Tag, my tenth photo

Carmen from http://rnsane.blogspot.com/ has tagged me. Actually, she tagged me several days ago but I am catching up now. The rules to this one are fairly simple;
• Open your first photo folder and select the 10th photo
• Publish it and tell the story of the photo
• Link back to the person who tagged you
• Tag 5 friends and inform them.

This top photo is my tenth photo, before Photoshop. It is scanned from an old slide and the kid with the way to curly hair is me. I think I was about fifteen at the time. My Mom and Aunt Pat are getting something out of the trunk of the car and my Aunt Glory is looking over the fence. This picture was taken in Sterling Colorado and the car, a 1974 Ford Granada, later went on to become my first car. I have posted this on the blog before as it shows the car and I believe I have a camera in one hand. The second photo is after mild adjustments with Photoshop Elements. Can you see why I love this program?

As for my five friends,I would love to tag Protégé, but someone beat me to it or Kim and Paula, but they don’t have a blog yet so I will tag
Richard Jesse Watson at http://richardjessewatson.blogspot.com/
The Bach at http://bachelor-at-wellington.blogspot.com/
Cat at http://cornerofcatsmind.blogspot.com/
Alistair at http://crivensjingsandhelpmaboab.blogspot.com/
The person I chose for the fifth blog to tag has a bit much on her plate right now and I can't make up my mind for a replacement, so I am going to use an idea I saw on someone else's blog and choose you. You do not have to link back to me, but if you leave me a comment, I will know to come look.

Choosing who to tag is always the hardest part of these things. Looking at their choices and the blogs that they tag is the best part.
Cheers!

Kat

Before and after, porches

Porches and me go way back. See the chubby little kid in pink, the one in her big Sister's arms? That is me. Margaret was holding me, Paula is beside her in red and Pete is wearing his cowboy hat. Mom lined us all up in front of the porch steps to take our photo. We were getting ready for the "Pioneer Days Parade". I think that was the year I got to ride in a "Covered Wagon" made from Pete's Radio Flyer. I actually remember that. I remember lots of fun things about that porch. I remember hiding behind the wall playing "Cowboys and Indians" I remember dressing Paula's cat Sherry up in doll clothes and sitting on that porch with him (yes, him, that is another story). I remember jumping off those pillars and I remember cracking my head open on the steps (four stitches). I remember sitting on those steps, or should I say jumping up from them constantly, waiting for my big brother Jimmy to arrive. I also remember sitting on those steps waiting for news after my Father's first heart attack. I remember when we moved, walking down those steps for the last time and I remember thinking how glad I was that our new home had a front porch too.

Fast forward 28 years to our first look at the new house, IT HAD PORCHES! Not just the front porch, but a side porch and nice steps up to the back porch. Heaven. The first porch related project took place before I could join the family up here. See the nice brick path up above? it is leading to the side porch from our parking area. This is the door that gets used the most. As you can see in this photo, we have been having a bit of work done (this is why we did not decorate the outside of the house this year). See the festive plastic and blue tape? We had to use the back door for a couple of weeks over the holidays, the weather just did not cooperate (we have to wait for it to get cool so the bees won't get so excited, a lot of the work was carried out right next to their entrance). My Sweet Hubby made the balcony livable last summer and we have really enjoyed it. Now it's time for the next step.

This is the back entrance, it got a bit of attention too. The railings that were up, were resting right on the steps and they were quite rotten. The contractors replaced the top and bottom rails but reused the posts. These steps and railings are a very late addition to the house. You can't really see it here, but they are elevated just a little so they should last a lot longer.

When we bought the house, there were no railings on the front porch and a good bit of the porch floor was rotten. About half the floor on the side porch was also in sorry shape. We had all of the front floor and the bad part of the side replaced a couple of years ago. The railings and posts sat covered in cobwebs in the barn and the smokehouse until this year. We found someone who was willing to restore them. This photo and the next show some of what they had to work with.

Here are the bits and pieces again, we think they are the originals but have no way of knowing. Our carpenter and my Sweet Hubby figured out how to repair the bad bits and combine other bits to go all the way round the porch.

This is one of the old column post holes, looks occupied.

First set is in place, looking good.

All the railings are up, now all we need is a little bit of paint.

They painted the columns too, (see the plastic is still covering my bushes).

Close up.

I am so pleased! Technically, the job is not finished yet as the porch floors still need to be painted, but you can't see that in the photos anyway and I wanted to show you what has been going on. I'm thinking we are going to have to find a couple of rocking chairs and a swing.

My lovely old house just got better.

Kat

Obsession

I get a lot of praise for my photographs, especially the flowers. That, of course, makes me want to take even more photos. I received my first digital camera the Christmas before last and new horizons opened! With the digital, I could take even more chances. I can shoot one thing 15 or 20 times if I want too then delete all but the best. I know instantly whether or not I got what I was aiming for.
Photoshop Elements has added yet another boon, the ability to "fix" photos that are not quite perfect. Some photo opportunities won't wait for you to keep shooting (our little porch lizards for instance, will

only hold still for so long). My little Fuji does an amazing job with available light, but the automatic settings just wont' work well with very low light sunrises or sunsets. Photoshop Elements (PSE) allows me to take photos at two different settings then blend them for that just right in between. (This is called "Bracketing"). I could go on, and on, and on with this subject, sometimes I do.
My obsession started several years before I got my first camera. I must admit, there was a little bit of jealousy involved. My family was getting ready to go to my big brother Jimmy's house for Christmas.

