What I learned on family vacation

Written by Darrin F. Coe, MA


Continued from page 1
So instead of blowing a diode and riskingrepparttar safety of everyone inrepparttar 110885 car, I began to engagerepparttar 110886 boys in a question and answer session about what they loved about our vacation to date. Questions like, “Duncan, what three things did you like most about spending time with greatgrandpa Gayle?” Within minutes, both boys were chomping atrepparttar 110887 bit to answerrepparttar 110888 next question; I was back in control, and inrepparttar 110889 process learned a great deal aboutrepparttar 110890 loves, goals, and thought processes of a three and a five year old. It turned into one ofrepparttar 110891 highlights ofrepparttar 110892 trip.

I learned that creativity and patience provide much more joy and control than loud volume, and intimidation. I learned that our family has a lot of great things to share with each other if we takerepparttar 110893 time to get over being tired and allow evenrepparttar 110894 youngest to have their say. I learned that I too, am not immune to threatening to “pull this car over, right now!” Finally, I learned it is imperative to pay attention when your son tells you he’s got a “yucky tummy” and feels like throwing up.

weekly columnist, published poet and short story author.


How to Care for Your Photographs

Written by Andrew J. Morris


Continued from page 1

Other factors than can affectrepparttar chemical degradation of photographs are temperature and humidity. Like most chemical processes, those that damage your pictures are accelerated by heat and humidity. Excessively low heat or humidity can also be damaging however. All materials expand and contract with temperature changes, which can lead to cracking ofrepparttar 110884 image surface. Rapid changes in temperature and humidity can be very destructive. Very low humidity can also cause curling. Store your photos in an area whererepparttar 110885 temperature is steady and avoid extremes such as would be found in an attic or basement. Again, proper storage materials will help amelioraterepparttar 110886 effects of fluctuating temperature and humidity.

PHYSICAL PROTECTION

How many times have you seen interviews with survivors of a disaster such as flooding or fire, where they lamentrepparttar 110887 loss of their irreplaceable family photos? There is a simple solution to this problem. Photos haverepparttar 110888 wonderful property of being reproducible. You can have copies made in any quantity. Always have multiple copies made of your favorite photos, and send them to relatives living in other parts of repparttar 110889 country. If you have pictures of historical significance, contact museums inrepparttar 110890 locality where they are from, they may be happy to accept copies. Distribute your images far and wide, and you will always be able to find another copy should yours be destroyed.

There are less severe forms of physical destruction that you can protect against. Bent corners, folds and smudges from greasy fingers can all damage your pictures. Children will scribble onrepparttar 110891 backs if givenrepparttar 110892 chance. Store your pictures securely, in safe materials. Don't just stuff them in a drawer. There are chemically inert plastic sleeves available for picture albums that allowrepparttar 110893 pictures to be viewed without removing them from their page.

INFORMATION

The value in common snapshots and portraits lies mostly in repparttar 110894 associations we have with them. Portraits of our ancestors interest us more than unidentified portraits. Pictures of places we have been, houses we have lived in, are more interesting than similar pictures for which we have no associations. Even indirect associations lend worth to an image -- a snapshot ofrepparttar 110895 pyramids in Egypt may not approachrepparttar 110896 many professional images available of those wonderful monuments; but if we know it was Aunt Lizzie who took that picture while on her honeymoon,repparttar 110897 picture suddenly has more sentimental value. These associations require information not contained inrepparttar 110898 photo itself. Always label your pictures! The who/what/why/when/where associated with an image makes a world of difference in how it is valued by others. Never write on a print with a pen, repparttar 110899 ink may have chemicals that will damagerepparttar 110900 picture. Write onrepparttar 110901 back, using a dark pencil, and don't press so hard as to damagerepparttar 110902 front side. At a minimum, putrepparttar 110903 date and names of persons shown and/or location ofrepparttar 110904 photo. If you store them in clear plastic sleeves, don't put two pictures back-to-back in one sleeve -- leaverepparttar 110905 back visible so you can see if there are any notes without having to removerepparttar 110906 picture from its sleeve.

DIGITAL IMAGES

Withrepparttar 110907 advent of digital imaging, we have a whole new type of image to deal with. It does not degrade, and can be copied at little expense. It is also more easily manipulated. Long-term storage is technology dependent, and less predictable thanrepparttar 110908 physical processes affecting chemical photographs. Will CD's or DVD's made now be intact a hundred years from now? Will there be machines capable of reading them? Who knows? Butrepparttar 110909 opportunity to duplicate and distribute your images at minimal cost, with room to include as much information as you want, rather than just repparttar 110910 little note that will fit onrepparttar 110911 back of a print, makes this an attractive way to share your pictures. You can be sure that whenrepparttar 110912 time comes thatrepparttar 110913 CD or DVD formats are phased out, there will be a "window of opportunity" during which time it will be easy to transferrepparttar 110914 digital information from those to whatever format replaces them.

The author, Andrew J. Morris, is a writer, programmer, researcher, publisher and general infopreneur. Explore his varied expressions at http://ajmorris.com/ and http://epmassoc.com/ and http://larimerco.com/ and http://sharedrss.com/


    <Back to Page 1
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use