Today's walk report: Blessed Relief

 And I mean that in the most secular way possible. Last Saturday, I went for a walk with taking pictures in mind and was rudely interrupted by a pine cone attacking my left foot, rolling my left ankle, and me falling down on my right side. Adding insult to injury, I landed right on top of my camera and lens combo. Various portions of my body were in varying degrees of pain. Some still are, but most specifically, my left ankle and right wrist are leading the way on the pain intensity scale. My wrist is in first place. However, compared to last Sunday, my week-over-week (WoW) Improvement is the blessed relief I'm referring to. I was a serious mess for at least a few days. 

I walked for the sake of walking on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with an average distance of 1.67 miles. Today's walk was 1.92 miles. This isn't something I'm taking any special pride in, but considering that immediately after the fall a week ago Saturday, it crossed my mind I might not have been able to get up and walk at all. I felt a great deal of relief for holding up as well as I have with these recent efforts. Walks maintain my sanity. So does music. Put them together and what have you got, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!

The larger concern for me has been my camera and my 70-300mm lens. I wear my camera on my right hip. I fell directly onto my right hip. The landing zone was an old asphalt road. While I went out into my backyard last Sunday and took pictures, I have been waiting on a replacement UV filter for that 70-300mm lens to take photos in earnest and check out my equipment. The local camera shop said there was no way I'd be able to get another protective filter to thread. The filter arrived Thursday. Besides protecting the lens glass, having a filter back on the lens was the only way I was going to be able to continue using my Canon 500D close-up lens. I expected the new filter to go on until it crossed threads, and it would become a permanent fixture, that was okay. It did, and I breathed some new life into the 70-300mm. 

If you want to get camera nerdy with me, look for the word Tiffen on the UV filter. Below that, you can see some of the damage to the lens, and between the UV protector filter and the lens itself, you may note that the filter isn't quite flush with the lens. That's where the damage stopped it from screwing in all the way. The close-up lens on top actually attaches much easier than it did on the old, destroyed UV filter. That old filter was put on in January of 2013. The combo of the close-up and the 70-300mm has been my run-and-gun solution for going from a macro world and then being able to remove the 500D quickly, palm it, and transition to birds and butterflies. 

 
Today I left the 500D on for the duration of my walk. Today's walk was all about testing both the lenses and my camera. I took 239 photos and it was mostly about my tuning in on my equipment. Aside from what I've already described, there were a few "uh-oh" moments with the camera today. The uh-oh discoveries, all have the potential for ultimate equipment failure. 

Here are some pictures from today's walk. Depth of field with the 500D close-up attached is very narrow. It was also gloomy gray today.

Sunday, May 3rd.

Mutabilis rose.

 Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa).

 Salvia apiana, Californian white sage, or sacred sage.

 Desert willow.

 Eremophila bignoniiflora.

 Caesalpinia gilliesii.

 Bees on narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis).

A lot of what I was doing was to zoom in and out, checking for sharpness, center-to-corner consistency, and focal length accuracy. So there are quite a few pictures out of the 239 that are basically the same.

 Westringia fruticosa, the coastal rosemary or coastal westringia.

 Parkinsonia florida, the blue palo verde.

 

The blue nolina (Nolina nelsonii), or Nelson's bear grass.

 Berlandiera lyrata, with the common names chocolate flower, chocolate daisy, or lyreleaf greeneyes.

 Asclepias curassavica, commonly known as tropical milkweed.

 Tecoma stans. I have two of these at the house, the latest one grown from seed from the first is now taller than the house. There's nothing better than "free" plants.

 Nerium oleander. To me, while not entirely unpleasant, it even smells deadly. 
 

Once again, thanks to Junimoon for keeping me company throughout the photo editing portion of the program. 

If you've never listened to music by Frank Zappa, this might be a good time to do so. You might be surprised, especially if you have preconceptions. 

