Knowledge VS Perception

Sometimes...

How you look at a object will determine what you see.

But Sometimes...

What you see, is not, what you think you see.

Because Sometimes...

What is there, right in front of you, is something totally different then what it seems to be.

But Sometimes...

A little more knowledge, about what your seeing,  helps to understand what it is you see.

Because... Believe it or not, these are all the same one.

Thus the power of Knowledge..

Or... the lack of....

So... Tell me... What is it you think you see in this photo?  Share with me in the comments section and then I will share with you what it is.

Also.. Stare at the  Circles and you may think you see them  move...

Smile...

Saving The Bells

The bells actually did not start out together.


The larger one I found when I stopped to take a shot of a beautiful sunset. It was on a field fence line along an old country road, hanging silently on the 2nd strand. It had no clanger, so all it could do was sway in the wind.  I thought at the time that it was not getting it's just deserts, so I rescued it.


The smaller one was found hanging in a tree back behind a house that I lived in once.  It's ring was being muffled by the leaves that had grown to close to it.  Again, it looked to me that it wanted to be heard and noticed, so I adopted it also.


The 2 have individually hung in various places in my home, until about six months ago while sitting on my patio, did I realized that they were meant to be together.


The small one, now shares the joy of being heard again with the large one.


Some things are just meant to be...

Closure

Now... I'm going to tell you a story...   It has several events in it that will make you stop and say... "Johnny's making this up."  I promise you I am not. I will place my hand on a Bible and swear to it.

When I was growing up there lived an old Negro man who lived alone in a run down farmhouse just behind our house on the property adjacent to us... He lived a very simple life and kept mostly to himself...  As a young teenager I would pass through his field, with his permission, on my way back to a creek that flowed about a mile back in the woods to go fishing.

 On the way back  from the creek, I would find him sitting on his front porch listening to a old radio that sat just inside the window in his bedroom.  For him to hear it, it was pretty loud.  Sometimes I would stop and show him what I caught or just sit on the porch with him and watch the sun set, then head on to our house that was maybe 200 yards away, still being able to hear his radio.. Right after dark the radio would be turned off and he would go to bed with his house in complete darkness.


A couple of years later, I came home from work late one evening about 10 pm... As I got out of my car I notice that I could hear his radio still playing, which was odd for that time of night.  I glanced towards his house and also noted that it was deep dark with no lights on.  I went in and shared with my father that the old man's radio was still playing that late at night.  He too though that was odd and asked me to go with him to check on the old man...

It was a Full Moon night so there was no need for flashlights so we walked down his road. Approaching the porch, we could make out him sitting, leaning back against the old bench he usually sat on. Dad called out to him but there was no answer. It looked as though he had probably had a heart attack and tried to get up, sliding off the bench and coming to rest leaning back against the bench.  He had died from the attack.  Dad covered him with a sheet from inside and called the Sheriff Department and we sat and waited for them. I sat and thought about our talks and how it always seemed he let me do most of the talking, while he had just sat looking out over his land and listening to me rattle on.

I moved from home soon afterwards, right after high school, I stepped into a marriage which gave me my first child.  After 3 years, my wife and I started drifting apart, which occurs sometimes when couples marry very young.

During the last month of my marriage I started to have a dream.  In the dream, I would be coming home to my parents house just I had years before.  As I got out of my car I would see the old man standing at the fence line that stood between our properties.  I would walk over and talk with him and he would ask me about my day.  Then he would look over my shoulder towards my parent's house and ask how my wife and daughter was? I would turn to look to see what he was looking at and as I did I would hear him say. "Go to your them,  Johnny, they needs you." I would turn back to ask him what he meant and he would no longer be standing there.  It was only then in the dream would I realize that he was not there because he had died years ago, and I would wake up from the dream.

My wife and I separated but I had custody of my Daughter.  We battled through court  over the custody of my daughter and near the final hearing over custody I had the same dream again about the old man.  But this time when he looked towards my parents house, he asked me about my Daughter? Again I looked away towards their house and he told me "Go to her Johnny, your daughter, she needs you." Turning around, he again would be gone and I would realize that he had passed away. I lost custody of my daughter, and fought with myself for the next 2 years over losing her.

