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It is 5:00 PM on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, and today I am turning 55 years old. Contrary to what was expected, it has been a complicated day, as things are not easy for us, the ordinary people, here in my town; I have been forced to take advantage, almost desperately, of the few hours of the day when "everything is more or less working." I am referring to things that for others are simple and always available, such as communication services, banks, gas stations, making collections, making deliveries, having drinking water, and so on. The truth is that here everything remains the same or worse than ever, and it is increasingly difficult to maintain a relatively normal order of life because everything has collapsed (I mean these small towns; in the cities, apparently, everything is better now). But I will not continue recounting these ups and downs of my daily life, because this is a post of black and white photographs and that is what we are here for...

Son las 5:00 p. m. del martes 4 de agosto de 2026 y hoy estoy cumpliendo 55 años de edad. Contrario a lo esperado, ha sido un día complicado, pues las cosas no están fáciles para nosotros, la gente común y corriente, aquí en mi pueblo; me he visto obligado a aprovechar de manera casi desesperada las pocas horas del día en las que "todo está más o menos funcionando". Me refiero a cosas que para otros son simples y siempre disponibles, como los servicios de comunicaciones, los bancos, las estaciones de venta de gasolina, hacer cobranzas, hacer entregas, tener agua potable, y así sucesivamente. Y es que aquí todo sigue igual o peor que siempre, y cada vez es más complicado mantener un orden de vida relativamente normal, pues todo ha colapsado (me refiero a estos pueblos pequeños; en las ciudades, al parecer, todo está mejor ahora). Pero no continuaré relatando estos avatares de mi vida cotidiana, pues esta es una publicación de fotografías en blanco y negro y a eso es a lo que vamos...

I decided to enjoy, "at least," a little bit of my birthday, and I locked myself away to look at photos in my small studio. At this point in my life, everyone close to me already knows perfectly well that I like to spend this day this way. I grew up with mild Asperger's (I think they call it something else today) and celebrations terrified me since I was a child; that is something that has always accompanied me to a greater or lesser degree, so that is perhaps also one of the reasons why I spend so much time relatively alone and into this thing of taking photos and processing them later. And speaking of my photos, today I wanted to rummage through my RAW files from past months and look for photos that would inspire me to want to return soon to the fields around the town, since I have already spent several weeks without taking one of those long walks beyond the streets of the town, which I like so much...

I decided to enjoy, "at least," a little bit of my birthday, and I locked myself away to look at photos in my small studio. At this point in my life, everyone close to me already knows perfectly well that I like to spend this day this way. I grew up with mild Asperger's (I think they call it something else today) and celebrations terrified me since I was a child; that is something that has always accompanied me to a greater or lesser degree, so that is perhaps also one of the reasons why I spend so much time relatively alone and into this thing of taking photos and processing them later. And speaking of my photos, today I wanted to rummage through my RAW files from past months and look for photos that would inspire me to want to return soon to the fields around the town, since I have already spent several weeks without taking one of those long walks beyond the streets of the town, which I like so much...

On the other hand, I take advantage of this "my 55th birthday post" to thank all of you who follow my content here on #Hive, as you have become an important part of my days and my passion for photography. And of course, a deep thank you to our dear @monochromes team for being here and for having this charming #monomad challenge to be able to share my photographic work. You guys, do it very well despite the difficult times on #Hive; I hope to be here with you when everything improves, because you are valuable people. Thank you very much, really thank you very much 🙏...

Por otra parte, aprovecho esta "mi publicación de mi 55 cumpleaños" para agradecer a todos ustedes que siguen mi contenido aquí en #Hive, pues se han convertido en parte importante de mis días y de mi afición por la fotografía. Y por supuesto, un agradecimiento profundo a nuestro querido equipo @monochromes por estar aquí y por tener este encantador reto #monomad para poder compartir mi trabajo fotográfico. Ustedes, chicos, lo hacen muy bien a pesar de los tiempos difíciles en #Hive; espero estar aquí con ustedes cuando todo mejore, porque ustedes son gente valiosa. Muchas gracias, en verdad muchas gracias...

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This post is my entry to today's #monomad challenge!... Thank you very much for your visit and appreciation!

¡Esta publicación es mi entrada al reto #monomad de hoy!... ¡Muchas gracias por pasar y apreciar!

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_{ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL NOTE: Photographs captured with my Nikon D7000 DSLR camera in RAW format, then processed in Adobe Camera RAW for adjustments regarding light, sharpening, contrast and depth... They were then exported to JGP format on which minor modifications such as straightening and adding watermarks were carried out using PhotoScape v3.7}

_{NOTA TÉCNICA ADICIONAL: Fotografias capturadas con mi cámara DSLR Nikon D7000 en formato RAW, procesadas posteriormente en Adobe Camera RAW para ajustes relativos a luz, afilado, contraste y profundidad... Luego fueron exportadas a formato JGP sobre el cual se llevaron a cabo modificaciones menores como enderezado y agregado de marcas de agua usando PhotoScape v3.7}

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Montalbán, Carabobo, Venezuela.

:peakd/hive: