Bat Out of . . .

Time!

We don't often see these guys when there is enough light to get a decent photo, but at about 2:30 in the afternoon we spotted this one swooping and filling up on all sorts of bugs.

Click on the photos for a better view.

I know a small percentage of them have rabies, and seeing one behave very oddly, i.e. flying around in the middle of the day, could be a cause for worry, but I would never handle a wild bat.  I guess it's possible that our extremely warm weather lately has caused at least this one to be roused from his hibernation early, in which case he would be very hungry and might therefore venture out in broad daylight.  Who knows?  I haven't seen him since, and it has been even warmer the last couple of days.

2 Things Challenge: Shadow/Orange

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Shadow/Orange.

A couple of photos from Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia, both taken on a brisk fall morning a few years back.

First, most of the orange colored trees on the side of the western mountain are still in the shadow of the eastern mountain.

Second, on the trail from the vantage point for the first photo, the sun filters through the orange leaves, creating shadows on other leaves, but even the shadows are orange.

SPRINNNNGGGG!!!

The Red Bud trees are blooming . . . and the Bradford Pear blossoms are almost ready to snow the ground.

Fair Park Murals

Each of the large buildings in Fair Park in Dallas has a large statue out front and at least a couple of large art deco murals on the walls behind.  I said art deco appealed to me, but I think the only real thing that I like about the art is the enormous size of it.  It reminds me of some of the modern graffiti, or maybe it's the other way around.

Fair Park, Dallas

Fair Park in Dallas was built in the 1930s and has a large collection of art deco buildings, sculpture, murals, etc.  For some reason, art deco sort of appeals to me.  Perhaps it's the clean lines, or the enormity of some of the stuff.  Some examples.

Dinner

When I got to Dallas, Cameron and Meredith had fixed a slow cooker enchilada casserole for dinner.

Pair it with a salad with French dressing (haven't had that in a while) and a glass of red and it was delicious.

Lens Baby? Nope.

As I flew out of Birmingham on Friday, I snapped this out the window.

I thought it resembled one of those Lens Baby images where everything except a very small spot is out of focus, making it look like a photo of a model instead of the real thing.  In this case, however, all the blurring is from the heat and turbulence coming out of the engine to the right.  Still looks like a model of Birmingham, though (click on the image to see it larger to really see what I'm talking about).