Wild Swans Chase (NaBloPoMo Day 13)

Posted on November 13, 2017 by Helen C

We left our house around 9 am this morning to look for those migrating tundra swans. First stop was a wild life refuge near Winona (I don’t remember the name.) NO SWANS.

Leaving Winona, we soon spotted some swans in the river next to the highway. We took a U-turn and parked the car by the roadside and took a few photos.

Next stop: Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge. The lady told us someone had seen 400 swans two days ago, so we walked .3 miles (good thing it wasn’t too cold today) to the observation deck. NO SWANS.

That lady also told us Brownsville had thousands of them. After eating a quick lunch (and pick up some wines since WI’s wine tax is lower), we headed to Brownsville. No SWAN and NO SWAN! My husband finally said, “Two more miles, if we don’t see them, we are going home!” I agreed.

But, at the last minute, We saw them. Thousands of them!

They were LOUD! They were incredible! And it was getting colder and colder…

Maybe I will go back tomorrow. Maybe.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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Temporary (NaBloPoMo Day 12)

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Helen C

Four years ago, my sister Karin passed away. I lost one of my best friends.

I have written several stories about Karin. This one happened after she beat her first cancer in 2003.

* * *
When our eyes met in the bathroom mirror, Karin jolted, her hands moving up and down as if she was trying to hide something. What was she trying to hide? For a second, I thought, maybe she’d lost her mind.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, and cautiously stepped forward.

She slowly put her hands down, smiling sheepishly, and then looked into the mirror again. “Since I had chemo, no one has seen me without a wig, not even your brother-in-law,” she said.

I knew she had been wearing a wig since the day she lost her hair, but she had completed her chemo treatment two months ago and her hair had grown back two inches.

“You look great,” I said. “Most people like to keep their hair short in the summer. If I didn’t have a flat spot on the back of my head, I would cut my hair short, too,” I said.

She looked at me suspiciously. “Really?”

I combed her baby-soft hair with my fingers. “Really. I wouldn’t lie to you. You don’t need a wig; your hair looks great.”

“Really?” she asked again, studying her hair in the mirror. “Do you really think I look okay?”

“You look great! How many times do you want me to tell you?”

She took another look at her image in the mirror. She smiled.

Turning toward me, she put her arm on my shoulder. Together, we walked out the room.

* * *
It is also my daughter’s birthday. Having a wonderful daughter is such a blessing (I am sure a lot of you know what I mean.) More stories to come, I am sure 😉

* * *

Today, one half of me is sad, the other half is happy. I mean very sad and very happy.

Life is temporary. Have you figured that out yet?

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in Memoir, Writing | Tagged | 17 Comments

XDrive Photo Lesson 14 – Post processing (NaBloPoMo Day 11)

Posted on November 11, 2017 by Helen C

This is my submission for XDrive Photo Lesson 14 – Post Processing.

Raj said, “Well, there is no limit on kind of edits one can do.” For me, there is. For now, that is. I only know a few basic edits. Once in a while, I get frustrated and wish I know more, but most of time those few edits do satisfy me.

Raj has listed out 10 basic edits and he said we should do in the sequence mentioned. The 10 edits (in sequence) are: 1) Horizon/Level adjustment 2) Cropping 3) White Balance 4) Brightness 5) Contrast 6) Highlights 7) Shadows 8) Saturation 9) Sharpness 10) Noise Reduction.

Edit in a sequence? I’ve never heard of it. Usually, I would sharp the photo first, and crop the last. Whatever happens in the middle is anyone’s guess.

Then I read Cambridge in Color’s Digital Photo Editing Workflow article. In it, it lists 10 steps also, and says “If you’ve captured your image using the RAW file format, then the order of the steps isn’t as important.” But it doesn’t give any reason ;-(

I decided… for this lesson, I would edit a photo in 3 ways: (1) edit in my usual way (2) edit in Raj’s sequence (3) edit in Raj’s sequence in backward. I got excited.

The first was easy (however it took me a while to decide which photo to use.) Here are the before (first) and after (second).

