Eeyore's Ramblins

2 Things Challenge: Door/ Effect

2012-02-18T08:05:00.000-06:00

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

2012-02-14T07:41:00.000-06:00

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

2012-02-03T05:37:00.000-06:00

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.

Black and Blue

2012-01-30T00:01:00.001-06:00

"As the crow flies" is a phrase I've heard all my life and from my childhood understood it to mean the shortest possible distance between two points, and not necessarily the distance one must really travel to get there. I never thought much about what it really meant or where it came from until much later in life as I watched the crows around here actually fly. They do seem to almost always be going somewhere with a great purpose, nose down and flying quickly in a straight line. Seldom do I see one take a short jaunt (unless he's eating road kill and just moves to get out of the way of my car). Seems they always go somewhere a half mile or more away. Sometimes it's like if they wanted to go fifty yards south, they would first fly a mile north, turn around, caw a few times, and fly a mile and fifty yards south, straight as an arrow both ways.

2 Things Challenge: Numbers/Peak

2012-01-28T09:05:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Numbers/Peak.

I posted this photo a long time ago, but it was very appropriate for the challenge this week. The little terrestrial bump near my home goes by several names (Columbiana Mountain, Mount Dixie, Cates Mountain), but I think the USGS calls it Columbiana Mountain. At the peak is a USGS marker, and my GPS gives the coordinate numbers for the exact peak.

The Trouble . . .

2012-01-23T18:16:00.000-06:00

. .with outdoor winter photography in the South is seldom a beautiful snow scene. Except for pine trees and Christmas lights, everything is pretty much various shades of gray and brown.

But sometimes those grays and browns arrange themselves in a particularly nice manner.

2 Things Challenge: Town/Illusion

2012-01-21T07:41:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Town/Illusion.

This is the little town of Columbiana during the holidays a few years ago, and there's the illusion of a car streaking through the intersection. That was interesting, but not the shot I was hoping for at the time.

I Want That One

2012-01-18T07:03:00.000-06:00

Tina made orange cupcakes, and they were good.

Meoooow

2012-01-16T15:11:00.001-06:00

While I was making some photos of grandkids using my infamous black velvet backdrop, the cat just had to check things out.

2 Things Challenge: Step/Double

2012-01-14T10:37:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Step/Double.

The one thing about a sack race is that every step is a double one.

Irony

2012-01-11T05:44:00.000-06:00

I think this is the perfect definition of "irony". Plus it's made of an irony substance.

Night Clouds

2012-01-08T16:17:00.000-06:00

Last night the moon and clouds were putting on a particularly interesting show. I missed the part where the moon had just gone behind the edge of the cloud bank, but it peaked through occasionally.

But most impressive to me was the well lit clouds as they swept by. I had to up the ISO to avoid them being just a blur, so my old Sony got pretty grainy, but I still liked it, especially the stars peaking through.

2 Things Challenge: Forsaken/Empty

2012-01-06T11:07:00.001-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Forsaken/Empty. This is both, and it's been that way for a while.

A Snail's Pace II

2012-01-02T11:57:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I lamented the fate of a poor snail (here) which had tried to cross our driveway on a cold night and did not make it. Yesterday I spotted what I thought was that same snail about 15 feet away from his previous predicament, and lo, he had a fresh slime trail. Closer examination convinces me it's his twin brother, and not the original snail, however.

I flipped this one over temporarily to have a look inside, and he looks all fresh and ready to go on a rollicking two foot venture the next night. Perhaps my lament for the first one was premature. I guess they have to be able to take the weather around here, or they wouldn't be around here.

2 Things Challenge: Soft/Brilliant

2011-12-26T09:29:00.001-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge for the holidays is Soft/Brilliant. Every year during the holidays, the people who own this small lake near Highway 26 in Columbiana float a tree of lights out on the lake. The lights are brilliant as you drive by, but the reflection tends to have a more soft appearance.

Okay, okay, the night I stopped to make the photo, the lake was incredibly still and the reflection was not much softer than the actual tree, so I softened it up a smidge.

A Snail's Pace

2011-12-23T07:11:00.000-06:00

I don't know where he thought he was going on a chilly morning, but I don't think he made it. He was still here that afternoon. Poor fellow.

2 Things Challenge: Apple/Art

2011-12-17T11:12:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Apple/Art. This is the remains of an apple that was my lunch on Thursday. Is it art? Or is it just a photograph of garbage? I do remember thinking as I ate it that I wanted to carve it into this exact shape with my teeth, so . . . maybe it's art.

Up Close and Very Personal

2011-12-16T07:49:00.000-06:00

Looks almost animal, but it's an orchid.

It Was a Cold and Foggy . . .

2011-12-15T06:34:00.000-06:00

. . morning yesterday on Lay Lake. Very little color, but some fruitful silhouettes.

