The Rat Race ~

Nearly two months have passed since announcing my plans for retirement and if I've had one person every day ask me what I'm going to do, I've had twenty.

I'm left wondering "Why do I have to do anything?" and "Is there a law that says I have to do anything?"

I think the majority of this stems from my own inability to sit still. Those that know me realize that I have a tendency to constantly have my hands in something. So, the idea of me retiring seems incomprehensible.

Truth be known, I don't plan on going home and sitting there waiting to die. I'm only 43 so that could take a while and patience has never been one of my virtues. But, I don't plan on going out and finding a job either. Here's the way I see it: We get one shot at life and it seems to me that the majority of us spend our lives working too much and pushing the real joy's of life to the side. We have all said it at some point in time "Oh, no time for this or that, but when I retire I'm going to travel and do all the things that I've always wanted to do." Well, that sounds great in theory, but if we wait until we reach retirement age to do all the things we want to do while we're here on earth, then we'll be too old to do them.

I realize that we can't all just retire in our 40's and I know I'm lucky to be able to walk away from the rat race and spend the rest of my life doing what I want to do. After spending the past 25 years working diligently to reach this point in my life I can say that it was worth it!

So, what am I going to do? I'm going to do whatever I want to do. I've earned it! Who knows... maybe I'll learn to appreciate the simple things in life, like a sunrise or sunset, and not be thinking "I don't have the time for this."

Photo Published in "Burning Daylight"

Copyright 2009

San Fransisco ~

"Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven."

~ John Lubbock


Photo's Copyright 2000-2009

Claude Monet's Garden

As previously mentioned, the highlight of my visit to France was visiting Claude Monet's home in Giverny. Monet's garden was absolutely breathtaking and is still maintained today exactly as he cared for it.

Roaming throughout his home and garden it is easy to understand why he loved it so much, and even easier to recognize where his inspiration came from.










Eastcreek Photography
Copyright 1995-2009

Manson Follower Released ~

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme was released from prison today and although most people remember her as a "Manson" follower she was never implicated in the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and 8 others.

Squeaky was however convicted of the 1975 attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford. Squeaky pulled a gun on the President and later claimed that although there were bullets in the gun, there were none in the chamber, and she only wanted to get her point across. For the attempted assassination Squeaky was sentenced to life. In 1987, while serving her life term, Squeaky escaped from prison and after 2 days on the run she was apprehended and another 15 years was tacked onto her sentence. Squeaky said that she escaped to be closer to Manson; she had heard a rumor that he was dying in prison.

And, let us not forget that in 1979 while working in the prison garden, Squeaky struck another inmate with a hammer.

Here's the irony to this story: In July 2008 Squeaky was granted parole because of her "Good Conduct", but was not released until today because of the additional time she had to serve for the prison escape. Life=30+years Escape=1 year

If attempting to kill the President of the United States, escaping from prison to be closer to one of the most infamous inmates in U.S. History and attacking another inmate with a hammer is "Good Conduct" I'm left wondering what is considered "Bad Conduct?"

Health Care Reform ~

As everyone has heard by now, Health Care Reform has taken center stage in the media. It would seem that our country is divided; no surprise there! However, this is an extremely important subject and we could be headed down a road that we will later regret. It seems to me that there has to be a less complicated way to get all Americans insured!

Lets look at the facts:

Currently, in the United States, there are approximately 57 - 60 Million UN-Insured citizens. Then we must factor in the 7 million more Americans that are expected to lose their insurance before the year 2010. Obviously, we have a problem! Yet, I try to rationalize this issue and I keep coming back to the same two questions:

1)Why do we Americans allow our government to waste money?

2)Why do we give prisoners who are serving life terms more consideration than we give to hard working Americans who contribute to this society on a daily basis?

Lets face it... there are an estimated 2.3 million inmates in U.S. prisons, and while they are there serving their time they are given free medical care, which includes vision and dental. Of those 2.3 million inmates 140,610 are "Lifer's", which means they will never get out! And who pays for that? We do!

I'm trying to make sense of the fact that prisoners are treated better in this country than our working middle class. And what happens when an uninsured American has a medical emergency or life threatening illness? They must scrape up the money to pay as they go, or they do without the care that they need. Oh, and lets not forget all those Americans who find themselves homeless or filing bankruptcy all because of an unexpected medical disaster!

If you're an American and you don't have medical insurance you may find yourself asking family, friends, and sometimes strangers to loan or give you money to help pay medical bills. So, if that's what we put our contributing members of society through, then why not put inmates through the same process? If they become ill then why can't they do without the care that they need? Or...if you don't like that idea then how about we suggest to them that they call family, friends and even ask strangers to help them out?

I would imagine there are a great number of people that would say "That's inhumane!" Yet those same caring individuals don't realize that their own next door neighbor is suffering that same inhumanity! And they didn't kill anyone or drive drunk for the 25th time. They didn't rob someone at gun point, or rape a young child.

It's our tax dollars at work here! If it were up to me we would take care of those that are trying to take care of themselves. The money that we, as a country waste is astronomical! It's time we realize the state of our Union and demand justice for all!

Photo published in "LIFE"

Copyright 2009

Eastcreek Photography

As Far As The Eye Can See ~

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo's: Eastcreek Photography

All Rights Reserved

Lost in Time ~

My husband and I spent yesterday with his parents, celebrating my Mother in Laws 67th birthday. During our visit my Father in Law began telling me about a Sunflower Field that I just had to see. We all piled in the car and headed out to view this magnificent field. I shot nearly 50 frames in the field and on our way back we made a little detour and discovered a scene from days long ago. As I began to shoot this scene my imagination wandered. It felt as if you listened very carefully you would be able to hear tractors plowing the
field.

I often wonder why people don't tear down old barns, dilapidated buildings, and outdated structures. Then I stumble across a piece of the past and I'm thankful they don't. As a society we tend to forget the way the world used to be and we live in the here and now. I believe that in order to appreciate where we are today, we need to remember where we came from. Past generations struggled to build the world that we enjoy today, and we should always remember and never forget their efforts.

Reflections ~

A photograph is usually looked at ~ Seldom looked into.

~Ansel Adams

Searching for Serenity ~

After what seems to have been the longest week of my life I am ready for a bit of relaxation.

The photo that I'm posting today reminds me that life is only chaotic if you allow it to be. Serenity is achievable, but sometimes we just need to step away from the chaos, take a deep breath and focus our energy toward the positive.

Negativity will drain every ounce of energy within us.

Photo: Blount County, Alabama

Eastcreek Photography