Went to the park

 I went to the park and all I have to show for it are these words. (Bit of humor)

It was going to be another scorcher today, just para of a week that will turn into a month then several months, all the way until December when the cold will suddenly step inside after waiting politely far, far away, in another hemisphere.

Today was a day to go out despite all the heat. I slept poorly again, waking up every hour and a half to two hours, and my head was hurting again, but I managed to get up and took stock of my options. It was stay at home all day, or walk around the block then stay at home, or else do something, so I did something. I got up and got ready to go to UCR.

I had a magical moment as I was arriving. I was on campus and was just turning into the small roadway that would lead to the parking lot when I saw what looked like a spotted orange cat. Then I looked closely and saw that it was far too large to be a cat, it was the size of a medium dog, and that was when it hit me. It was a mountain lion, a juvenile, wandering on the campus of UCR while in the bushes! It was scampering far too quickly for me to have time to grab a photo with my cellphone, and I didn't even try. I just thanked the creator for the chance to see it as it walked across the roadway and into some bushes where it quickly disappeared.

It was a very satisfying moment, and when I arrived at the parking lot for the botanical garden, I saw that the parking dispenser was not working, which meant, no sliding my card to buy parking. I was grateful for that as well. I walked in with what appeared to be an Asian woman and her teenage daughter. I was carrying my 8x10 pinhole camera, my tripod and a small backpack with my Fuji GW690. I thought it would be a lighter load, but I was wrong, it weighed on me, especially the tripod. The thing is, I can't use the pinhole camera without it, and the Fuji camera weighed me down as well, but I wanted to make sure I took some slide photos, something razor sharp to contrast with the soft pinhole camera images.

Walking around the cacti, there were beautiful plants. There were not very many people there, and yes, it was getting hotter and hotter. My shirt was getting drenched after the first 15 minutes, but I was determined. I started grabbing my pinhole shots, first a cacti, then some flowers in the garden, then flowers and a bench with mountains in the background, then another scene with a giant rock and trees. Those were my four 8x10 images. I took a whole roll (8 exposures) of photos with my Fuji too, of different plants. Hopefully they will turn out. I was using sunny 16 because, if ever there was a sunny day, it was today. I was drenched in sweat, and when I arrived home, I had to take a shower.

Today was also the day to take my Honda car for an oil change. I also had a timing belt replaced and some valves adjusted. It was service that should ordinarily be done after 100,000 miles, and I am oh so close, at over 98,000 miles. They told me my belt was torn too, so I went ahead and did it. I had accepted I would be getting repairs today. Total cost was $613. More on the card.

I also worked on some school material. I have one more lecture ready to go for Tuesday, and the other one well-commenced. I need to change that syllabus, to make it less dependent upon works from Spain, but I will get there. 

So, all in all, it was a busy day. I feel very tired. After picking up my car (at 6 p.m.), I also developed some 4x5 film and one 8x10 negative from the four big negatives I took today. The big negative is still thinner than I like, but better than I was getting before. I think the Arista 200 black and white film, in combination with my regular F76 developer, is working out better. 

Yesterday, no matter how I tried, I could not find much information on getting Lumen prints with film instead of photographic paper. I looked, and saw a brief post, but no example, and no info on the time needed. I will have to play with it, but I was so sure that with film I could get some kind of image in less time than with the 30 minutes I need on paper. I guess I will have to experiment. I will use the Arista 400 4x5 film which I don't use because it doesn't develop well in my chemicals.

I would have liked to have images ready to scan today, but they are hanging in the bathroom. So, nothing to share today, not even a stinking Lumen print (we don't need no stinkin' badges!). But tomorrow, tomorrow, I will have something. It is supposed to be extremely hot tomorrow as well. I'll photograph something in the back yard. What can I say, I can't go anywhere during the weekend because all the sites will be crowded. We have over 11,800 Covid casualties in California, and Texas is catching up fast with about 11,500. People are not playing it safe, and I don't want to go out there. I have already taken too many risks, talking to neighbors (Regino) who wear no masks, or going to the Honda dealership and seeing a Hispanic family walk in, totally oblivious, with no masks. 

Maybe I will walk tomorrow, maybe not. I still need to work on lectures for my classes. However, I think this whole "one Zoom class per week" thing will be more manageable. I hope so, because I was being suffocated before Covid. 

So, that is it. Will read now, then go to bed. It is 9:30 p.m. right now (or 9:28, but close enough). 

Good night. 

P.S. The film was dry so I went ahead and scanned it! Here are two images taken along the Angeles-Crest Highway on Aug. 17 with expired Arista 200 film from 2005. I had not realized I had it loaded in some of my holders, but now I am glad that I used it. 

Look at the grain and the fogging! These look so vintage, from the 19th century, and yet they were taken on August 17, 2020. That's it, I am placing another box of Arista 200 4x5 film in my car and letting it bake in the heat for the next few months. If I can get film to do this, then I want more of it! And after all, expired film on Ebay is, I am finding out, very expensive. I lucked out with the box of Ektopan, but that film (from the 90s!) turned out not to give me this effect, that film is pristine, very velvety smooth. I want more grain and fogging like in these photos! 

Will post a photo of the 8x10 pinhole image tomorrow.