Life: Through the Lens

Scenes from the Nick Adams stories, by Hemingway, depicted through "fish" art. We have finally completed viewing, and most of the editing, of the thousands of photographs we took on our western adventure this past summer. I say "past," as the calendar indicates we are now into fall! It's is amazing how quickly the seasons pass, and the countdown until Christmas can be heard. In reviewing our memories, it's interesting to see how the arts can be found in a variety of forms. We have noticed the last few years that painting "things" is becoming a big deal in many communities. In the upper peninsula of Michigan there are painted moose gracing the front lawns of many businesses, and in Holland, MI there are pigs. Yes, pigs. Michigan is celebrating Hemingway this year, and a Petosky artist has painted a fish, a recurring theme in his writing, with scenes from his Nick Adams stories (above). Art is alive and well throughout the country. In Jackson Hole, ...

I can't tell you how often I've heard people say that September 1st signals the end of summer. If you look at a calendar, this isn't true. And if you're outside on a day like today, in 90 degree heat, there is no way you could believe it was the end of summer. A week ago our granddaughter spent the day with us, and learned about the world of insects. We were on a crusade to find a monarch caterpillar for a kindergarten teacher I know. She lives in town and has a difficult time finding the caterpillars, which are a very important lesson in her classroom at the beginning of the year. So the granddaughter and I headed out. She was very excited at first, but then decided it was too hot, too far to walk, and not fun looking on the underside of all the milkweed leaves. If she saw a bug she jumped back with a screech. Well, this had to change, so I let her look through my close-up lens, a 100mm macro for my Canon 30D camera. All of a sudden the world opened up, and she thought...