Please & Thank You...

My human dabbles with social media.   She has friends that follow her, tweet her, and are just there in the background, keeping an eye on her.  She has friends she socializes with.  She has school friends, neighborly friends.  Like most people, she has friends.........

Several months ago, one of her "facebook friends" put out a challenge.  This challenge was to do a random act of kindness.  If you wanted to be included in this "game" you simply gave your name and address.  This random act didn't have to be done in a certain time frame.  You could do it anytime you wanted as long as it was kept simple.  Nothing expensive or extravagant.  A card, a photo, a dried flower from your garden.......anything to bring a smile to that persons face.   It's been fun.  My human printed out a favorite quote that described her "friend", put it in the mail and sent it off.  On another, it was decals of dogs and paw prints.  She's does animal rescues. it's been a fun way to get to know people you've never seen up close and most likely never will........

When my human went out and retrieved the mail last week, there was an envelope addressed to her with a return address of "Random Act of Kindness"............her heart skipped a beat.  She could hardly get inside the house and cut the envelope open.  Inside was a beautiful "Thank You" card.  Included in the card was a "camera" charm and a dangle that reads ""find joy in the journey"......This beautiful lady knows her  well.   They've never met, never spoken to each other on the phone.  They met on Twitter, followed each other on Facebook, and have supported each other in their endeavors....

I am putting out there another call for doing a "random act of kindness" to anyone.  Next time you are in a "drive thru" picking up your Dunkin' Donuts coffee, or Starbucks, or Mickey D's mocha latte, pay for the order behind you.  Pick up a bouquet of flowers and give them to your neighbor.  Buy a hamburger, give it to the man on the street corner holding up a sign asking for money to buy food.  Do something.  Do anything.  Simply holding the door open for someone is a random act of kindness.  Saying "please" and "thank you"...that's not a hard one.   Most importantly, do it more than once......make it a part of your life each and every day.  It will put a smile on your face, warm your soul and make your heart giggle with delight......if you know someone in your social media circle that is under the weather, or having health issues, be there as a friend.....

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I'm working on a project of capturing images of old buildings that I remember from my youth.  My youth disappeared a long time ago and with the tumbling down of some of these buildings, my memories are going with it.  The older I get, the harder it is to remember what that street corner used to look like, or the city block...........the old style architecture is crumbling to the ground.  Once I gather my pixels together, I'll share...............

My human lives in an old house that she recently did a remodel on the inside.  Now that warmer weather is here, or when Mother Nature quits throwing hormonal tantrums,  her contractor is redoing the garage.  It was high time.  It needed a hundred coats of paint on it again.  Something she was not willing to tackle......so the hubs and her decided it was time to side it. They chose to copy their next door neighbors and do a product called Hardy board.  It's a great product to cover up something that you don't want to paint.  At least for the next 25 years.  That number made my human do the happy dance!!!

So...........since I am in the mood to capture "old" buildings, I decided to start with the garage.  Yes, it did have huge spots of peeling paint, old ugly rain gutters, and windows that had seen better days, but it made some nice black and white photos and helped fill my humans memory bank of times when life consisted of her boys playing in the back yard, climbing trees & playing in the dirt.   It also has given her another round of prints to frame and add to her "old" collage hanging in the house.   Old house, old human, old pictures, old things.............

Black & White
vs
Sepia tones

I'm thinking I like the Sepia better.
The black and white detail is not showing up as well,
even with manipulation.....
Rats!!!!

Oh, the stories I could tell.....

if I could remember them.

That quote is why I take pictures.  My brain is full & my memory bank over flowing.  I don't want to forget the good times, the good places, the good people I meet.  They by far out weigh all the bad or sad things that happen in life.  

Another sunset from my neighbors naked tree.  It's
beginning to clothe itself with buds that will
soon turn to a full outfit of leaves and pods that dangle like
jewelry.  Come this fall......I'll be back to hating this
tree when it drops the pods at my back door.

Twitter@CotySimon

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