4 May 2013
Mason High School musical
Mason High School has a fine drama department and the students can always be counted on to give stellar presentations. They gave their final performance of the musical "In the Heights" tonight, a fine performance. This was the third night in a row that the play was presented. My grandson Tobias Webb , a Junior at Mason High School, was was one of the performers (wearing the green shirt in the photo at the right).
Go to: 4 May 2013 High School Play.
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4 May 2013
Mason Spring Fling
Every Spring Mason celebrates the season with the Spring Fling with booths set lup surrounding the historic Ingham County Courthouse in the Mason Square. There are merchants, food vendors, children activities, information booths, entertainment, and other activities. This is a fun time in Mason, a time to enjoy and celebrate the coming of Spring.
Later that evening the Mason High School gave their final performance of the musical "In the Heights", a fine performance. I took a few shots of this performance. My grandson Tobias Webb was part of the performance.
Go to: 4 May 2013.
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3 May 2013
Mason State Bank 5K Race
Coming soon. Many of the photos are already included.
Go to: 3 May 2013.
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14 March 2013
2.7-mile walk
The long Winter is nearing its end. After a long break from photo walks I went out tonight with my camera in hand with a goal in mind, photographing the "maintenance shed" built by the railroad company this winter. The shed is actually a tall building with huge doors capabile of admitting a full size locomotive. After starting out I decided to photograph a few local businesses pretty new to Mason. I also got a few shots of a local group of skateboarding enthusiasts on their practice hill on Elm Street.
The real impetus for my walk was an unexpectedly high blood glucose number following my "low carb" dinner. Exercise was called for to bring it down, so even though it was starting to get dark I headed out with my trusty Olympus PEN E-PL2 camera with my only low-light lens, the Panasonic 20/1.7. All photos were taken at ISO 800 at the beginning and ISO 1600 at the end as it got darker.
Go to: 14 March 2013.
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8 December 2012 - Twisted Fiber Arts Ribbon Cutting
Today was a celebration of the opening of Twisted Fiber Arts in the lower level of Kean's Store. The Mason Chamber of Commerce participated in the official ribbon cutting.
With bad weather outside the ribbon cutting was performed in the retail area. The photo at the right shows the ribbon halves flying apart as owner and creator Margaret (Meg) Campbell-Crawley cuts the ribbon with the giant scissors along with partner Anne Boll on the left. Meg's husband Jeff stands behind her with her daughter Hazel to the right of her. Anne's husband Jeff is holding the ribbon at the extreme left. More photos of Twisted can be seen on the Open House page.
Go to: Twisted Fiber Art Ribbon Cutting.
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8 December 2012 - Nana's Sweet Treats bakery opens
The much anticipated opening of a Mason bakery arrived on Saturday, December 8 and people crowded in to see the delights being offered by Nana (Roseanne Sherwood) in her Nana's Sweet Treats store. Original recipes from her mother are used here to prepare many delicious treats such as donuts, cupcakes, muffins, cookies and cakes.
I was welcomed in to take photos during the construction phase and reproduce some of the photos along with pictures of the opening day.
Go to: Nana's Sweet Treats.
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15 September 2012 - Mason Down Home Days
Mason Down Home Days Festival
The annual Down Home Days were celebrated on Saturday around the Ingham County Courthouse in downtown Mason. It's always a fun day with a lot of vendors, food and a little entertainment (when I was there Fading World was performing). Since the weekly Farmers Market takes place on Saturday mornings they just occupied basically their regular spot on Maple Street north of the courthouse and extended their hours to that of the other vendors. This is normally a colorful event and a chance to pick up some great baked goods and do some interesting shopping from professional businesses to serious crafters and organization fund raisers.
Go to: 15 September 2012.
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6 September 2012
Twisted Fiber Art Open House with Kean's Store and Margaret Ross Jewelry Design Studio
I rode my Trike over to Kean's Store today for the open house with my daughter Meg's business and the Margaret Ross Jewelry Design Studio. My daughter recently expanded her business out of her house to the lower level of Kean's store. Kean's had an open house for their own business plus the two businesses resident within Kean's. I concentrated on my daughter's yarn dyeing and design business but took photos of all three businesses.
