Tag Archives: life

Wearing A Facemask / Visiting A National Park

The view along the Fairyland Loop Trail in Bryce Canyon National Park, in Utah

It may come as absolutely no surprise, but Covid-19 has not prevented people from traveling hundreds of miles to visit a national park. So says an article published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler.

To read the article, click on the image above.

Yes, I’m going to visit Crater Lake National Park in less than a week. I’m going to be armed with: masks (lots of them, thanks to my sister’s sewing abilities), disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, my own food (I’m not eating out anywhere) that does not require anything more than the addition of hot water, and plenty of social distancing (I’m not a people person, so I was practicing social distancing long before it was the norm). My goal for this trip is not only to enjoy the fresh air and gorgeous scenery, and to bring back photos and material for articles for the National Parks Traveler, but to also demonstrate that it is possible to have a safe trip to a national park, as long as one practices social distancing and wears a mask.

Right now, the White House is discrediting Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the foremost epidemiologists around. Of course, I think everybody in the WH, including POTUS, are fucking liars, traitors, crooks, and nutbags (if you haven’t read my About Me, then I guess you are just now learning where my politics lean). In defense of Dr. Fauci, he and all the other doctors and scientists knew very little about the coronavirus during the first of the year, so of course, all of them were making points based upon the data they had at the time. Now, because of all the illnesses and deaths, they know much more about how this horrible virus works. It’s not a hoax, folks.

To that end, I made my own YouTube video about wearing a mask. I actually got the idea from watching a Tik Tok video by Bill Nye the Science Guy, who did a simple demonstration of the effectiveness of wearing a cloth fabric, 2-layer mask.

Now, if you decide to view my video, please, please bear in mind that I’m short, dumpy, overweight, out-of-shape, and when I don’t smile, I look like my Aunt Doris (sigh). Also bear in mind that, due to my not being the most telegenic person in the world, I come off as being more than a bit self-righteous … although, come to think of it, I am self-righteous, just like my sister and the rest of my family. And that’s not a bad thing, imo.

Have I gotten trolled over the mask? Hell yeah! Do I care? Hell no! The main thing is that the experiment is cool, my sister feels vindicated over the masks she’s made / making (right now, I have enough masks to wear a different one every day for at least 2 weeks, if not more), and I feel good about protecting others. Am I protected? Well, while I’ve read studies showing that mask wearers seem to get a more diluted version of the virus when confronted by non-mask wearing covid-infected idiots, I’m really more protected if others wear a mask, too.

So, please, wear a damned mask. It shouldn’t be a political thing. It should be all about how much you care about your health, the health of your family, and the health of those around you … even the health of people you don’t really like.

And, thank you!

Yes, this whole coronavirus pandemic is a fucking nightmare

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Filed under health, Life

Park Superintendents Given Authority To Manage Coronavirus – Facilities Closing

Morning In The Park

If you are planning a trip soon (this weekend, next month, next two months) to a national park, then you’ll want to read the article just published by the National Parks Traveler. Park Superintendents have finally been given authority to do as they see fit regarding the best way to try and prevent the spread of coronavirus in the national parks. As such, many visitor facilities, shuttle systems, and entrance stations are closing, and concessionaire-led activities are also being canceled.

To read the article, click on the image above.

Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.

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Filed under National Parks, National Parks Traveler

Solitude And Tranquility

A Quiet Summer Morning On A Little Pond

It’s the weekend, folks. Where will the trail take you? Perhaps to a quiet little pond for some solitude and thouthfulness? That’s what this image from Lake Clark National Park and Preserve brings to mind for me. It was a morning with no bears around to photograph, so we concentrated on other things during our hike out of a forest and into this misty meadow.