Jimmy lived in Texas and it was the first time any of us kids had been. I think I was in 4th or 5th grade. The point here, is that Paula who is two and a half years older than me, got a camera for the trip. I don't remember what the details were about it, but it was a proper 35 mil, camera and it took great photos. I am surprised my eyes did not turn permanently green with envy. I wanted a camera sooo bad. I tried everything I could think of to convince my Dad that I was too "old enough" and "Careful enough" to be trusted with such a treasure. No dice, it didn't work. Paula was wise enough not to
let me use hers. (In retrospect, my Dad was right, I really wasn't very careful with things back then).
This was one of those little things that makes a big difference. If I had got my own way back then, the camera probably would have become just one more thing that I tired of and that would have been that. When we returned to Utah after the trip, my obsession did not go away. Since I didn't have a camera, I found a book in the library that told how to make one from a box, or how to use the sun to take photos of leaves, (wish I knew the name of that book now, I would love to see it again). I did not

have the film or photographic paper that were needed, but I didn't let that stop me. My imagination supplied all I needed. I did come up with some rather nice leaf prints by placing them on construction paper in a sunny spot on the front porch for a couple of weeks.
Fast forward to the summer I turned 13. My Dad and big brother Pete were replacing the roof on the garage and Dad "needed a helper". He offered to buy me a camera of my own if I would clean up the shingles and old nails as they tossed them down.
You bet I would! I earned a Kodak 110 Instamatic
camera. It came in a display box with a role of film and flash cubes. (Do you remember flash cubes?)

Watch out Ansel Adams, a photographer is born.
Dad was not in the habit of bribing us to work, if he told us to do it, we were expected to do it with a smile on our faces. We were a family and we all worked together to accomplish things. Most of the time I was growing up, we did not even get an allowance. When we did, it was not associated with chores, we did them regardless. It had not occurred to me until just now to wonder why he "paid" me to help with the garage. Not only that, but I think the
cost of the camera was probably out of proportion to the amount of work I did. The only thing I can come up with is that Dad knew I would appreciate it more if I earned it. He was right.
My Father was also obsessed with photography in all of it's forms. Most of the cameras pictured on these pages were his. I have, literally, hundreds of slides that he took when we were growing up. He died December 30th the same year I received that first camera. The last pictures we have of him were taken with it.
The following year, Mom and I went to California to

visit Aunt Bonnie. My little Instamatic and Mom's camera took 13 rolls of film between us. Then during our tour of Universal Studios, my lens jammed. The man at the camera repair shop sadly informed us that those cameras were not repairable. His exact words were something like, "The only way possible would be to use a sledge hammer and some really good glue". I was crestfallen.
Within a couple of months, my babysitting money went to buy a Polaroid at a yard sell and I was back in business. I could not take as many photos, there were only 8 photos in a cartridge and the cartridges
were not cheap. You did not have to pay for developing, but I think it still worked out more expensive that way. It didn't matter, I could take pictures again.

That Polaroid (not the lovely model in the photo) lasted until I signed up for a photography course at Weber State College. When I told Mom that I was going to the pawn shop to see if I could get a good used 35 mil camera, she gave me one of Dad's Petri cameras. I still have it, it's case, two lens, and the flash. This is the camera in the first photo. I was an art major with a photography emphasis for one

year. I loved it. I carried that camera all over the world. I took photos in Morocco and of Stone Henge with it. Mostly black and white. I Still love Black and White photos. I chronicled my families growth with it. As time went on, life got busier, and the Petri did way quite a bit. Slowly, it started to stay home more and more. My Sweet Hubby had a great camera and a wonderful eye for photos. (He is the only one who can consistently get good photos of me) my obsession lay dormant.
Then the Fuji arrived! The fun is just beginning. The collection from Photo #1. The Petri. #2. is an old German camera from World War II. #3 is I believe, a "Baby Brownie" that was my Husbands first camera. #4. The Argoflex belonged to his Mother. One of the sweetest ladies that ever lived. I can just see her holding this. #5. Keystone Capri 8mm movie camera. It was operated with a hand crank. I have several films my Dad made with this, but no way to watch them. Knowing him, they could be anything so I would like to see what is on them before I have them copied to disk. #5. Nikon One Touch Zoom 90s, sitting on the dashboard of the camper van. #6. Cake I decorated with a camera, told you I was obsessed. #7. Dad's old box camera with a photo of my Mom when she graduated from High School. #8. Part of the box, the instruction manual and a Kodak Magazine that came with the box camera when it was new. I did have the entire box with all this stuff in it, but it was attacked by mildew in Great Britain, the box fell apart. I am so glad that all it got was the box. #9. Pride of the collection. This is a Polaroid Land Camera, complete with it's case, flash, diffuser, and a lens filter. I researched it on line and found out it was produced in the 1950's. I think this is one of the most beautiful pieces of engineering ever. It is also from my Dad's collection.