Then, I again had the dream. but this time the old man asked "How I was doing?" and I would wake up from the nightmare not letting myself turn back around to see him gone again. It was then that
I lost myself  for 2 years into a world of denial, self-hate and total lack of self-respect and tried to carry the whole world down with me.

Fortunately I found my way into the Navy and regained control of my life and my future.

So.  hmmm..

38 years later, I sat down in a dentist chair here in Lake Charles, La.  On the wall of the room hung a painting and when I looked at it, I realized that it was a painting of the old man's home almost exactly.  The only difference was that the tree in the painting had Spanish Moss hanging from it which we had none in Central Texas.

I sat and stared at the painting and then noticed that it was signed and dated but I could not tell the whole date from the distance which I sat.  But I could see that it was 197_.  I could not force myself to get up and look and only when the Dentist came in did I dare ask him to tell me what the year of the painting was.  He walked over and squinted then said... "I think it's 1978."

The year that the Old Man had come to see me along the fence line for the last time was 1978....

It makes you wonder...

But I'm good with it.  Because now,  I think I have total closure and I don't have to worry about ever seeing the Old Man again and now when I think of him I can smile, and remember him as a the friend he once had been, a long time ago.

Johnny

All Still The Same

These Baskets are all....

Different Colors, 

Different Shapes

Different Designs.


But still called the same.... 


Well, come to think of it....

Even though we are..

Different Colors,

Different Shapes, 

Different Designs,

Are we not..... still the same?



Photo and Thought by

Me....

Time Sharers

Real early in the morning.  

When the world is standing still.

Even before the first Mocking Bird.   

There are just a few stirring.  

The newspaper boy.

A train in the distance.

The squirrel in the tree.

And me.  

Maybe. Just Maybe.... Someday

Some.... will see a raindrop under the leaf....

Others... will see a hole within the leaf. 

And maybe.....

They will share what they think they see....

And possibly... both will look again....

And see what the other saw...

Due to the 'Power of Perception and Suggestion"

Maybe..... Just Maybe... Someday

Thought... and Photo by John Glass

Until The Next Roundup

For me, gone are the days of roundups, ranching, farming

and living the life of a country boy...


But... that doesn't mean that the

spirit, is not still within me.

Nor that I can't remember those times and re-live them

through the lens of my camera,

my style of living

and having those things around to help remind me.


So...



I have changed the saddle that I now ride on.

I have chosen different ways to enjoy and be proud of the way I was raised.

Ways, that will allow me to still keep that of what I had still have within me.

That allows me to keep those distant times fresh in my mind...


So...

Until the next roundup...

Johnny

Thanks For Checking On Me

Yesterday morning I went to go outside and found this on my glass door...

The first thing I thought was "oh.... this is bad sign" and expected to walk out and find a bird lying dead on the door stoop.  But there was none...

So I then thought.  "Lucky Bird"...  

But a few minutes later I returned inside, sat down in  my garden room and cut my radio on...

Out of it's speakers came Willie Nelson's song "Angel Flying To Close To The Ground."

I looked back at the wing imprint that was still on the door.

So then I thought "Lucky Me"

I said a prayer and thanked him for sending one to check on me....

You see.... I had just had surgery the previous day...

But...Also....that only goes to prove that even Guardian Angels have to watch where their going..

Thank ya Lord

Can I Have Your Autographs Please?

I had to have some surgery done... no big deal.. but no matter what I hate hospitals.

This... is my surgery cap....

Just as they had me prepped and ready to start I asked for one thing...

That my surgery cap be signed by everyone who was in the operating room.. 

There was dead silence.

Then laughter, someone said it was the 1st time any of them had been asked for their autographs .

I said "Well ya'll are all  professionals aren't you?" Just as they were putting me to sleep. 

 And just as I slipped away I added  "Besides this way,  if anything goes wrong.. 

I'll know who to hunt down...😳😳😳😳

Mom's Button Box

There is a story about these two cake tins.

 The older one in the back was my mother's 'button box'.

 It is the first thing I actually remember of my childhood.

 I can remember running to get it for Mom and helping to find a matching button needed for the moment.

