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derrick's random views

  • Pictures
  • Photography Lessons
    • All Lessons Preview
    • One: About Digital Photography
    • Two: DOF (Depth Of Field)
    • Three: Every Lens Tells A Story
    • Four: ROT (The Rule of Thirds)
    • Six: When Things Are Still
    • Five: Compose the Picture
    • Seven: A Visual Exercise
    • Eight: Manage Your Images
    • Nine: What Do You Do Now?
  • Ramblings (blog)
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    • Around the World In Ten Days!
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I Live In Galax.......

October 9, 2026

This is an update because the words to the “poem” I wrote are now in a song.

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In Fun Things, Travel
5 Comments

Diego Garcia, not much there, in the middle of nowhere

Around The World In Ten Days! Part One

September 13, 2026

Diego as it is called is an island in the Indian Ocean, directly south of India and just below the equator. The middle of nowhere on the other side of the world in other words. The Navy Department of Procurement was desperate to get this job done and none of their normal vendors wanted to take this assignment on. Could I do it?

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In Ten Days
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A poison ivy covered slope like the one I rolled down.

No Matter What!

July 12, 2026

This all started in May 2025, when I volunteered to help clear a long stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway of downed trees and limbs from a major ice storm earlier that winter. The BRP was a mess for months; cleaning crews with chainsaws and chippers started from both ends of the parkway, with the crew I was on somewhere in the middle.

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In Soul Stories (my past)
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When I Hear Your Name

April 20, 2026

This is an unusual blog post for me. Just “read and listen” along, and you will find out why.

Music means a lot to me and speaks to my soul. It has for years.

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In Fun Things
1 Comment

Our New e-Bikes (an extensive review)

March 22, 2026

This post was prompted by our meeting with a couple of hikers on the New River Trail. They were very curious about the e-bikes Diane and I were riding. I was more than happy to tell them about them. I am more than happy to tell you about them here also. This is a review of the GoTrax Dolphin e-bikes.

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In Biking
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Will The Circle Be Unbroken?

March 18, 2026

As a blogger/writer/storyteller, which I am to some regard, I sometimes use the phrase that a lot of writers use: “This is hard for me to write”.

I lost my mother this past July.

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In Friends and Family
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Twenty Minutes to Spare (Epic Prologue)

February 22, 2026

I love movies, I love going to the movies. I adored both when I was younger.

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In Epic
2 Comments
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Once Upon a Time (Epic Act 1)

February 20, 2026

There are story lines, that are used over and over again for a reason. Like a music tune you can’t forget, can’t get out of your mind, an ear worm, as Diane calls it. A qoute from a book or a movie line can become a mind worm.

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In Epic
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The Age Old Question (Epic Act 2)

February 19, 2026

Villains, many great movies have them. They provide conflict, the battle of good versus evil. They drawn us into the story, whether in a book or up on the screen.

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In Epic
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Wonder, Magic, Romance (Epic Act 3)

February 18, 2026

Wonder, Amazement. Remember the look on Marty’s face as he walks thru the future Hill Valley in Back To The Future II? Or the utterly astonished look when he discovers he is sitting beside a teenage boy who is and will become his father in Back To The Future?

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In Epic
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Happily Ever After (Epic Act 4)

February 2, 2026

Lives, Loves and Kingdoms have now been restored but one question remains, and what a question it is,

Do they Live Happily Ever After?

Wow, just think about that. Can it be possible? To live happily ever after? It is an amazing thought.

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In Epic
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The Road Before Us (Epic Epilogue)

February 1, 2026

Life can blow us off course, and we find ourselves sometimes in a strange world,

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In Epic
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A Great Misconception

September 27, 2025

I watched every minute of the Charlie Kirk Memorial, including the praise and worship before the memorial officially started. I was deeply moved and could see God's hand at work in all of it. It has sparked a significant global movement.

The title starts this post out. I think that people have the idea that God will not tolerate, and doesn’t want to hear our complaints, or our frustrations, some of which can be wrapped in anger, about our problems in life.

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In Soul Stories Three
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Diego Garcia from the Indian Ocean, the water was rough!

Around The World In Ten Days! Part Two

September 13, 2025

I didn’t have much unpacking to do. My phone equipment first, just to get things organized. I snapped a couple of pictures also. Then I went to the communications room, more of a closet actually. I scoped out the French intercom system that quit on them.

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In Ten Days
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Flying into the UAE

Around The World In Ten Days! Part Three

September 13, 2025

My somewhat boring flight from Diego Garcia to Fujairah Air Base ended none too soon. The air base looked brand new, no airplanes were on the tarmac, and I swear they opened the terminal just for me.

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In Ten Days
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A Photographic (and musical) Tribute

April 10, 2025

Today is Diane’s birthday. I felt the need to post an updated tribute composed of words and pictures to her. She is the love of my life.

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In Photography, Friends and Family
3 Comments

Through the Storm

March 21, 2025

Sometimes something can happen that I can’t write down until enough time has passed that my fingers don’t shake or tears don’t fall on my keyboard. One of those somethings happened at the end of last month.

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In Soul Stories Three, Soul Stories (my past)
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The True Meaning of Christmas (are people still looking for it?)

December 12, 2024

I have heard that many people believe the true meaning of Noel, Christmas has gotten lost in the the hubbub that surround this holiday.

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In IAWL (It's a wonderful life)
2 Comments

Poor Vision

November 25, 2024

Proverbs 29:18 is one of the Bible's most misunderstood and misused verses. I have experienced it used by some church and ministry leaders to lead people astray, down a path they should not go on and no one should follow.

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In Soul Stories Three
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As One......

August 14, 2024

The church that Diane and I attend in Galax believes that the people in the church should be as one person. This sounds simplistic, but it should be.

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In Soul Stories Three
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