Go to: Twisted Fiber Art Open House with Kean's and Margaret Ross Jewelry Design Studio.
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24-25 August 2012
3rd Annual Mason Sun Dried Music Fest (continued)
I have finally conpleted the second web page for the Sundried Music Fest and made some minor updates to the Bands page descibed below. It was an exhilarating experience and well worth the effort. I am already looking forward to next year's 4th annual event.
The photos on this web page show the event apart from the bands with separate photos for the childrens' area and the Farmers Market that was displaced to a local park to make room for the vendors on Maple Street. I'm hoping to add some video clips to The Bands page in the future for some of the bands. Time will tell.
Go to: 2012 Sun Dried Music Fest.
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24-25 August 2012
3rd Annual Mason Sun Dried Music Fest
15 musical groups participated in the 3rd annual Sun Dried Music Fest in Mason, drawing large crowds to enjoy the fun. I determined to document all the bands this year along with the surrounding activities. I made frequent trips to downtown Mason on my Terratrike, though after dark I decided to play it safe and walk (no lights on my trike, yet). After a tiring two days and about 400 exposures I started the long work of editing the photos and web pages. Due to the size I divided coverage into two pages, one for the event in general and one devoted to coverage of the individual bands.
Here is the first page finished showing the musical groups that participated. I hope to add some video clips later and will certainly add the second page devoted to the event in general quite soon.
Go to: 2012 Sun Dried Music Fest - The Bands.
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22-25 July 2012
Short Walks around Mason
Sometimes I have the need for a short, fast walk to help lower my blood sugar level quickly. Usually 15-20 minutes is sufficient. I have a stardard route that cuts through downtown Mason and accounts for 1.5 miles. I can do this walk in about 22 minutes. Sometimes I vary cutting a bit south by the railroad crossing on south Jefferson Street, sometimes walking the rails north through town, sometimes preferring the Hayhoe Riverwalk. I usually move fast and leave the camera behind, frequently walking when it is dark, sometimes as late as 2am, when photography is problematic.
On July 22, 23 and 25 I took a series of these short walks and did take my camera, deciding to just take some pictures for the fun of it. I looked for colors, patterns and interesting reflections. Downtown Mason has some amazing reflections, occasionally allowing for some fun self-portraits in window reflections. Many of the houses have great geometric shapes. The railway has attractive vegetation and water runs in attractive creeks. This is a great town for photography!
Go to: 22-25 July 2012.
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11 August 2012
2.4-mile walk
Tonight a high BG number dictated that I get some exercise immediately to run the number down. I took a 2.4 mile walk (my new trike is in the shop), as indicated by the pedometer in my phone. I stopped several times to chat with other Mason residents so the walk took 75 minutes. However, I saw quite a bit of Mason. I walked part of the Hayhoe Riverwalk, visited Griffin Park and Lee Austin Park, enjoyed "walking the rails" on the railroad tracks, visited my new friend Jim Cook at Tiki Jim's Hawaiian Food Hut (see 4 Aug 2012 for more pictures), Met some fellow Mason residents and two delightful children, checked out the burned out building of ServiceMasters (see photo at right), and visit some residents of the Jefferson Street Square building.
Go to: 11 Aug 2012.
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6 October 2011
ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA)
Our daughter Meg was quite enthusiastic about this huge art contest held annually in Grand Rapids, Michigan (ArtPrize) and recommended it to us. As members of the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, also in Grand Rapids, Michigan, we decided to check out this remarkable-sounding city-wide event. Though it's been a long time since that event, I am finally posting a selection of photos I took on that visit. As they say, "Better late than never."
Go to: 6 Oct 2011.