2 Things Challenge: Full/Feminine

2011-12-11T08:36:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Full/Feminine. In an early photography class I learned that curves are feminine and straight lines are masculine. Here I managed to get two full curves on the road and more on the fence, so this is a definitely full feminine composition (ignore the tree trunks, what tree trunks, they aren't really there).

Confederate Rose

2011-12-07T19:12:00.001-06:00

This is called a Confederate Rose. I have no idea why, because it is not a rose (probably some type of hibiscus) and while it may be more acclimated to the southern climate, I don't know of any particular affiliation with the CSA. The thing I find most intriguing about the bush is the transformation the flowers go through in such a short period of time. On day 1 they open into a very nice looking white flower, with maybe just some slight tinges of pink.

Overnight they change completely into a pink flower, just as pretty, but very different looking.

Then, just as quickly, they are gone.

Photos of three different blossoms taken on the same day in November.

2 Things Challenge: Card/Blue

2011-12-04T09:34:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge for the last several weeks was Card/Blue, and even with extra time to work on it, I wound up taking the photos on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Five of a Kind!

Everyone gets the same hand, but it's not a very interesting game.

House of Cards/Blue

Now, seeing how big you could build a house might be more fun.

Actually, these are bridge tallies, not playing cards, but cards they are.

Whigmaleerie Day

2011-11-15T07:44:00.001-06:00

Wilsonville, the little one stop light town from whence cometh my mail, held it's second annual Whigmaleerie Day on October 29. What is a whigmaleerie? It's a term of Scottish origin which means a whim or a gimmick. The town decided to hold the event to celebrate their Scottish heritage. Apparently, John Wilson, the town's founder, was Scottish.

They had a few booths for local craft and food vendors, an antique car and tractor show (with about 6 cars and a similar number of tractors),

an airplane flyover, and, the highlight for me, a performance by Birmingham Pipes and Drums. It was a little chilly for a skirt, but they all were appropriately dressed.

2 Things Challenge: Wet/Hot

2011-11-11T14:41:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Wet/Hot.

Pepsi is wet, but when it's a balloon,

it can get pretty hot.

2 Things Challenge: Bar/Yellow

2011-11-06T06:59:00.001-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Bar/Yellow.

View From The Columbiana Jail, . . . er. . . Playground

Grown Up Red

2011-11-05T08:42:00.000-05:00

Last February I posted a couple of photos (here) of a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk that inhabited the valley near Kristina's house. Well over the summer he grew up and donned his adult plumage.

2 Things Challenge: In the Sky/Plus

2011-10-28T00:01:00.003-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is: In the Sky/Plus.

Down Side Up

2011-10-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

I'm sure one of the cardinal rules of flying aircraft is to land with the down side down. That does not apply to dragonflies, however.

It was windy at the beach and this one took refuge under the roof of our patio.

2 Things Challenge: Eye/Sharp

2011-10-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Eye/Sharp.

While in Ft. Walton Beach, we visited an outlet mall which had a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. The treats inside were not only sweets for the tummy, but there was plenty of eye candy as well.

And if you finished one of these (which we didn't) you would have a sharp stick to do with as you wish. Just be careful of your eye.

Fungi and Moss

2011-10-21T00:01:00.004-05:00

The last time we went to Pennsylvania it rained the entire time we were there. Plus it had been quite wet for several days before we arrived. Therefore, there was an abundance and variety of the spore reproducers everywhere.

Partners in Crime

2011-10-20T09:14:00.000-05:00

Actually, this is another case of photographing one thing (the spider with her beady, multiple eyes) and finding something else (the ant) while processing the image. I don't think either realized the other was there.

2 Things Challenge: Abstract/Value

2011-10-15T18:00:00.001-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Abstract/Value.

This was one of the first photos I took in a class way back in 2007 called "The Art of Seeing." It came out as a very abstract way of seeing the fall colors across the river, and although it was based as much on luck as it was on my ability to "see," it had some value to me at the time.

Gullectric Slide

2011-10-15T07:33:00.000-05:00

Went to Fort Walton Beach, FL last weekend and the gulls were everywhere. This one was practicing his Electric Slide line dance.

2 Things Challenge: Star/Vegetable

2011-09-24T11:07:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Star/Vegetable. I present several stars from the "vegetable kingdom", a Sweet Gum leaf, the green remnant of a tomato bud atop the ripe fruit, a star fruit, and the remnant of a persimmon bud atop a full grown, but not quite ripe persimmon.

Ribbit!

2011-09-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

I just caught this little guy on the outside of our kitchen window. I think he had come down from the big oak to catch his dinner near the light. I have no idea what kind of frog he is.

2 Things Challenge: Suit/Playful

2011-09-18T11:54:00.002-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Suit/Playful.

