Today's Photos from Galveston

I'll be blogging more details about today later, but here are some of the photos I took today. As far as the weather there was very little that would let you know that a big storm was coming in.

Reflections on Rita and Katrina

I'm listening to the Houston news stations. While I wish ever so much that Hurricane Katrina had not devasted New Orleans three years ago, I think that it taught our country some valuable lessons. We weren't prepared when Katrina hit. We learned more with the mass evacuations for Hurricane Rita.

For Hurricane Gustav and now for Hurricane Ike, we, as a nation, have much better plans in place. The buses and ambulances are already transporting special needs patients and people who can't get themselves out of harms way. The teams are already in place to begin the rescue operations after the hurricane strikes.

I've also been glad to hear that fuel trucks are standing by to avoid the problems encountered with the evacuation for Rita!

I wish that we were not getting hit by so many storms this year, but I'm glad to see that we're doing a better job protecting our citizens.

We've obviously allocated more public money to help prevent loss of life from these terrible storms. This is a good thing. Even so, each family that evacuates has their own set of expenses - gasoline costs, lodging costs, and then potential repair costs or rebuilding costs when they return home. Not to mention the loss of family heirlooms and personal items that people are not able to take with them. I am glad to see the news media, the public officials, and the people who live here take these storms seriously.

I don't like the current projected path. The area between Galveston and Houston is heavily populated. While there are not levees to break, storm surges and flooding can damage and destroy many people's homes. I'm praying tonight that the storm does not reach Category 4 and that it comes in in lesser populated areas. I'm praying that people do heed the warnings and find safe shelters to ride out the storm.

While there are many areas that are already under mandatory evacuation, the city of Galveston behind the seawall is not under mandatory evacuation. The seawall is an impressive structure - that certainly raised all of the land near the coast about 10 feet - enough for many storm surges. Another amazing solution to avoid the disaster that happened here in 1900.

Time for bed - and contemplating whether to take my sunrise shots in the morning, check what we need to do for the condo, and see if we need to head back home and watch the rain and flooding our home area is likely to get.

Hurricane Ike - Part 3

We drove down in really beautiful weather - blue skies, white fluffy clouds, etc.

As we neared Galveston Island, the salt marshes looked normal and beautiful, . The herons and egrets were fishing. Upon reaching the seawall, the waves were pretty, but not angry. The sky was peaceful. There were still people enjoying swimming in the waves, walking the beach, and sitting on the seawall. The restaurants with balconies overlooking the gulf were full.

I've seen the presentation here about the horrible hurricane that hit Galveston on September 8, 1900. Back then there were no satellites, no instant communication worldwide, no planes to fly into storms to determine how bad they were. The people in Galveston had no warning. Being here today, I can understand how this would have happened, there is a huge hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, but as I looked at the sky out to sea, there is no hint of it this evening. The air is quiet, humid, and peaceful.

As I drove down the streets to one of our favorite restaurants, Willie G's - I noted how many of the Victorian houses have been fixed up, freshly painted - a sign of prosperity. How much damage will this storm do to a place I have grown to love?

Hurricane Ike - Part 2

We finally got off to Galveston this afternoon. I wanted to stock up on food well before we hit the Houston area. If we are truly going to stay in Galveston during the hurricane, we need to have non perishable food on hand - enough to last 3 to 5 days.

Things I bought:
Large package of bottled water.
2 gallon container of bottled water
Cokes, diet Coke and Dr. Pepper
Devilled ham, and a roast beef spread
Tuna ready to eat cans
Crackers
An assortment of cheese and cracker sandwiches
Cheese whiz
Individual servings of fruit (they come in clear plastic containers)
Milk - the kind that comes in boxes that you don't have to refrigerate
Bananas
Apples
Breakfast Cereal
Granola bars
Bread
Ground coffee and creamer (for while we still have electricity)
Matches (for the candles we brought)
Henry added a windup flashlight

If we leave tomorrow, I'll find a place to donate most of this . . .

Wednesday Evening

Well, for several reasons, we've headed down to our condo in Galveston. We have it on the market and when Ike was looking to hit closer to Corpus Christi as a Category 3, we thought it might be interesting to see and photograph. This is one of the few places i know that I would even think of weathering a hurricane in. We're on the 5th floor of a building that was built on top of the old ramparts of Fort Crockett. The base of the building sits up substantially over the seawall which is about 10 feet above sea level. It is a concrete, sturdy structure and is used by the City of Galveston as its emergency headquarters during hurricanes.

However, the news tonight seems to think that it is going to coming in quicker than expected and as a Category 4 and perhaps right over Galveston and Houston!

I am going to go ahead and post some of the things I've seen today, I'm already thinking that we may take sunrise pictures and perhaps head home . . .

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Over the last five years, I've been visiting a lot of wildlife refuges. I have discovered that each one is unique and special. While there are animals that live in each one year round, they are often places of refuge for migratory species.

Almost 20 years ago we visited Alaska and covered a lot of territory. We went before the road to Prudhoe Bay was opened for all traffic. But I was amazed and impressed at how truly Alaska is one of our last truly wilderness areas. We had almost two full weeks in Alaska and we covered a lot of ground.

I received an email recently that seemed to me to be a very simplified explanation of why it would not hurt anything for us to drill at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We've got some relatives up there and I've heard via the grapevine that the drilling along the North Slope is not a problem for the caribou - they come in droves to feed right next to the drilling rigs. I've seen the Alaska pipeline - and while they were building it I'm sure it disrupted some wildlife - it is quiet and has served its purpose to transport oil with a minimal amount of long term disruption to the flora and fauna. But maintaining water quality and wilderness areas are also parts of this equation.

Each of the wildlife refuges we visit has been set aside usually for one or more species - many times they are endangered or were when the refuge was established.

Before we get too caught up in the "Drill, baby, drill" hype, I hope that this blog will encourage my readers to explore the website for
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." Browse through the pages, see what is there, see what is being preserved, see the results of the studies from the seismic testing done in the 1980's. Just the passage of the seismic testing vehicles (not even a road) has left a lasting path in many places. Most of us will not ever get to visit Alaska. I don't know if I'll ever get to go back. But I think those of us in the lower 48 ought to at least understand what we're disturbing and the risks we're taking when we start developing oil rigs in this sensitive habitat.

Perhaps we must drill . . . but I for one hate to lose another roadless, pristine wilderness area when I think we need to be exploring how we're going to meet our energy needs when the world's oil is finally depleted.

Upset Killdeer

I was sitting on the backporch letting my daughter's two small dogs have their time to "do their business" outside. I heard a long string of flutelike bird whistles - not in the normal bird calls I hear every morning. I was sitting under the large life oak tree so my field of vision was impaired. It was not until I got out on the front porch to enjoy breakfast and my daily morning time that I discovered which birds were making those calls. It was two killdeer - two very agitated killdeer.