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4 August 2012
Tiki Jim's Hawaiian Food Hut Opens in Mason
Tiki Jim's Hawaiian Food Hut opened today. As supper time arrived I headed over on my new recumbant trike to pick up some food. I met the owners Jim & Debbie Cook and enjoyed our conversation about their new restaurant and how it came about. Their concession trailer has been a frequent part of many festivals in Michigan, but finally they found a permanent home for their food service here in Mason in a building formerly occupied by a local pet grooming enterprise. Their first customer Missy Bailey arrived while I was there and I got to photograph her signing the dollar bill she had used in that first purchase. Oh, I got the Hula Dog for my wife and the Mushroom Swiss Burger (with gravy!) for myself. I'm already thinking about that Pulled Pork Plate.
Go to: 4 Aug 2012.
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4 July 2012
Independence Day in Mason
I wasn't up for much today, but my BG level dictated that I needed to take a walk. This gave me the opportunity to view some of the annual Mason Independence Day parade, which passes within a block of my house. Of course, this is a great occasion here in Mason, and all the usual entries were there ... tractors, fire trucks, school band, politicians, classic cars and children.
I went light carrying only my Olympus PEN E-PL2 camera with pancake lens (Panasonic 20/1.7). I missed the end of the parade but still got some good representative shots. My favorite was the girl at the right dressed in her partriotic dress for the occasion. Thanks to her parents for allowing me to take this shot for this web page! The Sun Dried Music Fest will be coming up in August so look for some shots of that coming up here.
Go to: 4 July 2012.
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1 October 2011 - Scott Kelby's 4th Annual Worldwide Photo Walk (Marshall, Michigan walk) with Olympus PEN E-PL2/14-150 lens
Pro photographer Scott Kelby organizes a worldwide photo walk each year. This year the dates set were October 1 or 2 (Saturday or Sunday) instead of a single day as in the past. My photo walk was organized for Saturday afternoon in Marshall, Michigan (USA). In my 2½ hours I took 220 photos using my Olympus PEN E-PL2 camera with Olympus 14-150 zoom (I reduced the count to 48 for my web page). I carried my new Panasonic 20/1.7 lens in case I needed low-light capabilty, bu the day was beautiful and sunny, so I used only the 14-150. After we finished our photography we met at Schuler's restaurant for an excellent meal.
Scott Kelby's 4th Annual Worldwide Photo Walk web site
Scott Kelby's 4th Walk Flickr page
Marshall Walk Flickr page
Go to: 1 October 2011.
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21 September 2011 - Street Photography at the Mid Michigan Photography Meetup
Once again following a monthly meeting of the Mid Michigan Photography Meetup a number of members went to the streets to take photos. Here's a selection of the photos I took in Lansing, Michigan's "Old Town".
Go to: 21 September 2011.
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20 September 2011 - Ingham County Court House and Railroad Locomotive Repair
Driving back and forth between my home and the local SNAP gym I've often noticed the locomotive sitting unused on a railway spur track. Occasionally I've seen a crew working on this engine, but recently I've noted two large cranes. Since I was in need of a quick exercise walk I determined to check out the cranes to see what I could. On my way there I also took a variety of photos of the famous Ingham County Court House, which dominates the Mason downtown area. It's a beautiful building worthy of being photographed. I've often noticed how it can be seen from many locations, as can be seen from a few of my photos. I particularly enjoy the window reflections showing the building. The photo at the right shows a nice reflection of the American flag in a window of the court house.
Go to: 20 September 2011.
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17 September 2011 - Mason Down Home Days
The Spring/Summer season kicks off in Mason each year with the Spring Fling and summer ends with the Down Home Days. As usual I walked to the downtown square to enjoy the event and take a few photos. The walk home was a little harder, given the heavy bags of items from the Farmers Market (the bag of apples contributing most of the weight). I tried out my new Panasonic 20/1.7 lens, finding it a quite nice lens.
Go to: 17 September 2011.