It ended up that I only sharpened and cropped this photo (I wish the person is in a different spot, but…). I was hoping there was more to be done. I was going to try a different photo, but it turned out I might not have to. 😉

Moving on… when I tried to edit in Raj’s sequence, right away, I had a problem. I am using Photoshop Element (although I do have PS and Lightroom installed). If you open a raw file with PS, the first editing screen has several edit functions and these are for Raw only. Every edit step on Raj’s list can be done here (to a certain degree) except the first two steps. This means, I can’t really follow his exactly sequence.

I, also, figured out (I think I have figured out) why Cambridge in Color said if you edited a raw file, the order isn’t as important. It is because when you are in this editing-raw-file screen, before you press the button to continue, you can keep editing. In other words, all edits will happen at the same time – the moment you press the button to continue, so it doesn’t matter which you do first.

After you press continue, a second screen will be displayed and it has similar editing functions. By then, a lot of editing is already done, so the order may not make any difference. (I have no idea what I said is true. It makes sense to me.)

(By the way, other than the first two edits, when I compare Raj’s list with what I see in Cambridge in Color, they are pretty much the same.)

Based on this discovery, there is no point to edit in backward sequence either.

(I can be totally wrong, but…)

One thing I appreciate Raj’s lessons is that because of his lessons, I have a chance to learn things I don’t know I should know. 😉 Can’t wait for Raj’s comment and his next lesson. (Do we keep you busy enough, Raj?)

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, photo and thoughts, Writing | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Mental Exercise (NaBloPoMo Day 10)

Posted on November 10, 2017 by Helen C

“Cheesecake! Come over!” Julia sounded excited on the other end of the phone line.

“Why? What are you celebrating?”

“Nothing. I walked by the bakery this afternoon and bought a cheesecake, that’s all.”

I saw a big “10” dancing in front of my eyes. I had been working hard trying to get rid of that 10 pounds I had gained last year. “Nah, I am on a diet. Remember?”

“It’s your favorite kind – New York style with strawberry sauce on top.”

Her voice was smooth… like a piece of good cheesecake. My mouth started watering. “Well, I suppose… no, I can’t,” I said.

Two weeks ago, after a full course of a fine Italian meal, I told myself not to eat any dessert for 6 months. What kind of person would break a promise that she made to herself?

After a short pause, Julia said, “If you don’t want it, I understand.”

“I want it, but I don’t like the consequence.”

“Forget it then,” she said, and hung up the phone.

In my mind, I could still hear her disappointing voice. Worse yet, I heard my own disappointing voice shouting: I WANT CHEESECAKE!

I haven’t had any sweets for two weeks now. Wasn’t it about time to reward myself with something… maybe a piece of cheesecake? Why am I so hard on myself? Life is too short to count calories.

What would be the consequence anyway? Gain 5 pounds? If I do gain 5 pounds, that means I’ll have to get rid of 15 later. Definitely an impossible task!

But, if I enjoy the cake, what is the big deal? I want to be happy, don’t I? Besides, a “small” piece of cheesecake can’t produce that much of damage, can it?

Strawberry sauce… She bought a cheesecake with strawberry sauce on the top? Why? She loves blueberry! Did she get strawberry sauce because of me?

No one is perfect… so what if I am not a determined person. I’ll work on the damage control tomorrow…

So, I happily picked up the phone.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in Writing | Tagged | 20 Comments

One Snowy Day (NaBloPoMo Day 9)

Posted on November 9, 2017 by Helen C

The year my daughter was a senior in high school, one morning we had 6 inches of snow; her school bus came late. When she arrived home that day, she didn’t look happy.

“What happened?” I asked.

“The lady at the administration desk scolded me for being late. I told her the school bus was late. She then complained about my attendance record, telling me I shouldn’t miss so many school days.”

“I’ll go to talk to her tomorrow,” I said.

“NO! Don’t go. I’ll be embarrassed.”

“But, I have to. Otherwise, on the next snowy day you will be scolded again.”

She thought for a while, and said, “I still think we should let go, Mom. I’ll be fine.”

Next day, I went to see the principal. The principal wasn’t there; the vice-principal came to meet me. With a normal-chatting voice, I told the vice-principal what had happened, and asked her what we should do on the next snowy day so my daughter wouldn’t be scolded again (Pretending stupid solves problems better than shouting, in my opinion.)

The vice-principal said she was sorry about the incident. She assured me that it wasn’t my daughter’s fault.

I moved on to my next subject: my daughter’s attendance record. I told her that other than taking one sick day, the only time my daughter had missed school was when school asked her to participate in events or competitions. “If school isn’t happy with her attendance record, please consider sending someone else next time.”

Vice principal apologized. She promised me this wouldn’t happen again.

Later on that day, my daughter came home with a big smile on her face. She told me she was called to the office and the lady had apologized to her.

“Mom, you know what? Today, the whole day, I stayed far away from the office. I worried that you might come. I didn’t want to be embarrassed,” she said, and hugged me. “But, Mom, I am glad you did.”

I don’t like confrontation. But protecting my daughter’s right is an important mother thing for me. I do take it seriously.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in Memoir, photo, Writing | Tagged | 13 Comments

Tita (NaBloPoMo Day 8)

Posted on November 8, 2017 by Helen C

I went to get a haircut yesterday. It was definitely a couple of months overdue. My hair grows fast. Normally, a haircut would look good on me for two weeks. But past experience had assured me that no one would comment on my hair no matter how ugly it is, so I only see my hairdresser when I’m absolutely bored.

Wait… no one would comment on my hair, except my hairdresser Tita, that is. Yesterday morning, she greeted me with an exaggerated shocking look.

“What the heck did you do with your hair?” she said.

“Nothing. This is how you cut it last time. Remember?”

She rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t you come sooner?”

“Well…” Good question, I thought. Should I say I was busy? Should I tell the truth that I don’t like to “waste” my time and money? After a short pause, I finally said, “I didn’t realize I needed a haircut.” Lying is one way to make a long story short.

She turned the chair and looked me into my eyes. “Don’t you want to look good? Women should always look good!” She was quite serious.

“At this age, Tita? I don’t want to look good; I want to look wise,” I said.

She hit me lightly with a comb. “Do me a favor, would you? Don’t tell anyone I cut your hair.”

“I suppose I can do that,” I said, and that was the end of our before-cutting conversation.

I have seen Tita for several years now. In spite of her earnest and well-meaning advices, I’m still not convinced that spending time and money to look good for two weeks is a smart investment. Her friendship, however, has become more and more valuable to me. In fact, I am somewhat addicted to her nagging… the kind of nagging that I used to get from my mother.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in Memoir, photo, Writing | Tagged | 20 Comments

Banana Cream Pie (NaBloPoMo Day 7)

Posted on November 7, 2017 by Helen C

One local restaurant is famous for pies. The other day, before heading to my friend’s house for dinner, I stopped by to pick up a pie.

“I would like to buy a banana cream pie,” I said to a young girl who stood behind the counter.

She turned to her college. “Do you see a banana cream pie? I don’t see any,” she said. She didn’t bother to check the shelf.

I pointed to a banana cream pie on the shelf to her. She grabbed it, placed it in a box, and handed it to me. All this time, she, somehow, managed not having any eye contact with me.

Right away, I noticed a big chunk of cream on one side of the box.

“Would you please wipe the cream off? I don’t want get my car seat dirty,” I said.

She took a piece of paper. While continuing chatting with her college, she quickly went through a wiping motion, and then handed the pie back to me.

Most of the cream was still on the box. Just as I was about to ask her to clean it again, she walked away.

“Thank you,” I said loudly to her back, shaking my head.

On my way out, I “accidentally” smudged the cream on their shining glass door.

* * *

I am going to switch to a new PC soon. Let’s hope that everything will go smoothly and I won’t miss a post 😉

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Posted in Memoir, Writing | Tagged | 14 Comments

Mother-in-law (NaBloPoMo Day 6)

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Helen C

Mom was an old fashioned woman. She treated my dad like a royal king, and treated every one of her son-in-laws like a royal prince. Of course, she expected her daughters to follow suit.

One day when we visited my parents, Mom said, “Ai-ya, W haven’t had any drink. Go get him a glass of water or beer.”

I turned to my husband, trying to look somewhat surprised, and said, “Honey, oh my God, what happen to your legs? Why didn’t you tell me that you couldn’t walk?”

Mom laughed. “Stop it. He is a guest,” she said.