Usually I see killdeer running along the ground, these were flying patterns over my yard and calling frantically. In the spring I had seen the killdeer parents with their young. I had enjoyed watching the parents fly away with their "broken" wing and then hearing them call to reunite their little family. But today there were only two and they seemed most disturbed. They flew and called and flew and called for 30 minutes to an hour.

I will probably never know exactly the story behind this unusual behavior, but I have my guesses. My dove hunting neighbors had been out shooting the doves. I suspect these killdeer or one of their flock was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either the noise and the falling buckshot scared them . . . or . . . perhaps one of the killdeer was too close to one of the doves that was the target. Maybe these two were calling for their lost chick or mate, or parent.

On principal I'm not opposed to hunting - if you use the meat and as many other parts of the kill for useful purposes . . . if you follow the rules and adhere to the bag limits. However, I've been feeding doves for several years now. This dove hunting season I'm hearing many more shots being fired from many sources around me. It is a little disconcerting to be sitting on my deck and all of a sudden have buckshot hitting my roof while I'm out in the open with the dogs. I heard shots the other night well after sunset when it was almost dark. I don't know the rules - how early and how late can you shoot, how many can you "bag" each day, etc?

I saw a juvenile white winged dove recently - the first one I'd seen that had the obvious juvenile markings. Will this chick survive the hunt? How many of the doves I feed regularly will survive for next year? Yes, I had more than ever at the feeders this summer. Yes, I don't want them to "over populate." But in so many ways, these are "my" birds - the killdeer that live on MY property, the doves that I feed.

Killdeer are too small to eat and I don't think you're supposed to be hunting them. But I suspect that these killdeer were in the
wrong place at the wrong time. I was distressed to hear them so upset.

The Touch of Fall

Living down in Central Texas it usually does not start cooling off until the first part of October. However, it has been such a delight the last couple of mornings to step out on the porch and feel a cool almost crisp breeze. I suspect that the remnants of Hurricane Gustav are pumping some cooler air our way. While I know we will have some more warm and hot days, these cool mornings are a promise of the cool crisp days of fall that are on their way! What a wonderful respite from the hot muggy summer mornings!

Interesting Morning - Hurricanes and Dove Hunting

I woke up early and started my day checking on Hurricane Gustav. I think you can see visibly the power of prayer - Gustav did not progress to a Category 4, it looks to be coming in southwest of New Orleans which may very well spare the city. I know that storm conditions will get worse during the next couple of hours, but after listening to the weather reporters, things were better than expected.

We're sleeping in the RV for a few days because our water bed mattress has finally had one too many leaks - so I enjoyed the sunrise from my RV front window. The cloud banks have a curve to them - after checking the images from the TV, yes we are seeing some of the moisture clouds from the hurricane. No wind, but definitely fingers of clouds from moisture that the hurricane is pulling in.

In looking at the pond, I can't help but hope we do get some good rain. The pond is low, not unusual for this time of year. It would be nice to get enough rain (over several days . . . ) to raise the level three or four feet.

Today is the first day of dove season. As I sat out with the dogs, I could hear the shots all around me. Sigh . . . I've been feeding a lot of doves this summer. I even had an obvious juvenile white winged dove at the feeder in the last few days. I came in when I heard the shot gun pellets hitting my metal roof . . .

Another blessing . . . the morning air was cool. Fall is coming!

Random thoughts

I've had a hard time collecting my thoughts to put together a blog this last week. I'm trying to get back in the swing of things - but my mind has not been ready to go back to the blogs I was preparing from my Colorado trip about mining, reclaimed mining land, pine bark beetles. They'll come . . . eventually.

I watched the first night of the Democratic Convention . . . I've been considering writing down some things I've been thinking about this election year. The problem with writing about politics is that people tend to have very strong political beliefs - and you know that old phrase . . . never talk religion or politics . . .

For whatever reason, my readership seems to have gone down since my last contemplative religious post . . . but I've titled this blog, Mary Ann's View, so that it is based on what I'm seeing and experiencing at any given time.

Tonight, I came in on the end of Jimmy Carter's interview on PBS. I really appreciated the PBS coverage - listening to historians putting some of this into perspective.

I was impressed with Caroline Kennedy . . . by why aren't they using her married name as well????? Being raised in the panhandle of Texas, my political beliefs have seldom agreed with Teddy Kennedy, but at this point in his life, you have to give him a lot of credit for standing up for what he believes in, for working hard, and for the way he has been such a strong support for his family - in particular the orphaned children of his brothers. The camera kept panning back to both Maria Shriver Schwartzeneger and Caroline Kennedy during Teddy's speech. They both noticeably had tears in their eyes. Teddy came against the advice of his doctors . . . this could easily be his last major public speech. And he put all his heart into it. Whether you agree with him or not . . . at this time in his life, you've got to respect him for what he has accomplished.

I was also impressed with Michelle Obama. I have to confess I've had other things going on in my life this year and have only half heartedly paid attention to the campaigns. No one has really captured my imagination. No one is talking about the issues I care about. So I've only read about the sound bites . . . the misspoken words, etc. Learning more about Michelle Obama, there is much to respect, much to appreciate - she seems to be an amazing lady.

I don't know yet if I'll reveal my private political thinking via the blog, but I'm thinking about writing about it, if for no other reason to clarify my own thoughts as to how I should vote this year.

Grief

People deal with grief in many ways. Henry, as a writer, put together a book of the family history from files his parents left on their computer. I took a several photographs of the entire family and have spent some time working them up to look as though we were in a photography studio.

I also found myself playing mindless games with the new apps for my IPhone.

I also spent time around the dock and in rooms of the house journaling my memories. As I sat on the dock, the tears flowed from the sweet memories. Those wonderful memories are of an era that has passed.

Evelyn and Gene bought that wonderful lake house for a number of reasons. Gene loved to fish and he loved getting out in the boat. The lake provided daily opportunities for him to throw his line out. They also wanted a place where their grown children and grandchildren would want to come and visit. Each of their grandchildren have very special memories of their visits to the lake.

The lake house may end up passing out of the family, but the opportunities for making special memories won't end. Mary has created special memories for her grandchildren as she provides art supplies and helps them explore their artistic side. Henry and I helped our children create special memories in Colorado - camping, fishing, and skiing. My kids have travel memories from many areas around the United States.

As I remembered all the good times with Evelyn and Gene, how special they were, how loving - I allowed those tears to flow. Tears are cleansing, an expression of honest emotions.

But I don't want to stay focused on the good things of the past. I'm encouraging the next generation to go create new special memories for their kids. We live in the present. Good things are happening all around. If we stay locked into the good memories of the past, it may rob us of opportunities for joyful living now.

When I went to church last Wednesday night, I was surrounded by loving caring people who wanted to be supportive of me. I have another older friend who is battling serious infections. I am praying for her recovery. I am trying to get back into a "normal" routine - back to living, back to enjoying the life God has given me.