 It was the one thing I asked for when she passed.

The newer brighter identical box I found in the back corner of a thrift shop 2 weeks after she passed.

It seemed a message from her, 'Hold onto the Past but make the future your own.

They sit in my little curio cabinet now together.

I have never taken one single button from her box..

Just wouldn't seem right.

The new box, well the new box holds things that are important to me.

If others were to look inside they would have no idea why I've kept them..

But that doesn't really matter, there are only 2 people who need to know...

Mom and I,

And I know she does..

An Eye Opening Event

I can remember...

Back in the 8th grade we changed schools. Not because my family had moved but that there had been an election by our parents and it was decided to change to becoming a part of Del Valle I.S.D. instead of Manor I.S.D.

Now for most kids, this would not be a big deal.  But for about 20 "country" kids being thrust out into the BIG world, this, was a earth shaking event.  I can remember the day so vividly. Riding the bus across the river valley road all the way over to the Del Valle Jr/Sr campus. There was the usual screaming and holler and bantering of the 1st day of school. But then it slowly died and then dead silence as we approached the new school.

There were so many buses spewing hundreds of kids out onto the lawn of this strange and gigantic new world. I and my friends made our way to the doors, with the promise that we would stay close to each other, As we entered, and standing in line for a considerable time,  we met for the first time the School Secretary. A little old lady with blue hair and little bitty fake pearls on the edge of her glasses sitting  at a table blocking the way into the school in the main hallway.

 "What's your Name? she seemed to scream at you trying to be heard over the sounds of 300 kids seeing each other for the first time in 3 months. She shuffled through a never-ending stack of small 6 inch by 2 inch cards...

With name given she found yours.. stuffed it into you hand and giving you the "evil eye" shouted "GO TO THE GYM" and DON'T YOU DARE LOSE THAT SCHEDULE. .

We stepped into the stream of kids, dumbfounded and shuffling our feet trying to make sure we didn't fall because it was obvious you would be trampled by the flow of bodys that reminded me of salmon swimming upstream. Suddenly a sharp and very loud bell went off for about 10 seconds.  Thinking that surely there was a fire or a bomb was about to hit the school we allowed ourselves to become a part of the  human herd  which lead us to the gym.

Once there, we found a place on the wooden bleachers that ran up the walls of the huge room.  Kids were screaming and holler, Teachers were screaming and hollering and some man was standing on stage slapping a microphone say TESTING.... TESTING... TESTING... with the device producing a high pitch scream through several speakers that were mounted on the walls of the room.

Behind him on the stage sat a row of adults, all in suits or nice dresses sitting quietly, hands in their laps and looking down, shaking their heads as if maybe someone had just died.  We were soon to learn that these were the Lead Teachers for each grade...

 All except two,  there was a man and woman dressed in shorts, a Jersey with the schools name across the chest, tennis shoes and a large silver whistle hanging from their necks They stood over in the corner, he pitching a football up into the air, just staring out at the crowd  of what we were soon to find out he called "The Hooligans", and she, staring down at a clipboard she held. erasing then writing, erasing then writing all the while talking to him which it was obvious he was not listening to a word she said.  The Coaches.... We had never had Coaches before...

As we looked at the small card we had been given it was only then that we realized that we were to be separated for first time in our years in school.   PANIC, was the only word that would fit the description of how we felt at that moment. The 6 of us had been together in the same classroom, sitting beside each other for 7 years... Wait?  What do you mean? We're not going to be together, and a cold chill ran down my spine.

The man behind the microphone tried to take control of crowd by calling out over the roar of the laughing, screaming and hooting of the students. Finally, he gave up and turned to the coaches who both smiled, stepped forward and placing their hands on their hips and their whistles between their lips blasted a high pitched scream which immediately brought over half of the crowds hands over their ears including those sitting in the chairs on the stage.

This shrill note screamed from the whistles lasting for at least a minute until there was total silence through out the large domed room.   They then stepped back but left the whistles between their teeth as if to say. "Do we have to do that again?"