“He used to be a guest. Now he is a member of the family, Mom,” I said.

Having no desire to be in the middle of this, W quietly left the dining room. Mom shook her head, pointing her finger at me and said, “I don’t know why I have a daughter like you.” She sighed; I gave her a sweet hug in return.

Moments later, Mom glanced at the living room, where W was sitting, and said, “See where W likes to go and go with him.”

“Why?”

“He is bored.”

“But I am not.”

This time, apparently, Mom had heard enough from me. She yanked me out of my comfortable chair and pushed me toward the living room.

“Okay. Okay,” I said. After taking two steps, I stopped, turning to Mom, with a sincere voice, I said, “Will you consider adopting W? You are a good mother-in-law and I would love to have a mother-in-law like you.”

She slapped on my arm. “Ai-ya, I don’t understand a word you said. Just go, please.”

* * *
Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in Memoir, Writing | Tagged | 15 Comments

A Black Cat (NaBloPoMo Day 5)

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Helen C

Today, I decided to share a flash fiction story, which I wrote many years ago. It was published by Postcard Shorts. I hope you will enjoy it.

First, about the photo: Lois, at … on pet and prisoners…, took many beautiful cat photos and she’s kind to let me use one of her photos. I don’t have any pet, and have no idea how would a black cat in a dark room look like. This is the best I could come up with. Lois, thank you for letting me use your photo, and sorry if I ruined it. 😉

A Black Cat

Two hands grabbed my shoulders. I jumped. Turning around, I saw Ji-Ning. His face twisted with anger.

“Who is Tony?” he asked, clenching his teeth. His wavering finger pointed at the PC monitor, my email inbox naked in front of our eyes.

I sighed. “What would you like to know?”

He didn’t answer. I continued, “Tony is 24 years young, six feet 5 inches. Nice looking—”

“Young, is that it? I am too old for you now?” His voice trembled.

I wanted to say more, but started laughing. I opened Tony’s email. “Your nephew, who lives in Washington D.C., is coming to your surprise 65th birthday party.”

I closed Tony’s email and opened the next several. “Jake is the catering person we hired. Bill, your golfing buddy can not come. Dave, your Kiwanis friend said he and five others will be here. Douglas, your colleague before you retired, is coming from Wisconsin…”

I turned to face him. “Not every dark room has a black cat, you know.”

Ji-Ning scratched his head, his face softened. “I spoiled your plan, didn’t I?” He smiled sheepishly. “You know I don’t like surprises.”

He leaned over, kissing me on my cheek. Then he slowly walked away.

I opened the next email, and gently ran my finger through every word Bob wrote. There must be a way to include Bob too.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in Writing | Tagged | 14 Comments

YOU is Not-Equal to I (NaBloPoMo Day 4)

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Helen C

Last week, in front of many CEOs, a wise friend said, “One mistake many people make is to think YOU as an extension of I. You should like what I like, behave the way I behave, and believe what I believe. That is far from the truth. YOU, actually, is a totally separated individual. YOU has his own thinking, his own personality, even his own look. I should let YOU to be YOU and respect YOU as YOU, not treating YOU like an extension of I.”

He gave us an example. A man has built up his company from nothing. All these years, he goes to work early and comes home late. He seldom takes time off from work, and has missed many of his kids’ school events, if not all. When he hires an employee, he expects the employee to work as hard as he is. “I have given my life to this company. I expect my employee love this company as much as I do and work as hard as I do. I treat my employee as another me.”

But the employee thinks differently. “Feeding my family is the reason for me to take this job. I am hired as a worker and I’ll work as much as you have paid me for. Family time is important for me. Nothing can take my family time away! Besides, this company is your baby, not mine.”

My friend concluded, “Remember, YOU is not equal to I.”

* * *
My friend’s words brought back a lot of memories. I heard my voice saying: “This dish is still dirty. Why can’t you wash dishes like I do?”, “I always turn the light off when I leave a room. Why can’t you do the same?”, “I’ve kept your secret, why can’t you keep mine?”… The voice kept going on.

In my recent comment to Y, I asked, “Why can’t others treat us like the way we treat them?” I know the answer now, Y.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Posted in photo, Street Photographing, Writing | Tagged , | 21 Comments