buying two new cameras, my photos are much bigger and data storage is challenging. Watching Wayne Avenue. It was 11:15am and so hot it was hard to breathe, and it isn`t even summer yet `FEED ME!`

June 14, 2022
Constellation. Taken while waiting for the light to change. Success depends upon our ability to recognize patterns. I`m amazed this method of communication still functions. Still waiting for something (see January 30, 2022).

June 15, 2022
If I had rolled out of bed earlier this morning, I would`ve gotten better pictures of the fountain. The big fountains spray for only 8 minutes every hour, but the little ones are on all the time. But if I had arrived earlier, I would`ve missed a fascinating conversation about ducks with little MJ. Which was followed by another conversation about cameras and photographing flowers and butterflies. So I guess it`s all right that I stayed in bed too long.

June 16, 2022
This duck flew past one direction and I got a dull photo. Then it came back the other way and I got this. Not bad, but I wish I had a macro lens to do closeups. This photo is the result of experience, observation, patience, expensive camera equipment and luck. I had the same experience and equipment for this shot, but didn`t have the luck. The shy one.

June 17, 2022
I may have taken this photo before (see August 4, 2019). I saw a concert by a band called We Banjo 3, but there were four of them and only one played the banjo. Each show begins by tossing t-shirts to the audience. An Irish band seems to make everybody happy. The crowd always has a good time at the Levitt Pavilion.

June 18, 2022
There`s an informative new display at the Dunbar House. But they wouldn`t let me put on his suit. It includes original documents that I`ve read about in my research on Dunbar, but never thought I`d see in person. This is a blouse that belonged to Paul`s mother Matilda. They wouldn`t let me wear this either. Dunbar`s poetry is still inspiring people today. You should visit the Dunbar House to celebrate his 150th birthday.

June 19, 2022
No -- look at MY camera! Is soccer a contact sport? Today I got pictures of the celebrations, but not the goals (see May 28, 2022). Whenever Dayton scored a goal, this guy lit up and then nobody could breathe for a while. Dayton had a good day, thanks in large part to No. 10. Oh wait, I said that already (see July 10, 2021).

June 20, 2022
If you`ve been keeping track, you know I recently got rid of some old camera equipment and bought new stuff. In the process, I sold my macro lens but didn`t buy a new one. A macro lens lets me take closeup pictures of flowers and bugs, which is something I really enjoy doing. I went without a macro lens for about two months, and then Canon notified me about a Father`s Day sale. I`m sure my father wants me to have a macro lens, so I got one today and took it outside immediately.

June 21, 2022
My new book about Dunbar arrived (see June 5 above) and I was thrilled to see it got the year of his birth correct (see March 16, 2021). I still have a few dollars after buying a new macro lens (see June 20 above). I push buttons for a living. Every four years I go to the BMV for a new portrait (see June 19, 2018). If money is the world`s curse, may the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover!

June 22, 2022
White arrows appeared on the streets and I went `Huh?` No Parking signs appeared and I went `Hmmmm.` Orange signs appeared and I went `Uh oh.` There`s a lot of history beneath Oregon District streets. The Enforcer.

June 23, 2022
Swallows are easy to photograph if they`re sitting still. Sunrise in the garden. There may be chipmunks here -- oh, there`s one (see June 12 above). My first dragonfly of the year. It was very relaxed, and this is the best of 21 photos of the same bug. I was very far away, but with my Canon zoom lens and 45 megapixel camera I can get close to anything.

June 24, 2022
A new movie about Elvis is playing at The Neon, and look who showed up. Friday night blues at the Levitt Pavilion. You`ll probably want to stop what you`re doing right now and listen to their song `Guilty of a Good Time.` He played several guitars during the show. My street has too many squirrels and not enough rabbits.

June 25, 2022
Today a celebration of the 150th birthday of Paul Laurence Dunbar took place at the Victoria Theatre. Artist Angelo Hobson spent hours on the stage painting a picture of the Dunbar House. I took a few photos of the rehearsal, but I have no pictures of the event itself because I was too busy recording it on video. Minnita and John make a great team (see February 12, 2022). Dunbar`s life and literature continue to inspire new works of art: words, music, dance and images. `The Great Dunbar` by Quinn Battiste.

June 26, 2022
Tomorrow is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Paul Laurence Dunbar. I visited his house today. `We Wear the Mask` May a time come in the world when marginalized folk need no mask. I often used a typewriter, so maybe I belong in a museum too. At the Dunbar House is a pair of moccasins that Paul purchased for $1.75 at a curio shop in Denver in 1900. Another souvenir is the red rug on the floor of his loafing-holt, or den.

June 27, 2022
Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on this spot 150 years ago today. No celebration, just a guy with a camera. The author of the new Dunbar biography gave me his autograph (see June 21 above). Things fall apart (see March 20, 2022). I take pictures in the morning before it gets too hot. I thought this was supposed to be done last week, but the dates have been changed (see June 22 above).

June 28, 2022
My car grows lonely, and dirty, as I walk to work nearly every day. Stopping by the library in the morning to take a photo. Waiting for someone to come along and make music. Stopping by the library in the evening to take a photo. Hopefully I`ve ridden a bike for the last time.

June 29, 2022
Keeping an eye on Fifth Street. The annihilation of Garden Station continues (see May 16, 2022). Some people think that destroying green space and replacing it with concrete and steel is progress. Those leaves are growing fast (see June 1 above). Betsy Ross sells her clothes on consignment.

June 30, 2022
Double occupancy. Spoiler: the worm lost. Birds, bugs, beasts and blooms. That`s my beat. Imagine how hard it is for a turtle to climb up there. This large bird can get small when it`s trying to kill you.

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