The principal re-adjusted the microphone stand and with a light tap on the mike thanked the coaches for their help.  He then introduced himself, welcoming everyone back to school and then went into what he was hoping to achieve over the coming school year, He then proceeded to explain what the rest of this 1st day would consist of.  At the end, he then explained that he would introduce each of the faculty, what room they would be in and with their introduction if your schedule showed you going into that Teacher's class for 1st period for you to get up and quietly follow them to the classroom.

The first teacher was called and she raised her hand for everyone to see where she was and slowly started heading for the exit door.  That classroom's students worked their way out of the bleachers and followed her out waving at their friends as the past by them.

This continued for 2 more Teachers, but at the same time we heard a buzz start among the remaining students in the room.  On the calling of the 4th Teacher, it seemed as though almost all of the students had decided that now was the time to hit the hallways.  There was a rush for the exit doors in all directions with the Principal screaming for everyone to stay seated while everyone ignored him and for the next hour the students of Del Valle Jr. High School roamed the halls totally ignoring the bells ringing, the teachers screaming, the janitors standing over in a corner giggling, The Principal and his office staff tried herding kids into rooms who would turn around and leave as soon as they headed back into the hallway to gather up another group.  I must admit, we also took advantage of the moment to help each other find our rooms, promising to meet for lunch.

My 1st period class was labeled Physical Education ---- Field House... I had been fortunate to have four older brothers who had gone to Del Valle before me.  So I knew where the Field House was located and after about 30 minutes of helping my friends find their rooms I headed my way to behind the building and out to the additional gym and dressing rooms that was located out near the football stadium.  As I approached the door, there stood that Coach that had been on the stage earlier.. He looked down at me and just said.. "Your a Glass, I've had all of your older brothers and I'm sure I can expect the same type of behavior that they shown me in the past." I offered my hand and shook his saying "Coach, you have nothing to worry about from me."

Boy, was he in for a big surprise, because as he would soon find out... in those days I was nothing like my Big Brothers....

Smile..

Johnny
10/18/16

Haunts and Tales from the Cajun Bayous

The French Cajuns of Louisiana are a Culture that live strongly on their history and folklore.  One of these are the Legend of the Rougarou. 

 A Rougarou is a beast that prowls the night throughout the swamps and bayous of Louisiana. 

The Shape-Changer, the story goes, is that of a poor soul who without control shifts into a creature of a half-man, half-wolf beast.  

Depending on the imagination and skills of the Story Teller, it occurs due to many different things.  1) That the person has strayed to the "dark-side". 2) That the person himself was attacked and bitten by another Rougarou or 3) That it is a person who has been put under the hex of a local ju-ju witch that also haunts the same lands, 

This story is shared many times especially around the coming of Halloween. Which is strongly enjoyed by the Cajun Culture and the story is told to the children just before they go out to scream and holler and created mischief on the Night of the Haunting setting the seed in their mind that there is danger in this night if you don't watch out for yourself.  

So, this is what I share with my little ones and others who decide to prowl the night on that evening.

Children and All People Who choose to enjoy this night.... Beware the Rougarou..

If by chance...

You find yourself in the Land of the Rougarou just before the Full Moon rises in sky over our swamps and Bayous,  when and the fog hangs low to the ground,  there are a couple of things you need to remember to do.

The First is... If you are a smart person... you will not wander into the Darkness of the Cajun Swamps and Bayous of Louisiana alone, because that is the person who the Rougarou is looking for.

The Second is.. If you are a smart person, is to glance over your shoulder every once in a while just in case you have been chosen by the Rougarou,.because no matter what if, you are chosen by the Rougarou, you will not see the light of the next day...

So heed my warning... trust me, I too have heard the howl of the Rougarou and cold chill went down my spine....

Just please be careful, If by chance....

You find yourself in the Land of the Rougarou on this Halloween Night...

Johnny

Gesundheit.....

Not just a word...

A gesture given from someone who has shared the same

 or are fearful of the possibility

 of the same happening to them.....

While some are not effected at all.... 

There are others who

 feel that whether not presently effected

 still feel they can be sympathetic.

Unfortunately, 

 There are others who don't realize

 that even though not presently effected,

They very well may be..

 If the stimuli is not put in check..

