Monday, May 31, 2010

Remembering…..

“The ultimate sacrifice…”

“The last full measure of devotion….”

“To give one’s life for his country…”

Words describing the fallen soldier.  But how can words ever describe what those men and women have given to us. 

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This weekend, we here in the United States celebrate Memorial Day.  It is a three day weekend, the unofficial start of summer.  But as we enjoy our cookouts, our camping, the good times we have with our friends and family, let us not lose sight of the reason for this day.  Take a moment to remember those men and women who have given their lives so we can be free to have our barbecues and parties.  And take a moment to thank a veteran who is still with us for serving our country.

vets garden  

And lets all take some time out from our busy day to tell our children the reason why we are celebrating today – to remember our fallen soldiers.  Explain to them the sacrifices that were made to protect our country.  Teach them that is OK to fly the flag, and to love their country, even if you disagree with current events.

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And so, to those who have served, and who are serving, I say THANK YOU.  And to those who have lost loved ones while serving our country, know that their sacrifice, and your sacrifice, will not be forgotten.  God bless the fallen, God bless their families, and God bless America.

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Saturday, May 29, 2010

A rose by any other name……

Here are a few pictures of some of the roses around my house.  Climbers, Hybrid teas, even a wild rose.  I hope you enjoy them!  Now, altoghether:  “My willlllld Irrrrish Roooooossssseeeeee, The dearest flower that growwwwwwws……….

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Thursday, May 27, 2010

One more from camping – The birds

The trees at the campground were teeming with birds.  A few of them were bold enough to come down to the open, where I could photograph them.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:

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Robin:

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Catbird:

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Cardinal:

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Blue Jay:

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Monday, May 24, 2010

Camping, part 2

Today I present a few shots of our campsite and the campground we stayed at over the weekend. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA         OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Shelby sure likes camping:

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The long, lonely walk to the privy:

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a panorama of the campground, taken from our campsite:

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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Our maiden camper voyage – part 1

This weekend my family and I took our new camping trailer out for a weekend shakedown trip.  Despite heavy rain the first night, the trip was a great success.  Here are a few random and fun shots taken this weekend.  More pictures of the campsite, and of the birds of the area, will be coming soon.  But here is part 1:

 

Our campsite, including our new Rainier, the screenhouse, and our cute little camper in the back

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Watch out!  our site was surrounded by the little gem.  The official herb of Bay City State Recreation area – Poison Ivy!

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What camping trip is complete without a campfire.  And yes, the s’mores were yummy!

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Camping is hard work, even for a terrier.  Shelby has turned out to be the ideal camping dog – small, portable, never barked, and did not even take up too much room in bed with us.

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I don’t know what this is exactly, but I just had to include this tree.  It would appear that this tree has a problem.  It is a cheeky thing, isn’t it.  I am sure this tree is the butt of many jokes.  Ok, I will stop now

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And finally, the moon rises over our campsite on our second, and last night.

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Thursday, May 20, 2010

a strange random code

Just ignore the following information, it has nothing to do with my pictures.

4VKY69EE5E3F

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Sometimes my job has its perks.  Yesterday I had to inspect a small store at a campground / canoe livery located in the woods along the Rifle River, in Sterling Michigan.  On the drive up, and at the site, I saw some wonderful wildlife.  Fortunately, I always take my camera on such occasions.  So I present to you now a few of my pictures.  Here are:

The Good:

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The Bad:

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And the ugly:

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Sunday, May 16, 2010

Nature walk, part 2

Here are some more shots from my walk through the woods yesterday.  I have already shared the rabbit, and the squirrel that accosted me when I got home.  Today I will share some flowers, a tree and a grackle.

While I was looking over the stretch of cattails in the middle of this park, a group of grackles began to squawk and fly around me.  It would seem they were not too happy with my presence there.  I would not have minded if they would have stayed in one place for a while.  But no, they insisted on flying from branch to branch.  Finally one stopped to give me a dirty look, just long enough for a good picture.

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There were a variety of flowers along the trails, including wild strawberry and some shrubs I could not identify.

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Speaking of flowers, the morning light was filtering in through the trees, and hit this dandelion seed head, making it glow.

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And finally, I spied this tree with a vine on it.  Does anyone but me see a face in this tree?  I see the face of an owl in the side of the tree.  Perhaps the woods do have spirits in them.

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Saturday, May 15, 2010

Critters

I went out to Gorson Nature Park again this morning.  Got a few nice shots, but decided today just to post a couple of critter shots.   First, I had an encounter with a wascawy wabbit.  I looked up and there it was, 10 feet in front of me.  It hopped away a bit, but must not have been too upset, as I sat down and started eating right away.

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When I got home, I heard a noise on the roof of the house, so I looked up.  There was a squirrel in the rain gutter, foraging for food.  I said “Hey troublemaker”, and the thing looked down at me and gave me a look.  Is it just me, or do squirrels always look like they are up to something.

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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Lets get silly with Photoshop

Ok, these pictures really are not very good, quality-wise.  They are just some goofy pictures I made a while ago to help me learn to use Photoshop image editing software.  Just some goofy pics I made using my dog, Shelby, as the model (and in one case my son, Will, and his elementary school class, performing Paul Bunyan at the time).  I will have to try to re-do these pics, now that I have learned a lot more about using photoshop.  By the way, my dog is a wire haired fox terrier, whose nickname is Psychodog.

two dogs copy shelby at the play 2 shelby two tails

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A new addition to our family

Once again leaving the traditional genre of my pictures.  Instead of showing some pictures that I feel are worthy for sharing, based on their interest or perceived artistic virtues, today I am posting a couple pics of our new family vehicle (ok, it is actually used, but new to us).  I am doing this for the simple reason that I want to brag and show it off.

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Friday, May 7, 2010

More from the archives….

Here are a couple of pictures from vacation a couple years ago.  Nothing fancy, just a couple flowers and a bug.

Vacation 2008 Firemans Cottage Hale Vacation 2008 Firemans Cottage Hale Vacation 2008 Firemans Cottage Hale

Thursday, May 6, 2010

A Lilac Experiment

If you remember from my first posting, one of the purposes of this blog is to encourage me to expand my photographic horizons.  Since most of time I am taking pictures outdoor, using natural light, I decided to bring some outdoors in, and practice some simple studio lighting.  This is new to me, and I am just learning.  I think these came out kinda good.  They may not be hang-on-the-wall quality, but I am proud of them just the same.

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