Horatio

Yesterday I was getting all the salt and dirt off my car at the car wash. Here is my view of that event.

Eighteen months already???? Time has passed so very fast. Pretty soon she will be in school. That is so very interesting that children have sleep troubles between her age and around five years old. It makes me curious as to the reason this happens. So, the screaming is when she is asleep and has lost her pacifier? Very intriguing. I am certain that some child psychologist has a study on the sleep and dreams of children. It would be fun to read these studies, if it was at all possible. MacKenzie is accomplishing so many things each and every day. I can see just how much your interaction with her has helped her learn and develop. How wonderful that MacKenzie is developing a great sense of humour. This is a great outlook on life. You are seeing all these wonderful developments in her life. The sacrifice that you have made to be home with your daughter is truly magnificent. I have friend, and she plans on putting her daughter into day care as a baby. Her job is so much more important than her baby. Ha, ha, ha... she says ow when she hits or pinches you? That is hilarious. We need a mother-daughter picture and a father-daughter picture... please. You can start her early on selfies. It is so much fun seeing her learn different people and their associated names. This is so exciting to hear. It sounds like you are going to get mother of the year award. I applaud you for all your efforts. More in a little bit, but I have to get off the computer for a bit.

A shell...

Twelve teeth!!! WOW! They are coming in fast. It sounds like time for another picture. If you would please. With a writer mother, she should have an incredible vocabulary. She will be writing her first novel by the time she is four. Bad dreams, I wonder what evil, scary things could enter a little girl's dreams. Did you ask her about it the next day? Did she remember having the bad dream? Or, did you just decide not to ask her? It just never occurred to me that little children have bad dreams. That sounds so dumb, but I would like to think that children do not have bad dreams until they are older. How old is she again? After thinking, it is a good thing her father does not work during the night. I wonder if the reason that MacKenzie was confused and scared, was because you woke her up and she had no idea of her dream. All these type considerations interest me. The great news, is that she went right back to sleep after her father gave her a kiss. We know who is daddy's little girl.

Now that time has passed, when you think back, you laugh about the situation. But, at the time, there was this chain of thought, oh how stupid I was. When you look into the lagoon and look at all these pairs of eyes staring at you, that is so creepy. I should have taken a picture. Now for other news, not much is happening. Of course, that is good. The only things I am working on, are boring. Data input and tax preparation. And no one wants to hear about that. More pictures in the next post. How is our favourite little girl? She must be making your life so very interesting. Please keep us all up to date with the Adventures of MacKenzie. (Hint, hint... your next children's book series.)

Topazia, you just made my day. Thank you so very much. The birds are all around Florida now, I need to go down and take a bunch of pictures. I told a friend of mine to visit the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and she came back with more images of alligators than birds. But, she was excited to see all the different varieties of birds there. Some of the alligator images were of these monster-sized alligators. They were so huge. I went searching for an image I had taken about five plus years ago, and could not find it. It was an image of about thirty sets of eyes, all looking at me. These eyes were of only alligators, in this one water area of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. They were hiding in the mangroves, out in the middle, just everywhere. It was the creepiest photograph I have ever taken. I will search again for this photograph. All I could think, was that they were looking at me as dinner. It still makes me shudder. Alligators are very fast on land, so I hopped into my car quite rapidly. One time I rode my motorcycle down to the refuge, and parked it too close to the water. I saw a baby alligator, and instantly knew to get away from that area. If there is a baby, there is a very big, protective mother. Anyway, I backed up very slowly, leaving my bike where it was. Out of the mangroves came another few baby alligators and the mother. She was circling my motorcycle, giving me the impression that she was deciding if it was a threat or dinner, and all I could think of, was if she knocked it over, I was in big trouble. I might not be able to pick it up. Anyway, I just kept moving back until I was at a safe distance, not to be perceived as a threat to the mother alligator, and waited for quite some time, until the mother and children finally went for a swim. It felt like forever. After they were in the water, I got back onto my motorcycle and got out of there. From then on, I drive the car.

Thank you so very much for your compliment. But, I have to disagree with great. I was a lucky photographer. Plus, the initial weather was uncooperative, and then the moon moved away from the high cirrus clouds, and was in a clear space for a little bit.

Anything worth doing well is worth the practice it takes to perfect your skill. You are well on your way. This morning I went out to see the lunar eclipse.

Has Mackenzie figured out where the food goes? LOL!!! You have to feed her double, some for her face and clothing, and some for her to actually eat. LOL!!! She is so very beautiful. And, she is growing so fast. I can not believe how time is flying. Thank you for showing me what you have done. The drawings are getting better and better. Keep up the great work!!!

Creative outlets are a great source of nourishment for the soul. I am so happy to hear that you are drawing more. This is terrific. The writing is hard because you have to get the inspiration from deep inside and I do not believe that always comes so easily. Where as, with drawing, you can practice or doodle, and then if sparks start flying for a painting, drawing or other medium, you are ready. Something else many people have not considered, is how much research is required to make a story believable. People notice if there are flaws in the research more than they focus on the story. We need our image update. Photographs of your art, the HampsterDance little girl and anything else you wish to photograph.

Wonderful! I thought that lovely daughter of yours was side-tracking you.

*sends creative thoughts to Topazia*

After reading this story a few times, I feel that you have a great story line here. Please continue to develop it.

Topazia... please come back and add more to this story.

How are the New Year Resolutions holding up???

Did everybody have a Happy New Year? My New Year's Eve was very quiet and peaceful. Now to keep my resolutions for this year.

Well... we are getting close to the end of the year. Just one more day before 2018. Is you list of New Year's Resolutions complete?

Ho, Ho, Ho!!! Merry Christmas.

The 2017 holiday season is upon us, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a wonderful Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas. May your special days be filled with happiness and lots of love. Horatio

A belated Happy Hanukkah to everyone! These past two weeks have been so busy, that I missed wishing you all a Happy Hanukkah. I do apologize for being late.

OUTSTANDING!!!!!! This is getting better and better!!! Dug deep inside and find something to write... please!!!!

It sounds like you know exactly what works for you. My eyes are really tired, so I need to read these two, first thing in the morning.

Terrific, I am excited. I will be reading these first thing tomorrow morning. Right now my eyes are too tired to even read my name.

I have checked my external hard drive and thank goodness, all the photographs are there in perfect RAW form. So, that means the problem is between the hard drive and Lightroom. Hopefully tomorrow it will be fixed.

Today was such a wasted day. I have spent all day trying to figure out why Lightroom wants to recognize some of my files and not recognize other files. So, I have attempted to totally remove Lightroom and re-install it. That was a disaster. It did not want to uninstall. WHAT??? I am using the Adobe Lightroom Uninstall. GRRRRR!!!!