For this challenge, I have chosen to determine which suit is the most playful by analyzing the expressions on the face cards of a standard deck of Bicycle Rider Back Playing Cards. You may have to zoom in to see some of the details I talk about here. I knew that there were things like one-eyed Jacks and other differences between the suits, but I had never sat down and studied them before.

Let's start with the Jacks. As I look at them, the Diamond and Club Jacks appear to be the youngest, probably because they are both clean shaven, but the Diamond Jack's mouth seems slightly turned down, and his whole countenance seems like he has just suffered some minor disappointment, but overall, not a very playful mood. The Club Jack seems much more open in his expression, but perhaps more studious than playful. The Heart and Spade Jacks seem a little more mature, but the Heart Jack seems a little concerned about something, based primarily on the upturned inner corner of his eyebrows. Now the Jack of Spades seems the most playful of the four to me. Note the upturned smirk of his lips, and the overall rakish demeanor of his appearance. So, based on the Jacks, I vote for Spades as the most playful.

Now let's turn to the Queens. To be honest about it, none of the Queens look very happy nor playful. I detect a bit of anger in the almost snooty expression of the Queen of Spades, and the Queen of Clubs looks like she's resigned herself to living out her days as a subservient monarch in a kingdom she doesn't much like. The eyes of the Queen of Hearts have somewhat of a sadness to them, even though her mouth has the slightest hint of pleasantness about it. While the Queen of Diamonds doesn't show extreme joy or very much playfulness, her crooked smile and inquisitive eyes indicate there may be some playfulness buried down in there. So based on just the Queens, I would vote Diamonds as the most playful suit, but not very strongly.

Now let's look at the Kings. King of Diamonds is definitely the least playful of the lot. He looks absolutely depressed, very down about something. Next look at the King of Spades. He looks very confident in his leadership, but his eyebrows betray a very deep worry about something. It is difficult to be playful when you are worried sick. The King of Clubs seems like a stoic monarch who is posing for a portrait and feels like he must look regal for it, but not necessarily happy. But look at that King of Hearts. He seems the youngest (no mustache) and to me, definitely the most playful of the lot. His eyes and mouth look pretty happy, and he's got that sword held jauntily high behind his head, like he's about to do something he would enjoy, hopefully not behead someone. Anyway, the King of Hearts wins the playfulness title, hands down, among the Kings.

So, we have the Jack of Spades, the Queen of Diamonds (barely), and the King of Hearts. Well, that tells me that Clubs is the least playful of the suits, but which is the most playful? When I look at it all, and based on the importance of the King, and the strength of the King of Hearts' playfulness, I vote for Hearts as the most playful suit.

What are your thoughts?

2 Things Challenge: Satisfaction/Old

2011-09-11T11:08:00.002-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Satisfaction/Old.

This is my first camera. I got it for Christmas when I was 11 years old, and believe me, that makes it OLD.

This may very well be the first photo I ever took with that camera on Christmas Day, 1959. The date says January, 1960, but in those days it was roll film, which was a pain to load without ruining it, and you didn't develop the roll until you had taken up the 12 or 24 frames. I'm not even sure Polaroid had come out by then.

The subjects are my grandmother who lived with us, and my cousin and his mother. He was almost exactly my age (2 days difference, he was older), and as you can see, he got a camera for Christmas that year too. He always came over on Christmas Day to see what we got and to show us what he got.

Although the photos were always blurry and poorly exposed, I got quite a bit of SATISFACTION from that old camera, even today as I scan in the few surviving photos I took with it. I later owned many Kodak Instamatics, even the little bitty 110 variety, but I think this is the only one I still have from before the SLRs which came much later in life.

2 Things Challenge: Door/Road

2011-09-04T13:33:00.001-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Road/Door. This is the shop of my barber in Columbiana. She is also a sort of professional photographer. You can see the back door to her shop through the window, and reflected in the window, you can see the yellow glow of the street lamp on the road between her shop and the courthouse (reflection looming in the window against the dusky blue sky).

2 Things Challenge: Venture/Night

2011-08-27T10:12:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Venture/Night. The definition of venture includes some degree of risk.

A couple of years ago I took a photography class on alternative lighting and it included several night shoots. Trails of car lights are standard fare for such shoots, but several people commented on the risk I took setting up the tripod so close to the traffic, so maybe this was a "night venture."

On the way home after another night shoot, I tried shooting out the front window as I was driving, . . . alone, so maybe there was some risk involved there too. If you want to do this I would recommend that someone else drive and you do it as a passenger. This was the last shot I took as I went through THE "downtown" traffic light in Columbiana. If you look close you can see the signs for M&F Bank and the Chevron station. The twist came from rotating the camera, not a rollover accident.

The Plague

2011-08-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my last post the stresses and turmoil that people on the farm face. One of those is that, although they may be closer to nature than most of us, they are also more subject to the whims of nature and the weather.

This summer the farm in Pennsylvania was hit by a plague of grasshoppers/locusts. While maybe not of Biblical proportions, they were quite destructive to the very localized areas they hit, including the farm. This one is munching on one of my mother-in-law's hosta plants.

They did not eat everything is sight, but were somewhat selective. They ate so much of the grass in the hay field that my brother-in-law must consider selling several head of cattle because he won't have enough hay to feed them through the winter and can't afford to buy more. Just a few weeks ago this was a very healthy green lilac bush. It, along with the crab apple tree, a dogwood, and many others, is now stripped bare and we don't know if it will survive.

They ruined the garden too. Corn was stripped to the stalks, and they may have even eaten some of the stalks.

I believe this is the remnants of the potato vines. Hopefully the potatoes had developed enough that they can get something of crop when they dig them up for harvest.

While comforting in a black sort of way, the story was told that they also ate some of the poison ivy and as a result died. I'm not sure how true that is, since dead ones could be found everywhere, but at least some of the poison ivy was fought back.

2 Things Challenge: Peaceful/Patterns

2011-08-20T09:56:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Peaceful/Patterns. For someone who has spent most of his life in or near fairly large cities, the pastoral setting of the farm can seem like a very peaceful, simple way of life, and even influences where I live today. We had a visit of a few days last weekend to my wife's family on the farm in Pennsylvania.

Below are a few patterns from our brief visit, some peaceful, and one chaotic.

By the way, those who live this supposedly peaceful, simple life on a day to day basis might argue that it is itself full of just as much stress and turmoil as the big city life, just different. More on that in the next few days.

Carved?

2011-08-08T00:01:00.009-05:00

A little detail I saw on an antique mantel Sunday. I thought it was carved at the time (it was kind of dark in there), but studying the photo I now believe it is a plaster molding.

2 Things Challenge: Music/Control

2011-08-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Music/Control. They control all the music in the contemporary church service using the dozen or so slides, scores of push buttons, and hundreds of little knobs on the sound board. I have not figured much of it out yet.

What's for supper?

2011-08-04T18:26:00.000-05:00

Salad with grilled chicken and cashews, three cheese sour dough bread, and a glass of Chilean Chardonnay. Not bad.

2 Things Challenge: Cloud/Up

2011-07-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was: Cloud/Up. There it is!

2 Things Challenge: Bubbly/Flat

2011-07-22T00:01:00.007-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Bubbly/Flat.

Some of Maine's waters can be quite bubbly,

and some of Maine's waters can be incredibly flat.

Bugs of Summer

2011-07-21T00:01:00.015-05:00

One of the things we have to look out for during summer in the south are these guys. Stir up a nest of them and you will get stung. While they are not as painful as the Cow Killer sting (see below), you might easily wind up with several stings from all the wasps on the same nest. Best to use one of those wasp and hornet sprays from 20 feet away, and be ready to run anyway.

Cow Killer

2011-07-20T14:49:00.000-05:00

I remember these orange and black fuzzy things from my early childhood in Macon, Georgia. We spent a lot of time outside during the summer and often encountered them. They are about an inch long and look like the biggest, most velvety ant you've ever seen. If you pick one up, and this is the voice of experience, you will discover that they have a VERY painful sting, perhaps the worst I've ever experienced.

That's all I knew about them until I went to create this post and searched them out on the internet. They are variously called Common Eastern Velvet Ants or Red Velvet Ants, but I really like their most common name, Cow Killers, obviously based on their sting.

2 Things Challenge: French/German

2011-07-17T17:07:00.001-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was French/German. French corks, but not from the German wine. It's a sort of neat bottle, the German castle is on the back label and is seen through the wine.

2 Things Challenge: Art/Graffiti

2011-07-10T14:23:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Art/Graffiti.

Art: n. . . . 2 The creation of works that are, in form, content, and execution, esthetically pleasing and meaningful, as in music, painting, sculpture, literature, architecture, dance, etc. . . 4 The works so created.

Graffito: n. pl. ~ti 1 Any design, or scribbled motto, etc. drawn on a wall or other exposed surface.

The above was painted/restored on the side of a building next to the courthouse in Columbiana, AL several years ago to help bring back a little of the small town charm of the place. I'm pretty sure Mr. Falkner still owns the building, although Eagle's Department Store is looonnnggg gone. It is a "design . . . drawn on a wall or other exposed surface" so I guess it might qualify as graffiti, but I think it is definitely art.

I'm not sure what to make of the words "Lawyer" painted on some of the upstairs windows (click on the photo to get a larger view if you can't read it). I guess they were painted facing the courthouse so that if you got all the way to the courthouse and suddenly found yourself in need of a lawyer, you could easily find one right next door. But all the lawyers have long ago moved out to other, often newer, offices across the street or nearby, along with the bail bondsmen, etc. that come along with being a small town county seat in a populous and rapidly growing county. But does that word count as graffiti? I know it's not art, although lawyering itself might be considered an art by some.

