Sun Rays in an Evening Sky

Not much to say about this photograph except a setting sun going behind the clouds and creating a few sun rays in the process.

A Mans Home Is His Castle: Extreme Edition!

We've all heard the phrases: "A man's home is his castle," "Your home is your castle," or some variation thereof. Well in North Fulton County Georgia, Rudy and Ruth McLaughlin have taken this quote seriously! Back in 1977 they built their dream house / castle. A 2 bedroom, 1700 sq ft home complete with a moat that doubles as a swimming pool. We stopped by to take this picture of the castle house while visiting my sister in nearby Woodstock, GA. For an aerial view on Google, click here!

Can I Quote You On That #4

Out on a geocaching hike one day and came across this pair of trees. Many thoughts came to mind; an arguing couple or the good and the bad. Seemingly started their growth about the same time. One grows straight up and the other takes a detour. So what do you think? What are these trees saying to you?

City Lights Around Orlando Florida

So I might be biased. I was born and raised right here in Orlando, Florida. However I have been to hundreds of cities around the country. I would also have to say that I think Orlando is in one of the top 10 photographic cities, especially at night. Here are some that I took a few years ago:

The view from across Lake Ivanhoe. The white building in the center is the courthouse.

Looking across Orlando's picturesque Lake Eola.

Another view across Lake Eola.

Another side of Lake Eola.

The signature Lake Eola Fountain, the centerpiece of Orlando.

What Am I? The Answer Is:

After several interesting answers, we actually had a winner! Tinker came up with caterpillar and wins the non-prize prize! Actually it's called a Tomato Hornworm which I found in the garden on my tomato plants eating up the leaves! Needless to say I quickly disposed of it after taking the photo's.

What Am I?

OK, I'm trying a new series of photos. Here's a partial up-close view of a photograph I took. I'll give ya few days to leave your comments in the box below, unless someone gives the correct answer. If no one has guessed correctly, I'll post the whole photograph so you can say "Ahhhh!!" So I ask you: What am I?

View Answer Here

Holy Bat Cave! It's A Bat RESORT!!

Another of my photographs which came during a Geocaching search. Here's the story behind this unique landmark:

Richter Clyde Perky had an idea. A grand idea that just didn't work out. In 1929, following the opening of Flager's railroad, Mr. Perky bought 25,000 acres on Sugarloaf Key. He knew the railroad would draw tourists to the Keys but that the horrendous mosquito population might be a deterrent. That's when Mr. Perky had his brainstorm. He would build a 30 foot tower that would draw thousands of bats to his island, thus eliminating the mosquitoes (see, bats eat mosquitoes). Great Idea! He sent away for the plans to build his tower and hired Fred Johnson to do the construction. The tower would even have a chute down the middle to be used for collecting guana - a valuable fertilizer. Well, the tower was built and filled with a "secret bat bait" that was sure to lure the bats. Mr. Perky waited...and waited...the bats never came.

This interesting bit of local history has withstood the ravages of time, sea air, vandals and hurricanes. Made of Dade County Pine, it's sure to last many more years as long as development stays away. "dedicated to good health at Perky, Florida".

Can I Quote You On That? #3

As some of you may know, I like the hobby of Geocaching. It can take you to some great places and to see some great things. But sometimes they just take you to a walk in the woods. But out in the woods you can also find that God has a sense of humor within His creation. Take for instance this tree stump we came across while Geocaching in Wekiva State Park in Central Florida. We were hiking the trails and saw this tree stump staring back at us. I just had to laugh. So if trees could talk, what would this one be saying to you?

Wishing I Was Here Again!

After a 12 Hour work day today, I was wishing to be back here. The view we had just before sunrise from our little bungalow on Grassy Key, Florida back in 2009 on our first anniversary.

The sun is almost here!

Our God paints a pretty picture doesn't he?

Just Beautiful!

30,000 Eyes Are Watching You!

I was up at my mothers 5 acres in Umatilla yesterday and brought the camera just in case. I looked over the flowers - nah, the fruit - nah, all the birds, ducks, chickens, sheep, etc. - nah. Just nothing appealed to me for taking a picture of. Then just as we were about to leave there it was. Right next to the car was a skinny white stick supporting a thin frail plant. At the top of the stick was a dragonfly just sitting there. It's eyes moving back and forth just watching us. I kept moving in and got within inches without the dragonfly even budging. Wow, I really liked the colors in this one. I'm glad it stuck around.

In The Garden Update: My First Harvest!

