She Took Us To Church

I rode the light rail to Five Points to meet up with Jackie at the festival’s main stage late Saturday afternoon. Her day started at 5:30 a.m. shooting the infrastructure set up. Conjunto Colores had just started their set when I arrived. They were outstanding. Many people were salsa dancing in the street. I regretted not getting down there earlier.

Jackie and I got caught up between sets. She introduced me to the other photographers, the production manager and the sound crew. I was tasked with documenting Jackie working by photographing her with her iPhone. She also asked me to take pictures of interesting people in the crowd which was a cross section of society. All races, ages, shapes and sizes were in attendance. It was easy to find subjects to shoot.

Hazel Miller was the final set of the day. She’s a Colorado treasure. It’s always a treat to see Hazel. She’s a dynamic personality who owns the stage and works the crowd. Her shows are amazing. Hazel did Aretha in the second half of the set. The crowd went wild when she sang Chain Of Fools. Hazel took us to church. Aretha would have been proud.

The festival ended around eight but Jackie needed to film the dismantling of the stage and the event strike. The closing shot of the time lapse was a flatbed truck hauling away the porta potties while the light rail train disappeared around the corner. After filming wrapped I helped load the camera gear into Jackie’s Mini. Jackie drove me home around ten.

I took a shower and watched part of Saturday Night Live to unwind. I went to bed with the windows open again. I laid there listening to the water cascading down the waterfall in the pond. Memories of the day ran through my mind. I could hear Hazel singing. Chain, chain, chain.

Heron Attack

I was lying in bed yesterday morning snuggled under the covers in a cool room. The open windows allowed the chilled morning air to fill the bedroom. I was watching the day start. It was a cloudy morning so it felt great to enjoy a few more minutes in bed before I would start my weekend chores. I heard a loud splash in the koi pond just outside the west master bedroom window. I jumped out of bed, threw on a pair of pants and a t-shirt and ran out the French doors into the garden. A large heron was flying away. Undoubtedly, the bird had breakfast in the pond. A quick inspection revealed all of the large koi were still there as they were too big for heron to eat. I needed to put a net over the pond to protect the survivors. A trip to Home Depot was added to the chore list. There’s nothing like the nightmare of navigating the Glendale Home Depot parking lot on a Saturday. As luck would have it, I was in and out of the store in a few minutes. I secured the net over the pond and then joined Tom and Sheila at a meeting around the corner to review the plans for the new house. Hopefully, next year the heron will eat the fish out of the renovated mega pond in the back yard of the new house and leave mine alone.

Photo Time

Jackie invited me to join her on a sunrise to sunset time lapse shoot on Saturday at the Five Points Jazz Festival. I plan on joining her late in the day, have dinner and help her strike the event.

Last year Jackie hired a marketing consultant to redesign her website. The revamped site recently launched and it’s driving business in the door from around the world. She’s gotten calls from England, Mexico, Switzerland, Malaysia, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Jackie could soon be traveling the world for clients.

Jackie has been on back to back shoots for the last few weeks. She hired a production manager and proposal assistant. In just a few months Jackie has gone from a severe lack of business to having more work than she can handle. It’s great to see the business back on track. Mary, Jackie’s partner, gave me a polite lecture a few weeks ago about not bothering Jackie since her business suddenly exploded with opportunities. I’ve left her alone. I was pleasantly surprised when Jackie called me about the event.

I’m excited about spending time with Jackie. I always have a great time with her. I’m inspired and influenced by Jackie’s incredible artistic talent and humble attitude. Her artistic process feeds my soul. I need a fun weekend to counter a bleak week.

Another Sucky Day

The company started laying off people yesterday. My peers told me 30% of R&D was let go. Two offices in Canada lost 50% of the staff. There was a sadness in the air today. The survivors feel shell shocked. The victims are panicked. The make things worse, the CIO issued an edict that all IT employees must report to an IT Center of Excellence. No more working from home. Thankfully, my office is one of them. The edit does not apply to contractors but I expect that will be coming soon. I thank the dictator at Yahoo for starting the trend of eliminating the virtual office.

Jack Died

Cindi’s dad died yesterday. He didn’t make it back to the ranch. It’s a sad day.

Jack

Cindi’s father, Jack, went to hospice yesterday. Jack has been battling cancer for the last five years. He was responding positively to a new treatment but suddenly took a turn for the worse a few days ago. Her parents were getting ready to leave their winter place in Tucson and drive back to their ranch in Montana. Jack wants to spend his last days in on the ranch. Cindi’s father has declined so rapidly that he is unable to fly on a commercial airline. The family is looking into a private medical charter flight service to get Jack back to Montana. The flight will be expensive but you can’t put a price on granting a dying man’s last wish.

Jack had a career with the government’s fish and wildlife service. I was fascinated by his hunting and fishing stories. We often shared cancer treatment stories. Jack will be missed.

From Winter To Summer

Our ten minutes of spring are over. It’s going to be in the mid to high eighties this week. Record snowfalls were recorded in April. Now it looks like the forecasted high temperatures for the week will set new records for May. I’m bracing for a long hot summer.