117 Monday Sep 27

Monday Sep 27 Day 117

I have just finished logging shots I took 2 days ago in the afternoon. These are some of the best shots I have taken during my entire time in India. During the 2 plus hours I shot the weather went from sun with clear blue skies to mist enshrouded trees. I mentioned a couple of days ago taping shots of the hillside with flowers covering the cliffs. They look great on my little 7 inch monitor. I can only imagine what it will be like on a 42 inch plasma screen. The colors of the ferns and trees is unbelievably rich and vibrant. For the first time I feel I really have something to show.

Weather report: Clear blue sky with clouds beginning to develop.

The Snows were fully visible this morning. The sun had not swung around through the sky to fully light up the snow, so I waited to take my first shots. Too late. The clouds were developing within half an hour. I learned you have to take the Snows pictures first thing in the morning.

Last night was one of the worst nights I have had. I did not get enough to eat so I was up at 4 am eating potato chips. Just as it was time to get up at 7 am, my blood sugars dropped and I broke out in a heavy sweat immediately. After this event I suffer from extreme chills. It is now noon and my legs are still very cold.

116 Sunday Sep 26

Sunday Sep 26 Day 116

Weather report: Sunny early in the morning with low clouds during the afternoon.

I went out for 3 1/2 hours this afternoon taping several trails. The ferns are rapidly turning to yellow with a few green ones visible. I spent 3 hours this morning logging past days taping. The climb up the hill was 40 minutes and I arrived soaked to the skin. It is now 6:30 pm and I am very cold but slowly warming up. It has taken only 2 hours today.

This evening I went out to see where the sun set exactly (I know in the West, usually) but I need to position my cameras. I am trying to find a location that is nearer to Kilmarnock. The last 2 days the sun has been hidden my massive clouds and I cannot get the exact location. I shall try again tomorrow evening.

This evening I completely lost it. I cannot communicate to the lady who cooks for me that I am not getting enough to eat for dinner. I have a bowl of oatmeal. The amount of oatmeal is not consistent and it gets thinner and thinner. I have tried to point out to her the measure of oatmeal that should be used. I guess I need to talk to the landlady and the cook together.

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of Colleen’s death. I am having trouble keeping myself on an emotional even keel. I find my eyes getting misty and tears welling up because I miss her so much. My isolation and the frustration of not being able to do taping is getting to me. The last 3 days I have nearly worked myself to total exhaustion.

115 Saturday Sep 25

Saturday Sep 25 Day 115

Weather report: Sunny with a few scattered high clouds. The weatherman has forecast sunny skies for the next week. We shall see starting in the morning. I wonder if weathermen in training take classes in prevarication. They definitely practice the art a great deal.

I am reminded of the great line from the Country Western variety program titled HeeHaw. “If it weren't for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” This morning I can not go out shooting because of the SUN. The remaining trails face to the south east and half of the shots will be directly into the early sun. I will have to wait for afternoon when the sun is high enough and behind the camera. I got to the location only to discover that I had left my map and pad, used to identify a location, at my apartment. So it was back up the hill and wait till afternoon and hope that rain clouds do not move in.

The mist was back and it added great atmosphere to the shots of the Eyebrow. This is the longest trail on the hillside and clings to cliffs scattered upon were dahlias in many colors. I did not get very good shots of the flowers because they are up near the top of the cliffs and widely scattered. It looked beautiful but will not come out well in the video shots. The afternoon shoot lasted from 1 pm to 4:30 pm.

114 Friday Sep 24

Friday Sep 24 Day 114

Weather report: High patchy clouds to start the day. Low clouds moved in around 11 am.

I went out on a morning shoot lasting from 7:45 to 11:45. My process must be getting more efficient because I accomplished much more than I had planned on. The ferns on some of the trees are starting to show autumn colors. They are turning yellow and adding additional colors to the verdant greens.

Yesterday was the most exercise I have had in many months. My back is starting to complain and I did not spring out of bed this morning. My blood sugars were low because of the excess exercise of yesterday. After shooting this morning, I walked 1/2 a mile and took a taxi to the top of the hill. No need to overwork the old bones (actually it’s the muscles that are squawking).