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30 August 2011 - St. James Church Balloon Launch
A hot air balloon launch was originally scheduled as part of the St. James Community Festival & Camino of St. James 8K Run/5K Walk held at the St. James Catholic Church in Mason on August 13-14, 2011. It was delayed due to weather till today. A collection of hot air balloon enthusiasts gathered for a 7pm launch of their colorful air craft and provided a fantastic opportunity to observe the methods of filling the balloons with hot air and launching them. Watching them rise into the air and drift off into the distance was an exhilarating experience.
Go to: 30 August 2011.
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26-27 August 2011 - 2nd Annual Sundried Music Festival
Last year was the first annual Sundried Music Festival in Mason (see Sun Dried Music Fest 2010 for some photos). This year's event felt even more crowded with music fans and was expanded to start on Friday evening. I took some photos on Friday, when The Full House Band performed on the small stage. I took additional photos on Saturday, including some shots of the Backwoods Band on the large stage. There were many vendors, some activities for the children and a beer tent. A surprising number of people took advantage of the clear area for dancing, including people of all ages. From all appearances people were having a lot of fun, with many on blankets and folding chairs on the Ingham County Courthouse lawn.
Go to: 26 August 2011.
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10 August 2011
Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan with the Olympus PEN E-PL2 and M Zuiko 14-150 lens
I got an M Zuiko 14-150 zoom a few days ago to use with the Olympus PEN E-PL2. The 14-42 kit lens proved to be too limiting for photo walks and using my Nikon manual focus lenses slowed me down. Our trip to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan today was a perfect opportunity to test the lens for use in my Mason Photo Walks. My immediate reaction was that the lens was a bit heavy on the rather light E-PL2 body, but it isn't too bad. I just support the camera by holding the lens in my left hand. The zoom range is very nice. The E-PL2's in-body image stablization didn't seem to work satisfactorily at the long end of the zoom, but this may just require a bit of familiarization to learn how to hold it steadily. The image quality seemed similar to the 14-42II zoom, which I had found somewhat unsatisfactory. However, for the purpose for which I bought it (use of reduced size images on web pages) it seems to be acceptable. I can still use the Nikon lenses for more precise work until higher quality lenses become available for micro four thirds cameras (assuming I will be able to afford them). It is rumored that Simga is going to produce lenses for this format. So far I am finding this format excellent to work with, compact body with image sensor a bit smaller that the digital SLRs but much better than most compact cameras. Please check our my photos from this trip. Note that a few photos shown were made using the Art Filters built into the E-PL2 camera, notably the Dramatic Tone filter (you can identify these by the dark clouds in the sky).
Go to: 10 August 2011.
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12 July 2011
A Photo Walk with a Nikon D200 with Tamron SP 35-80 F2.8-3.8 lens
Today I wanted to try out my old Nikon D200 again. I haven't been using it much because it is a quite heavy camera. Is it worth getting my first Nikon autofocus lens, or should I just retire the Nikon and continue with my new Olympus PEN E-PL2, a much lighter, smaller camera in the new micro four thirds format? The Nikon has a somewhat larger digital sensor and more professional layout, but would it suit my type of photography? I had some errands to run in Mason so I combined it with a photo walk using the Nikon D200 with an old manual focus Tamron zoom. The photo subjects were chosen strictly for visual interest. I hope you find them interesting.
Go to: 12 July 2011.
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4 July 2011
Independence Day in Mason
Mason always celebrates Independence Day in a big way. We had a classic car show in the square in the morning and afternoon, a parade and, after dark, a fireworks display at the Ingham County Fairgrounds. I attempted to document all three here.
All photographs were taken with an Olympus PEN E-PL2 micro four thirds camera using a 35mm F2 AI Nikkor lens with manual focusing. The camera was set to "vivid" color, which appears to have been a bit too much. Still, it was a worthy experiment. [update: I introduced too much contrast when I processed the photos for the web page, making the colors look rather garish. I have changed my settings and uploaded all photos. I may return to setting the camera to "vivid" color and give it another try.] The camera is capable of very accurate manual focusing given a bit of time. Fast moving vehicles in the parade presented a real challenge leading me to frequently focusing on a spot and taking the photo as the vehicle arrived at the spot. It wasn't foolproof but in general focusing was not a big issue.
