The bucket list you didn’t know you had.

I ticked something off my non-existent bucket list yesterday. It was quite the achievement. Something I had not really considered to be a thing I would ever do. Something that I hadn’t even thought was an item to mark off as ‘completed’ in my list of things to say I had done in my life.

However there I stood, in the magnificent waters of  a secluded beach at Torquay, on a truly perfect summers day, without a shred of clothing proudly proclaiming to my equally naked friend that I could tick ‘that’ off my bucket list.

I don’t have a bucket list!

What’s with this bucket list? Do we have Morgan Freeman and Robert De Niro (Oooops!!!! It’s actually Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) and the American film industry to thank for the requirement of a bucket list? It was a lovely movie gentlemen, but now people find themselves having to think of things they need to achieve before they die and tick them off a list.

Imagine the horror as you take your final breath, knowing that you didn’t do the things on your list. OMG!! Especially if you had that list written down and it was stuck on the fridge door with a Mickey Mouse magnet. Family members would see your list and KNOW that you did nothing with your life. Let’s ignore the fact that you lived and had a life……..but you didn’t complete your list!!!!

How about just living your life to the full and experiencing the opportunities that are presented to you? That’s what I am doing.

You don’t need a list.

I’m sure the starving in Africa don’t have a list. I can’t imagine the farmer in the rice paddy of Vietnam has a list nor the Amish woman in North America or the bloke living under the bridge in Melbourne.

Life is not about lists. Life is about living and yesterday I felt incredibly alive.

I have no idea how many of you have done it, and I am definitely not telling anyone that you should or shouldn’t do it, but I cannot even touch on the emotions I felt as I took the last item of clothing off and bared my imperfect self to the elements.

Yesterday was a sterling summer beach day. Low 20’s, clear skies, gentle breeze and clear blue waters. The stretch of beach that has been the designated nude beach for decades is magnificent. The sands were not crowded and the vibe I sensed was wonderfully calm. Many people had brought their dogs which only added to the sense of normality. The only difference on this beach was that the people swimming, throwing balls for their dogs to chase, walking or laying on their towels on the glorious sunshine was the absence of fabric.

Also absent was the self-consciousness. This was a space where men and women accepted themselves and their perfect imperfections.  Hallelujah!

So I took all my clothes off and walked alone to the water and I laughed and cried at the wonder of it all.

 

A casualty

I don’t know how I’m going to be able to break the news to Nanna Judy, but my apricot tree is going to have to go.

On Saturday in my marvellous Melbourne it was hot. Really hot. 42 degrees celcius hot, which is 107.6 Fahrenheit for those of you in the USA.

And not only was it hot, it was windy. Gale force windy.

These are the kinds of weather conditions that make our firefighters nervous. One stray spark, one stupid pyromaniac and lives and homes can be lost.

I took the opportunity to spend the day lazing in my parent’s pool.

But when I got home and went out the back…………. my heart dropped. The apricot tree!! A massive limb had split and was on the ground. This was the death call. Half the tree had mysteriously died off last year and now this.

The tree is going to have to go. Forever.

Which means that I am really going to have to think about what I’m going to do with the garden out there. Bugger poop.

Now this is a real Aussie summer image

Australia, and in particular my marvellous Melbourne, has a wonderful mix of people who reside in it. People from all over the world have chosen to make this country their own. Most of them have done so through their own free will, whereas there are thousands who have chosen to take refuge in my wonderful country as they flee from atrocities happening in their native homeland.

In the sweltering heat of last Tuesday, I joined a friend at Williamstown beach where we took our own refuge from the temperatures in the cool, calm waters of the bay. I took my little ‘point & shoot’ with me because I couldn’t bear the thought of missing some possible photographic opportunity and I also couldn’t bear the thought of my Nikon D750 pride and joy being damaged by sand and/or water.

What a good thing I had my camera with me! I didn’t come close to capturing all the wonderful sights that afternoon, but I did have my eyes and mind tuned to the possibilities. (One of the weekly challenges was “summertime”)

I lost count of the different nationalities represented. There were Australians, Japanese, Italians, Greeks, Maori, Indian…………. you name the country, there was probably someone from there cooling off in the water. And the best thing was………..everyone walked and swam in the same space and got along. There was no angst, no racism, no bad energy. It was really ‘chilled’, for want of a better term.

