Bolz Conservatory at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison Wisconsin, USA.

December 22, 2007 at 2.03pm CST
Camera: Pentax K10D
Exposure: 0.022 sec (1/45)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100

This year is a very different political year.

I’m still not going to talk about my own politics here — that’s personal.

The politics of our grandchildren — that’s interesting.

When Obama made his speech in Madison, Wisconsin, on the evening that he won the Potomac primaries, our grandchildren were in the audience.

Emily Mills, the lady who took this photo, observed, from her vantage point in the press area:

When Obama himself finally made his grand entrance, the handful of young college girls standing in front of me (on the other side of the fence) started screaming and jumping up and down like there was a dreamy movie star in the vicinity. That sort of reaction is fascinating to me, and, I think, somewhat unique to the Obama candidacy. I don’t suppose McCain or Clinton elicit similar reactions from their supporters. My blogger friend leaned over to me at one point and asked, “Since when did politics become cool?”

The following week, our grandson was so interested in the process that he asked his dad to take him to the polls when he went to vote — before school.

My earliest memories of politics are from when I was the same age, seven years old. It was during the campaign of another very charismatic president. All I really remember is kids playacting the Kennedy vs. Nixon contest in the playground.

The campaigns this year have been far more interesting than most in the past. I think turnout has been extraordinary for a large percentage of primaries. My wife and I voted in primaries for the first time ever.

Maybe it’s because of the the writer’s strike and — now that it’s over — politics will go back to norrmal.

naaa. – I don’t think so.

(photo by Emily Mills - There is a Creative Commons license attached to this image. Attribution, No Derivative Works)

This flower was in the the Adolph C. and Eugenie Mayer Bolz Conservatory, in the Orbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. We visited on December 22, 2007, the first day of winter.

Camera: Pentax K10D
Exposure: 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 90 mm
ISO Speed: 400

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This orchid was in the the Adolph C. and Eugenie Mayer Bolz Conservatory, which is in the Orbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. We visited on December 22, 2007, the first day of winter.

Camera: Pentax K10D
Exposure: 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV