Partly Over

Shortly after the announcement by from Governor Hogan in March I began a posting a Delmarva Scenes Photo-a-Day on my Facebook Page – ShoreToBeFun Photographs.

Nearly 60 days after Hogan made the announcement to close schools and for all of us to voluntarily Shelter in Place, he has moved the state into Phase 1 of the State’s Recovery Plan.

As of today, May 15th, and the day that some restrictions are being lifted, I posted the 58th photo. After the announcement I decided it was time to end adding a Photo-a-day to the album. Today was to be that post.

I have decided to continue for two more days and bring to 60 the total of photos in the Album. This will be the photo that will close the album on Sunday and will also be the Photo of the Week on the ChesaDel Crier.

Photo: Ship's Flag

I am planning to get out to shoot some Spring scenes tomorrow, Saturday May 16th. It’ll be first time out with the intention of shooting since the first Weekend in March when I attended the Harriet Tubman Day and the Annual Kent County 4-H Awards.

Where Would You Go?

I think of March 13th as the my first day of Stay-at-home of the pandemic for me. It was the day after Maryland’s Governor Hogan announced that schools will close for two weeks beginning on March 16th. I had been scheduled to photograph an event on the evening of March 13th, which was cancelled. I was informed that the two local theatre productions I was involved with had been put on hold. One was to begin ‘tech week’ with opening being the following Friday and the other was to begin rehearsals on Monday.

As I am writing this it’s nearly two months later. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and the Dawn brought in one of the coldest mornings ever in May.

In small ways life is moving toward getting back what will become a new normal. Some restrictions have been lifted. The numbers associated with Covid-19 are leveling off. The way we have lived will be forever changed. How much is still to be seen.

Looking back on these past two months, I am thinking about what I am missing. I am missing the chance to just walk into a store and see what they have on the shelves. Sure there are those essential stores that are open, but you can’t just casually shop. It’s more of a get what you need and go back home.

Even though I may not have gone very often the two things that I really miss is going to a theater to watch a show. Whether that’s a local community theater or a Movie Theater. The other is to go to a restaurant, sit down with friends, and have a nice funfilled meal.

And that would be the first thing I would do once restaurants are allowed to open. Go in, sit down and enjoy a meal. It wouldn’t even bother me if I was eating by myself.

Shots Fired – 4 Dead in Ohio

At 12:22 on Monday May 4, 1970, 29 members of a group of 77 National Guard troops from A Company and Troop G fired shots towards a group of students at Kent State. 13 seconds and about 67 shots later it ended. Some shots were in the air as warnings, others to induce injury and not kill. The outcome was 4 deaths and another 9 receiving injuries.

The National Guard had been called to the campus after a war protest of May 1st got out of hand. They arrived on campus on the morning of May 2nd. At the time of the shooting they were in the process of clearing a scheduled but a campus declared unauthorized protest.

The students who died as a result of the wounds they suffered that day were:
(Name, distance from Guard, Injury)
Jeffrey Glen Miller, 265 ft, shot through the mouth – killed instantly
Allison Krause, 343 ft, fatal left chest wound
William Knox Schroeder, 382 ft, fatal chest wound
Sandra Lee Scheuer, 390 ft, fatal neck wound

The Wounded:
Joseph Lewis Jr., 71 ft, hit twice in the right abdomen and left lower leg
John R. Cleary, 110 ft, upper left chest wound
Thomas Mark Grace, 225 ft, struck in left ankle
Alan Canfora, 225 ft, hit in his right wrist
Dean Kahler, 300 ft, back wound fracturing the vertebrae – permanently paralyzed from the chest down
Douglas A. Wrentmore, 329 ft, hit in his right knee
James Dennis Russell, 375 ft, hit in his right thigh from a bullet and in the right forehead by birdshot – both wounds minor
Robert F. Stamps, 495 ft, hit in his right buttock
Donald Scott MacKenzie, 750 ft, neck wound

Even now 50 years later the reason for the shooting has not been fully determined. It may have been that the Guardsmen felt in danger. Some students were approaching them throwing objects and one reports has it that a sniper fired upon the guard.

One of the widely read book about the shootings is James Michener Kent State: What Happened and Why published in 1971. The book does contain a number of errors probably because it was produced so quickly and release so soon after the event. The Kent May 4 Center does list this as a non-recommended book. T

Neil Young after seeing pictures of the shooting wrote the song Ohio. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recorded the song on May 15 and released it as a single in June. The song became to many an anthem for the times giving a tribute that may last forever to the ‘Four dead in Ohio’.

420

Today is April 20th. 420 is a text code to signify illegal drug use or more specifically the use of marijuana. From that April 20th has counterculture holiday.

But where did the term come from.

According to snopes.com it started to be used by a group of students at San Rafael High School in California as the time, 4:20 in the afternoon, that they would get together to smoke some weed. This was way back in the early 1970s. 1971.

Also on snopes it is said not to have any relationship to police codes for marijuana use in progress

The California Bill that legalized the use of medical marijuana is Senate Bill 420, but it was signed in 2004, long after the term was in use. Although I suppose some may have started using the bill number without realizing that the term was already being used by others.

April 20th is also the birthday of one of the most despised man in History. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889.

Love of Photography

Marshmallow Field - Photo by SG Atkinson

When you ask a photographer what they love about photography, you will probably get a different answer from each.

Recently I heard these reasons on “What do you love about photography?”

“I love the investigation and the searching. Taking a walk with my camera down my street or down a nature path and looking all around me for interesting perspectives.”

“That it captures a moment in time otherwise lost to memory.”

“Getting that one shot that has that look that you have in your head.”