Lead Bellied

2011-06-29T17:36:00.000-05:00

For the last few weeks it has been hot and muggy in Alabama, with sunny mornings and frequent afternoon thunderstorms, often very windy with lots of sizzling hot lightening, loud cracking thunder, and gully washing downpours. Sunday afternoon these silver lined lead bellied clouds were swirling around before the real boss thunder boomers got here.

2 Things Challenge: Hoof/Paw

2011-06-22T12:40:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Hoof/Paw.

2 Things Challenge: Single/Double

2011-06-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Single/Double.

We have numerous Roses of Sharon growing around our property. Some produce white blossoms, but most of them have blossoms that look like this. We call it a single, because

we have one Rose of Sharon (came within inches of being destroyed by that fallen limb a couple of weeks ago) that produces blossoms with a sort of shrivelled inner blossom, thus the nickname of double.

Cooling Off

2011-06-18T09:30:00.007-05:00

The best way to cool off on a hot day at the Birmingham Zoo, although I think they would frown if Gramps tried to join in.

The Queen.

2011-06-17T09:22:00.000-05:00

A serene lioness sits on her throne at the Birmingham Zoo.

2 Things Challenge: Law/Suit

2011-06-11T08:48:00.001-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Law/Suit.

This is Sargeant Lilly, and in Columbiana, Alabama, she is the law. Not the only one, but if you see her blue lights, she is it. Her work suit, even when it is 100 degrees F, starts with a bullet proof vest. Can't be too safe in this job.

Over that she has an embroidered badge on her black knit shirt, with her Sargeant's chevron pins on the collar. She also had on silver earrings and deep blue sunglasses for the glare. I liked the looks of the embroidered badge.

She wore a metal Sargeant's badge and her sidearm on her belt, and a purple watch and rubber bracelet on her wrists.

I asked her if they could wear shorts in the hot summer, and she said since she was the supervisor, her shift could wear any pants, as long as they were khaki, but today she had chosen the long khakis. After all, it was only 95F when I met her.

Croak

2011-06-11T00:01:00.004-05:00

While photographing the flower below, we heard the unmistakable, loud croak of a bullfrog. This fellow was lurking in the shadows and let us know we were in his territory (or maybe he was calling the missus.)

Lotus or Water Lily?

2011-06-10T12:55:00.001-05:00

Saw this at a fish pond at the Birmingham Zoo yesterday. I admit, until I just looked it up on Wiki-pedia, I thought a water lily was a lotus flower, but the wiki author seemed almost insulted that the two would be confused. I still don't know which this is, but it's pretty neat looking.

2 Things Challenge: Seed/Sprout

2011-06-04T16:37:00.001-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge for this week was Seed/Sprout.

This is a couple of not yet fully developed oak seeds. We all know them as acorns. If they make it to fall and grow to maturity, they will fall to the ground. If then they are fortunate enough to get buried by a squirrel and not eaten right away by the squirrel or a deer, next spring they might sprout to become one of these little fellows.

If they make it for several more years, they can start to look like this, a four or five year old oak tree. They do grow slowly.

Give them another 60 to 100 years and they might look like this big fellow next to my house on the left, maybe seventy feet tall and MASSIVE. They don't call them mighty oaks for nothing.

But then one Wednesday night about 10:30, some night very much like last Wednesday night, because of their massive weight, and maybe some internal "character" flaw, they might just decide to shed one of their huge limbs even if the wind is dead calm.

That big limb might take out another limb on the way down, and all you could hear inside the house would be a sort of "Whump." If you are asleep, as I was, you probably wouldn't hear anything.

Fortunately, if you are lucky, those two big limbs could miss your house completely and even your deck might only get struck by the flimsy ends.

After a couple of hours with the chain saw, you might even be able to see your house again, but more sweat and labor would still await, as that once mighty limb is turned into firewood and mulch.

I know this tree has heart rot (it's even hollow at the base) so I should have expected something like this, but now I fear we must take down the whole tree. If that trunk fell toward the house, it would destroy it, and quite possibly kill my wife and me. But the thing I fear the most is not the blazing sun, although this has provided a lot of wonderful shade from the hot Alabama sun; it's the damage to the lawn, the beds and the shrubs that the bucket trucks and tractors will do as they cut this monster down.

Sister Golden Hair

2011-05-22T00:01:00.001-05:00

Sister Golden Hair Surprise

Will you meet me in the middle,

Will you meet me in the air?

2 Things Challenge: Earth/Damp

2011-05-21T07:42:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge for this week was Earth/Damp. When I made this photo, the fog was so thick and the air so humid that everything was sopping wet; my clothes, the camera, the grass, the weeds, the trees, everything. The whole earth was damp.