Wohoo! Our first harvest from the garden: 12 green beans and 3 zucchini squash. OK, so not exactly a huge harvest, but it was a start. There are still a dozen or more growing. There's also a bunch of cucumbers and some ears of corn showing. Can't wait!

Can I Quote You On That? #2

After over 40 years living in Orlando, I finally made it down to Key West, Florida. Celebrating our 1 year anniversary, my wife and I took a drive down south. I've heard the stories of all the chickens running wild through the streets and yep they were there. I saw this one rooster where the colors really caught my eye. Anyway, so in your best Foghorn Leghorn impersonation, what's this rooster saying to ya?

A Tree That Sits?

Back in 2008, my wife and I were Geocaching in Lake Rita Blanca State Park near Dalhart, TX. As we were rounding the corner along the hiking trail, I saw this tree and the first thing that came to my mind was that the tree was sitting. It's as though the tree was growing up along side this 6 foot drop, then it appears to sit upon the ledge before continuing back upright like a tree is supposed to be. Kinda looks like it has legs too!

A Lasting Impression?

As some of you know I like Geocaching. And for those who don't know what Geocaching is, it's like a world wide scavenger hunt using a hand-held GPS unit, trying to find "caches" hidden all over by other cachers.

Anyways, sometimes they are hidden in various cemeteries usually to bring you to a historic figure or event. Sometimes they, like this one, just bring you to an unusual headstone located at the Lexington Cementery in Lexington, Ohio. If that's what you want to call this one. Sometimes you just have to wonder: "What were they thinking?"

So what goes through your mind when you see this? What are some of the strange headstones you've seen?

Slightly Used Fairly New Riding Mower For Sale -- CHEAP!!

While passing through Alabama back in 2006, I saw this riding mower for sale and just had to pull over and take a picture. Talking to the owner about it, he said the Cub Cadet lawn tractor was less than a year old. He had only used it twice! On the second time, the fuel started leaking and it caught fire. He barely had enough time to get off and it was engulfed in flames. After battling it out with the factory, they refused to warranty it saying that he was responsible. So, he thought he'd protest and set it out in his front yard and tell his story. Then went and bought a John Deere instead. So, ya wanna buy a cheap mower?

Geocaching At The 20' Recycled Bird

Passing through Las Cruces, New Mexico, I saw this huge statue at the rest area along I-10 overlooking the city. An even closer look revealed a more interesting thing about this big bird. This 20 ft roadrunner was constructed of trash collected from the local dump. Can you name some of the items this bird is made of?

Oh, and this was one of another Geocaching sites. Can you also guess where the hidden cash was located? Lets just say I looked kinda strange retrieving the cache!

Don't Forget To Look Behind You (Part 2)

Another lesson for not forgetting to look behind you while photographing sunsets. I was taking pictures up in Illinois one year and looking around saw these 2 birds enjoying the same sunset I was watching. A quick turn to the side and they became the focus of my subject. So don't stare into the sun too long. Look around! You never know what you may find.

Holy Batcave, That's A Tight Squeeze!

These next set of photos go back a few years to my early truck driving days. It was long after my training was over and they sent me off solo on my own, that I had to go into the old salt mines in Missouri. These mines were converted into warehouses which actually saves on air conditioning costs. But it sure made for some tricky maneuvering with this long-nosed Peterbuilt and a 53' trailer! I was driving through there slowly expecting the Batmobile to come flying around the corner at any time!

 

Here I am backed into the loading dock after about 30 minutes of trying!

Looking back the way I came.

Another truck passing by.

Don't Forget To Look Behind You!

Today's photo comes from 2006 while I was in Wyoming. My sons and I were out Geocaching by the Grand Tetons along Hwy 26 near a little place called Brooks Lake. It was very beautiful up in that area and we had a fun time 4-wheeling up in the mountains. On the way back to our campsite, we had a great view of the sun setting behind the Grand Tetons. Sorry to say though that those pics didn't come out too well. I had forgotten my tripod and well...

Anyway, I had remembered a book that I had read about taking photos of sunsets. The author made the statement that very few photographers ever look behind them when faced with a sunset. And I must admit that I'm guilty of that most of the time! But on this occasion, I remembered! YEAH! Because the view behind me may have been even more spectacular than the sunset. I was still without the tripod and it's not as sharp as I wanted it, but here's the best I got:

So the next time you taking a picture of that sunset, don't forget to look behind you!

Geocaching at Lake Apopka Restoration Reserve

So I'm out Geocaching yesterday after work in the Lake Apopka Restoration Reserve on the north east corner of Lake Apopka. There's a 5.8 mile loop trail and I was on my bike to make the round a little quicker, so I thought! From the parking area, I head south along the loop to the first cache.

