Bill Pearson

We do donations in the USA. 

Let me say that I am proud and grateful to all those who donate blood and/or platelets. This is a kind and selfless act that cannot be overstated in its necessity.

Thank you for your lifegiving effort.

On 7/14/2024 at 6:19 AM, Cassel said:

First of all, come and say HI if once you register for this workshop.

We want to know who else will be there, on our side to cheer us up.

Remember that it is NOT a contest. It is a friendly workshop to get you to do something you might not have thought of doing before.

Once the Workshop is started, on July 22nd, you can post your pages, and your stories here (if it is too small to read, you can always copy and paste the text, if you want).

Remember to resize your image to about 600 pixels before uploading it so it won't slow down the site when we have lots of your masterpieces.

The workshop will include prompts and downloadable templates (for you to be creative) and quick-pages (if you are in a hurry). Although the same seven templates/quick-pages will be used as in two years ago, there will also be some additional supplies for our DIAMOND members.

If you found this thread without seeing the registration page, you can go and register (remember, it is FREE).

Register now

And bring a friend over!

We had cloudy weather but it actually worked to our advantage. It was possible to see the eclipse without constant use of the special glasses. I even took a few pictures with my unprotected cell phone. And it got so dark that solar powered night lights switched on. And as an added bonus, it got dark enough that a star was visible in the sky. That is it on the lower right. I looked it up. It turns out the star is Sirius (AKA The Dog Star, an Easter egg for you Harry Potter fans out there.)

The good news: It is supposed to pass directly over my home. The bad news: early weather reports indicate rain Monday. This will be my third eclipse in my lifetime. As a kid in the 60's one passed over my hometown in Pennsylvania. Then I was in Nebraska in 2017 when another took place.  Attached is a photo showing the area one hour before the eclipse, during, and a few minutes after, Fascinating. When the eclipse took place, everything went so quiet. Dogs, birds, insects all went silent.

From the days long ago (note the pager on my belt,) when I helped coach my son's baseball team. Not a particularly original layout as I simply followed Cassel's instructions step-by-step with the exception of a picture frame. If I used one and tried to put it inside the photo, I cut off my head. Used a quote from one of the great baseball flicks of all time.

My wife at the controls of one of the large telescopes at the McDonald's Observatory in West Texas.

Scenes from the 2022 Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, NM. To be truthful, this pic does not capture the colorful event very well.

My daughter spent two weeks at an elephant preserve in Thailand.

When my daughter spent two weeks in Thailand assisting at an elephant care facility.

I am not much of a photographer, naturalist, or gardener, but I have always found the colors of some of the plants in our neighborhood to be fascinating.

I'm on board