There will be more tears in the days to come as different things will trigger memories and emotions. Perhaps I won't be as efficient. I learned long ago that after I've had a death in the family, the chores and activities that I can normally juggle with ease seem to fall apart. But gradually my productivity returns. I will need to take some time to rest and "destress," But from past experience with the deaths of other loved ones, I do know that while we will miss Evelyn, life will eventually return to its ordinary patterns.

I talked once with my grandmother about death. She told me that it hurts really bad when it happens, but that in time that it
does not hurt as much. I have found that to be very true. Time heals many things.

I alsofound these comforting words in Henry's grandmother, "Mom's" funeral book. Evelyn had placed it there, it was written in Velma's handwriting:

"Don't grieve for me because my "troubles" are over and I'm happy. I was ready to go - My work here on Earth was finished. God Bless and keep Everyone that's been so sweet and wonderful to me. I saw God's love for me magnified in friends and loved ones. God Blessed me so abundantly."

I don't know whether Velma wrote these or copied them, but I found them very comforting last week.

Yes, I miss Evelyn, but I picture her now in heaven. She wanted to go "home." I can't help but wonder - will her new home in heaven look a lot like her favorite home here on earth - are they now at the "lakehouse" up in heaven? I'd like to think so.

The Green Heron

I've been spending time on the dock behind Evelyn and Gene's house soaking in the serenity and remembering.

Bird watching is good down there. Two different evenings I've seen a turkey hen and a solitary chick. The first night they roosted in the tree just above where I was sitting. Last night I disturbed them and they moved on around the lake. The chick would linger and then run to catch up with the hen. They finally came back around and roosted in a different tree near the dock. I could also hear the big flock of turkeys across the road as they were settling in for the night.

I had been watching a green heron fly back and forth across the cove. It landed on some dead branches right over the water. Looking intently at the water for some time, it suddenly leaped into the water. Now I know for a fact that the water drops off steeply here. I think of herons as wading birds, not swimming birds. It flapped around for a few seconds in the water and then popped out of the water back onto the branch with a good sized perch (4 or 5 inches long) in its mouth. Even with the binoculars I could not tell if it had stabbed the fish or just had it tightly in its beak. Rather than trying to eat it where the fish could escape back into the water, it hopped back along the branches onto the grassy shore (out of my sight) to enjoy its catch.

While I always enjoy watching the hundreds of vultures settle in for the night, the heron's leap into the deep water was the highlight of the evening.

Family Photos

The last time we pulled out the old family photos as a group was at Evelyn and Gene's 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was so special and fun to watch Martha's kids go through and organize 70 years worth of photos.

Martha's family went through and sorted the old photographs. Each of the siblings has a box with photos of their family. There is another group of early photos of Gene and Evelyn and their parents. I'm hoping to scan them next month so everyone can have a copy of Evelyn and Gene in their early years and some of the ancestors.

Today we have gone digital and many times we don't print our photos. Computer crashes and hard drive failures require that we keep our digital photos backed up in more than one place. I have to wonder if some priceless memories will be "lost" as digital photo formats change and morph and people don't keep "saving forward."

Word to the wise: Keep multiple copies of your priceless family photos. Burn them on CD's or DVD's. Back them up on external hard drives. Give copies to other family members so they are stored in more than one geographical place - fires, storms, floods, and even internal water leaks can damage or destroy heirloom photos. And keep up with the photo format changes - I shoot RAW, so I need to be sure that as the technological changes that are inevitable that I can still retrieve and view my most important photos. It is easy to think that .jpeg and .tiff will always be around . . . but we used beta video recorders and are now in the process of converting those to DVD format. Even had we used VHS, we would still need to convert them to DVD's as video recorders are disappearing and people are using DVD's and DVR to record and view their videos.

The future generations of your family will thank you for preserving visual memories of the family history.

Rolling back the clock

As we've stayed in Evelyn's empty house the last few times, memories of the past kept coming back. Memories of times when the kids were young and when all the grandkids were home visiting "Grandma and Grandpa." I've been wishing we could somehow miraculously roll back the clock to those happy times.

Friday night we did - as the kids fished the dock, the two youngest great grandchildren played. Ava, the youngest at 10 months was being held by her grandmother and parents. Jaycob, six played with remote control cars in the den and fished on the dock.

Later we had the traditional fish fry, with enough fish for all of us . . .

We are the last ones to leave . . . the house is quiet . . . but the memories remain . . .

Sorrow, tears, and laughter

As Evelyn grew weaker and weaker over the last couple of years, we knew our time with her was limited. This time when we got "the call," we knew the end was coming. I could tell when I saw her the first night at the hospice, that she was the weakest I had ever seen her. By Saturday evening, all the family that could get to the hospice had gathered.

The BSA hospice was really a wonderful place, her room was large and the adjacent room and courtyard allowed plenty of "spillover" space for all the family that was gathered. While Evelyn had been wanting a big family reunion, these were not the circumstance that she had in mind. Evelyn slept most of Saturday. She knew we were in the room, and we regularly gave her ice chips and let her know we were there. She even ate a little lunch, which gave us a little hope. However, her breathing was ragged and she quit taking much liquid around 6:00. At one point, her breathing became ragged and as Mary tried to help her take deep breaths, she did not immediately respond. We had an instant of panic that perhaps she would not wake up, but Mary said in a louder voice: "Roger is almost here - he's going to be here soon." Her eyes popped wide open, and she woke up a little bit. When Walter came in and told her Roger was here, she perked up. She knew we were all there and immediately asked, "Is anyone taking pictures?"

All we had was our cell phones, but out they came. In spite of the sad circumstances, we got photos of the family as we shared a unique time of family fellowship. There was laughter mixed with tears, joy that all of her kids were together for her this one last time. Glad that she knew we were all together. As I realized that all of the Amarillo grandchildren and great grandchildren were here, I called my children. They had that one last conversation with their grandmother - and she was able to answer back, however weakly. During this incredible two or three hour window, she was the most alert and coherent she had been all day.

It had elements of a party, a family reunion, where there was that special joy in being together as a family, but there were tears because we knew she was leaving us, but a peace because we knew she was going to a better place where one day we will join her. She was going to join her beloved husband. I know that the prayers being lifted up on our behalf from all the family's churches help give us a special sense of peace and comfort that night.

When she died the next day, we all realized that we had been given one of those special gifts from God - that last time as a family with her mentally present and with us.

Sorrow, tears, love, laughter . . . we had a special bittersweet time Saturday night . . . Sunday she slept most of the day, rousing to tell Martha, "I'm tired, I'm tired of fighting . . . I want to go home." As her breaths became farther and farther apart, she went home. I know she was greeted by Gene, her sister Louise, her parents and grandparents. We are going to miss her so much, but some part of her remains with each of us - our memories of what a special lady she was.

The House Comes Alive!

