Yesterday it was spectacular color, this morning, gorgeous clouds. Thought I'd convert
a photo to B&W.


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And the color was actually away from the sunrise this a.m.--and very soft.

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One of the best I've ever seen on any beach. Took quite a few shots as the sky was changing colors, but these three show the progression pretty well.

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Just a couple of shots from my beach walk with Snowy this morning.



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It's a half page, above the fold photo in the print copy!
Hooray! It's about time!



http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/10/4223054/in-wake-county-first-same-sex.html

against the not popular Rep. Renee Ellmers in the gerrymandered NC District #2!


Background: In a debate last Monday, Ellmers repeatedly dismissed Aiken as just an "entertainer",
and her campaign/followers like to deride him as coming in second in a talent contest.

I sent a letter the next day to the paper--commenting that, gee, didn't the Republicans revere
and idolize a former entertainer--a Hollywood actor--oh, yes, that guy named Ronald Reagan?

They didn't publish that letter--but they did publish this one:

Regarding the Oct. 7 news article “ Aiken, Ellmers clash”: I don’t know whether Clay Aiken would be an effective politician. However, U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers’ repeated comments in the recent debate that Aiken is merely an “entertainer” who doesn’t understand how Washington works were an interesting choice of words.

Perhaps Ellmers needs to explore the background of perhaps the most successful Republican politician of her lifetime. His last name is Reagan, and his movies can be seen on AMC from time to time.

Bruce Friend

Holly Springs

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/07/4214935/bruce-friend-recalling-reagan.html?sp=/99/108/165/#storylink=cpy


The NEXT day, there was this letter from a Reagan idolizer:

Regarding the Oct. 8 letter “ Recalling Reagan”: Comparing Clay Aiken to Ronald Reagan is a sophomoric and predictably shallow observation from the chronic lefty Reagan bashers.

The letter-writer forgot to mention that Reagan was a two-term governor of the country’s largest state, almost won the party nomination in 1976 from a sitting president and was also president of the Screen Actors Guild.

However, in our current pop culture-infused political environment, I suppose runners-up in a talent contest are prime candidates for office. I haven’t seen Aiken’s resume so please let me know if I have left anything out.

Charlie Futch

Fuquay-Varina


Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/08/4217558/charlie-futch-reagan-had-experience.html?sp=/99/108/165/#storylink=cpy

Well, of course that burned me up. These Republicans are such hypocritical idiots. So I sent the following letter, which
was published today! I really enjoyed sticking it to Ellmers and her defender. The only editing the paper did was to leave
out Fred Dalton Thompson's middle name--which I had included.


Regarding the Oct. 9 letter, “ Reagan’s experience”: The writer misses the point, as does U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers when she chooses to dismiss her Democratic challenger, Clay Aiken, as just an “entertainer.”

There have been a number of successful actors/singers/entertainers who have ended up in politics: Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura, Al Franken, Sonny Bono, Fred Thompson, Shirley Temple and George Murphy are among the better known to have made the leap from the stage to the political arena.

They all started with that first run for office, including Ronald Reagan, and that’s the point where Aiken is right now. The voters will decide whether he will join that list, and hopefully their decision-making process will be focused on how well he can best represent their needs, not on how he previously made his living.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/10/4222897/betty-buller-whitehead-aikens.html?sp=/99/108/165/#storylink=cpy

who has been working over the pumpkin on our front steps since I brought it home from the market
at the end of September! I thought I'd already decided on my October texture photo--but I have another one of
this guy that is making me think twice about my previous decision!

Check out this damn squirrel:


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These are from our back deck in Chapel Hill


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