Desert Island

2011-05-17T13:53:00.002-05:00

We have on our coffee table a book of Ansel Adams photos and letters from the Grand Canyon and the Southwest. I glanced through it a couple of weeks ago and got inspired to revisit some of my photos from a couple of years ago, but this time in black and white. When I showed some of my attempts to my wife, she hemmed and hawed and finally told me she thought they were too sharp and contrasty. They hurt her eyes to look at them. I immediately agreed with her, because she was right, so I tried again on a couple and I thought they came out much better. Both of these are from Mount Desert Island in Maine, home of Bar Harbor.

(Click on photos for a larger view)

2 Things Challenge: Church/State

2011-05-13T12:06:00.001-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Church/State. I've interpreted "State" a little loosely, but here is the steeple of Columbiana United Methodist Church, where we attend, with the highest dome of the Shelby County Courthouse next door in the background.

2 Things Challenge: Green/Fresh

2011-05-08T17:52:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Green/Fresh. I offer up a fresh green salad for supper. Enjoy.

2 Things Challenge: Eyes/Hands

2011-04-30T00:01:00.009-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Eyes/Hands.

The eyes were easier to find in my treasure trove of photos than were the hands. Perhaps I need to pay more attention to hands.

Join us at 2 Things Challenge to see other interpretations of the challenge.

Minus Petals

2011-04-29T00:01:00.002-05:00

Like I said earlier, the azaleas were well past their peak at Callaway Gardens Easter weekend, but they have some weird varieties over there, some of which are quite attractive, even after all the petals have fallen off. I have no idea what the bug is, and I didn't even notice him until I was posting this photo.

Callaway Widow

2011-04-28T00:01:00.004-05:00

This young lady was hanging around the trees where Mason and his dad were playing "hide behind the tree" in the woods near our rental unit at Callaway Gardens last weekend. I couldn't see her belly to identify the hourglass, but I know she was (past tense) a black widow spider. Those beady little eyes give me the creeps.

Poplar Ant

2011-04-27T07:54:00.000-05:00

We spent Easter weekend at Callaway Gardens in western Georgia. It is a beautiful large resort type community well known for its azaleas, but alas, Easter was so late this year the azaleas were well past their peak. Even the Tulip Poplars were dropping their flowers. They are still beautiful though, even resting on the surface litter, and according to Ms. Ant there, they are still pretty sweet.

Drip

2011-04-22T00:01:00.003-05:00

Okay, I was starting to get in a flower rut, but then spring can do that to you. Here's a little break from that. It's the condensation on the inside of the hummingbird feeder (see the pink tinge and the red edge to one in the lower left?).

Weeds

2011-04-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

One of our abundant, yet attractive, weeds. Anyone know what it's called?

I Beg Your Pardon . . .

2011-04-20T15:54:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry young lady,
I thought you were a daisy,
But though I know not your name,
You grew up quite pretty, just the same.

Young Daisy

2011-04-18T00:01:00.004-05:00

She was so young
Nowhere near grown,
But even at her tender age
She already knew to face the sun.

Can't Wait

2011-04-17T00:01:00.004-05:00

After several hot weeks, this will be a cluster of blackberries. Can't wait.

Sunnin'

2011-04-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and this guy spent some time sunning on a daisy bud.

2 Things Challenge: Interior/Exterior

2011-04-15T05:55:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Interior/Exterior. You can see both the interior and a glimpse of the exterior of this bearded iris from our yard.

Day Out with Thomas

2011-04-10T00:01:00.002-05:00

Calera, Alabama (nearby) is home to the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum and that has been the location of many a photography class outing. Lots of old engines and cars to photograph, and lots of rust. Last weekend it was the site of a Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine. I've never seen the TV show, or read any of the books (neither has Mason), but it included a short train ride, so we all decided to take Mason out for the adventure.

When you really look at Thomas, he/it is really not the engine of the train, but a caboose dressed up to look like a cartoon engine, complete with a little steam out the stack on occasion. The real engine is a modern diesel/electric version on the other end of the train. Passenger cars ranged from open air on wooden benches to full sized air conditioned cars at the other end from Thomas.

Unsure of the weather when I made the reservations, I opted for the air conditioned comfort, although it turned out to be a beautiful day. Six people in four leather chairs facing each other. It was quite comfortable, since two were quite small.

Even though I don't think Mason understood a lot of what was going on, he did give me a good pose by one of the real trains at the museum.

One of the additional attractions that day was Sir Topham Hat. Kids were lining up to get their picture made with this thing which had an actual living being inside it, and it walked around.

When I look at him/it closely, though, it sort of creeps me out, like the Burger King, and it just seems wrong on several levels to send your kid in with this thing to hold it's stiff fat hand.

Lenten Rose

2011-04-09T14:50:00.000-05:00

When I went to help with Project ID at Highlands United Methodist Church last week, the tables had all been decorated with very pretty Lenten Roses.