Go to: 4 July 2011.
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15 June 2011
Street Photography at the Mid Michigan Photography Meetup
Tonight was the monthly meeting of the Mid Michigan Photography Meetup in Lansing, Michigan, about a 17-mile drive from Mason. It's always fun to share your interest with other like-minded and friendly people who are willing and pleased to share their knowledge, wisdom and love of something you love. We discussed Street Photography during the meeting and then went to the street to give it a try. Street Photography is pretty much what I do on my Mason walks, but I heard about other facets of this fascinating branch of photography. It was also fun to make further use of my new Olympus E-PL2 camera. The photo to the right shows most of the members who braved the rain to take some photos and to continue the discussions that had started inside.
Go to: 15 June 2011.
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My neighbors across the street
lost their porch |
29-30 May 2011
Big Storm in Mason / Memorial Day
A powerful storm blew through the Mason area on Sunday night May 29 about 6pm. It knocked trees down, shut down electricity, TV and Internet, and got people out on the street examining the aftermath. I went out shortly after the storm and on the following day to document a bit of the damage and to experiment with my new Olympus PEN E-PL2, a micro four thirds format camera. My first trip out was with my old Nikon 35/2 AI manual focus lens. The following day I photographed with the 14-42 II Olympus kit lens. I didn't see much damage to houses, but our trees sure took a hit. The power company called in crews from all over the state and at least one neighboring state to help repair the electical system. Thousands lost their power. We were lucky here to have electric service resumed after only about 28 hours, though TV and Internet took an additional day.
Go to: 29-30 May 2011 (storm).
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Olympus PEN E-PL2 with
Nikkor 85/2 AI manual focus lens |
24 May 2011
A Walk with an Olympus PEN E-PL2 with Nikkor 85F2 manual focus lens
58 minute walk
After injuring my toes on the treadmill a few days ago I've been taking it easy. I decided to test my toes today and get some exercise by taking a photo walk. This was a good time to test out my new Olympus PEN E-PL2 four thirds format camera. I went out with a single lens, a Nikon 85F2 AI manual focus lens. One advantage of the four thirds format cameras is the capability to use old lenses of various brands (with appropriate adapters). I took a variety of photos testing the capabilities of this combination.
I also added a new links page for the Olympus PEN E-PL2 camera.
Go to: 24 May 2011.
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Some of the booths at Spring Fling |
7 May 2011
Spring Fling in Mason, Michigan
Every year we had our special downtown fair day Spring Fling. In the fall we have a similar Downtown Home Days. It's always fun to get out to see our friends, visit small vendors, hear some local talent performing, buy some baked goods, etc.
Go to: 7 May 2011. |
Water bottles lined up for
runners/walkers finishing the race |
6 May 2011
Annual Mason Bank 5K Race
I participated in my first 5K race last year (also documented here). This year the weather was much nicer. After an additional year of exercising at the gym I was intent on improving on my time. Last year I finished my walk/jog in 41.5 minutes. My first goal was to beat that time, my second goal was to break 40 minutes. I can report that I finished in 39.5 minutes, achieving both goals!
With my dedication to improving my time I decided not to carry a camera. The only photos are of the booth set up for distributing starter packages. I got my official race shirt, an identifying number to pin on my shirt, and a "timing chip" to attach to my shoe for accurate start/finish times. A lot of people recognize the shirt, which I frequently wear to the gym for exercising. Also shown on the photos page is a scan of the final results for my age group. I didn't come in last!
Go to: 6 May 2011. |
The butterfly display offered
many photo opportunities |
29 April 2011
A Visit to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan
We drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan for our second visit to the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. We timed our visit to see the annual butterfly display before it closed. It sounded like fun and was indeed quite interesting. It was a beautiful day to wonder around the grounds examining the sculptures and enjoying the outdoors. This time we purchased a year's membership so we plan to go back soon. The photo at the right shows a visitor with a butterfly on her wrist. She and others were taking photos. I love taking photos of people taking photos!