Houses becomes homes because of the people who live there and the memories created. When Evelyn moved first to skilled care, then 24 hour care and then assisted living, the house had a very empty feel. Its people were missing. This week the house came alive one last time. All the family came "home." And each of us in our own way celebrated the lives of Gene and Evelyn. All of the grandchildren had memories of coming to the lake house and going fishing. The last few years when the family tried to fish, the fish weren't biting. Gene had been telling us that the fishing at the lake was not good anymore. But in two special "miracles" once after his death and then again this week, the grandchildren and great grandchildren came "home," threw their lines in the waters around the dock, and the fish were biting. Lorien, Jon's wife caught her first fish today as did her son, Jaycob. The great grandchildren all caught several fish. In fact, there were enough fish caught that we ended the day with a fish fry. And as in true biblical miracles, all of the fish - both great and small-were sufficient to feed 24 people!

The house was filled with love, laughter, and such a wonderful sense of family!

Already, people are beginning to head home, the house is getting quieter by the moment, but in one last glorious week, it was like old times, the clock had rolled back and we were all together again!

Thank you God for such a wonderful blessing!

Musings

So much has happened this week! It is hard for my mind to process everything. I have so many things I want to blog about while they are fresh, but so much is going on there is not time to get my thoughts collected.

Today was the funeral for Evelyn. Sad, sad time, but filled with the blessings of so much family together in one place - and it is a loving family.

I hope i can pull my thoughts together for a few more blogs related to times mixed with sorrow and laughter, the blessings that God so obviously sent us, and lessons I'm learning.

Blogging or journaling has a way of focusing my thoughts and emotions. But for now, it is late and it has been a long day in a long week.

Memorable People at the hospice

Our time with Evelyn at the hospice was mercifully short. A couple of the people there were so helpful.

Evelyn's day nurse was such a sweet thoughtful person. She was always cheerful when she came into the room. It turns out that her grandmother died in the room next door. The experience at hospice was so profound for her that she went to nursing school specifically to come back and work here. When Evelyn died she came back in our room with her New Testament in her hand.

The nurse practitioner was also so kind and helpful. She was so careful to explain what was happening to Evelyn's body, what medicines they were giving her and why . . .

There are times in life when such small acts of kindness mean so much!

Memorable People at Assisted Living

Some people leave an impression. When my mother-in-law entered assisted living, the staff at Canyon View really impressed me. When they would answer the her call for aid, they were friendly, compassionate, and caring. They came in with a cheerful smile and a positive attitude.

One of them told us that when she was hired, she was told that it was part of her job description to treat the residents as though they were a member of their own family. This same aid said that she tried to treat the people under her care the way she would like to be treated when she is old.

When you have loved ones who can no longer care for themselves, it is such a comfort to know they are being cared for by patient, loving, and tender people.

Sissy, the dog

We've known Sissy since she was a puppy. She joined Evelyn and Gene's family when my children were growing up. I don't remember how old she is, but I'm guessing somewhere between 10 and 14 years old. She has been a good companion to Henry's parents. We brought her home early in July when Evelyn entered assisted living. She enjoyed the ride to Amarillo - checking out all the scenery as we drove down the road. The roadside parks were filled with interesting smells to be explored.

When we got home, she attached herself to Henry, spending much of her day at his feet in the office. Her bed is in our room and she sleeps on Henry's side of the bed. She goes out when Henry goes out for his morning swim. She goes with him to the post office. She seems very happy and contented for which I am very grateful.

She went with us on our camping trip to Pedernales Falls and seemed to love it. So many trails to explore and new smells to investigate! And thankfully, she does not get carsick!

We're back in Amarillo and last night Sissy spent the night in Debra and Jonathan's room. She has now attached herself to Debra, she did not leave the room until Debra was up and at 'em. She's looking for Henry, but Debra is "her people" as well!

It is amazing to me how a dog's mind works!

The Bird Blind at Pedernales Falls State Park

I got to the bird blind late this afternoon (I had mundane duties at the RV that I needed to do - plus birding is better later in the afternoon than in the heat of the day . . . ) While I have visited Pedernales Falls State Park many times, it has also been a very long time. The bird blind is new since I was here last. Turns out it was built around ten years ago - so sad that it has been so long since I've been here!

I walked over quietly carrying my big lens, its big tripod, my binoculars, my bird book and my water bottle. It is a short walk - easy to do even in the heat of the summer carrying gear. It is big, wooden, covered and has a large mostly plexiglass window so you can really get a good view of the birds. On each end, there are wooden shutters that reveal openings large enough for lenses and cameras. There is a big box fan as well, but since I want to hear any bird songs, I was not interested in turning it on. There is a large picnic table with a flip book with photos of birds that you are likely to see as well a spiral to record which birds you see. That comes in handy for looking back and seeing what other (possibly more experienced birders) have been seeing. There are also some comfortable benches with backs that I enjoyed using. Each end of the building is open to give some ventilation and the possibility of hearing the bird song. It is large enough for a group of birders to feel comfortable. But, enough about the structure . . .

When I looked out that plexiglass window, I knew I was in for a treat! There was a raccoon on the far end - he heard me and quickly left. There were birds flittering all over the small yard. One of the first ones I picked out with my binoculars turned out to be a female painted bunting! I saw a number of those come and go. There was a hummingbird feeder. I'm not good at identifying the females that were coming in, but before long, a male came in - based on how black the head and neck were (and the useful journal of what others have been seeing) I could safely say, black chinned hummingbird.

Northern cardinals, carolina chickadees and titmice -both black crested and tufted were visiting the various feeders. And what wonderful feeders - I had heard about using natural materials to create feeders but I had not really seen this kind of setup close up. They used old tree roots, old tree trunks, and gnarled driftwood and had food in the cracks and crevices. So when I pull the camera out and start my photography, the photos will appear natural with natural perches.

The area was enclosed by stacks of trimmed cedar branches - creating a boundary for the feeding area, but also natural places for the birds to perch and hide. On the far end are several water features - a water drip, a misting area and a still pool.

In one of the nearby trees, I saw a blue gray gnatcatcher working its way through the branches. A male ladder backed woodpecker came over to check out the holes in one of the feeder tree trunks. Before long a female visited and got her evening meal.

What a delightful way to spend the evening - I almost felt like I was in heaven!

My list for the day:
painted bunting - female
Northern cardinals - male, female, juvenile
wren - probably Bewicks
Carolina chickadees
Black crested titmouse
tufted titmouse
ladder backed woodpecker - male and female
mourning dove
house finch
black chinned hummingbird - male and female

And a raccoon - both at the beginning and the end.

Photos tomorrow!

Off to Pedernales Falls

Today I've got to get my gear and stuff gathered together. For several reasons I need to make a run over to Pedernales Falls - a beautiful state park near Johnson City. Even though we're going to be home more this year, I still need to be creating new images. I'm hoping there's still enough water in the river and that I'll see a different set of birds at the bird blind.

It is also hard for me to believe, but this is the first RV trip in a year! I hope the tires are not flat on one side from sitting in one place so long.

