112 May 11/12 Not really a stick, more of a branch, but one of my favorites in the spring, a willow tree catkin (Pussy Willow).

This will be the last post for me in the daily community. Perhaps for awhile or perhaps permanently. I joined this group on September 7, 2009 and have made many Smugmug friends. If I were to visit, I hope I would be welcomed in Houston, the Carolina's, England, Ireland and Russia. If any of you were to visit Alberta, I would go out of my way to try and show you the province. I have spent many hours looking at your photos and seeing the world through your eyes. I seen little Maeve grow from a baby to a young girl and I've shared with you the loss of our pets. Knowing that when I take a shot, I would be sharing it with you all has helped me to become a better photographer. I have learned about pp, composition and special effects from many of you and for this I will be forever grateful.

However, lately this group has become more about the standings of photos. Popular photos in the group are a funny thing. I have seen some spectacular shots in the #1 position and I've seen some really bad shots ranking high due to a photographer's popularity. I've had my share of photos in the top 10 and it really is a special treat to see them there. I don't know why I'm not getting any negative comments from the "Guest". If my photo appears with a higher ranking than your's with less comments, I did not give you a red thumb. I'm not sure if I've been targeted by the red thumbs, as I usually don't have the time to follow my photos and see it's position during the day, but I can assure you, that I am not the "Red Thumber". I may have not made a comment on your photo in the past due to lack of time or perhaps you've already received 6 pages of comments and there's nothing more I could say or maybe I just can't find anything nice to say about it. If that's the case, I just move on. I can honestly say that the only time I have used a red thumb is on one of my own photos. It was not appearing in the dailes, so I thought I would give it a green thumb to see if that helped, but hit the red thumb instead. That was the first and last time I used the thumbs. Any of you who have become my "Smugmug" friends, would surely know I would not be targeting anyone with the thumbs. I don't understand why the rankings of photos appear as they do any more than I understand why on Flickr a photo can appear in the top 50 in Explore and during the following week, the more people comment on it and favorite it, it drops off the Explore list, but that's life on Flickr. Perhaps it's the same on Smugmug, as I no longer see a thumb option on any of the photos.

I'm going to miss this group and I'm sure I'll be going through withdrawal, as posting a daily has become an addiction. It was the first thing I did during the morning with a first cup of coffee. I have always carried a camera with me whenever I leave the house, just in case that perfect daily came along. I have fretted and stressed in the evening when I haven't taken a daily. Perhaps I'll keep doing a daily and concentrate more on my blog. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

I wish you all good luck with your photography, as the dailies on Smugmug is a great place to grow and learn.