The trail goes down between swamp on each side. It didn't take long before I encountered a big SPLASH! A large alligator was sunning on the bank and quickly leaped back into the water just 10-15 feet away from me. Holy Gators Batman!! No instead of watching all the beautiful Egrets and Blue Herons, I'm looking out for gators!

I find the first cache and continued south before rounding the corner eastward towards the next geocache site. I get within 600 feet of the cache and encounter my first gator blocking to trail. This one must have been 10-12 feet in length! It was just sitting there watching me and contemplating dinner! I tossed a few rocks to see if I could get him to go into the water. No luck.

OK, so now I must backtrack and ride the 5.8 miles around just to get to the other side of him! So off I went.

On the other side of the loop I encountered yet another rather large gator sunning across the trail. I stopped and took a couple of photos (wishing I had my 300mm telephoto lens with me instead!). Just as put the cap back on the lens and strapped the Nikon back over my shoulder, he stands up, whips around, and runs into the water. While I missed the shot, he did clear the path for me to continue by!

After finding the last cache on my list, I continued back to where the first gator was hoping he was gone by now. From that point it was a shorter ride back to the Jeep than to turn around again. Unfortunately, he was still there.This time I decided just to make a lot of noise and continue to ride towards it slowly. It worked! It soon stood up and walked across into the water. My path was once again clear and I rode back to the Jeep.

I'll be back soon with my bigger lens! Anybody else want to go with me? Preferably somebody slower! Just kidding...

What Do You See In The Clouds?

A few years back parked at a North Texas campground and having the place pretty much to ourselves, I was enjoying the blue skies with the few clouds. After a few moments of watching, relaxing and waiting for the sunset, I drifted back to childhood of just laying in the grass watching the clouds go by. These are just a couple of photos I took. So let's play the game shall we? What do you see in the clouds?

 

Above: How about a cat holding a microphone, raised high, singing away.

 

Above: a white hairy dog laying down looking up to the right.

 

Above: the upper cloud looks like a dragon. While you obviously can't tell from this photograph, the lower white cloud was actually drifting to the right faster than the darker cloud. Watching the two come together reminded me of the slow-motion films of 2 people running towards each other. Then the lower cloud missed and turned back looking towards the other.

So what do you see? Let me hear from you. Post a comment below.

Can I Quote You On That?

Today's photo comes from Galveston, TX. While on a visit there back in 2006, I was down by the pier. I looked down to see this huge pelican looking back up to me. Italian lingo suddenly popped into my head: "You Lookin' At Me?" Point, Click, and walked away. "Nope, not anymore." So what's this pelican saying to you?

Police Pulls Over Man in Wheel Chair

The police budgets are getting REALLY tight in this economy when they have resorted to pulling over people in wheel chairs. I wonder what the charges are? How about posting your "captions" in the comments section below. This could be fun!

In The Garden Update: Week #2

Well it's been two weeks since I've posted my vegetable garden photo. It's coming along pretty good. The corn, cucumber, squash, and green beans are between 4 and 6 inches tall so far. The tomatoes, radish, and lettuce are just sprouting up along with the onions. Won't be long before we'll be eating. So let me hear about your garden...

A Humming Bird Caught in Flight

Caught this humming bird in flight by the feeder. If you've never seen one up close they are so cool. Real tiny and float around like a helicopter, suspended in place. It was kinda fun watching it for a while.

It's Spring Time

A quote from one of my favorite movies and a photo for the day: "In springtime, the only pretty ring time, birds sing hey ding, a-ding, a-ding. Sweet lovers love the spring." W. Wonka

I found this park while Geocaching outside the Scott County Library, in Eldridge Iowa last year while I was still truckin' across the country. It's called the Edna Skies Reading Park. I just wished I could have gotten the yellow to come out better in the top photo. I think from this angle to get the statue up against the sky like that, the flowers in the fore ground were in a shadow. Hmmm, don't remember for sure.

In The Garden

Well I've started a garden! Dug up a 10 ft X 20 ft section and planted some corn, 2 types of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, romaine lettuce, green beans, and 2 types of onion seeds. So far, all but the tomatoes and lettuce have broken the surface. We're looking forward to having some FRESH veggies soon!! I'll upload more pics as they grow! Stayed tuned...

Oakland Car Show

Photos today are from the Oakland Presbyterian Car Show put on by the local Boy Scout troop. My favorite from the car show was this beautiful 1958 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. But I also couldn't pass up on the look of this Willy's with the big bad blower motor! Ever notice how you can see a face in the front of cars with the placement of the headlights and grille?