Go to: 29 April 2011. |
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26 April 2011
52 minute walk
I desired a birthday treat today (I reached my 69th birthday) but after dinner my BG (blood glucose) number was a bit too high for desert. It was so nice I decided to go for a reasonably long walk instead of doing the treadmill at the gym. I'm working on reaching my weight-loss goal (only five pounds to go, though I'll probably set a new goal of another 5-10 pounds). The treadmill has been a larger part of my program, but for my birthday I enjoyed a rather nice walk on a really nice evening with a good breeze. My walk accomplished its goal and I got my treat, this wonderful piece of chocolate cream pie.
Go to: 26 April 2011. |
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12 April 2011
70 minute walk (actually 20 minutes of walking)
It's a nice Spring day and I need to take a short walk to lower my BG (Blood Glucose) reading. Someone asked me about a building on the Mason square with "ROOT" engraved on it, so I headed downtown to check it out, take a couple photos and get a bit of needed exercise. It was a beautiful day, and there was plenty of late afternoon light for photography. I paused to take an artie picture of the Courthouse Pub, showing the courthouse reflected in their window. Then I headed by my daughter's house to take a photo of her new raised garden plot.
Go to: 12 April 2011. |
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21 December 2010
44 minute walk
Winter has arrived in Michigan. The ground is covered in snow and ice. Still my son-in-law and I braved the cold and slippery conditions for a 44-minute walk to the local middle school and back. As we left just before midnight on Dec. 20 we noticed a police car with blinking lights parked about a block west on Cherry Street. As we continued our walk north we heard sirens, then more sirens as emergency vehicles speeded towards Cherry Street. After returning from the walk I grabbed my Canon G-11 camera and documented the scene as a large number of firefighters with a big collection of fire engines worked to subdue the fire.
Go to: 21 December 2010. |
Mason Sun Dried Music Fest Stage |
28 August 2010
Mason Sun Dried Music Fest
The city of Mason decided to start a new local tradition with the first annual Mason Sun Dried Music Fest. Many locals volunteered to provide the manpower behind the success of an event like this. Several streets on the downtown square were blocked off with a big outdoor stage set up for the music groups. For this first event the following groups were scheduled to perform: Rock Canyo Band, Frog & The Beeftones, Smooth Daddy, Backwoods Band, Freddie Cunningham & The Root Doctor Band, Ritmo, and Showdown. The music started at noon with people sitting on folding chairs and blankets. There were a number of vendors in addition to the regular Saturday Farmers Market. I walked to the site (not a long walk, but I did have to carry home the produce I bought at the farmers market, at the same site). I strolled around, listening to the music and snapping photos, then bought some produce and headed home. Hopefully this will continue in the future and be a standard fixture in the local calendar.
Go to: 28 August 2010. |
Mason City Hall Municipal Complex |
26 August 2010
30 minute walk
Today my grandson came by to mow the lawn and have lunch with me. We had leftover stew from last night's dinner, a new recipe for me that ran my BG numbers up a bit last night. Same thing today, so I headed out to get some exercise to run my number down a bit. Another good reason for a photo walk was to document our new Mason City Hall and Police Station. Following are photos concentrating on the new City Hall building and the immediate environs.
After strolling past the new City Hall building I headed west past the fire station, then turned south and walked the tracks back to Elm street. There I turned back towards home, walking up my favorite Elm Street hill. One day I must remember to take along my level to measure the grade of that hill. I'm guess 10-12% grade.
Go to: 26 August 2010. |
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24 July 2010
Worldwide Photo Walk 2010
Photographer Scott Kelby organized a series of photo walks to take place today. Over 1100 walks have been set up all over the world with over 28,000 individual photographers taking place. See Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walks for more information.
