Up, up and away

We are very lucky travellers, for on this vacation we have witnessed not one but two rockets go up into space. We thought we would miss the second launch, since we were in Orlando yesterday, picking up our son and his girlfriend from Disney, right during the scheduled launch time. But we were very fortunate. Thunderstorms caused yesterday's launch to be scrubbed and rescheduled for this evening. So, just before 7 p.m. tonight, we saw the Delta IV go up, up, up. It was wonderful. Please click on the above picture so you can see the bigger version.

And so our Florida vacation comes to a close with a bang. Tomorrow we pack up the van and start the drive home. We have all had a terrific time but, of course, it will be good to be home again.

Holed up with heat rash

Yesterday was our day at DisneyWorld -- to be specific, the Magic Kingdom. This was our umpteenth visit to "the happiest place on earth" but the first with our son as a grown-up. We had a spectacular day, with the highlight being a character dinner featuring Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and my absolute favourite, Eeyore. And our son and his girlfriend even arranged for a birthday cupcake, complete with candle, to be delivered to our table after dinner. So thoughtful and SO special!

What wasn't so special though, was coming back to the condo and discovering a hideous heat rash on my lower calves. Bright red in colour and absolutely startling. After some internet research we've determined it's something commonly referred to as "golfer's vasculitis". I even saw it called "Disney rash" at one site! Fair-skinned people are particularly susceptible and it occurs when walking and/or standing extensively in hot, humid weather. Which perfectly describes yesterday. Ah well, our shopping plans for today were squashed to try to keep me off my feet as much as possible and, instead, I am enjoying a bit of luxury, laying on the sofa with my legs raised and cold compresses applied. Yes, this is rough, staring out at the ocean waves and relaxing!

I had time for a little more photoshop fun due to this unexpected self-imposed laziness, too. Above, the carousel in Fantasyland. Below, my friend Eeyore.

Some photoshop fun

I have good news. The humidity broke! And frankly, I hope it stays broken. It's so nice to not walk into a wall of heat every time I open a door and go outside.

The captain and I have just been relaxing, enjoying the fact that we have nothing to do. For me, that means goofing around in Photoshop each evening. I am just starting to get used to my new toy, Photoshop CS4. One of the big differences between Elements 6 and CS4 is Actions. Elements 6 does not support them (although Elements 7 does) so I have never played around with them before. I recently discovered that the Pioneer Woman offers two sets of Actions in the Photography section on her site and so I downloaded them and have been focusing on those as I learn these new tricks.

For those who are Elements users and unfamiliar with Actions, they are a series of steps all combined into just one click. They really shine when they involve a long, complicated procedure that would be a royal pain to repeat every time you wanted to try a specific effect. Many of the Pioneer Woman's Actions offer interesting special effects and I certainly appreciate her effort in creating them and her generosity in sharing them. I do tweak them for my purposes -- sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

It's so nice to have this downtime to just play around! Above are some of my recent photographs, all receiving at least a little Action!

Top, Detroit. Next, the Elk Valley First Baptist Church in Tennessee. Next, a surfer girl at Sebastian Inlet, Florida. Last, Crooked Mile Cemetery on Merritt Island, Florida.

Feelin' hot, hot, hot

What can I say? It's unseasonably hot here. And when I say hot, I mean hot. We went to Sea World on Thursday and had an amazing time, but I thought heat stroke was imminent. Thank heavens for air conditioning!

We drove our son and his girlfriend into Orlando this afternoon so they can begin their Disney adventure -- we'll see them again on Thursday when we all do the Magic Kingdom together -- and I certainly hope this heat settles back to normal temperatures soon. But it won't be for at least another day. I photographed the weather report on the news channel just a short time ago. Check out the projected highs for tomorrow, taking into consideration the humidity. Like I said, HOT!

Spaced out

Is that not the coolest chair? The design is laser-cut out of the metal. I'd love to have these in my home. They're the visitor chairs in the lobby of the Astronaut Hall of Fame, part of the Kennedy Space Center complex. We were there earlier this week, touring the exhibits. It was fantastic. Photography is allowed so I had a blast taking many pictures, but this chair that caught my eye as we were leaving was one of my favourites. I've been trying to take advantage of the photo opportunities that come my way -- snapping colourful record albums in the DJ shop we checked out, for example. Even though this is such a familiar area for us, I'm delighted that I keep finding things to photograph that are new to me!

And speaking of space, we saw the rocket launch this evening, the one headed for the moon. That was quite a treat and makes up for the fact NASA has delayed the shuttle launch until July. We were all quite prepared to get up at the crack of dawn yesterday to watch the shuttle go off and it was disappointing the launch was scrubbed. But we did see the rocket go up and we may see another one next week!

Non-stop excitement

So yesterday, the 15th, was my birthday. It got off to a rip-roaring start.

Let me set the scene. It's Sunday night, I'm very tired, and looking forward to a good night's sleep -- and also looking forward to the drive from Savannah down to Cocoa Beach on Monday, my birthday. The captain and I go to bed and I blessedly fall asleep quickly. And then it happens.

BEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEP! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! THERE IS AN EMERGENCY IN THIS BUILDING. PLEASE LEAVE THIS BUILDING IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT TAKE THE ELEVATOR. BEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEP! ...repeat incessantly...

It was 3 a.m. Three in the morning! I was sleeping! And then I wasn't. This shrill, annoying, loud message was broadcasting throughout the hotel. Who knew hotels had speakers?

Now, I am a city girl. You're not going to scare me with some silly warning. So somebody pulled the fire alarm, big deal. I merely rolled over, cursing the noise. But the captain; ah, the captain. He was up, dressed, and I think he was ready to dash out and take control of the scene. He opened our hotel room door and stepped out into the hallway, then back into the room. "I do smell smoke," he said.

