…we could periodically peel out of our skin, re-emerging a decade younger in appearance? I’d like to be the one holding the patent on that process, wouldn’t you?
The above photo courtesy of Retta, who always manages to find such neat photographic subjects. Here is another of her wonderful springtime photos –
The time is rapidly approaching when our friend Jasper will come around, inviting us to come along with him on another Bee Tree Hunt. (for photos of a bee hunt, click here) This is an ideal time for a bee hunt, or “coursing bees”, as it is called around here. This is a skill that was once common among the subsistence farmers who inhabited this area in the past. It is an art that is quickly disappearing, so we are fortunate to have Jasper teach us the tricks of the trade. This is our friend Jasper:
Jasper is an incredible man. At 82 years young, he can scramble up and down these hills and hollers all day long coursing bees, and even being three decades his junior, I can barely keep up with him. Jasper also gathers black walnuts from our ranch, as well as surrounding farms, and is consistantly the regions leading supplier to the Hammons Walnut Company, who sets up collection stations throughout the Ozarks every fall.  During summer, Jasper will spend about 6 weeks gathering blueberries from a large local farm, which he gladly shares with all his family and friends. But these are stories for a later day, which I will most probably babble about come this summer.
Meanwhile, I want to share a couple of bee photographs that Retta took last spring.
Sometimes I wish that we humans were endowed with 10X zoom, macro-enabled eyes – wouldn’t that be something?
I ran across this article on DPReview.com- Kodak’s digital sales overtake film. Here is my recent film experience. I have decided to Ebay my underwater camera equipment while it still has value.  My Nikonos V cameras have not been used for 6-7 years, so I thought that it would be a good idea to shoot a roll of film through each to test them out. Since I have shot digital photos for years now, it has been some time since I attempted to buy film. I went into my local Walmart Supercenter to buy a couple of rolls of 35mm film. They stocked 4-packs of Fuji ISO 100 print film. That is all. No Kodak film, no slide film, no choice of film speed, no B&W film, nothing. Just 4-packs of Fuji ISO 100 print film!
I looked at the camera display while I was there, and counted 47 digital cameras verses 2 film cameras.
It looks to me as if traditional film has died except for a few specialty niches, the largest of which are probably professional photography and one-time use disposable cameras. I suspect that Kodak’s film/digital sales ratio will continue its’ decline, and probably at an accelerated pace.
I had better sell those Nikonos cameras while potential purchasers can still obtain film for them!
