The Halsey/Miller Family Christmas Party

Normally I use this site to show off and share my attempts at artistic and nature photography, but today I am using it a bit differently.  My wife’s family recently had their big Christmas party, and quite a few people expressed an interest in seeing the pictures I was taking.  Plus, there is the group picture too.  I could not think of a better way to share than to post them here on my blog site.  So without further adieu, here they are:

Here we are, the whole family (click on the pictures for a larger view

Lots of visiting and catching up…

Sally, Bill, Ann and Wendy

And a couple of cute little girls…

More visiting and catching up (yes, my son Alex actually mingled).

Mom-in-Law Sally LOVED her Betty Boop!

More catching up…

Another family tradition, the handing off of The Cane.

Time for presents!

The adult gift exchange and theft game.

Lee is determined to get someone to steal his gift.

“I’ll take that!”

And we must finish off with cute little kids again.

Thanks for visiting!

Scenes from Detroit

It has been way too long since I have posted anything.  I recently took on the task of being the photographer for Bay City Central High School bands, and that has taken up all of my photo time.  But this week finds me in Detroit at a training class, so I decided to take a bit of my evening and walk by the river and see what I could see.  Here are few shots of what was around me.

The atrium at the Ren Cen, next to the river.

Hello Canada! 

A look down the river toward the Ambassador Bridge.

The Detroit Princess riverboat.

The Renaissance Center, my temporary home.

What would Detroit be without General Motors and shiny new cars in the lobby.

Thanks for visiting.  I will try to get a few more up this week, if my schedule allows.

A Quickie

I realized I have not posted anything in several weeks, so here is a quick and simple one.  Wendy and I took an anniversary get-a-way weekend last week, and made a day trip to the Houghton Lake area.  Well, with my fascination with birds and wildlife (one shared by my wife by the way) you know we ended up in a wetland area.  Here are a couple of shots from this chilly rainy day.

Rain over Houghton Lake.

Houghton Lake Flats, a wildlife area next to the lake.

Bald Eagle on a platform.

Great Blue Heron wading through the weeds.

Flowers on a bush along the edge of the water.

You don’t see one of these every day!

Hope you liked them!  Sorry it took so long to put some fresh picks up.  I will try to do better.

Welcome Home, USS Edson

For many years now, the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum has been working toward obtaining a retired destroyer to moor in Bay City as a floating museum.  Many years ago, the Defoe shipyard in Bay City built destroyers.  Unfortunately, none of those ships have survived.  So the museum tried to get another ship of the same class.  After many attempts at that endeavor, they found a destroyer that was perfect for their uses.  They applied for, and was recently granted ownership, of the the USS Edson.

After all of the legal work was completed, a pair of tugboats tied on to her in Philadelphia, and towed this good ship to her new home in Bay City.  About a week ago, to much excitement, she arrived at her temporary mooring site.  She will stay there for a few weeks while her permanent home is made ready.

A view looking down the ship from the bow.

The forward gun, in front of the bridge.

The bridge.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable in these ships could tell me what some of these things are (hint hint Uncle Steace).  For example, are these torpedo launchers?

And these?

Rear Gun.

Perhaps the prettiest sight of all.

So, to the USS Edson, I join the rest of our community in saying welcome to your new home.

Vacation Critters, pt 2–Feeling Buggy

Last time I featured the cute and cuddly, the fun and feathery, and the slippery and slithery.  This time, here are a couple of shots of the buggy critters I encountered on my recent vacation.

Just a quickie this time.  I will be stepping away from my usual nature/wildlife theme with my next post.  I don’t want to give away too much right now.  I will just say…

“Anchors aweigh, my boys……Anchors aweigh…….”

Vacation Critters

I just finished up a week of rest and relaxation on the water.  Between bouts of sitting and watching the lake, and sitting and reading, I took a lot of pictures.  Small furry, feathered, and not so furry nor feathered, critters made up a good part of my subjects.  Here are a few:

First, the furry….

As I passed a patch of wildflowers, I say this little bunny hiding in the grass.  As bunnies are apt to do, he froze, and let me get quite close before he bolted.

I am not sure, but I think, maybe, the large number of oak trees, and therefore acorns, may have something to do with the large number of squirrels around there.

And now for the feathered…..

What would a trip to the cottage be without a shot of the loons.

This cute little bathing beauty is a Savannah Sparrow.  Exciting for me, as I have never seen one before.

And last, but not least, the un-furry and un-feathered…

The frog population at the lake skyrocketed this year.  I have never seen so many frogs!  Here are just a couple.

And now for my favorite of the whole week.  One evening, as I sat reading, my wife Wendy called me down to the fire pit by the lake.  She had spotted a sneaky garter snake.  He pretended to be shy, but actually seemed to enjoy posing for me.

Thanks for stopping.  I am saving the insects for later, not to mention some wonderful sunsets and landscapes.  Stay tuned, there is a lot more to come!