Alpine Loop - prep for Ireland & Scotland 090712

Thinking about the time Steven Fallon and I will spend in Ireland and Scotland in the next few weeks,  I have been  considering  pictures that I want to be sure to capture while I am there.  I will take my Nikon CoolPix Digital camera.  It is  a good, quality camera but does not have all the bells and whistles or the options of various lenses.  I does take good pictures and has the advantage of being small and convenient.  Then I thought, 'Why don't I take my Olympus 35mm  filmcamera with just the wide angle close up lens attached'.  That will allow me to capture wide views of the great landscapes, coastlines, cliff shorelines, etc. of Ireland with the wide angle lens on film.  I decided to use up some film in the camera to make sure everything was working.  Glad I tried, the batteries were dead and the camera did not work at all.  Since I was driving the Alpine Loop, I took some pictures with my Digital camera.

The colors have not changed to the fall shades yet around the Alpine Loop even though they clearly had changed when Mark and I were in Emigration Canyon on his Motorcycle a few days ago, but it was still a nice drive and helped me identify something I needed to attend to on my 35 mm camera.

I love the seasons of Utah.  It is fun to have four different views and moods of our living context and our world.

I wrote a poem 20 years ago during one of the times that I was provided a differing view of my life and the world I live in.  It is included below.

 Apostasy or Enlightenment

There was no question in the past,
Black and White were color fast, 
And choices were made to last and last --
What's changed?

Absolute truth was the norm for the day,
So it was easy to judge a man by the way,
And to always know the right thing to say,
But no more!

One calls it maturity, another apostasy.
Some say, "Hooray!", while others say, "You'd better pray."
But as I seek knowledge from others, it's obvious to see,
That answers, when available, will come within me.

And something interesting happens as the boundaries flex,
And I look beyond color, creed, or sex.
I find other people more real and more whole,
and a huge burden of judgement's released from my soul.

Friends can be friends and labels erased,
I can care for myself without feeling disgraced.
That lets me like you, without expected change,
Like free moving antelope on the open range.

There's pleasure and pain in this new found view,
But  the price is well worth it -- I've made contact with you.

R. Bernie Johnson
Odenton, Maryland
3 February, 1982
(Closing down a factory where 3 generations of families have worked their whole lives.)

Enjoy each day of your life and the events that come to you.