2008 Bird Chicks in my backyard

'Tis late July and I'm seeing more juvenile birds coming to the feeders and the water trough. It has me thinking about the chicks I've seen in my yard this year. Back in late April, early May I had the privilege of seeing a killdeer family - 2 adults and several miniatures, the chicks. So perfectly like the parents just much smaller. The family behaviors were interesting to watch as well. One of the parents would give the broken wing dance to lead us away from the chicks. And the adults and young would whistle to each other to bring the family back together again. I thought they would be around more than a couple of days, so as I was busy with some other tasks at the time I did not grab the camera to take photos. But it is sure a great memory.

One evening I came home and as I walked up the back porch I realized I had fledgling wrens - perhaps their first day out of the nest! I saw them over the next few days, but once again, I was occupied with other mundane events.

We had nesting swallows, but we were out of town when they would have been rearing their young.

I had a red tail hawk that built a nest somewhere in the neighbor's treeline. We've seen some hawks flying around that make me think we have juvenile hawks at this point.

There have been a group of mockingbirds with the tell tale marks on their breast that indicate that they are juveniles. I've been watching one that flies in circles up the trunk of the tree near the ground feeder. Sometimes I think it is trying to chase the other birds out of "its" tree. I've also seen several mockingbirds together that make me think they are a family group.

I've had a large flock of field sparrows that come in together. In the past, the field sparrows usually come in in one's and two's - which makes me think that some of this big group are this year's fledged chicks.

The cardinal chicks have also been visiting the feeder - they are almost adult sized, but not all of the feathers have come in yet.

There is a blue jay coming in that also has a downy appearance around its bright blue feathers - so I'm thinking juvenile for him as well.

I've even seen a couple of birds that I suspect are juvenile starlings from the markings on their breast that resemble the ones I photographed a year or so ago.

We put out owl boxes - so I'm hoping next year we will have owl chicks as well.

Yes, I enjoy watching the birds that visit my yard!

How long????

In my morning scripture readings this week, Psalms 13 resonated.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
"How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?"

At different points in our lives, we deal with the "how longs."

How long will it be before I can make a living from my photography?
How long before my Christian book is published?
How long will it be before we can travel extensively again?
How long will it be before I can go back to Africa - both for photography and for missions?
How long will it be before I lose the weight I need to lose?
How long will it take me to get back "in shape?"
How long until Henry's book sales take off?

What are your "how longs?" How long until my baby sleeps through the night? How long until the baby is out of diapers? How long until all my children are in school? How long until my next vacation? How long until all my children are grown and out of the house? (I always enjoyed my children - I was in no hurry for them to grow up.) How long until the next promotion or raise? How long until I can retire? How long do I have to endure this miserable boss?

We all have things that we are "waiting" for. It can become: "I will be happy when . . . "

But our goals are constantly in transition. If we wait to be happy "when," often when that event occurs we are already waiting for the next "when." If we are not careful, we can spend out entire lives waiting for an elusive moment to be "happy."

In Psalm 13, David is dealing with real enemies who want to kill him. David had many trials in his life - a king who feared him and wanted him dead, a son who led a rebellion, a son who died from illness . . . He expressed that sorrow and grief: "How long?????"

But as in many psalms, grief, sorrow, and worry end with words of hope:

"But I trust in your unfailing love,
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for He has been good to me."

Sometimes we miss out on joyful moments because of worries. When I look back on Mother's Day 2007, I have good memories. It was truly a special Mother's Day, Evelyn and Gene were still living at home. We had a wonderful celebration on both Saturday and Sunday. But it was bittersweet at the time because we knew that Gene was not very healthy - and in many ways that cast a shadow. A year later, I appreciate that Mother's Day probably more than I did at the time, because Evelyn was very ill this Mother's Day. She is healthier now (thank you God!), but Mother's Day this year was painful. Looking back, I don't think I fully appreciated Mother's Day 2007 - and now I appreciate it so much more.

So this Psalm reminded me to look at the things in my life that I am grateful for RIGHT NOW! It is so easy to focus on the things that you need to improve or that you "wish" would happen and be blind to the good things going on in your life right now.

We can't live in the past, we can't live in the future . . . we live in the present. I have wonderful memories of my past - so wonderful that it is easy to grieve that I am not living in those times now. In watching the generation above me age and endure the discomforts of old age, it is easy to worry about the future. But I have little control over that. I may age into a "healthy" senior citizen, or I may have dozens of age related diseases - there is no way to know right now. But when I worry about an unknown future, it robs me of the joys of today. And Jesus taught in Matthew 6: " Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I think that sometimes "happiness" sneaks up on us, a byproduct of daily living. I think it helps to take time for regularly for reflection. Psalm 18 helped remind me to look at my life right now and appreciate the good things. I have a loving family, I enjoy watching the birds almost every morning, we have pets that show us unconditional love every day. I have just had two photos published! I can get up every morning, I can walk through my house, I can see the sunrise, I can hear the birds sing . . . I need to be careful and not take these simple blessings for granted.

Psalm 118:24 reminds me: "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

The Zambian Christians have a saying that is a mantra in both good times and bad: "God is good all the time. All the time God is good."

May God help me experience this joy in Him every day!

Nature's Best

It's official. When we got home, I found my subscription copy of the spring issue of Nature's Best. I had heard that I had two photos in it, but I was a little like Thomas, the apostle, until I touched it, opened it, and saw it for myself, I had a hard time truly believing. Silly me . . .

Nature's Best is a beautiful magazine with incredible photos each quarter. For two of my photos to appear there is thrilling.

My water lily photo, "Radiant" appears in the Public Gardens section of the Backyards Contest.

My Curve billed Thrasher photo appears in the Wildlife section.

Photography-The Business Side-Keeping Records

At the NANPA Colorado Regional Event I attended, one of the pros commented that the difference between amateur photographers and pros was not so much in the quality of the photos but in the self marketing.

There are many ways to market photos, but I've been making submissions to various markets over the past several years. My primary record keeping system has been making duplicates of each image and storing that image in a folder with the place the image went. While that had the added benefit of giving multiple copies of my better photos, it also increases the amount of storage. It also did not give me an immediate look at all the places I had submitted a given image.

When I first started submitting images, I had set up an Excel spreadsheet. However, in a short period of time I had set up 30 columns of markets. It was definitely unwieldy and I did not continue long with that system.

I know that this year I need to expand the places I submit photos. A data base was the logical answer, but I've always been a "spread sheet person" not a "data base" person. Henry is my computer guru and he is a "data base person." I asked him to see what he could find that would work for me. (And as a writer, he needs the same kind of data base.) He came up with the program "Bento."

My first attempt at using Bento was not encouraging. I set up a photo library and a publications/submissions library, but I could not figure out how to connect them. I was creating a form that was going to be just as bad as all those columns on the spread sheet. Henry bought the program for himself and began experimenting.