That’s what I love about my marvellous Melbourne. We have learned over time to get along and accept one another.

Ok…..I don’t know how the blog took the path it did, but that is normal. I never know what words are going to come out through my fingers onto the keyboard. I was going to write about how I spotted the wonderful couple in the photo and thought that they would potentially be my challenge photo.  I waded over to them with my ‘point & shoot’ in hand and had a bit of a chat with them. Gorgeous Greek husband and wife enjoying the cool water. Brought back so many memories of my trip to Greece four years ago and how the Greeks would spend hours simply standing in little groups in the magnificent waters talking amongst themselves.

The colours, the relaxed mood and the magnificent blue skies were a dream image for me.

 

(Apologies if this blog is a bit all over the place. It’s late and my brain is tired.)

 

 

 

Winners are grinners!!!

The winning photo. Theme: Summer in the city.

I won!!!!  I won!!!!! I won!!!!!!

What did I win? I won the January competition in the Facebook photography excursion group that I am a part of.

Me!

Me……….. who has been taking photos for only a relatively short time.

Me……….who until late 2014 still could not work out her F stops.

Me……….who only has a 50mm prime lens to put on her camera.

I am so excited.

I woke the dogs up with my screams of shock. I mean…..there are some really brilliant photographers in this Facebook group. I do not consider that I am anywhere NEAR their level.

But this is a big step towards my 2016 goal. Entering competitions. I’m entering. And I will keep on entering. And I hope I can win a few more, too.   🙂

 

PS: Thank you Rod for supplying the title for today’s blog.

 

Summer flashback

 

Nothing says “Summer” more to me than a soaker-hose on a dry, parched, dying lawn. The fine spray of water spurting out of hundreds of pin-point holes along the length of the flat plastic hose offering relief and life to that dry ground.

As a kid it also offered relief and coolness to us hot, parched Aussie kids in the days before the wonder of air-conditioners and climate control systems.

But I don’t remember my house having a soaker hose. I remember my neighbours had them. I also remember that they could be a pain in the arse as you tried to ensure that the hose was laying the right way.  🙂

But what I also remember is the beautiful, gentle spray of water that we would walk and run through in our bathers or our clothes, trying desperately to cool down from the intense Summer heat……… or just because we were playing and having fun.

It was those memories that came to mind when I spied the soaker-hose on sale in my local Aldi store. It was those memories of laughter and playing and being a kid that directed my hand to grab the hose and bring it home. And it was those memories that made me turn the hose on and walk through it on this rather warm Summer evening.

The passing of the tongs

There comes a time in every young man’s life when his mother hands him the meat and the tongs and says “Ok son. It’s your turn to cook the BBQ.”

That time finally arrived on Sunday for #1 son. And it was about bloody time. He is 19 years old after all. I had already done the cleaning of the outdoor area, made two salads and marinated the chicken. Cooking the meat was the least he could do.

I must say, that I was a tad nervous handing the tongs over. I have been chief barbequer for the last 19 years. There was a standard to be maintained. Plus, I didn’t want to be serving our guests under or over-cooked offerings.

I needn’t have worried. #1 son had obviously been taking mental note of the correct way to barbeque the last 19 years. He did a sterling job. The sausages were cooked through, but not overcooked and the marinated chicken strips were still juicy and tender.

He also did the job without whinging and complaining. 🙂  I wonder if I will be as fortunate the next time I hand him the tongs?

And then there was one………

Changed my mind. Very stressful deciding on a final image.

This is it.

The final day of my ‘A photo a day for 365 days” challenge.

I almost cannot believe that I have done it. Three hundred and sixty-five blog posts. More that 90% of them delivered by midnight each day of 2015, the rest not long past midnight but before I put myself to bed.

I could never have imagined where one purchase would take me. The spiral bound book found in my local Typo store that gave me the inspiration to push myself out of my photographic and personal comfort zone.

I know that my photography has improved during this challenge. I have been out taking shots, I have been learning how to improve their composition, I have taught myself how to edit them better thanks to YouTube tutorial videos and I have wanted to keep learning because I know how much there is to learn.