Yesterday's walk report: Bruise control

 Once again, gravity wins. Yesterday, Saturday, April 25th, I took the fall I have always dreaded. After turning my left ankle on a small, unassuming pine cone, I tumbled onto an asphalt "fire lane" inside the college campus where weekend walks typically take place. I went down hard, and since I wear a Black Rapid camera sling (older model) where my camera rides on my right hip, both camera and my 70-300mm lens took a pretty rough hit. So did my right knee and especially my right hand, wrist, and shoulder. My left shoulder was already hurting, probably due to moderately severe left neural foraminal narrowing, C4-5, and chronic tendonitis, but my whole body took a hit. 

First thing, check the camera. The articulating screen was wide open, the UV filter was smashed, and the threads were jammed into the lens. More on that later. Second question, was I able to stand back up? It was a serious question. I probably spent close to 30 seconds adjusting slightly and thinking about it. My car was 1/2 mile away. I got up slowly, stood in place to get my bearings, took a photo of the pine cone and started walking toward my car. I learned long ago that when you're hurting, if you can do it, walk rapidly, even if it hurts more to do so. You’ll get to your destination quicker. I didn't look at the camera again. I walked quickly with my eyes focused on the ground in front of me.

Once back in my car, I looked over the camera and saw the AF/MF (autofocus, manual focus) switch was missing. In the moment, it appeared as though it had broken off rather than it had fallen off from the force. I needed to go home and check myself out. Sitting in the car, I was really hurting. 

Once I got home, checked my wounds, and calmed down, I realized that the AF/MF switch probably popped off from blunt force. I also looked up a local camera store I used to go to with some frequency when I lived in these parts in my previous life some 40 years ago. I believed they did camera repairs. I decided to drive back as close to the scene of the crime as possible, park my car, find the switch, and see if I could get the filter cut off by a "professional" because it was clear I lacked the proper tools. 

I found the switch. At first, I was looking near a wrong pine cone, then I saw the broken glass from my UV filter, and bingo, there it was. 

Before getting into my experience at a local camera store, here are some pictures that were taken before the fall. Nothing too exciting.

A panoramic of this tree's canopy. The green was outstanding. This is a honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), likely the 'Sunburst' cultivar. 

 And, according to Google, this is also a Gleditsia triacanthos. The colors were a spectacular contrast to everything else around.

 Before the walk, in fact as early as Friday evening, Google's Gemini AI was calling the predicted weather, "gray soup." Here's a shot of the soup. It was 60º F and very fall-like.

 A male monarch butterfly on narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis). The orange in the background is Eschscholzia californica, the California poppy.

 In this post, from  March 28th, I commented that I had no idea that artichoke plants could reach 7 feet in height. Add to that, I don't believe I ever saw an artichoke flower before. This was basically the end of my picture taking for the day, so you get a bunch of artichoke flower images.

 Bees were loving them.

 After that I walked 0.10 miles and my left foot met up with this little demon of a pine cone. This picture was taken after I got up, regained my composure (sort of), and was taken more for testing the camera than it was for this story. You'll see in a moment that this was taken through a shattered UV filter.

 When I went back to the campus and found my AF/MF switch, I also pocketed the pine cone. It's sitting on my desk, on front of me and Junimoon (she's sound asleep in my lap). 

Here are a couple of shots of the camera taken with my phone before I decided to trek for the switch and check out the camera store.

The missing switch. 

The damaged filter. In the second image, you can see how the filter became "fused" to the lens. This lens was over $700 when I bought it in early 2013. Replacing much of any of my camera equipment poses an issue now due to obsolescence. Mirrored DSLR cameras are becoming or have become a thing of the past, and the current evolution is in "mirrorless" cameras. A mirrorless camera is a digital, interchangeable-lens camera that lacks the internal, moving reflex mirror mechanism found in DSLRs. Light passes directly through the lens to the image sensor, which feeds a live image to an electronic viewfinder (EVF) or rear screen, allowing for smaller, lighter, and quieter cameras. To come close to what I have now and replacing it with a mirrorless camera and lenses would be, for me, a small fortune. A guesstimate would be $7,000 to $8,000.