I decided to do an afternoon shoot. I went to a place called Faire Glen. It is a natural glade in the forest and there have been fireplace and stone benches set up. I was taping the area when I felt a raindrop on my head. After several these I put my equipment into my backpack and headed up the hill. It took 15 minutes of hard climbing to reach the top of the hill. By the time I was at the top the sun was out. The afternoon ended with thunder and some rain.

113 Thursday Sep 23

Thursday Sep 23 Day 113

Weather report: High patchy clouds to start the day.

Last night I played the Monopoly game on my laptop for the first time. It was a blast. I won (which I am sure made the game more interesting). I had forgotten most of the rues and by the time the game was over I even figured out the board. For almost 2 hours I was having fun and it made the evening go by quickly. I shall have to try again soon.

I went out on 3 video shooting expeditions today. I was out from 7:45 to 11:15 am, 1 pm to 4:30 pm and tried for a sunset from 5:15 to 6:30 pm. There was no sunset because a large, thick cloud had settled over the mountain. In the afternoon there were some shots that had mist moving past. The clouds are not as thick and do not have as much moisture in the mist as in past days. I hope to get in 2 expeditions tomorrow. My body is tired as I climbed down to Woodstock twice today and back up the hill twice. I spent over 8 hours on my feet today and the body is complaining

112 Wednesday Sep 22

Wednesday Sep 22 Day 112

Weather report- Rained overnight and the clouds have settled on the hillside. I hope for a miracle and have the clouds clear the mountain but I fear it is not feasible.

My change in menu is working well. I am no longer waking up with high blood sugars nor low blood sugars during the early morning. This morning my blood sugars were perfect. Time will tell of it continues. It has rained most of the afternoon.

I am not yet in good shape. I went down the hill to shot some digital pictures of the landslide and its repair. By the time I climbed back up the hill I was drenched in perspiration. This is only 5 minutes from the top of the hill. Yesterday gravel was brought in and stored on the main road above the slide, as well as large stones. They have started the foundation including the insertion of rebar for reinforcement of the cement.

It takes an average of 2 minutes to complete a single shot while video taping. In 2 hours of taping I get about 22 minutes of usable tape. It also takes about 1 hour to get to my location and return back to home base. So it takes 3 hours to get 22 minutes of tape.

Here is the process I follow for a single shot. I chose the location to shoot from. Level out the tripod by moving the legs up and down to get the bubble in middle of the level. Write the specific location on a small pad of paper with a black marker. Hold the pad in front of the lens and take a 2 second recording. I then zoom out to the farthest point of the shot, this takes 20 seconds. As I zoom out, I frame up the shot and see if I will need to move the camera while recording. I then record the shot, all 20 seconds of it. I then move to the next location or turn the camera around and point the other direction. When I point the other direction I do not need to level the tripod again. I do about 65 shots in 2 hours.

111 Tuesday Sep 21

Tuesday Sep 21 Day 111

I met with the Director of Facilities for Woodstock School this morning. I am now the proud possessor of floor plans for the 3 main residence halls. This will allow me to plan my shoots of the inside of the facilities. In early October I shall do a walk through of the halls one morning after the students have left for school and the staff is still around. In the last week of October the school shuts down for activity week and there is no instruction. During this week I shall tape the interiors and exteriors of the school with no students around. Pete Wildman, the facilities director, is very excited about me doing this and the preparation of a DVD of the school and the hill side. I have offered to provide any of the images free of charge and he is really pleased.

Yesterday morning I taped a landslide. It had occurred on Sunday. This morning a crew was starting to work on saving a tree. They will have cleared the fallen dirt by the end of today and start reconstruction tomorrow. They have already brought in sand to make the mortar for the stone wall. I have never seen an Indian get things done so quickly, it is truly amazing. I will go done a couple of times each day to document the process with my digital camera, no video.

During the 24 hours of Sunday 8 inches of rain fell on the hillside. The students have a rain gage and record daily rain fall. There has been 144 inches of rain during thismonsoon. This is almost two and a half times as much rain as normal.

Judy, there are no orchids in bloom at all on the hillside anywhere. It appears that they no long bloom here. There are still plenty of ferns on the tree trunks and branches. I have been here 21 days and have taped 3 mornings for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours each.