Things Challenge: Stranger/Friend

2011-04-08T07:48:00.000-05:00

This is Herman Maurice, a stranger to most, but a friend to some. Herman is perhaps the best known of the street people who spend their days hanging around the fountain area at Five Points South in Birmingham. I'm not sure where Herman sleeps, but he spends most of his days right here. I've shown Herman before here, and Virginia has a nice portrait of him here. While it might be a stretch for me to call him a friend, he is certainly friendly, and I would never call him a stranger.

Wisteria Abounds

2011-04-03T18:37:00.000-05:00

About a week ago, the wisteria vines were in full bloom. I'm not sure if these are really bad for the trees, like kudzu is, but they sure are pretty for a few days each spring. I do know these vines can become quite massive, even cracking concrete walls if left alone for enough time.

I showed some of the white version last year.

2 Things Challenge: Song/Line

2011-03-26T18:15:00.000-05:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Song/Line. Welcome to The Grateful Dead meet Johnny Cash. The song represented by the concoction above is Dead's "Truckin" and the line is Johnny's "Because you're mine, I walk the line."

Spring Bee

2011-03-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

Another harbinger of spring! These are carpenter bees and although I read the males lack stingers, I hate them! They will eat your house, your deck, your lawn furniture, whaterver kind of unprotected wood they can find. Actually they don't eat it, but burrow nice little perfectly round holes in the wood for nests, and if there's a lot of them and you don't stop them, they can do a lot of damage. Bublebees, however, nest in the ground and do a lot of good pollenation, if you don't mess with them. Bumblebees have striped abdomens, not the shiny black of these fellows.

These were hovering above the patio, staking out territory and looking for nesting sites and mates. I hate it when they hover right in front of my face, challenging me on my own property, even if the males don't sting.

Supermoon from Alabama

2011-03-19T20:43:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the "supermoon." It's supposed to be bigger, brighter, etc., because it's closer than normal, but it just did not look significantly different from any other full moon to me. It was a very nice full moon, don't get me wrong, but boy, the news folks sure do try to make a really big deal out of things that aren't as significant as that green Ford Fiesta in the commercial where the guy claims, "It's a really big deal."

2 Things Challenge: Wet/Dry

2011-03-19T14:37:00.002-05:00

"Beefeater martini, straight up, absoloutely NO vermouth, with an olive." That's exactly how Fletch ordered it every time we met in California on business during the 1970's. That's also a pretty dry way to wet your whistle. Very often this was followed by prime rib, medium rare. Those were the days when we flew first class and would drive an hour to have dinner in San Francisco.

I haven't seen or spoken to Fletch in a long, long time, and I'm not sure if he's even still alive, but if you're out there Fletch, this one's for you. (By the way, I really don't think Fletch could have brought himself to drink a martini in a RED glass.)

Join us at 2 Things Challenge for other interpretations of the Wet/Dry challenge.

2 Things Challenge: Sneak/Peak

2011-03-12T17:10:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Sneak/Peak.

This little mountain is one of the smaller ones to the west of Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine, as viewed from the southern shore of Millinocket Lake, just outside the park. The peak is trying to sneak out above the clouds on a gray and dreary fall evening a couple of years ago.

This is Mount Katahdin, viewed from the shore of Round Pond within the Baxter State Park, on a much brighter and clearer morning. The peak is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, and it is barren enough that it would be very difficult to sneak up on that peak.

In this photo, the farthest peak seems to be trying to sneak behind the closest one. These small mounds are on the shore of Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, home of Bar Harbor, Maine. Together they are known as The Bubbles, although I heard they have another, unofficial name also.

(Yes, my wife and I were there on vacation in the autumn of 2008.)

2 Things Challenge: ?/!

2011-03-05T18:59:00.001-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week is:?/!

2 Things Challenge: Pin/Hole

2011-02-27T12:31:00.015-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Pin/Hole. Saturday rolled around and I still did not have an interpretation, so I jabbed a pin through an index card and made a hole.

Not terribly satisfying, although perhaps a fairly neat photo. Then, even though Saturday was a very busy day, I got a wild hair to try to make a pinhole camera. I had an idea what I wanted to do, but it took a little playing around and internet study to finally get what I wanted. The viewing screen is a piece of waxed paper taped over a square hole in the back of a sealed up cardboard box.

The "lens" is a pinhole punched in a small piece of Diet Coke can using the same pin and taped over a smaller hole in the other end of the box.

The subject, since by now it was 9:00 at night, was the light fixture by my back door. This first image is not from the pinhole camera, but using my SLR.

Next I set up the pinhole camera and photographed the viewing screen. I thought it was kinda neat. This image is straight out of the SLR.

Then I went for a more wide angle shot (backed up.)