What are you obsessed with?

Rosie & Ruth, Women's History Month

A few weeks ago, (see "space cadet" in the archive if you missed it) I gave my Dad credit for me growing up and joining the Air Force. It is true that I learned my love of airplanes and the space program from him (as well as Jim Kirk and crew), but my Mother was a part of it too.

This is a copy of a photo of my Mom, probably in her 20's.

 

When I attended Quincy Elementary School in the late 60's. I only knew of two Mothers who worked. My best friend Terry's Mom, Mrs. Diploma (who is a very sweet lady and a wonderful cook) worked with her Husband in the family owned grocery store. My Mom was the only other Mother who worked outside the home. She was secretary for the Teamster's Union.

This one was probably taken in the 1960's.

My Mom worked from 8:00 am till 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday until she retired. When my Dad was not working. He drove her to work, then he would pick her up at lunch and she would cook for them both, he would drive her back to work and pick her up at the end of the day. When she came home at the end of the day, they would have a quiet cup of coffee together, then Mom would fix dinner. When he was working, she walked home at the end of the day. We helped, I can remember proudly being allowed to carry the silverware and the bread tray to the table when I was just tiny. I can also remember standing on a chair to help my Sisters wash the dishes before I was tall enough to reach the sink, and learning to iron while standing on another chair.

When I was small, my Mom kept the house clean. We dusted and swept and helped with whatever else we were told to do. (Not always willingly) Mom was the driving force. She worked along side of us and made sure it was right. Our windows were not streaked and the smell of baking bread was not uncommon. My Mom even found time to make a lot of our clothes. In other words, she did everything the other Mom's did, and worked 40 hours a week for a paycheck. All of this with a good disposition. She really was a Super Woman.

Mom had an independent spirit (except where my Dad was concerned) and wanted us to grow up to be independent too. When I was going to "Highland Jr. High" she made me take a typing class I didn't want. She said it was so that if I needed to I could get a job and not have to rely on a man to take care of me. I think I was 11 or 12 before Mom started wearing pants suits. Dad didn't think ladies should wear pants so Mom wore dresses. Occasionally she would wear some Jeans to clean house in, and all the photos I have from their deer hunting trips show her wearing jeans.

I don't remember my parents arguing, they did, just not in front of us when we were small. I do remember my Mom putting her foot down, once. Dad was watching something on TV one Saturday afternoon. Mom asked him to take her to the laundry-matt. He said "not right now". She explained that she had a lot to do and not much time. He said he would take her "when he was ready and not before". (He was not unreasonable, but he was from an earlier generation and he believed that he should be the boss) The following Monday, when Mom came home from work and told him that she was enrolled in Drivers Education and he could either drive her to her classes or she would take a cab and she didn't really mind if he liked it or not. Amazingly, they did not fight about it. He took her and she got her license. I always thought she got away with it because he was in shock.

This is my Mom with (according to age) Margaret, Pete, and Paula. Judging from the size of the children, Mom was probably 39 or 40 years old.

I don't remember this car. She didn't get that license for another decade so she probably never got to drive it.


 

Fast forward to 1983. When I went home to tell my her I was going to go in the Air Force. I expected her to freak out and tell me not to go. My mind was made up and I had already signed the paperwork. She didn't freak out, she didn't even cry. She beamed! She hugged me and told me how proud she was! She told me to "wait right there", she came back a few minutes later and handed me a tiny black and white photo I had never seen before. It was her as a very young lady, sitting on some steps. She was wearing COVERALLS? Then she told me the story. During World War II when so many men went off to war, there were not enough men to do all the work that needed doing. Rosie the Riveter was a fictional character portrayed on government posters to encourage women to do their part by working in Non-traditional jobs. Most people will recognize the familiar "We can do it" image with the smiling, bandana clad lady, her arm raised to show muscle. There were multiple versions of the poster, this is just the most popular. I have a wonderful book Titled "Rosie the Riveter" that shows several versions and tells some of the stories. It is by Penny Coleman. (For more official info http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=128 ) My Mom wanted to do her part too. She told me the photo was taken during a break while she was in Technical School to become a lady machinest. The war ended at the same time she completed her school. The ladies were thanked and then told to go back home and raise babies, "the men can take it from here". That was the real begining of equality. Most of those brave ladies went back to their old traditional lives, with one big difference. They knew that they could "do it". They did go home and raise babies, they gave birth to and raised the Baby Boomers. I was the last of my Mom's children. She never said a word about Rosie till I was raised. What did your Mother do during The War?

My Mom was an amazing lady. She had a wonderful sense of humor and an even better sense of fun. I was proud of her and her job as a secretary, even when I was little, I hope I told her so. She loved us all so much. In her later years, the house was not as clean, and she could be a handful, but none of us ever doubted that we were loved. As for Rosie, she changed the world. Not bad for a fictional character.