Took this at a local outdoor mall here in Omaha a few days before Christmas . It was pretty cold out and my wife and daughter played it smart by waiting for me in our warm car while I went out in the cold and took a few snaps. Asked if they wanted to join me, but neither wanted to keep me company. I only expected to be shooting for a few minutes… Maybe five minutes at the most. Spent much more time than that. And was very chilled when I finally got back to the car.
As I had mentioned in a recent Tweet (http://twitter.com/marksiek), I got a new lens for Christmas. I had been wanting to get the lens for many, many months. I had been putting a little money away here and there in hopes of one day having enough to buy it. Got a boat load of help from several family members by way of cash, checks, and gift cards to B&H photo. Tremendous thanks go to Mom, Corey, Alan, and Carole & Elmer. The most thanks though goes to my dear Dana. She is so un-selfish and does a stellar job of taking care of me. She asked for donations for the lens from everyone instead of asking for things for herself. Although she will use the lens occasionally, I will be using it most of the time. She basically asked everyone to give me her gifts. I begged her not to do what she did, but she said she had everything she wants and needs and that the lens was something my business needed. What an amazing lady she is. I can’t express in words how much she means to me or how she makes my life so much better.
Santa had put some chocolate facial cleansing mask in my daughter’s and wife’s stockings. I captured the image below of my dear daughter as she was waiting for time to elapse so she could wash off her mask. I hope this doesn’t embarrass her. This was one of the first images I captured with my new lens.
In downtown Omaha, near the new stadium where the College World Series will now be played, there is a building that has this unbelievable mural painted on it. I have passed by this mural tons of times, but never stopped to take a picture. I either didn’t have my camera with me, was running late, or any number of other excuses. This past weekend I had my camera and the time to take a few pics of it. My photo doesn’t even begin to do the mural anywhere near the level of justice it deserves. To see it in person is to see it in all it’s glory. A photo doesn’t convey the mood properly. I am only showing a bit of the mural in this image.
Remember, this is on the side of a fairly big building. I think it is very cool looking.
A new year is upon all of us. I have chosen to not make any resolutions as I never am successful at carrying them on for any amount of time. What I am attempting to do is be more proactive, more organized, and more available to family and friends this year. It dawned on me recently as I was watching the Huskers lose their bowl game that I hadn’t heard from a friend of mine for quite some time. I was getting ready to text him when he beat me to it and texted me. It had been over three weeks since I had spoken to him. When we last spoke, he had asked if my family wanted to get some pizza with his family one of upcoming weekends. I said sure, give me a call. Hadn’t heard from him until he texted me. I asked him if his clan wanted to get some food this past weekend and he said he needed to check with his then sleeping wife. Didn’t hear back from him.
Don’t have much conversation with my next older brother anymore either. I am busy so I don’t call, and he’s busy all the time, so he doesn’t call. We used to touch base with one another 4 or 5 times a week. Lately, it seems like we talk to each other every 4 or 5 weeks. Life is way too short to let chunks of time disappear. Gonna make some changes in the way I do things going forward.
Until next time,
Mark