Kent Griswold

An old weathered log pulled out from the creek that runs by my folks house and than placed in their yard makes a perfect backdrop for freshly fallen leaves, enhanced by a recent rain shower.

Driving home from church today I decided to take the side roads home as we had gotten out early and it was a beautiful day. I stopped beside the road and shot this picture of the vineyard just south of Asti California.

Recently I have become interested in playing a stringed instrument and I have decided to give the mandolin a try.

I had briefly played the banjo and guitar in my teen years but never really mastered either. Recently I have rediscovered the mandolin. In the early days of Camp Yavapines in Prescott, Arizona I was exposed to the mandolin by the camp director Ed Clifford. He had learned to play the mandolin while a missionary in South America.

Recently doing research on the web, I discovered some free mandolin lessons by Brad Laird who is a professional bluegrass player and whose primary instrument is the mandolin. I really like his style and training technique and I hope to master some basic bluegrass and gospel music for at least my own enjoyment and once I learn a bit maybe go jam with some other like minded people.

I borrowed an Ibanez mandolin pictured above from a friend and today started learning a few chords. My fingers are going to take some breaking in but I will keep you informed of my progress and maybe even play you a tune down the road.

The picture below is a mandolin I found used on the internet that I would like to purchase for myself, it is a Morris A5 built by Howard (Sonny) Morris up in Irrigon, Oregon. We’ll see if that happens or not.

I try to take a camera with me on my daily walks with our dog. It’s not always possible as currently my wife and I share a point and shoot and often she will take it to school, and I don’t always feel like lugging around my big Nikon D200. Today I had the point and shoot and noticed this leaf on the ground and thought it made a pretty picture. I hope you like it. Have a great Monday!

This afternoon Janelle and I took Max our dog for a walk down to the Russian River. The fall colors were really pretty and as it was approaching evening the lighting was magnificent. Unfortunately the sky was not at its best and the picture really does not do it justice but it was an enjoyable fall walk and at least this gives you some idea of what it was like.

The weathered texture of old barn wood is a favorite of mine to photograph. In fact my roommate at Walla Walla College and I built a dividing wall in our dorm room using wood we had salvaged from an old barn in the area. He was an RA and stayed up late and I tended to head to bed early and this gave us each the privacy we needed.

Steve Jobs has been one of my technological heros threw the years. Though only three years older than I am he is a genius in so many ways. Today Fortune announce him the CEO of the Decade.

Jobs poses with the Macintosh computer, introduced in January 1984 at Apple’s annual meeting. The iconic “1984″ commercial — portraying a monolithic IBM — airs during the Super Bowl.

Following is an excerpt from MacRumors that I thought you would enjoy reading:

Fortune today named Apple CEO Steve Jobs “CEO of the Decade”, highlighting his role in the remaking of multiple industries and propelling Apple to continued success despite difficult economic conditions. As part of the feature, Fortune profiles Jobs and offers an interactive timeline of major Apple events over the past ten years.

How’s this for a gripping corporate story line: Youthful founder gets booted from his company in the 1980s, returns in the 1990s, and in the following decade survives two brushes with death, one securities-law scandal, an also-ran product lineup, and his own often unpleasant demeanor to become the dominant personality in four distinct industries, a billionaire many times over, and CEO of the most valuable company in Silicon Valley.

Also featured in the profile are a set of rare photos of Jobs over the years, a rundown of the “Top 10″ moments in Jobs’ career, and a series of testimonials from eight significant personalities in Jobs’ industries describing what makes him unique.

Superlatives have attached themselves to Jobs since he was a young man. Now that he’s 54, merely listing his achievements is sufficient explanation of why he’s Fortune’s CEO of the Decade (though the superlatives continue). In the past 10 years alone he has radically and lucratively reordered three markets — music, movies, and mobile telephones — and his impact on his original industry, computing, has only grown.

Today I had a nice visit with my former co-worker Rick Ward from Cable Car Classics, Inc. We worked together for almost three years and he was out photographing their latest hybrid trolley. I snapped a few pictures also and it brought back memories of other photo shoots while working there.