Kenny Price led the photo walk in Jackson, Michigan (USA) in which I participated. About a dozen photographers gathered in Jackson and spent about two hours roaming the streets of Jackson snapping photos. I have posted about half the photos I took on my page for this event. There will also be some pages set up on Flickr for photographers to upload their photos.
Go to: 24 July 2010. |
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4 July 2010
Mason 4th of July Celebration
A one-block walk takes me to the annual 4th of July parade route. Like many small farming community parades, I suspect, our parade has a lot of tractors, fire engines, local politicians, local merchants and kids. Earlier in the day we had a car show in downtown Mason with live entertainment. In the evening we enjoyed an impressive display of fireworks at the Ingham County Fairgrounds.
Go to: 4th of July 2010. |
"Real Steel Cast and Crew:
Welcome to Mason!
Hometown U. S. A." |
2 July 2010
56 minute walk
Tonight my BG level was a bit up so I embarked on a short walk. Besides, I wanted to drop off some red bean paste buns I had picked up for my daughter Margaret. After leaving her house I headed to the Mason city center, site of the impressive county courthouse where a movie crew had gathered to shoot some scenes for an upcoming movie "Real Steel", starring Hugh Jackman (who played Wolverine in the popular X-men movies). I noted the big trucks arriving on Wednesday, and they closed off some streets and restricted parking in the downtown area on Thursday and today (Friday) for the movie work. By the time I arrived downtown on this walk everyone was gone except for some workers clearing up the equipment and loading the last trucks. I took a few photos of the downtown area and headed to the Mason Elevator Company, where I joined the Hayhoe Riverwalk.
Go to: Walk of 2 July 2010. |
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11 June 2010
40 minute walk
Today was the last day of school before the summer break, so my daughter and her two kids came by for lunch. I cooked up my special nachos dip and we enjoyed some TV with our food. Big lunch sometimes leads to high blood glucose readings later (or just a full stomach). I decided to take a walk before dinner and recalled my intention to investigate the break in East Sycamore Street, where the area has a sudden change in elevation. The road has a break in it, but late one night while walking in this area I discovered a zig-zag sidewalk allowing the walker to continue along Sycamore Street. Finally I came back to this interesting street during daylight with my camera to document this fascinating street. Just east of this break I encountered the First Church of the Nazarene, which is situated between Sycamore Street and Maple Street.
Go to: Walk of 11 June 2010. |
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10 June 2010
My Favorites
I have set up a page consisting of a selection of photos from all previous pages. These photos represent some of my favorites, based on artistic sense as well as other factors. As I post future photo walk pages I'll occasionally add photos to this favorites page. A date at the top will indicate the most recent date of making additions, with any new photos added to the top of the page. As with most photos on this site, clicking the thumbnail (small) image will pop open a window with a larger version.
Go to: Favorites from my photo walks. |
"Joy Child" on Ingham County
Drain Commissioner Building |
Dog cutout at the Ingham
County Animal Shelter |
9 June 2010
95 minute walk
Today I needed to drop my wife's car off at Andrew's Chevrolet on Cedar Street for servicing. So I packed my camera bag determined to have a nice walk on the way home. I headed back to an area explored last summer but not visited since. First I crossed the street from Andrew's and headed east on Buhl Street to visit the Ingham County Drain Commissioner building and the Animal Control & Shelter. The Drain Commissioner building has a fascinating piece of art on the front of the building and the Animal Shelter has those poke-your-head-through-the-hold cutouts. I also finally photographed one of the many trains that pass through Mason on a daily basis.
Go to: Walk of 9 June 2010. |
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5 June 2010
Added Mason Links page to this web site listing web pages pertaining to Mason, Michigan.
Go to: Mason Michigan Links. |
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23 May 2010
43 minute walk
I set out today not only to get some exercise and take a few pictures but also to see my kids' new garden box. Jeff built it on the back of his deck to provide an ideal space for planting vegetables. The box provides an elevated garden area where the soil will never be compacted by people walking on it. Meg has a well-planned design for an good placement of each vegetable plant and a rotation of vegetables from season to season. After visiting and seeing their new garden box I continued through the middle of town, visited the new Mason Community Garden, photographed some local landmarks and just shot some attractive details of this beautiful small town in Michigan farm country.