The solution was actually easy - I still have a photo library and a publications/submissions library. They are connected with a table. I can enter the information about each picture with each market and date on a separate line. I can easily see where each photo has gone (when I get all the data entry done.) The other bonus about Bento, I can insert a thumbnail of the photo - so I can see exactly which photo the unique name is referring to.

While the information on the older photos is less critical, I find myself enjoying seeing the number of places where I have submitted work over time. I also am pleased that when I look at the older photos, I know that my work is improving. Some of the older ones still hold up over time, but most the photos I'm taking now are much better than the ones I used to take. It will take me a while to get all the older photos entered, but I really want to get my more recent work and submissions current.

Lessons from Assisted Living - Sassy

We've watched two different groups of senior citizens recently. One group is much physically healthier than the other. But we've seen human dynamics or "politics" in both groups.

I've noticed one lady these last couple of days. The first day I met her, I had bumped her chair without realizing it. I did not even feel it, but to her it was a sudden jolt. And . . . she let me know that I had bumped her. Now the distance between chairs in the dining room is not very much - you're going to get bumped every now and then. But I moved to a different position at the table so I would not bump her again.

I noticed her again today. She was coming down the hall. Another lady walking her dog was coming down the hall in the opposite direction. Now, I did not see the beginning of the altercation. But all of a sudden one lady says, "Well, YOU could have moved to the other side." And of course, at that point the other lady said: "WELL, YOU could have moved to the other side." As I passed the lady I'd been noticing, I asked her how she was. She gave me a quick smile and said, "I'm sassy today."

I looked up the word, "sassy" this evening. Webster's says: impudent, vigorous, lively, distinctively smart and stylish. So, I checked out "impudent:" marked by contemptuous or cocky boldness or disregard of others : insolent."

I've been friends with Bettye Baldwin, (Secrets of a Lazy Trainer) for eight or nine years now. She has taught me the importance of having a "bubble" around you when you are working with horses. The horse needs to know where you bubble ends and it is extremely important to continually reinforce that boundary. A horse who knows that boundary won't run you down (and I have it on good authority that it HURTS when a horse runs over you!)

That bubble is actually a boundary that you teach the horses you are around. I know that I was not raised with good boundaries, but as an adult I have learned the importance of both establishing boundaries in my human relationships and respecting other people's boundaries. One of the difficulties in human relationships is that each one of us has a different set of boundaries. Some people have tight boundaries - they don't want people standing too close, they are friendly but sometimes in a standoffish way. Some people have tight boundaries with strangers, but looser boundaries with their friends and family. I am someone with loose boundaries. I may not realize I have blundered into someone's space (as I did when I bumped the lady's chair.)

When watching wildlife, I have watched many species "defend their territories." Usually, the battles are simply skirmishes where one animal "tests" the boundary of another one and quickly backs down. But sometimes, these turf wars can become fights that lead to death.

When we're dealing with people, we need to pay attention to the signs that indicate boundaries. We need to watch body language and tone of voice. Humans are social critters - we need each other. But when you have a lot of people living in fairly close quarters, it is doubly important to respect those human boundaries.

Lessons from Assisted Living

We will be meeting new people for a few days as my mother-in-law gets settled in her new assisted living apartment.

Lesson 1. I am SO greatful for the cheerful staff. It is amazing how much a friendly, cheerful voice and a helping attitude mean when you are working with elderly people. Patience is a much needed virtue as well.

Lesson 2. One of the ladies we met had this to say: "This place may not be everything I want it to be or everything you want it to be, but it a pretty good place!" I thought that was a good attitude - recognizing that while everything is not "perfect" things are still pretty good.

Lesson 3. From my mother in law, in reflecting on her day - she got to go to church, a little different, but still very nice. She had friends from her church bring her communion. She actually felt like eating and seemed to enjoy it. She marvelled and was so pleased that she felt like eating. We sat out in the courtyard and listened to the birds and watched them. At the end of the day, she decided that she had had a pretty good day.

Lesson 4. When I was sitting out on the courtyard, she said something about other things I could be doing. I could truthfully say that there was nothing more important for me to do right then than sit in the courtyard with her. Priorities . . . spending time with her is top on the list right now.

The Road to Boreas Pass

I like to cruise areas to see what wildlife or scenery I can find to photograph. Sometimes, it pays to go back to an area several times. Boreas Pass was closed the first time we tried to take it this trip. We tried again a couple of days ago and I was pleased to see more birds along this road.

As we neared the top of the pass, I saw some bright yellow birds. I pulled out the big Sigma lens and waited. They flitted from branch to branch in the willow thicket - no clear shot - too many branches. I waited. One of them landed briefly on a pine tree in front of me - I'm too slow - he was off before I got much of a shot. I waited some more, moving periodically hoping to get a better shot. Finally, finally, one landed on a different pine tree. It was only after I got home to check the shots on the computer, I had ONE good shot of what turned out to be Wilson Warblers.




I like to cruise areas to see what wildlife or scenery I can find to photograph. Sometimes, it pays to go back to an area several times. Boreas Pass was closed the first time we tried to take it this trip. We tried again a couple of days ago and I was pleased to see more birds along this road.

On the first day, we had seen a group of birds that I was hoping were Red Crossbills. But we were never close enough to get much of a look through the binoculars. The second day farther up the mountain we saw them again. I pulled out the big lens and had a chance for a couple of shots. They were eating something on the road, I'm guessing getting their grit quota for the day. Coloration was right for crossbills, but the beaks were not, so I think these are pine grosbeaks.



The yellow coloration marks the juveniles.



Another good reason to cruise backroads - we also saw several foxes and to our delight a black bear down near the parking lot where the houses begin.

Frisco Wildfire Part II

All over the Rocky Mountains, pine bark beetles are taking their toll on lodge pole pine forests. The red trees in this picture are dying. I'm planning a group of posts about the pine bark beetle, but the fire Saturday in Frisco illustrates the danger that many communities in the Rockies face.



This was really a small fire. Probably started by campers, it burned in a green and moist aspen and cheat grass area rather than hitting the dead pines nearby. However, you can see how close those dead pine trees were to the fire. And the fire started in an area where the firefighters had to hike in to get to it.



Traffic in I-70 was warned that a fire was near and that there might be smoke on the road. I was parked south of I-70. There was a steady stream of residents who pulled up to check on the fire. They were worried. The predictions are that Summit county will lose 95% of the lodgepole pines. While in Breckenridge, the law is requiring homeowners to remove the dead trees, the people I talked with seemed to think there was no plan in place in the national forests to remove the dead trees. The research I've done so far indicates that there is a small window when the trees that are harvested can be used. If you miss the window, the wood has deteriorated too far.




This was the scene at the worst part of the fire. Thankfully, the firefighters were helped by a helicopter with a 100 gallon bucket. By Sunday, only wisps of smoke were left. The damage from the fire was invisible from town. But this is fourth of July week, people are nervous about fireworks and are expecting a burn ban.




From the Summit Daily News comes this warning from Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Jeff Berino: "we want people to really be aware of the dangers we are facing this season, and that it is now a matter of when, not if, we will have a big wildfire.”


