So, what's odd?

Well, first of all, I always like an odd angle on even the most mudane of subjects. But wait! There is actually a telephone directory at a pay phone? And almost odd these days--there is a pay phone.

Take a walk down memory road and watch an old detective show from the 70s. James Rockford from the Rockford Files, for example, is always popping into a phone booth and digging into his pocket for change.

Fast forward to the series Sherlock, (which we've only seen three episodes of on PBS here in the states--send more, send more!!) Sherlock Holmes set in current times. Sherlock is constantly texting his Watson.

What other odd shots are simply anachronisms? What other technology will go the way of the pay phone?

Wonder what HIZZZZZZZ iz.

Odd Shots



Odd Shot Monday

I was tempted to go get something for my Gard, but I needed some pparel.

Last week the Linky did not work. I will give it another try. Please leave a comment with your link as the links from the Linky are not showing. I will find another Linky service for future posts or figure out what is wrong with this one.

Sometimes an Odd Shot is an eyeball to eyeball view.

For some reason, the linkies are not showing up. Please leave a comment if you have an Odd Shot so that we can visit you.

Politics is Odd

...especially in the next town over.

I have no idea what this is about, but it does bring  interesting images to mind.

The link in the sidebar will take you to the Odd Shot Monday details.

Link your odd shot  here and visit other odd shotters.

 There is always something strange about.

(That is a bedsheet BTW in case you can't tell on the small screen.)

Monday's Odd Shots

So you are asking yourself "What is odd about that? It is a [for lack of a more precise knowledge of the exact type of piece of equipment it is, I will say 'blue tractor']. Rather ordinary in the grand scheme of things."

Sometimes the oddness of the shot is in the story behind it. This 'blue tractor' is currently sitting behind our church hall, and has been used over the last week or so in the work of extending the parking lot. I stopped the other day to say "hi" and "how's the parking lot coming?" to my old friend Ernie, who has been a major part of the committee for getting the parking lot beyond the talk stage and into the do something phase.

Ernie has featured in Odd Shots before. It was he and his wife and brother who walked into a restaurant 150 miles from home and found me taking a picture of a ketchup bottle.

Well, Ernie and Fr. Jaime and I were talking, and Ernie proudly pointed to the shiny 'blue tractor' and said "That is my retirement toy. When I decided to retire, that's what I bought."

Does anyone else think that is odd?

My hubby got golf clubs (which he has never used.)

Maybe a shiny new 'blue tractor' is not so odd after all.

(BTW, I am doing much better, though I am not going to run any races for a while.) I'm not doing much better at the linkies, though. Since it scheduled to start in less than an hour, I will not tamper with it because I could make it worse. And I don't know how to remove the link to this post in the middle of this post without causing further problems.

Odd Shots Laid Low

This Odd Shot is the view on the way to the Emergency Room if it is painful to sit. I am glad that the passenger seat leans back. Today I can sit but am pretty wobbly on my feet. I have arranged for others to take some of my evening's responsibilities, and hope to be back in reasonable form tomorrow.

Odd Shots is anything odd visually, strange juxtapositions, anything that makes you want to say "How odd." Post your odd shot, link here before Tuesday 3 p.m. Pacific Time, and do link to us in your post.

Thanks, Odd Shotters.

From the archives for the return of Odd Shots

I have to fess up. I really haven't been out and about with my camera much in the last few weeks. Though we have not had buckets and buckets of snow and ice like some parts of the country, it has been very cold and gray and mostly boring.

I have been poking about in my photo archives and came across this, which you may have seen some time ago.

It is the picture I took one spring break day when some boys came to the door and asked if they could go into our yard to get their ball.

At least...

I thought they said ball.

An Odd Shot is something visually unusual. Something taken from an unusual angle. Or something that just strikes your funny bone.

The details are here.

And here is the Linky, which will close about 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday. This is the first time I have used this Linky service, so be patient if I don't have it set up right. If the Linky doesn't work, leave your Odd Shot link in the comments.

Okay, so that is not what I goofed up. Why didn't I remember to set the time to schedule the post? The linky is set to start at 3:00 Sunday. We'll see if that happens if I get the post up too early. Darn! Did it again.

Working humor

Nothing much out of the ordinary about this shot that admittedly I snapped while following this work van from an electrical company in our area. Distracted driving? Well, I was already distracted.

 I tried to catch him at the next light, but had to settle for zooming this one in so you could see what it says on the back.

Funny signs are fair game for Odd Shots. Join us coming up each Monday starting February 7.

Odd Shots will return on February 7

This thirsty little nun on my desk marked the beginning of Odd Shots on Monday three years ago, and the announcement of its one year hiatus last February.