This has definitely pushed me out of my personal comfort zone. I have put my amateur photos and my amateur words out there into blogging cyberspace where they have been looked at, read and commented on by complete strangers. Fellow bloggers from all over the world. Photographers, writers, poets, food lovers, artists, dentists, mothers, fathers, animal lovers……….each and every one marvellous people in their own right.

I am only now discovering how many of my friends are reading my blog via my Facebook page. (And how many of them don’t want me to stop at this one)

What I do know, absolutely and without question, is that I would never have completed this project had I not decided on New Years morning 2015 that I needed to blog it. That decision was all the incentive I needed to push myself through to completion.

Because it was no longer a personal effort, it was public………..very public.

Once you tell others that you’re going to do something you have them pushing you, questioning you, doubting your commitment and cheering you on.

To those who doubted me and questioned my commitment (and this includes me) ….HA!!! I did it!!!!! All 365 days of it. 🙂

To those who found my humble blog on WordPress and decided to follow me and come along for the ride…….I most sincerely thank you for finding me, for your comments and for your support.

To those who pushed me and cheered me on……thank you from the bottom of my heart. MWAH!!!

 

…………ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS: I’m probably not done.

 

 

I can’t bear it!!

My second last blog post. I can’t bear it.

I’m so stressed. I’m so happy. I’m so sad. I’m so relieved. I’m so lost. I’m so excited about my next adventure.

I have friends and followers who have started to panic. What will they do when there is no more “photo a day”???

Will they be able to cope with a photo a week or has the addiction to this challenge become so great that I will continue with a post a day? (As to who is more addicted to this challenge, I will leave that for the jury to decide.)

Not only is this my second last post of this momentous challenge, it is also incredibly late. I am going to lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of the person who invented ‘daylight savings’and Mother Nature who decided to bless the surf coast of Victoria with one of the most gorgeous sunsets this evening.

I was exceedingly fortunate to have been walking along the beach as the sun said goodnight, in the wonderful town of Torquay, with my very good friend………. and my camera.

The temperature had cooled, the water was superb, the hordes of Summer visitors had left the beach, the tide was out, the beach was almost empty apart from some fishermen and people walking their dogs and there was barely any wind. There were some clouds in the sky and then we were blessed with some breathtaking colour.

My shots do not do justice to the glorious colour that I witnessed. The golds, pinks, oranges, yellows and the blues truly took my breath away.

I could but stand, stare and soak in the magnificence.

 

…………….Two………….

 

 

 

Five!!!

Oh my goodness, there are only five blog posts left.  *GASP*

I can see the finish line.

The crowd has started to roar with excitement.

The adrenaline that was there at the beginning of the challenge is back, coursing through my veins, giving me exactly what I need to push myself these last few steps.

The questions that plagued me during parts of this mammoth effort are fading into insignificance. Of course I can finish!!

The new ideas and plans are starting to enter my brain, boosted by my very first competition win. But these new ideas won’t distract me from my ultimate goal………..to complete “A photo every day for 365 days”

And what better way to celebrate countdown day 5 than with a photo of my foot, and its five painted toes, in the magnificent, clear, warm waters of Anglesea back beach.

It’s OK friends and followers. I will continue to blog in 2016. (Among other things)

 

So late……………so late

With only six blog posts remaining till my 365 challenge is over, you’d think that I would be making sure that I was organised and ready to post before the midnight hour arrived.

You’d think.

But you’d be forgetting that it is the Xmas holiday season and there are places to go and people to see.

You would also be forgetting that it is daylight savings time in Australia and therefore if one was planning to take photos of something that is lit up at night, one would find themselves having to wait until after 9pm for any reasonable sort of darkness to descend.

Then there is the issue of the distances that Melbournians and Australians are prepared to travel without question. An hour and a half each way is not uncommon for a day trip.

Combine all these factors and you can clearly see why I did not get home until after midnight from an excursion to the Geelong region that involved a visit to my brother, a visit to my friend and the taking of photos of the floating Xmas tree on the Geelong waterfront.

A big day but oh so very worth the effort.

Can I go to bed now?

……..SIX……………..