 The camera store. While I'm extremely grateful that the tech there cut off my destroyed filter and he did so in less time than it took me to go back out directly in front of the store to get the AF/MF switch from my car, the tech and another dude standing behind the "front" counter treated me like an interruption as opposed to a customer or potential customer. At first, the guy just glanced at the camera and said, “no way, it would be cheaper just to buy a new one.” I sort of sheepishly said, “It’s just the filter,” and he interjected, “I know that!” So, I added, “The lens is still working. I took pictures, but I don't have a proper tool to remove the filter.” Then he took the lens off the camera body and went in the back. 

I thanked him for cutting the filter off. They didn't charge me (nor did he say what he was going to do), but I was dumbfounded by how rudely I was continuously treated. I even brought up the prospect of replacing equipment I owned, but that was also an annoyance as opposed to a potential sales opportunity. He mentioned options, but it was from the perspective of... I know this and that and you don't as opposed to being open to a sales perspective. As opposed to being courteous. 

I made the additional mistake of saying, “ I don't suppose it would be possible to put another UV filter on over the damage.” He acted like I was a total moron. Meanwhile, a couple of hours ago, I took the only other  58mm filter I have, a ND32 filter (Neutral Density 32), which reduces the amount of light entering the lens by 5 stops, and carefully checked to see if it would attach to the lens without screwing it on all the way. I based this on carefully looking at the camera and these two images. It works just fine, not perfect, but it doesn't need to be perfect. I'm ordering another UV filter later today. Less than $9. 

 Here's the AF/MF switch back on the camera. 

Silently falling down 
Bringing hope of future to the children...

 PS... Juni still be snoozing but I'm hurting quite a bit and I suspect the problems from fingers almost to my elbow, right hand, wrist, etc. are going to hang out for awhile, so time for an exit from this desk and treats for Juni for the interruption. Ah, the things we'll endure for a kitty in a lap.

 

 

 

Earth, it's the only one we've got

 Earth Day, 2026. Let's make every day, Earth Day.

 

Today's walk report: As Old As You're Young

 A nice walk today. I should've gotten out earlier but then again I should've slept later. There was a lot of meandering around during the walk and while I usually have a pretty precise measurement on distance traveled, today I don't. It would take too long to map it back out (Google Earth) but based on last weekend's 2.37 mile walk, I'd estimate it was 2.5 miles. I would've gone farther had it not warmed up on me so quickly. 

Here are some pictures taken along the way, some familiar subjects and some not so familiar. 

Saturday, April 18th

These are not the shrooms you're looking for.

 Oenothera speciosa,  pink ladies or pink evening primrose. They multiply quickly.

 This rose’s petals look like they were painted by hand.

 The last of the Pelargonium sidoides, AKA, African geranium flowers.

 Not the same Iris germanica 'Immortality' from last week but rather the one that opened next to it.

 Google says this is an Asparagus Fern, specifically identified as Asparagus retrofractus or Asparagus macowanii.  

 Bat-faced cuphea, Cuphea llavea.

 Heliotropium arborescens.

 Monarch on narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis). I spoke with one of the curators for the arboretum and the campus botanical garden and commended him on the abundance of native milkweed. I also mentioned my struggles in attempting to germinate and grow Asclepias fascicularis. The seeds need to be cold stratified to germinate and I have gotten past that part but they always (maybe three efforts at this) die on me shortly after getting the seedlings into soil. He said he would set aside a one gallon container for me to pick up tomorrow. Nice!

 Cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae).

 Most of my time sitting was spent watching these cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota). While I've watched them in the sky fly catching dozens of times they are almost impossible to track for photos. Try it sometime, try following a bird trying to eat a fly in flight. I honestly didn't know what they looked like until today. I've seen the nests dozens of times too but this was the first time I was sitting down while they were actively working on nesting close by. Yes, that's mud and yes by human terms, they can make a mess of things. There is a long row of nests under this one overhang.

The bleeding wall. It's like a Poe short story.

 
Thanks again to Miss Junimoon for all of her help.

 
Look at the mirror over there, what do you see? Tell yourself a lie 
Are you as old as you seem? Feel something that you have to 
Being open, an innocent, wise only when age can mellow the haste 
New hopes, ambitions undone—you're only as old as you're young