Here she is again to announce that Odd Shots on Monday will return the first Monday of February, its anniversary. So keep your camera handy and start keeping an eye out for those odd angles, unusual occurences, and things that are just plain strange to look at. Post them on Mondays and link to the Linky that I will set up here.


So, what constitutes an Odd Shot? I'll give you some samples from my two years of weekly odd postings.

An odd shot could be something very ordinary taken at an odd angle that makes it a really cool picture.

It could be an odd combination of things that make you laugh.

It could be an unusual occurrence or sight.

 It could be any photo that defies categories or themes for other memes.

There may be other definitions, so this rule is open ended.

Okay, now that we have an idea about what makes an Odd Shot, here are the rules. 

1. I will post my favorite odd shot for the week sometime in the late afternoon of Sunday each week--approximately 3 p.m. Pacific Time. I will include one of the Linky services, which I will close at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday.

2. Post only one odd shot each week.  It must be from your collection of photos you have taken, and can be from your past files or something new. It can be edited by cropping or correcting the brightness, but no fancy stuff, please.

The purpose of the rule is to make the shot a truly ODD one. For some purposes a post with a string of photos to tell a story is what works best. (I've done those kinds of posts, we all have.) But an odd shot is not a photo essay or photo story. It is something visual that is out of the ordinary.

Bend the one shot rule if necessary to clarify the shot. Limit additonal pictures to one or two that explain the Odd Shot. Bend the rule, but don't shatter it with a string of unrelated shots. If you have a wonderful story with a series of illustrations, mention or link it in your Odd Shot post but post it separately.





3. Here is the old Odd Shots badge created by David McMahon. It is the most recognizable of the ones we used in the two years of Odd Shots. You can copy it if you click on it to go to the image page, and save it to your computer to use in your post, or just use the html link to the image here:


<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJPWw_OKjsiIISaeVeABo1qOppcusbgAv69_arQyQVeQYKEjP3TdXHmw4lRTgVKAQpX8XOCJeSSC1smYtfuoMTXxEwkznDWLH9z3jU_dOUaExfp723hgWyGaA3foP1ekcOViUZ1dp1fg/s1600-h/odd+shots2.JPG%22%3E%3Cimg alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5187302516590694418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJPWw_OKjsiIISaeVeABo1qOppcusbgAv69_arQyQVeQYKEjP3TdXHmw4lRTgVKAQpX8XOCJeSSC1smYtfuoMTXxEwkznDWLH9z3jU_dOUaExfp723hgWyGaA3foP1ekcOViUZ1dp1fg/s200/odd+shots2.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" /></a>

So start scouring your files for Odd Shots. Get them ready for the grand reopening of Odd Shots on Monday--Monday February 7.

Rimrock Reflection

As I drove past Rimrock Lake this past week I could not help remembering that a few weeks ago the eastern portion of the lake near the dam was covered in ice seemingly thick enough that you might contemplate hiking out toward the center. Not so on Wednesday when the skim of ice that covered the lake looked thin and left openings for reflections of the foothills beyond.

Many faces has Rimrock Lake! Returning yesterday, there were only a few skims of ice remaining. I have also had the experience of hiking out onto the dry bed of the lake farther toward the western end. Rimrock Lake is an irrigation reservoir and can look quite empty of water in the fall in dry years when water for the crops in the Yakima Valley is scarce. On another occasion we passed and the lake was so still it was a perfect mirror.

James sponsors Weekend Reflectiosn at Newtown Daily Photo.

I have had nostalgic thoughts about Odd Shots Monday which has been on hiatus for about a year. An e-mail over the weekend inspires me to resume hosting the meme. Look through your files for your oddest photos and watch for an announcement of details sometime in the next week or two.

Odd Golfer

We followed him a ways as he seemed determined on his route.

He was apparently late for his tee time.

We couldn't go farther as we hadn't paid our green fees.

First Odd Shot in a while, but I couldn't resist. Geometry? there is a pattern in the chain link fence.

Shoe Tree against an Oregon Sky

I may be stretching the SkyWatch theme here, but I have been meaning to come back to the shoe tree since our trip to Northeast Oregon last month and there was a lovely gray clouded sky that day as a backdrop for this social phenomenon.

Without the sky

 behind it  you would

 be hard pressed

to see these:

Or these:

or these:

We found this Shoe Tree on our drive between Joseph and Imnaha last month. I was in the driver's seat on the way back from Imnaha when I spotted this as we went past and "Whoa!!!" we had to go back for a better look.

Other "shoe trees" are more "famed", more visited, but fewer can possibly be in such an isolated area. Just look up shoe trees or shoes in trees on any search engine to find a number of collections of pictures and just about as many explanations.

Thank you sky for helping to highlight the shoe tree for me.

For more conventional SkyWatches today, visit the SkyWatch home blog and follow the links to skies around the world.