Terrorism must be stopped.

Easy Does It

I had gone down to the lake to try and catch a sunset across the water... I was to late by about 5 minutes... There were several fishing along the boardwalk.. Both fish and crabs were the targets...

Down at the far end of the walk sat a man.  I learned soon that his name was Jake.  The oddity with Jake was that the rod that sat beside him was not rigged for fishing..  He seem to be just sitting and enjoying the coolness that ws starting to creep in as the sun set.

I walked to within 20 feet or so away from him and snapped a shot of a private fishing boat coming in to the public ramp...  "You missed it by about 5 minutes."
He called out, giving me the invitation to come and share the bench he sat on.

We talked for a while, he telling me that the fish just weren't biting, but didn't want to waste a good sunset.  Then he asked me about my camera and that he had seen me there before.  I gave him one of my cards explaining my love for sunrises and sunsets and showed him a few that were within the innards of the camera...

He shared a picture on his phone of a shot his wife had made on the eastern coast of Florida just last week while waiting to get out of there before Hurricane Michael reached there. It was a beautiful shot with a mass of Seagulls right at the edge of the surf and the massive thunderheads to east with the first signs of the storm in the distance.

I expressed my relief that it had gone up the east coast and not made it into the Gulf Coast..  He agreed, but said he could just imagine what they were going through... "over there" and I agreed...

We shook hands and made it a point that we would see each other again there on the boardwalk along our lake in Lake Charles...

Nice Man... Good New Friend....

That Sunday Morning One Minute

I love a certain early morning show on Sunday morning that comes on one of the big 3 Television Networks...

I sit and listen to the stories they share... Most the time, they are about things that don't make the National News... Which is nice because I'm really getting tired of hearing about who killed who or who hates who and who is going to "fix" the world if their elected.

I watch and listen attentively. But what I'm really waiting for is that last 1 minute.  That is when they leave us with a visit to some far away place or a place not to far away that we just haven't noticed. Usually its out there in Nature away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives... No music, no narration, no sound but what Nature is offering for 1 minute.

1 minute that takes us away if for only that long to be able to say... It's Sunday Morning... time to prepare for a new week... Time to clear the head while watching the innocence of Nature make us smile....

Just 1 Minute.....

Lately though, I've notice that it doesn't last 1 minute..  Why?  Has the world gotten to chaotic that we can't have just a whole 1 minute of putting the world on hold while we enjoy what we should be enjoyed more, which is life itself.

Because... to me...... it's such an important 1 Minute...

Johnny
10/10/16

Morning, Mr. Sneakers

"You have your coffee, I have my acorn" is what he seems to say each morning about 7am when he comes and sits on the fence right outside my garden room. 

We both listen to the sounds of the morning, the ladies jabbering as they walk by doing morning walk together, the old man on the bike with his portable radio on so loud that you can hear it through the headphones he wears from 50 yards away and the 1st Mockingbird that has been trying too wake everyone up for the last hour.

Then, the same Blue Jay comes every day and does false strafing runs on him until he decides "Fine... I'm outta here" and runs to the end of the fence, pauses, and leaps the 5 feet over to the large tree and disappears up an into it's branches....

By now my coffee is either drank or turned cold, so I groan as I get up and go to get another... "Damn Blue Jay..." I think to myself. " Why don't you just mind your own business. We were have such a good time until you came along." 

Until tomorrow Mr. Sneakers....

Johnny

10/1016

I Am Such A Lucky Man

On this Christmas Morning, again.... I realize just how lucky I am.

I did not win the lottery....
No one died and left me their millions...
I did not find the cure for the common cold....
The Giant still has the Goose that lays the Golden Egg....
I did not just sign up as a Leading Quarterback in the NFL....
My GPS just went out so I'm not sure where the Emerald City is...
I don't even dare try to sing in the shower so forget a record deal..

But.....