The fire Saturday only burned a couple of acres. But this is early in the season. As the snow melt ends, and everything dries out in the warmth of summer, the Rockies are a powder keg waiting to erupt.

Frisco Wildfire

My next blog post was going to be the beginning of a series about the issues in Summit County, Colorado dealing with pine bark beetles. However, as I went into Frisco to do some shopping for my condo, I saw a small fire on the mountain just north of I-70. After I made my purchase I went over to investigate. After finding a good vantage point, I spent the next several hours watching the fire, talking with people who live in the area, and photographing the event.







Tomorrow I'll post more of the photos of the fire. I was most impressed with the helicopter pilot. He first carefully surveyed the scene - making several sweeps. Then his first drop intentionally watered the area around the fire. And then he progressively got closer and closer to make very accurate drops where the fire was the hottest.

Tiger Road

One of my favorite areas around Breckenridge is Tiger Road. In the summer it is one of the routes to get high in the backcountry as it goes from pavement to graded dirt to jeep trail.

One winter, I spent a lot of time photographing the creek and a dipper (a small mountain bird that literally walks the bottom of creeks looking for its food) that frequented the area. My photo, Winter Stream, came from the Swan River as it gurgles its way beside the road.

This summer I've been up it a couple of times. I've been rewarded by the evening peaceful time of watching the trout surface, creating small ripples on the beaver ponds. When my kids were growing up, we spent time on our vacations fishing beaver ponds near Silverton. Part of the allure of fishing is getting to be out in a beautiful place, enjoying your surroundings while you are waiting for the fish to bite. While the fish you catch at beaver ponds are small brook trout - they sure taste good at the end of the day.

On our first drive up Tiger Road this year, I just enjoyed being on a jeep trail. I eyed the back country campsites, remembering how much fun it was to camp in a tent, right next to the babbling, gurgling creek. We were also rewarded with two beaver sightings, but they were far enough away that I did not try to bring out the big lens, instead I just watched the first beaver chew off branches of the willow lining his pond and finally take a bunch across the pond. He took that bunch and dove down under water presumably to his home-it was not as obvious as other beaver homes I've seen.

The second night I headed up to the beaver ponds. I pulled out the big lens, hoping a beaver would show. While I was waiting, I was enjoying the fish coming to the surface.



I decided to see if I could actually capture a fish surfacing with the big lens. Amazingly, I did - actually in one of the earlier frames.



Now this is cropped way down, ISO was something like 1600 to get a fast shutterspeed - so image quality is poor. But this is the kind of shot that luck really plays a role. You never know where they're going to surface, so you are never really set up for the shot. And for a memory picture, this is worth a lot to me. But it will never be submitted for publication, contest or stock photography.

I was finally rewarded when the beaver came out.



The original shot had a lot of digital "noise" from the high ISO needed for the lighting conditions. I used the noise reducing filter in photoshop and then went back using the art history brush and brought back out detail in the beaver. It came out better than I expected.

The beaver realized I was there and went under the water. I was at an angle and the water was so clear I could see him swimming below the surface.

He decided to move to some of the other ponds and headed off down one of his trails. I was getting eaten by those wonderful mosquitoes the fish were feeding on. The light was also fading, so we headed back down to civilization.

The Value of Open Spaces

I grew up in the Texas Panhandle - an area known for its wide open spaces. My grandfather bought and sold land regularly, but I still have two of the pieces of land - one a working farm and one native grassland, never plowed. My children grew up making yearly visits to visit both sets of grandparents in Amarillo. My mother always took them to see the farm and to visit the ranch and the cattlemen who leased the grasslands and their feedlot. I promise you, their feedlot was not smelly . . . my memories include the smell of cooked sweet feed.

When you are out in the rural areas of the Texas panhandle you can hear the wind blow. You can hear the windmill as it goes about the business of pumping water for the cattle. There are birds up there. I want to go and spend more time photographing some of them. It is quiet and peaceful in a way that is hard to explain. The land is so flat, it feels like you can see forever. At night due to the dry climate and lack of city lights, the stars are incredibly beautiful.

The passing of time always brings changes. Amarillo is growing to the west, swallowing up ranchland slowly but surely. My farm is east of Amarillo. Growth is coming, but slowly. My farm is right on the highway, so I know that some day, perhaps twenty or thirty years from now, it will likely be commercial property, but that is a long way off. I remember when my grandfather bought the farm, I was about five - so it's been in the family for fifty years. The ranch was the third ranch I remember my granddad buying. He tended to buy land when the interest rates were low and sold it when a good buyer came along. The Vega ranch and the farm he kept. WInd farms are springing up all over the panhandle. The land just to the north of mine has recently installed them. Because the panhandle is an area with consistent winds, a lot of open space will look different. Hopefully, the birds the antelope, and the small critters will be able to coexist with these gently moving blades.

When I was at NANPA when it was in Denver, I got to hear John Fielder talk about things being done in Colorado to preserve the open spaces. The Colorado Conservation Partnership has found unique ways to preserve open space in Colorado. If I understand correctly, they have raised funds and purchase development rights from farmers and ranchers. The land is protected and the land owners still receive the value comparable to what they might have received if they had developed the land for commercial or residential uses.

I've been working on a project with ranchers in the Central Texas area, The Texas Hill Country Nature Photography Alliance. There are number of ranchers who have dedicated their land for conservation purposes. They are providing habitat for some of the endangered species that are present in the hill country. They have set things up for photographers and perhaps birders to help fund their conservation efforts. I have been privileged to visit two of these ranches,The Petersen Ranch and Block Creek Natural Area. I hope to visit more and spend some time photographing the beauty in nature found there.

David Langford is one of the owners of the Block Creek Natural Area. This land has been in his family longer than my land and he has been a good steward of the land. He has written an editorial about the value and importance of the preserving open spaces, 'Land Stewards understand Value of Open Space.. The link he sent is from the Amarillo paper, my hometown. But it is appearing in newspapers around Texas. I live in Williamson county where open space has been disappearing very rapidly over the last twenty years. In fact, at one point I had heard that we were the county in Texas losing farmland the fastest. Because I've watched so much farmland and grassland turn into small tract lots, I think that what he says is worth reading and thinking about.

Water studies

One of the field trips for the NANPA Colorado Regional Event was to the forks at Chicago Creek near the base of Mount Evans. Usually Colorado clouds up in the afternoon, but during the regional event we had good sunny weather the whole time. So I waited for a cloudy day and made my own trip to Chicago Creek.

The creek is surrounded by forest. When I first got there I was afraid it was going to be too dark. Even after the sun peeked out, the valley floor was still pretty dark. But I decided I would see what I could do even with the dark conditions.

I wanted to take several kinds of shots. I wanted the big picture shots, where you could see the creek and its surroundings. You can see what I mean about it being dark - to get the proper exposure, the water is very silky.



Then I wanted to zoom in and see what I could do with the cascades.