Considering the viewing screen was waxed paper and not frosted glass, the box was taped up cardboard, the pinhole was punched in a piece of Diet Coke can with a pin instead of machined, and I put it all together in about an hour, I was sufficiently satisfied to put it here.

Shadow Walk

2011-02-23T08:07:00.000-06:00

Curious little Mason and I went for a short walk on a bright sunny day. He now grabs your finger and takes you where he wants to go.

Red Shoulders

2011-02-20T18:22:00.000-06:00

This red-shouldered hawk rules the ridges and valley where Kristina lives. He will perch for hours on a high tree branch, but . . .

he doesn't like to get his picture made.

2 Things Challenge: Key/Word

2011-02-18T00:01:00.004-06:00

The challenge this week is Key/Word. Join us at 2 Things Challenge to see other interpretations.

Mulched Possum

2011-02-16T00:01:00.006-06:00

Monday was a beautiful day in Alabama, clear blue sunny skies, temperature around 70F, only a slight breeze. So I decided to spend the afternoon mulching up some of the very thick layer of oak leaves which has covered our yard since October. I have a mulcher, but I was just using the push mower and mulching them pretty much in place. Late in the afternoon I was trying to get my riding mower started (getting ready for spring, since some of the crocuses are already blooming) when I heard something moving around in the mulcher, and I knew it wasn't the cat. It was this rather large possum. I tried and tried to scare him out of there, but he felt pretty secure down the chute in his little plastic and steel den and he would not budge. I dragged the mulcher outside near the woods and lowered the chute so he could just walk out, but no luck. I left it there, and he was gone the next morning, hopefully to some more appropriate den.

Breakfast!

2011-02-15T04:34:00.000-06:00

A group of men from church gather early each Monday morning for breakfast and a devotional. Yesterday we had three skillets of quail, fried in butter, soft scrambled eggs, potatoes, gravy, and biscuits. Most of the breakfasts are pretty hearty, although not necessarily heart healthy, but this is one of everyone's favorites. Just watch out for the bird shot.

Fourth Time

2011-02-12T10:16:00.000-06:00

Wednesday night Central Alabama was hit for the fourth time this winter with snow or ice, VERY unusual.

Fortunately, this was the best kind, the roads were absolutely clear the next morning.

I do worry about the 21st Street bridge over the railroad tracks in downtown Birmingham, though. Note the sign for a bridge with 3 lanes of traffic and parking on both sides of the street.

2 Things Challenge: Shadow/Play

2011-02-11T00:01:00.040-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge for this week is Shadow/Play. Click the play arrow for my interpretation.

Try as he might, the kid just couldn't shake his shadow off the playground bridge.

I did a little playing myself with Movie Maker and couple of playground shadow photos.

Join us at 2 Things Challenge for other interpretations and challenges.

Ice Hair

2011-02-10T00:01:00.003-06:00

A few mornings ago the temperature was several degrees below freezing when some atmospheric quirk caused a thick fog to suddenly roll in. Within minutes everything outside, from cars to trees to rose bushes, had grown a coating of "ice hair." A short while later, as the fog dissipated, the air warmed, and perhaps a slight breeze came up, chunks of ice hair began to float from the big oak to the deck, like large snow flakes.

Iron Butterfly

2011-02-09T08:33:00.000-06:00

Butterfly Yard Art

2 Things Challenge: Minus/Plus

2011-02-06T06:24:00.001-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this past week was Minus/Plus. This is a pile of exhausted minuses and pluses from old alkaline batteries. Most of them have a little symbol of a garbage can with an "X" through it, which I presume means don't throw them in the garbage, but that may be a European requirement. So I've been keeping the old ones till I could either find a place to "recycle" them or figure out what I really should be doing with them. Wal-Mart used to take them, but no more. As a photographer, even though I use rechargeables as much as possible, I generate a lot of these things and it would be nice to know what I should be doing with them. Put them in the landfill, or waste gas driving them to Batteries Plus or somewhere that will take them?

My Job Is Done Here.

2011-02-04T07:29:00.000-06:00

2 Things Challenge: Flimsy/Solid

2011-01-29T17:15:00.000-06:00

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Flimsy/Solid. This photographic concoction is the reflection of the forest in the rocky shallows of one of the many ponds around Mt. Katahdin in Maine. In the center of the image the rocks look pretty solid and the reflection looks very flimsy, whereas on the edges, the rocks themselves look flimsy, almost floating, and the reflection looks more solid, albeit upside down as lake reflections tend to be.

Fire Behind the Woods

2011-01-27T06:34:00.000-06:00

93,000,000 miles behind the woods.

2 Things Challenge: Carve/Curve

2011-01-22T16:43:00.000-06:00

One winter a few years ago, I decided to carve a facsimile of our dog's head on the top of a cedar branch I was making into a walking stick for my wife. Curves? Yeah, lot's of them.