I woke up today, so I'm still breathing....
I can see the night light on in the room, so I can still see...
I heard myself groan when I got out of bed, so I can still hear...
I made it to the bathroom, so I can still walk...
I can smell the coffee brewing so I can still smell.....
I walked away from the bathroom so I can still.....
I rubbed my toothbrush up against something in my mouth, and the toothpaste tasted sweet, so I can still taste and not all my teeth have fallen out yet..
All my bills are paid, well most of them, so we still have a little money...
The Police are not knocking at my door, so I must be behaving myself..
I'm typing this so my fingers still work....
I've checked Facebook and I have had at least one person "like" something I had wrote, so I still have friends...

And the most important thing...

Just before leaving the bedroom to come to my Garden room, My Wonderful Wife rolled over, and asked me if I'm OK, and told me she loves me...

What else can a man ask for?

Thank ya Lord...

Johnny

The Gentleman's Game

"I regard golf as an expensive way of playing marbles."

Gilbert K. ChestertonI

I stink at Golf..

.I've tried it 2 times.

The first time I played was when I was a teenager in Austin... I was going to play 9 holes... At the 3rd hole you had to shoot across a creek... I lost all my golf balls in it.. so I went swimming at Barton Springs instead.. 

The second time was on a 3 par course in the Philippine Islands and a monkey came down from a tree, grabbed my golf ball and took off with it. I went back to my cabana and had a beer and watched the waves roll in.

I'd love to play marbles again, like when we were kids.... But.... I'm afraid now I couldn't get up after the game and If I could, my knees would talk to me for 2 weeks..

So I thought... ahh Frisbee Golf.... but then I reminded myself... Wait a minute haven't you had 4 operations on your left shoulder? And aren't you left handed?

So...I think I will just stick to picking up my camera and grab a glimpse of the world around me...

If by chance, I see someone putting on a green, or lining up for a shot in marbles, or someone twirling a Frisbee on the end of their finger...

I'll take a picture of them, and wish them Good Luck....

Johnny

There are much better ways to protest your feelings and that is your right. but to not stand for the Flag...

If you want to make a statement by using public television as your podium to get your point across, refuse to take the Salary your being paid for playing...

Trust me your Name, Face and Story would be on more TV's then what disgracing our Flag would do...

For the companies who endorse these players and feel what they are doing by not standing for the flag is wrong... pull the plug....They can do it if they are found abusing drugs, alcohol, breaking the law....

So why not Shaming Our Flag.

Or each of us could find out which companies do endorse an individual player and start a protest by not buying their products....

If they have the right to not stand for the Flag...

We have that right to protest THEIR actions by boycotting the companies that endorse then....

Do you realize what Nike's sales chart would look like if everyone boycotted their products due to the actions of someone they endorse?

True.. Beliefs should be allowed to be expressed..

So.. Since "Money Talks" are they willing to prove their point that bad?.....

Johnny

In regards to the Sports Players who are refusing to Stand while the playing of our National Anthem...

There are much better ways to protest your feelings and that is your right. but to not stand for the Flag...

If you want to make a statement by using public television as your podium to get your point across, refuse to take the Salary your being paid for playing...

Trust me your Name, Face and Story would be on more TV's then what disgracing our Flag would do...

For the companies who endorse these players and feel what they are doing by not standing for the flag is wrong... pull the plug....They can do it if they are found abusing drugs, alcohol, breaking the law....

So why not Shaming Our Flag.

Or each of us could find out which companies do endorse an individual player and start a protest by not buying their products....

If they have the right to not stand for the Flag... We have that right to protest THEIR actions by boycotting the companies that endorse then....

Do you realize what Nike's sales chart would look like if everyone boycotted their products due to the actions of someone they endorse?

True.. Beliefs should be allowed to be expressed..

So.. Since "Money Talks" are they willing to prove their point that bad?.....

Johnny

Good Day Sunshine

I wake early..... REAL EARLY. What does this mean? It means if your up before the sun then there's a good chance to catch the sunrises. These are some of the end results... I usually jump in the car and head out down a different road each day and when I can tell the sun is just about to peak over the horizon that is when I jump out and start shooting...

These and many more can be found at JOHN-GLASS.PIXELS.COMIt shows lots of ways they can be purchased as great gift items.

 There are many different types of photographs to pick from and can be framed in various types of ways.

 They can also be found on the Fine Art America website under the Artist title of John Glass.

Come by and pay us a visit.