“The art, the creativity, the possibilities”

“Looking for that angle that nobody has ever noticed”

I am a 61 year old photographer, but until around 10 years ago I was just a beginner. Sure I had a camera when I was younger. But the cost of film processing was more than I was willing to spend, so the interest faded.

Until photography turned digital around the turn of the century. I jumped on the digital bandwagon, but only used point and shoot cameras. Around 2007 I was thinking about purchasing my first DSLR, but didn’t actually make that first purchase until 2011 when I purchase a used DSLR. Maybe Ironically, it was the same model that I almost purchased 4 years earlier.

That was the beginning of what turned into my new career as a photographer. I snapped 1000’s of photos those first few years at various events. Many of them at High School sporting events. Learning a little more every time I pushed the shutter.

Around 2015, I began to seriously look at things in a different way. Looking for those unusual angles at events, seeing the natural beauty around me. I began doing exactly as the first quote mentioned, “investigation and the searching”.

Since then I have photographed many events as a photojournalist. Some paid, but many just to share. I have also gone on plenty of “photo walks” looking for whatever scenes I can discover.

Do I have a love for photography? I guess you can say that I do.

Under My Window

Photo: Under the Window
For the past several week, along with many others, I have been self-isolating at home. I don’t remember the exact date that I last ventured out. It was sometime near the middle of March. So it’s been close to a month.

My office has a big window and I do look out to see what’s going on. There has been sunny days, cloudy days and rainy days.

The other day as I was walking past the the window and saw the Azalea bush under my window was in full bloom.

So I went outside for a breath of fresh air and with camera in hand took a couple of quick photos of the blooms.

I suppose to should be more attentive to what’s going out and stop to see the flowers and be part of the world that is happening around me, instead of spending most of my days in a 12×10 room.

Republic of West Florida

On October 27, 1810 President James Madison declared parts of the region known as West Florida as part of the United States. His reason for the annexation was he claimed it was part of the Louisiana Purchase. On December 10, 1810, the Republic of West Florida’s lone star came down and the Stars and Stripes took its place. This ended the existence of the Republic of West Florida.

Beginning in the 17th century through 1763 the French, the Spanish and the English each laid claim, at different times, to the region that now includes parts of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

At the conclusion of the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Year War) Great Britain received from the French portion of Louisiana between the Mississippi and Perdidio Rivers and the Spanish Colony of Florida. The British divided the region into East and West Florida. Boundaries of West Florida were the Mississippi to the Chattahoochee Rivers and North at the 31st parallel. The Gulf of Mexico was the Southern Boundary.

The colony had been invited to the 1st Continental Congress, but did not send representatives. They were one of 5 continental colonies that did not send representatives, the others being East Florida, Quebec, St. John’s Isle, and Nova Scotia.

The Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution, the British set the American Boundary at the 31st Parallel and ceded both Florida Colonies to the Spanish. This was just the beginning of a number of border disagreements between the United States, Spain and France.

In 1810, American’s who had settled in the region resented the Spanish Rule. This lead to a rebellion and on September 23 when the rebellion took the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge the Republic of West Florida was born.

National Telecommunicator’s Week

Each year, the second week of April is dedicated to the men and women who serve as Telecommunications Officers. In October 1991 Congress made a Formal Proclamation to recognize this week as National Telecommunicator’s Week.

Those who perform telecommunications duties serve as an indispensable link between the officers and the public, as well as a vital support services in the Public Safety community. The communications operators who provide radio, telephone and computer services are to be commended for their dedication and professionalism. Too often the importance of telecommunications personnel goes unrecognized and their services are taken for granted.

They are the first point of contact with the public’s plea for assistance. While one call may be just a request with a simple answer, the next call may be the most extreme emergency anyone could face. On every call they have to be prepared for the unexpected and at times unimaginable.

It takes a special type of person to remain calm when speaking to a screaming mother whose child is hurt, or when a Police Officer or Fire Fighter is screaming for assistance.

I offer my thanks and gratitude that they are there to answer the call.

If you happen to see a Communications Officer let them know how they are appreciated for the job they do for your community. Having worked among them for over 20 years, I understand their unique capabilities. Not everyone can do the job that they do each day.

At times they are treated as glorified office clerks. This is a big mistake and a far cry from the job that they do. It takes a lot of training to be a Telecommunicator and not something that comes easy.

They truly are The First Responder.

On a Desert Island

During these times when everyone is staying inside and spending time one Facebook, there have been many games being passed around. Games such as if you were stranded on a desert island what one book would you want to have with one. One person actually said, How to Build a Boat. I don’t know if that is actually a book title, but I thought it was a good answer.

So I’ve been thinking, which books would I want with me. Following in the mode of 6 Things to Consider I thought I’d pick six. All of these I have read, some of them several times.

The Stand – Stephen King
I have been a Stephen King fan since I picked up the just printed paperback edition of ‘Salem’s Lot in the summer of 1976. At the time The Stand hadn’t been released. When it came out, I immediately purchased it. It was my first Hardback book.

I would also take with me ‘Salem’s Lot.

And the other:

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
The way that Tolkien wanted it printed as one long book.

Harold Robbins The Carpetbaggers
Robbins was a best selling writer of in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, but not many know his work today, other than from the movies. The book based loosely on the story of Howard Hughes was made into two movies in the early 60’s. The Carpetbaggers and Nevada Smith.

James Jones’ From Here to Eternity
Perhaps the best novel written about the WWII even though most of the novel takes place in the months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie just touched on parts of the entire story.

Nine Play of Eugene O’Neil
Those that know me know that I’m involved with community theatre. Eugene O’Neil is my favorite playwright and this collection has some of his best early plays.