Jim Stahr has a Different Year

I've been playing with Lensbaby's low end Spark lens the past few weeks. I bought it a week after Memorial Day and a week before Flag Day. As I imagined this is not the sharpest lens in my bag, Hidey Hole. but the bellows do allow one to selectively focus  Lyrically Obscure . or smudge a subject to force a viewer's eye.  Little Mall.  Like expensive tilt and shift lenses, the right vantage point can cause a miniaturization effect Sign and Road.  or competing focal points. Consumption. Eyes are drawn through blurs inviting one to see the forest for the trees. Possibilities.  It has quickly become my favorite lens  5 minutes till darkness. when I am simply enjoying the view.

The first Wednesday of the month Russ Mineau hosts an open mic in Putnam's Athen's Pizza. Russ opens the show.  Local musicians make it a regular visit. Papa Joe belts 'em out! And one lucky musician or band gets featured. A little bottom end.  This month the feature was Smart Play . Jim Taylor picks and grins with the best tunes. Quite the nice three piece laying down classic rock songs  with a steady, but ornamented, beat.  Sometimes a new face (Jeff, if memory serves) drops by and increases the fun. Other times new alliances are formed. I was lucky to be able to back Frank blowing his harp. Of course I was on stage with him, so there's no performance pic. All in all a great time, some come to hear tunes while they work on their crafts. And no one minds if I'm simply playing with my latest toy lens. Good crowd, good people, and a good atmosphere make it a regular appointment most months.

A week after I shot the "whole" garden it blossomed. From the porch.  You can see the Japanese irises and poppies that opened the day after memorial day from the doorstep. From the street.  Adds some roses and annuals into the mix. You can see that, right? Jack in the Pulpit.  But there is no way to see a flower that hides itself, how light hits one petal at a time,   and each blossom waits for its light.  How the tree's canopy provides  shade and shelter for healing comfrey. A garden should be seen from the inside.