I went up for a hike today, primarily to take some pictures. All of the geocaches up in Johnson's Pasture, located just north of where I live, have been found. It was a gorgeous day, slightly breezy. It was a crisp day for the second full day of spring.
His name is Yoshihisa Yamada. The Japanese characters that make up his name can either be pronounced Yoshihisa or Miku, so he suggested we call him Mickey or Mike and so Mike he was to us. He was a foreign exchange student who lived with me my senior year in high school back in the mid 70s. He spent almost 12 months living with my family and me. 
We welcomed him into our home and he learned about American culture while we learned about Japanese culture.
His first night, he asked how to use a bed, as he had never slept in one before. Later in the summer, when we were having Tacos, he stated, quite enthusiastically that he loved Tako. He was rather disappointed when the Tako (Octopus) didn't show up on the table. He introduced us to Tako, and tempura and cooking with Sake. He became an honorary cheerleader at our high school that year, dressing in typical Japanese garb for each football game and basketball game that year.
We introduced him to Disneyland, hamburgers and camping. That year, we camped twice at Yosemite National Park and he ran to the top of Nevada Fall along the Mist Trail. That trail is extremely slippery and tough just to hike, let alone run. On the second camping trip, he ran to the top of Yosemite Fall, just because he could.
He and I both cried when he left the following summer in mid July, just after our country celebrated its bicentennial. We exchanged letters over the first couple of years, but then life seemed to get in the way and we lost touch. He called the morning my sister got married and we all talked with him. He'd lost a lot of his English in those last 6 years and it was difficult to understand him at times, but he still sounded like Mike.
I have tried over the years to contact him, using all sorts of Internet search engines. His name is a rather common name in Japan and I haven't been able to reacquaint myself with him.
His family is from Morioka, just north of Sendai where the earthquake hit this past weekend. Unfortunately, I have no idea if he still lived there or somewhere else. Needless to say, he's been on my mind a lot this past week. I hope and pray that he is safe and that his family is also safe. He would be 53 as of last December.
Several times in the past, I've written about the 365 project. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to attack something like this. Although I do tend to take a lot of pictures, I don't necessarily take them every single day.
When I looked into this project, it was in the middle of December. I posted a picture on the 18th following a geocaching trip up in the desert on a day where it rained up there for most of the day. But I didn't take another picture until a week later on Christmas Day. 
I suspected that I might not be up to a project like this. I was wrong.
I started posting photos in succession on the 30th of December, once again after a geocaching hike. I have yet to miss a day. I've played little tricks with myself that has helped me out tremendously. I have my fall back pictures in case I end up with no inspiration that particular day. My fall back pictures tend to be flowers. Living in Southern California, we have flowers blooming year round, so it's relatively easy to take pictures of flowers. I think I could post a different flower picture ever single day.
However, I didn't want to be known as the "flower" guy. I follow several photographers on the 365 Project, and while their photos are excellent, I also find them rather repetitive. They do certain things very well. I'd like to see them expand into other areas, just to see them stretch themselves a little. This is one of the tacks I'm taking. I'm trying to take a bunch of different photos of different things, just to expand and stretch myself. I know I can take good landscapes and flower and plant pictures. Can I take a good street picture?
I don't think I'm that good with portraits or with black and white photography, so I've been experimenting in that area. My daughter issued me a challenge for the month of March - no flowers. That's been tough, but I've worked other things in. I kind of cheated today, not taking a picture of flowers, but taking pictures of the aftermath - the berries. And now, as I look at my monthly calendar, I've seen March peppered with pictures of birds. My daughter has already said I can't take pictures of birds next month. We'll see how that goes.
I've been lucky to have included a couple of geocaching photos into my 365 project. I actually thought the bulk of my photos would be geocaching photos, but that hasn't turned out to be the case. I haven't been geocaching a lot this month due to other commitments, but with a two week break looming on the horizon, that might change shortly. Either way, I'm glad it hasn't happened that way. 
I'm enjoying working on still life, playing around with different objects just to see what the light will do. Almost every photo I think about posting goes through the black and white processing just to see what it might look like in that medium.
I've gotten into the habit of taking my camera with me almost every where I go. Sometimes, I go out with a specific goal in mind, other times, I just take pictures and hope for the best. Ironically, that's what I ended up posting today and I've already gotten some very nice comments back on that particular photo.
I guess what I'm really trying to say with this is I'm actually surprised that I'm still doing this. As I posted in an earlier post, I didn't think I would be able to do this. But I can and I'm finding it easier and easier to find good quality subjects to photograph.
Pictures were taken for the following dates:
March 1st, 2011.
March 10th, 2011.
March 13th, 2011.
My apologies for not writing earlier, but life has a way of getting in the way sometimes. I have been caching, but the writing of this blog has taken a back burner for the last month or so. I've been involved in a bunch of different ventures and I have not been able to give this the attention that I'd like to.
One project I'm dealing with will be over next week, but it entails the memorization of Shakespeare, Lord Capulet's lines in Romeo and Juliet. Somehow, I got roped into this. Well, that's an easy way of saying someone dangled a carrot in front of my nose to be on the stage again and I jumped at the chance. I think I am a born thespian who happens to be a teacher in real life. I can remember being in plays as early as 3rd grade summer school, as well as Up the Down Staircase and Man of La Mancha while in high school.
The school where I work has had a rich tradition of theater, with much teacher involvement as possible. The shows star 6th, 7th and 8th grade students with teachers in supporting roles. It's amazing what the directors have been able to wring out of students of such diverse backgrounds and abilities. In the past, we've performed The Pink Panther, Bye Bye Birdie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Wiz, Lil' Abner, 'Til Death Do Us Part plus several Shakespearean plays. This year's production of Romeo and Juliet is scheduled for performances next Thursday with an evening performance the following week. Once that is done, my schedule should clear up tremendously, especially with the onset of Spring Break three days after our final performance.
