364:365 Sunset

364:365 Sunset
Just got back from the Marriott Grand Resort in Point Clear, Alabama. A wonderful place to stay. I would recommend it.

256:365 Entrance

256:365 Entrance
I like the arrow on the entrance to this old curb market. Theme #85.

255:365 Living the Green Life

255:365 Living the Green Life
If you travel through rural Alabama this time of year, you will see lots of trucks and trailers backed up to the road full of watermelons. Most of these watermelon sales are on the honor system. You get you watermelon and leave your money in a box. My brother-in-law does this every year and he says that he has never had anything stolen. Theme #173.

171:365 Pseudo-HDR

171:365 Pseudo-HDR
I am always looking for new ways to play with photoshop. Every week on the Elements Village Forum, there is a Be Creative Challenge.
www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48149
This week's tutorial was "Pseudo HDR" by Jeff Perry.
www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47447
I enjoyed the tutorial and this is the result of my playing. This is Kymulga Covered Bridge in Childersburg, Alabama. There is a grist mill there also.

170:365 Memories of Childhood

170:365 Memories of Childhood
The magnolia trees in Mama's yard are full of memories for me. I used to climb these trees when I was a child and I would spend many hours on long, hot days perched on the branches daydreaming among the leathery leaves. Theme #182.

169:365 Favorite Things

169:365 Favorite Things
I love the outdoors and birds, dragonflies, and damselflies are some of my favorite things. This is an ebony jewelwing damselfly.
Theme #95.

168:365 Steeple

168:365 Steeple
The Hissop Concord Church in Hissop, Alabama. This picture was taken at dawn. Theme #302 Steeple.

167:365 Things with Wings

167:365 Things with Wings
Dragonfly season is here. This is a female Widow Skimmer.
Theme #326 Things with Wings.

166:365 Sunrise

166:365 Sunrise
The unsettled weather we have been having recently results in beautiful cloud formations. Theme #311.

143:365 Imported

143:365 Imported
Meadow salsify is a dandelion like wildflower. It is a native of Europe, but it is now well-established in the United States. A bit nicer than some of the other imports that we suffer with like kudzu and fire ants. Theme #156 Imported.

76:365 Broken

76:365 Broken
Broken windows in the same abandoned school. At one time, I taught in one of these rooms. The big windows made it one of my favorite school rooms. I had a birdfeeder in a dogwood tree outside of the window, and my first graders and I would watch the seasons go by. The near-by cotton mill moved to South America, and most of those first-graders have grown-up and moved to other places to try and make a living. This is theme #36 Broken.

75:365 Closed

75:365 Closed
Chains bolt the door of an abandoned and deteriorating school in central Alabama. The school was closed about 7 years ago because the county consolidated all of their schools. This building is in a depressed area and the county cannot sell the building nor afford to keep it from deteriorating. It breaks my heart.

My rooms are now vacant. My corridors still.
No sounds of the children. My structure to fill.
No longer the sound of the teachers I hear.
Shaping the lives that to me were so dear.
-Unknown-