That’s a good lesson for you photographers out there. Often, we have high expectations of what we will see during a trip to a national park (or anywhere, for that matter). When it doesn’t pan out according to your expectations, then change those expectations and start observing what you see around you. On that morning, sans bears, I photographed a field filled with spiderwebs bejeweled with dewdrops. a downed nurselog housing a clump of tiny mushrooms, an orb weaver spider spinning a web, and this pond with it’s feathered swimmers within a golden meadow surrounded by mountains and a forest obscured by mist. It was lovely.

 
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.

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Filed under Alaska, Canon, Lake Clark National Park, National Parks, nature, Photography, Travel

Christmas Eve Gift!!

Holiday Colors And Decorations

Many of us have some sort of holiday tradition – maybe even more than one. In my family, the tradition was, on Christmas Eve, to see who could say (or shout) “Christmas Eve Gift” first, before the others could. That meant they’d been “gotten” and they had to hand over a little gift to the person who had gotten them.

One Christmas Eve morning, probably some 12-13 years ago, when I was living in an apartment in Texas, next door to my elderly parents, I woke up early to bake a huckleberry cobbler. An hour and a half later, fresh from the oven, I carefully bore my dark berry prize down the stairs and across the lawn to my parents’ back door. My intention was to get the cobbler safely onto their dining nook table, then go and wake them up with the words “Christmas Eve Gift!” and then we’d all have that luscious, hot, cobbler for breakfast.

Carefully setting the foil-covered hot cobbler down on the chair next to the back door, I brought out my set of keys and quietly unlocked the door. Stepping inside the dark house, I flicked on the light switch to the dining nook.

“CHRISTMAS EVE GIFT!” my parents shouted as they stepped from their hiding place behind the kitchen wall, extremely tickled with themselves. I’d been “gotten.” Thankfully, the cobbler was still outside on the chair, or else we’d have been spooning it up from the floor, because I’d probably have dropped it in surprise. Very clever, my parents were, on that Christmas Eve.

Mom and Dad are gone and we don’t celebrate that tradition any longer. All the other Christmas Eve Gift events, I cannot remember. This one, though, I remember as if it happened just a few minutes ago.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope you have some sort of memorable holiday tradition of your own.

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Filed under Christmas, family, Holidays, Humor, Life, love

Corporate Behavior

Corporate Behavior

Even the smallest and/or prettiest of creatures can be territorial and exhibit more than just a little bit of visciousness in the daily fight for survival. Heaven knows I’ve experienced it within the human workplace, hence the sarcastic title.

 
I’ve been rescuing photos from a dying portable hard drive. The hummingbird images I captured between 2012 – 2014 are favorites of mine and they needed to be saved to another drive.
 
As a photographer, you can learn quite a bit about birds or other wildlife by simply watching and photographing them on a regular basis. During that span of years my mother and I hung out those hummingbird feeders in Texas, I would be over there every morning and/or evening to photograph these soft, tiny little birdies. The more I watched, the more I learned they aren’t quite as sweet as everybody might think. Luckily, this extended observation led to some very interesting photos.
Canon 1DX and 100-400mm lens
 
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.

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Filed under 1DX, birds, Canon, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, Canon Lens, hummingbirds, Life, nature, Photography, Texas

Where The Trails Take You Photography

Swan Lake Flats Late-Afternoon Scenery

Change is good. It can be for the better and open up new horizons.

I made a change to my living arrangements when I moved from Texas to central Washington, and I decided it was time to make a change to my photography website and my photography blogsite. No more plain old Rebecca Latson Photography.

Announcing:

Where The Trails Take You Photography

The web address to my blog is changed too, although if you still type in rebeccalatsonphotography.me I believe you should be directed to what is now wherethetrailstakeyouphotography.blog

My photo website address is https://www.wherethetrailstakeyou.com/ or you can just click on the image above to be taken to my website.

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Filed under Life, Photography

What Is A Park Visit?

Sunrise Over The Grand Canyon Of The Yellowstone 2

Sunrise colors of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park

I read this in this morning’s edition of The National Parks Traveler and just loved it, so I’m sharing it with you.

