37/365 A trip to the playground

The swing set was always one of my favorite playground features as a kid.

Chase and I had a swing set in our backyard while we were growing up, and we each had "our" swings. If you used the other person's swing, not only did you risk getting kicked out of it, it just felt wrong. The world was situated incorrectly, and the airflow felt different.

I drove to a school near my house to get this photo. It was after hours and after school had let out for the summer, so the playground was empty.

One thing I noticed about these swings -- something different from the ones I remember -- is that the chains are covered. They've been dipped in a plastic coating, eliminating the finger-pinching and hair-entangling links.

While eliminating this kind of hazard is probably a good thing, and I'm sure it eliminates some crying trips to the nurse, I can't help but be struck by some eye-rolling nostalgia. Do we really have to remove every possible danger for our kids now? Does every surface have to be padded and smooth?

I'm sure a parent somewhere sued a school or swing manufacturer for millions of dollars in damages when their child pinched his finger or caught her hair in a swing's chain. Then all swings were probably removed, the chains coated in plastic, and reinstalled. It's a little sad.

Nevertheless, after I photographed these swings -- padded chains and all -- I did set my camera down and swing for a few moments myself.

And I enjoyed it.

Camera: Canon 40D with 24mm wide-angle lens, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 160 at about 7:30 p.m.

260/365 Sneaker Stilts

White elephant gift exchanges can be fun... or go pitifully wrong. I've participated in both.

The worst I've been to involve gifts that are complete second-hand junk. It takes the fun out of the game, partially because no one is interested in "stealing" a gift from another participant.

I inwardly groaned a bit when I learned that our office holiday party would include a white elephant gift exchange. All I could do was hope that my coworkers put a little more effort into selecting fun/funny gifts.

My contribution was actually an item that I (or my brother) got in a white elephant exchange about ten years ago -- a pair of stilts, complete with plastic sneakers on the ends for "feet."

It was a perfect white elephant gift: 1) wrapping it was incredibly difficult, meaning it was a large, oddly shaped package that drew attention and curiosity and was chosen early; 2) it was second-hand, but instead of being junk, it was actually a fun thing to have; and 3) it inspired people to "steal" it from other exchange participants until the rules mandated it could no longer be stolen.

I ended up with a workout video -- "The Abs Diet Workout." I'm actually curious to try it out!

Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 800

341/365 A blast from the past

As a kid, I was a devoted fan of all shows on PBS. Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow... And even now, I'm reminded of things I saw on those shows.

Like the episode of Mr. Rogers where he showed a video of how crayons are made. I found the video online, which is wrongly attributed to Sesame Street, but is so cool you have to see it.



That video has stayed with me for decades (well, these crayons have, too). I think of it every time I see crayons or smell that distinctive waxy scent.

Oh, to be a kid again and color all the time...

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/60s, f/2.8 at ISO 400

302/365 Gaze into the Magic 8-Ball

My Magic 8-Ball seems to be losing its magic blue fluid. That's a bummer, but it was admittedly interesting to see the true shape of the magic answer die inside.

According to Wikipedia, the Magic 8-Ball was invented over 60 years ago, in 1946. It never ceases to amaze me when I look up the history of toys that I've known for years and years, only to find that they've been around for generations.

What toys being invented now will have such lasting impact?

I know you're curious about the question I asked the Ball to get this negative answer. Unfortunately, it was "Will spring come early this year?"

I guess we'll have to wait until February to see what the groundhog says and hope the Magic 8-Ball is wrong.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and external E-TTL flash, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 400. Blue cast created with extreme white balance shift in-camera, 2500K.

261/365 Toys from Christmases past

Did you ever have a Koosh ball?

I have five. They're just your standard balls, no extra bells and whistles, three of which came with a game book.

I spent one Thanksgiving break from school teaching myself to juggle with Koosh balls. They're fairly easy to juggle because they're light and easy to hold on to.

My five are still close at hand, because I still find them to be lots of fun. And, judging from the little bit of Googling I did about them, nearly 40% of those sold in the late '80s and early '90s were sold to adults -- so I'm not alone in hanging onto them.

As you can tell from this photo, I also discovered that they make very interesting macro subjects.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and external E-TTL flash, 1/125s, f/11 at ISO 100, with the flash bounced off the refrigerator to the left.

43/465 The most ridiculous toy a parent could have

When we bought our horse trailer, the dealer threw in a free cooler. But not just any cooler.

This baby has wheels. And a motor.
Yes, indeed, this is a cooler you ride.

As Chase said, after my parents said no to his taking it back to college with him, "This is the most ridiculous toy a parent could have... and you're keeping it from me!"

Watching him ride this cooler 1) like it was a high-speed bike 2) and with the joy of a 6-year-old, I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.
Who in the world thought this up? We bet it was some guy at a NASCAR race that said, "Honey, this is heavy. I'm tired of carrying it. Why don't I put wheels and a motor on this baby?"

A revelation after which you can say with me, "If your idea of a good time is riding your cooler... you might be a redneck."

It has a battery-powered motor that you plug in to recharge. It reaches speeds of up to 13 mph. On the left handle is a handbrake and on the right is the throttle. If you take the curve too fast you will tip, unless, as demonstrated in the picture above, you get the hang of leaning into it. And it really is a lot of ridiculous fun to ride.

Camera: Canon Rebel DSLR on Program setting in natural light at about 1:00 p.m.
1st photo: 1/500s, f/11 at ISO 400
2nd photo: 1/200s, f/8 at ISO 100