Drat! Smoke! That meant I had to get up. So I got dressed and reluctantly walked down seven flights of stairs wearing clunky crocs. Our son and his girlfriend were already outside with all the other guests. What an eclectic group -- some folks were still in their pj's and others were dressed and even had their suitcases with them. There were firetrucks, there were police cars. The captain was right at home. And I had brought my purse, so pulled out my camera and snapped a few photos. Never let a good photo op go to waste!

And then, quick as that, we all got to go back to bed. We never were told what really happened. Our son said the smell was strong on their floor, the 5th, and my son's girlfriend said it smelled like burnt sausages, which made me wonder if someone microwaved something that caught fire. I guess I'll never know.

So that was the exciting start to my birthday. We also drove through a severe rainstorm near the end of our drive here, but it didn't top the evacuation!

Rolling on down the highway

Greetings from Savannah, Georgia -- one of the prettiest cities in the United States. We arrived here early this evening and will head off to Florida in the morning. We've been on the road for two days, spending last night in Corbin, Kentucky. I did intend to do a blog post last night but I was just tooooo tired. Our adventure got off to a rough start Saturday morning: before we even made it to Windsor I was suddenly and unexpectedly ill. A long delay at a rest stop ensued and finally I was able to get myself together and we headed on our way. That was an unfortunate setback, but we've been having a great time nevertheless.

One of the many reasons I love a road trip is that you never know what you'll see; every trip is different, even when the journey is familiar. For example, we spotted the "just married" car today not long after we crossed into Georgia. On the driver's side of the car it says, "Florida or Bust", and on the passenger side, "Wild Times Ahead". We peeked into the car as we drove past it and the bride was in the front seat, head propped on a pillow, sound asleep. Wild times indeed! I thought about taking her picture but decided to just photograph the car. I really don't take people photographs very often!

We're on the road again

The last time we hit the highway for the sunny south, we left behind bitter cold. At the gas station in Windsor where we filled up before crossing the border -- at 77 cents/litre! -- there were icicles hanging from the building and piles of snow everywhere. I didn't even bother to try to colour-correct the blue tones in the above photo; it really did look and feel that dismal. We're off again, leaving tomorrow, but this time there is no need for winter jackets nor is there worry about driving into a blizzard. But we will be driving from spring into summer; we've been checking the weather reports and it's HOT in Florida!

I love love love road trips. Of course I know that it's great to get on a plane and three hours later, whoosh!, be at your destination. But for me, the journey is part of the adventure. And this adventure is going to be extra-fun, extra-special, because our son and his girlfriend are coming along. Other than Pittsburgh last September, which was just a weekend, we haven't had a "family vacation" in years, not since he was a teenager. I am really looking forward to this trip!

I will be blogging along the way, so stay tuned for highlights from the road. And now I must dash -- as with any vacation, there are a million last-minute things to do!

It's Tuesday, you know what that means

Eleven talisman trees. Eleven completed photoshop projects. Eleven is a nice number, a good solid number that's more than just a few. Eleven is substantial.

But I have decided on twelve. Yes, there will be one more talisman tree, one more to make the series an even dozen. But that tree, my friends, will not appear next Tuesday. Yes, for the first Tuesday in several weeks, my blog will not feature a talisman tree. The captain and I are currently preparing for a road trip and we will be off on another adventure next week. There will be time to blog throughout our journey, but I fear there won't be time to devote to talisman tree creation. I do not want to rush the last tree in the series, so I won't put that pressure on myself.

There's something else, too. I suspect the final tree is still out there somewhere, waiting for me to find it. So stay tuned, the series isn't over. Not quite yet.

She was a very pretty girl

Sometimes, simple is best. I spent more than two hours this evening working on a collage creation using the vintage image of a beautiful child, today's challenge photograph over at Art Creations Friday. I ditched my first attempt very quickly: I didn't like it at all. I then spent a considerable amount of time creating a second collage, backtracking my steps many times during the process. It had old sheet music, old text, a scratchy texture....more, more, more. Many layers, a few blending modes, even a few filters. More. I didn't think it was working but I kept at it, right down to the finished image. I then decided -- you guessed it -- that it just wasn't right.

They say the third time is the charm. All I know is that I went for simple for my third go, sticking with the vintage theme and using some wonderful photo frames I have in my stash.

Why did this lovely image prove to be so hard to work into some art? I think I was just trying too hard. I know that less can be more, but it's easy to forget.

Forgotten art

The captain and I were watching the hockey game tonight, but I confess my attention was more on my computer screen than the television screen. I was looking through some folders of my artwork and I came across the above image, labelled "unfinished". So I opened it up and looked and for the life of me, I don't know what else I intended to do to it. Whatever those past thoughts, right now I like it just the way it is. If you'd like to see an unaltered close-up of the drugstore sign, have a look in my Tennessee photo gallery. And if you have a moment, have a look through your own folders on your computer. You too might find some forgotten art!

The citified talisman tree

These Talisman Trees have given me some odd moments, with this one perhaps being the oddest. You see, I envisioned this piece of artwork as I was trying to fall asleep a few nights ago. Saw it in my minds-eye, clear as glass. I saw the outline of the tree, saw the city skyline behind it, saw the colours and tones and shades. It was just so weird.

So I set out to recreate it. While I often have ideas on how I'd like a finished project to look, those ideas are typically quite general, while the artwork I imagined was quite specific. It's a bit eerie, but today's Talisman Tree is just about dead-on to my "vision".