If you enjoy traveling to national parks, then take the time to read this article by clicking on the image above.

 

 

 

 

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Filed under National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Travel

One Year Ago Today

  • I drove across the Washington State border from Idaho, 3 weeks after moving up from TX.
  • I arrived in Yakima, WA, my new home, that morning.
  • My then 71-year old sister discovered (on this same day) her (thankfully now-ex) husband of 21 years had stolen – over the course of 10 years – all but $31,000 of her $800,000 retirement fund. Had he not been found out, he would have probably totally emptied her account – HER personal account that was never his to begin with.

Not quite how I’d expected my move to the Pacific Northwest to end up, but I sure am happy I’m here. I live with my sister now, help with the yardwork (see photos below), help with the cooking, help with the errands, and help with the bills. I live in a valley with soil perfect for fruit orchards, vinyards, and vegetable farms, near wineries and whisky distilleries (Lake Chelan Blue Spirits bourbon is my fave). I don’t have to worry about tornados, hurricanes every 6 months, or flooding. I don’t have to deal with humidity, and there are actual real seasons over here, along with cool weather that occurs BEFORE late December and lasts longer than a month. I am within driving distance of three national parks and a plethora of other beautiful landscapes to photograph, from the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The geology is pretty cool around here, too.

 

The year has gone by so fast, and it’s taken a little, but not much, adjustment on all our parts. I feel needed and am glad to be helping my sister – I feel like I am paying it forward for things I should have done for Mom but didn’t.

 

The House BEFOREBecky And The House

Before and After shots of the yard. Looks pretty nice, huh? This is what my sister and I, with help from her youngest son, did – something that should have been done by my sister’s ex, instead of what he really was doing, which was sitting in his office downstairs thinking up ways to continue stealing from her.

No, I haven’t won the lottery nor am I working for any high-powered company here. I’m definitely not independently wealthy, but I sure feel like I am finally living the dream. When my parents and I moved down South when I was 9 years old (my father had a better job offer in Kentucky), I watched the mountains of Montana (where I was born) recede behind me and vowed I would eventually return. It’s taken me 49 years to finally get back to the West, but better late than never. 😁

Anniversary Becky 2

Becky at Home

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Filed under Attitude, Life, love, National Parks, Photography, Washington State

Where Will The Trail Take You?

Where Will The Trail Take You CROP

Hiking the trail up in Paradise, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Everytime I go to sleep, I dream. There has never been a time (that I can remember), when I have not dreamed something, good or scary. I don’t know if that means I am sleeping well or not. Sometimes, I wake up from those dreams and can’t get back to sleep, no matter how much I try. This morning is one of those times. When that happens, I get up and come to the laptop to work on photos and ideas for my next National Parks Traveler article. As I was working on this image, an idea popped into my head and I decided to run with it. I’ve been trying to write enough articles for the Traveler to have two, rather than one, photo article a month. I’ll see how long I can continue with that. I remember, once, some years ago, having writer’s block so badly that I considered parting ways with the Traveler. Thankfully, that writer’s block didn’t last for long, because I know I would have regretted a move like that.

In the meantime, this image below was taken in the autumn of 2016 in the Paradise area of the park. Fall is one of those hit-or-miss seasons for Mount Rainier, especially in Paradise. It’s either going to be a clear, blue-sky day with The Mountain out and the huckleberry bushes showing off brilliant shades of orange and red, or it’s going to be a misty, foggy day where a photographer must concentrate on what she can see immediately around her, which in this case, was the trail and the different shades of greens along that trail.

Where will the trail take you?

Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.

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Filed under Life, Mt. Rainier National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography

Cheers!

Cheers

It’s what you do when you are a photographer taking a break from shoveling the driveway. And yes, it’s single malt.

Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.

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Filed under 5DS, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon Lens, Life, Photography, Seasons, Washington State, weather, winter