I had only taken my 24-105mm lens and I wondered if that was going to be enough to get the intimate landscapes in the creek that I was hoping for. I begin to zoom in closer more detailed shots of the water and the rocks.



It is amazing how going vertical changes the image.



I then zeroed in on a couple of rocks to get an even more intimate landscape. I also played with saturation on this one.



I was fascinated by the natural scallops in the water here.



I stayed in one location quite a while, but decided that I need to check out some of the other areas along the creek to see what else I could find. I followed some of the same techniques - shooting both the larger view and trying to get those intimate landscapes.



Tips for stream and water photography:

Shade or cloud cover is best to avoid getting blown out whites in the water.

Set your camera for aperture priority for the maximum sharpness of your lens. For me that is F/16. The amount of available light will determine how much water blur you will get. In very bright situations you can use a solid neutral density filter to reduce your shutter speed to make the water silkier. For this day I played with the ISO. Normally for landscapes I set the ISO to 100 which is the lowest possible on my camera to avoid noise. However, because the water was getting so blurred out I tried higher ISO's to see if I could get the look I wanted for the water.

Use a polarizing filter. I forgot on some of my shots, but it takes away some of the shine on the rocks bringing out their true color as well as giving more detail in the water.

Mount Evans Goats

When I was with the NANPA group in the afternoon session, there was only one billy goat that showed up at the summit of Mount Evans. Fortunately, we got to hang around another day or so. On one of several visits to the top, a small herd of nannies and kids showed up at the bathroom area. The work crews put a de-icing salt on the walkway and the animals come in to get their salt intake. The top of Mount Evans is made up of piles of rocks - so the setting just behind the pathway is a natural setting for them.



This particular group had some yearlings as well as some new kids.



This year's kids are small, soft and look cuddly (no, I would not try it!) They stay pretty close to their moms and have a cute clear bleat when mom is too far away.




They get interupted from their salt lick as people need to go to the bathroom and retreat up the pile of rocks.



Because I was shooting in the morning, the light was coming from behind the goats, so I tried a different technique using fill flash. I did not want an obvious flash look to the photos. I'm still working on being able to use fill flash consistently. What I've learned so far is that you want your exposure settings as they would be if you were not using flash, but you have to have a shutter speed that will work with your flash unit. I was varying my shutterspeed hoping to do some stop motion - I checked and the shutter speed varied from 1/125 to 1/300. I was shutter shutter priority and I'm pretty sure I played with the exposure compensation to make sure I was not blowing out the whites. I used the ETTL (Evaluative through the lens flash metering) and I set the compensation on the flash to minus 1 1/3. Granted my batteries were probably old, but I think the fill flash worked in this situation. You don't see harsh lighting, but you do see good details in the faces in spite of the back lighting. Photo Notes has a good section on flash photography that is worth studying. I've looked at it before, but I need to keep studying this so I can have fill flash figured out better than I do now.

Photo Contests

Several years back one of the photo reviewers recommend that I start entering the large, prestigious photo contests. So each year I pick out what I think are my best images and submit to contests like the Shell BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice International Awards. The first couple of years my photos did not succeed. However, the last couple of years, they at least made it up the ladder to semi-finalist or finalist rounds.

I was recently notified by the BBC Contest that while my photos had "not succeeded" that I could log in and check on their website to see if any had made it to semi-final or finalist levels. I was pleased that three of them did make the semi-finalist level. You can see them on website.

One of these days . . . one of these days . . . I hope to make the exhibition. I'll keep trying.

Ruth Dillard, a special person

There are people in your life who are very special. Ruth Dillard was one of those folks. She was an inspiration to me on gracious living in old age. She was always smiling, always had a joke to share and always had a great attitude. Everyone at church knew Ruth and loved her. I am so glad that I saw and spoke with her at church the Sunday before we left. She will be missed!

Photo Credit: Richard Tyler

Blogs

Over the last few years, I have a morning routine of things to read on the internet. My Yahoo provides my news. Sometimes I'll head over to one of the larger newspapers or a local newspaper to check on news. This morning I checked out the Amarillo.com to read about the storms that went through last night. My mother-in-law is in a nursing home and they had to take cover in a hallway last night.

I use RSS feed that shows me on my bookmark bar when there is a new entry. That eliminates the need to open each of the blogs separately each day. I have some blogs I read that are primarily news about friends and family. I have some blogs that I read almost every day and others that I read occasionally. Here are some links (in a random order - not based upon which are my favorites) that I think would appeal to some of my readers:

Henry's Idle Thoughts, is my husband's take on what is going on around us. Partly a travel journal, partly his reflections on life, and a look at the publishing world, I read his posts not only because he is my husband but because I find it interesting to see his view of what we've been doing.

Secrets of a Lazy Trainer is written by my friend, Bettye Baldwin. She has been working with horses most of her life and is an expert animal trainer. Her blog contains amusing stories as well as practical advice about training animals which can cross over into how the same application works well with humans as well. She is also a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. She writes books about horses and articles at Helium.com.

I met Julie Zickefoose at the Festival of the Cranes. I enjoy her National Public Radio broadcasts about raising hummingbirds. Her blog varies between stories about her dog, Chet Baker, her children, her birding trips, and life in Appalachian Ohio. Her book, Letters from Eden is a delight from her beautiful artwork to the stories of life in the natural world.

I just added Mike Murphy to my RSS feed. He has retired as photo editor for Texas Highways magazine and has set up his Texas ranch for nature photographers. Currently he is in Alaska on a photo expedition. Having been to Alaska, I'm enjoying hearing about what he is seeing and doing.

David and Linda Gregersen moved from the Austin area to Zambia three years ago. I am enjoying reading about their adventures in the mission field, Africa. I especially love the application stories from their chicken coop!

Bill Crider is a mystery writer that Henry and I have known for a long time. When you set his blog up in RSS feed, expect to find lots of short posts throughout the day. He is interested in many things from mystery books, science fiction, alligators and crocodiles, movie stars. When he finds something interesting on the web, he posts the link so we can enjoy it as well.

Carolyn E. Wright is an attorney whose speciality is photographic law. Her blog is worth browsing through the entire history as there is much to learn about the legal issues related to photography.

Bill Thompson, III is editor of Bird Watcher's Digest. He is married to Julie Zickefoose. They are invited to many birdwatching events and not just in the United States. Anyone interested in birding will enjoy his blog.

Chris Nystrom is the son-in-law of one of my closest friends. His blog is ecclectic ranging from stories about his family, to the techworld, to interesting movies, and his viewpoint on current news.

Susi Lawson does not post often to her blog, but her photographic art is so beautiful that I am always interested in what she posts.

Travis Novitsky is a photographer in beautiful Minnesota. I especially love his winter scenes, but I am always inspired as I watch what he finds to photograph.

Sheila Finch is a science fiction writer we see regularly at the conventions we attend. Her books about The Guild of Xenolinguists are both fun and thought provoking.