the 80's and low 90's are back. As my brother says: "That's why we live in Texas". He is so right about that. I remember one of my friends in the Great Lakes, called me the first Thanksgiving that I was back in Texas and ask me what I was doing. My reply was: " I'm sitting on the porch in a T-shirt and shorts watching the birds and a squirrel playing. What are you doing?" His reply was that he was freezing his butt off," Well. that's good enough reason for me to agree with my brother. That's why we live in Texas.
It got down to 45 ° F a couple of morning and the highs didn't get out of the 60's. I have keep a log on when I had to turn on my heat every year and. Within a couple of days, I had to turn it on for one day just to get the chill out of the house. The AC has been set to come on when it hits 74°F and it hasn't been on yet. So, I'm counting on it not coming on the rest of the month. I don't like giving money to the electric company, don't you see?
With the cooler weather, I was able to get out and take several hundred shorts. My monthly step count is at 77,201 for 32.89 miles and a 2,835 calorie burn. I like that. So does the old heart. September was at 56,349. I do function better in cooler weather, but staying informed as to the weather helps me plan, too.
Yesterday, I spent the better part of the afternoon at my favorite Urban Nature Park. The fall wild flowers were spectacular. One of my favorites this time of year is the dried thistle stems and seed pods that have not released their seed yet. In fact, about 70% of what I shot was thistle stems.
Also, the big change to this fall shoot was that most of the agencies that I list with have all gone to AI (artificial intelligence) processing. While it is a big bust to agencies workflows, it is also a threat to most photographers in many ways. There isn't any regulation to it that I am aware or any of the photographers that I know are aware and the likelihood that abuse will occur is already showing up in some areas. The one thing that I have noticed is that my phone pictures have started to show up here and there and I did not put them out there willingly. That's were the family pictures have surfaced the most. To me, it is a thief of my images. I'm not all that happy that the big Silicon Valley companies have what photographers are calling, "assets in waiting". I call it greed. But, I have never opposed change. Without change we are stagnant.
So. It's good to be back. It is to be hoped that I didn't drive all of my readers off with my frustrations about AI and the Dark Web Boys that have little or no ethics what-so-ever. But, Karma eventually catches up with them. I've seen it happen with those that wish to see you fail. But, at my age now, I really don't let it bother me that much. Life is to short.
Enjoy the images.
