The Birds

We often see large swarms, flocks, whatever, of Starlings and other birds move through during migration season.  I've seen swarms of Grackles while in Texas, but I think this was the first time I've seen Grackles in such groups here in Alabama (I may have seen them and just thought they were Starlings).  The photo doesn't do this crowd justice.  I could only capture about 20% (if that) of them at any one time.

Fat Tuesday

You take about a cup of this,

 pour a couple of ladles of this over it,

 and maybe add a pancake or two,

and enjoy your Mardis Gras.  (Yeah, I know it was last week.  That's when I took the photos.)

2 Things Challenge: Book/Words

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Book/Words.  I have several interpretations for this one.

First are some words about the WORD from the BOOK, which is also sometimes called the WORD.

Next a few words from Anna Karenina, but since they are in our Kindle, is it a book?  Or is it a LOT of books, since this little thing can hold the words from hundreds of books, all in the palm of my hand.

And now those same words by Leo Tolstoy, but now they are on my iPhone thanks to the Kindle ap.  Even smaller and more transportable.

And finally, some words about a book about words, from a book about words.

2 Things Challenge: Sunday/Pattern

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Sunday/Pattern.  If you sit center balcony at Highlands United Methodist Church in downtown Birmingham on a Sunday morning, these are some of the patterns you will see.

I've never actually attended Sunday services here, but I do some volunteer work there once a week helping the city's poor and the homeless get state IDs, hopefully a leg up for at least some of them.  I love their sanctuary with the pale yellow paint, the high domed ceiling, and all the beautiful stained glass windows (I only show some of the smaller ones down front here, the ones to the side are huge and magnificent).  You need to click on the photo for a larger view to really appreciate the beauty of this space.

Hmmmm

I don't usually post pics I make with the iPhone, but this little old white haired lady passed me in her Cadillac on the interstate and iPhone was my only choice, or she would be gone.  I got a charge out of her vanity tag.

Frost Shadows

Monday morning was clear and crisp, with frost on everything.  As the sun slowly rose, it melted the frost on the roofs, leaving just a frost shadow of the house next door.  It was pretty neat, but did not last very long.

No Hay

The Moon on the Breast of the New Fallen Snow

Taken through a screened bedroom window at 10:22 PM, using only moonlight through the clouds, ISO 400, f 2.8, 25 seconds.

Dark Eyed Junco

The Dark Eyed Junco has quite a variety of looks, depending on what part of the continent it comes from.  I believe this is a Slate Colored Dark Eyed Junco, spotted in Pennsylvania last week, patiently waiting his turn at the feeders.

The Critical Need for Bird Napkins

Sparrows do have relatively poor table manners.

2 Things Challenge: Door/ Effect

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Door/Effect.  I took this in downtown Birmingham several years ago.  

If you can't really use it, is it a door . . .

 . . . or merely a door effect?

(Read the sign if you can.)

2 Things Challenge: Post/Parallel

The 2 Things Challenge last week was Post/Parallel.

We made a sudden trip to Pennsylvania Wednesday evening last week and had to drive a few hours from Baltimore to get to the farm.  For a good deal of the way we drove through falling snow, but the roads weren't treacherous until we got close and had to go over a mountain, and then it was mostly the fog I was worried about.  Anyway, this is what we woke up to Thursday morning, a couple of inches with the parallel fence posts sticking up through.

2 Things Challenge: Water/Art

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Water/Art.

One of the many stations in the McWane Science Center in Birmingham is the Bubble Room.  There you, er . . I mean the kids, can create all sorts of bubbles with a little bit of soap and water.  Some are quite artistic, but transient, sort of like performance art.  One machine even lets you be inside the bubble.  Mason likes to pop them with his nose, and here he waits for a big one with his reflection to settle on his face.