Memorial Day

Today America pauses to remember those who have given their lives in defense of their country.  Those men and women who have made the freedom we now enjoy possible. 

Take a moment today to let the families of those who have gone know that you are grateful for what they have given us.

And do not forget those veterans that are still with us.  Whether they are old or young, they have fought for you, and are still fighting today.

Remind your children what this day is all about.  Encourage them to honor our heroes.

Have a wonderful memorial day, and celebrate summer with your friends and family.  But while you enjoy your cookouts and camping…

…take a moment to remember.

I want to personally thank those heroes that have fought, and are still fighting today for our freedom.  And to those families that are honoring a fallen relative, know that you are not forgotten, because you have also made a sacrifice.  I thank all of you. 

Acknowledgements:  I would like to thank Floral Gardens Cemetery in Bay City, MI, and Boy Scout Troop 111 for allowing me to  document their good work.

Flowers and Critters

More pictures from our recent camping trip.  The spring wildflowers were in bloom, and an old friend made an appearance.

The crabapples were in bloom…

and so was this little flower.

Here we have both flowers and a critter.  An unknown insect on a wild strawberry.

Critter or pest?  I am not sure really, but there is something interesting about the tent caterpillar webbing on this young tree.

And here is an old friend from last year.  I am glad to see he is still hanging around, yelling at me when I try to take his picture.

I hope you enjoyed my humble pictures.  I am glad you stopped by.  There are still more to come from this camping trip.  We have not even gotten to the bikes…

Camping Scenes, part 2

Here are a few more pictures I took over the weekend.  I hope you enjoy!

On this quiet morning, the campground was not awake yet.  The only life I saw were me, the birds and the ants.

Yellow flowers.

A close up of my wife’s favorite weed to kill.

Uh oh, she was too late, this one has gone to seed.

And this little guy showed up just in time to help me hitch up the camper.  I could use him in a illustrated dictionary to define Camouflage.

Thanks for visiting.  I have more yet to come.  Stop by again in a day or two.

Scenes from Camping

After a long, cold winter, and a long wet spring, I finally got out with my family for the first camping trip of the year.  I woke up on Saturday morning to cool moist weather, with a slight haze to the air.

After some coffee and a bit of breakfast, I was just itching to go out and take some pictures.  Or maybe it was just the mosquitos…

The grass and dandelions were covered in dew.

The field behind our campsite was filled with dandelions.

There were many ferns, and including this young one, with the fiddleheads still unrolling.

I have a lot more pictures from my camping trip, but I want to spread them out over a few days.  Come back soon for more shots.

More scenes from Battle Creek

I have a few more shots I took last week when I was in Battle Creek.  I hope you enjoy them.  Forgive my attempts to be artistic!

Battle Creek Flowers

I had the opportunity after my training today to take a walk along the river.  I got some nice shots of the area, and several of flowers.  Today I offer you some of the spring flowers I found.

WARNING:  The following pictures contain stinging insects.  If you are freaked out by bees, proceed with caution.  You have been warned.

Fun with Photoshop

Work  has dragged me away from my home and family again, and trapped me in a hotel for a few days.  So, what does one do when stuck in a hotel to pass the time?  Well, I play with my toy trains:

Actually, I learn fun new techniques in Photoshop.  That picture above is actually a train out my hotel window.  Don’t believe me?   Here is the same view that I did not photoshop (same view, but a different train):