Go to: Walk of 23 May 2010. |
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19 May 2010
44 minute walk
Today I needed to take my wife's car to the shop for servicing. While waiting the two hours I had a choice ... do a little reading in the waiting room or take a nice walk around town on North Cedar Street. So I packed my camera and took a 1.5 hour walk (I counted 44 minutes walking time, since I paused a couple times to do some shopping). I couldn't head north since I consider the 127 overpass too dangerous for walking (no sidewalk). I've walked this area before but decided to go off track a bit and see what was behind some of those buildings.
Go to: Walk of 19 May 2010. |
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10 May 2010
34 minute walk
Tonight I didn't feel like cooking so we had corn dogs, potatoes and for desert brownies with homemade fudge sauce ... carbs in every dish. An hour plus later I paid the price with a BG (blood glucose) reading of 164 ... ouch! I'm scheduled to go to the gym later tonight but I felt I needed to lower my BG level immediately so I set out for a short walk. Fortunately, exercise usually lowers my BG number (different diabetics all have different stories and must test for themselves). It was after 8pm but I decided to take along my Canon G11 camera to test its low light capabilities (this was one of my reasons for upgrading from the G9). You can read some of my detailed comments in the captions to the photos on my walk page. After 34 minutes (including some pauses to take pictures) I got home and my BG reading was down to 115 ... success!
There are some 100% crops showing ISO 400 and ISO 1600 at the bottom of the walk page.
Go to: Walk of 10 May 2010. |
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7 May 2010
41.5 minute walk/job ... Mason State Bank 5K Run/Walk
Few pictures, but I wanted to document my first attempt at a 5K event. The Mason State Bank 5K Run/Walk raised funds for the Mason Public Schools Foundation , which supports our local school system. Unfortunately, the weather was rather bad, but the rain wasn't too bad during the actual run. It started a little after 7pm on a Friday night with what appeared to me to be a good turnout. Because of the weather I didn't take my camera along, but I got a couple shots when I picked up my race packet, consisting of a neat running shirt and a computer chip to be attached to my shoes for the timing equipment. All went well and I exceeded my goal of finishing in 45-46 minutes, my estimate based on my treadmill times at the gym. I was able to jog a bit on the level and downhill portions of the race course, which allowed me to finish in about 41.5 minutes. Of course, those who are runners bested that time by quite a bit and I finished 9th out of 12 in my male age group of 65-69. It was fun, and it does give a feeling of accomplishment.
The results of the race are shown on the Playmaker's web site.
Go to: Walk of 7 May 2010. |
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1 May 2010
15 minute brisk walk ... Spring Fling in Mason
Yesterday I checked out the preparations for the annual Spring Fling event in Mason. Today I went to the Spring Fling. It was only about a 5 minute walk from home for me, so it wasn't a huge amount of exercise. However, it is always fun. I bought some home-made soaps, got some nice goodies from the church food booths, and saw a variety of other crafts and locally produced products in the booths.
Go to: Walk of 1 May 2010. |
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30 April 2010
40 minute brisk walk ... First photo walk of 2010
With the local event Spring Fling coming tomorrow I thought this would be a good time to start my photo walks. The weather has gotten quite nice with the harsh winter well past. Also, tonight my GB level (blood glucose) was up to 148 about an hour after dinner, so I wanted to exercise to reduce it to the normal range. Normally 15-20 minutes of brisk walking can do the job. My weight is also a bit up recently so the exercise is doubly valuable. As a diabetic I find exercise an essential part of my life, so taking the photo walks achieves multiple goals for me. My walk tonight reduced my blood sugar level from 148 to 118 and probably burned over 400 calories.
Go to: Walk of 30 April 2010. |
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