I'm taking a pause from the road trip pictures to bring you this dude:
He was hangin' out in the dogs' water bowl outside one night.
There's a drought in Texas, I guess he needed some water action.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
South Dakota (2), Badlands National Park
otherwise known as: the place with really old muddy ash for mountains with fossils in them
...and stuff.
...and stuff.
Friday, September 30, 2011
South Dakota (1)
from middle of nowhere South Dakota...
Clouds...are those...clouds? This Texan had forgotten what they looked like!
Why, yes! That is an iron skeleton man taking his iron skeleton T-rex for a walk...
Next post will be the Badlands National Park...
Monday, September 5, 2011
Fire Apocalypse
In the past two days SEVERAL fires have popped up in central Texas.
No rain and and tons of wind is NOT helping the situation.
I went to the Bastrop area today, where the biggest fire is, to take pictures.
In all of the photos below there are NO clouds in the sky, only fire smoke.
View from Blake-Manor Road.
End of the line at highway 71.
Blackhawk helicopter taking water to drop on the area.
I went and found the spot where the helicopters were getting water, the Colorado river.
Austin skyline at sunset with smoke from the Steiner Ranch fire.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Drive-in. No. Ride-in.
That's how they do it in North Texas. At America's Favorite Drive-In.
Photo courtesy of my sister-in-law's friend.
Photo courtesy of my sister-in-law's friend.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Moth.
Found this guy in the garage the other day. Nature is awesome. How could something so tiny (well, 4 inches...that's big for a moth) get the most perfect and beautiful camouflage design?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
5 o'clock somewhere.
You know you want to go there. Yes. Those beaches really looked like that.
Heaven.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
this weekend
This weekend all the fam was in town for B's baptism.
I attempted to take a group picture of the little...darlings.
But getting a composed picture of these three together is like
capturing three tornadoes in the same shot:
they won't stay still
awesome if accomplished
highly unlikely
So, I just let them go and this is what I got, this weekend.
I attempted to take a group picture of the little...darlings.
But getting a composed picture of these three together is like
capturing three tornadoes in the same shot:
they won't stay still
awesome if accomplished
highly unlikely
So, I just let them go and this is what I got, this weekend.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Death by Plague?
As promised, the story of how the plague almost took out my brother's family.
Well. Not really the plague. But I'm a germ-a-phobe, so any illness may as well be the plague.
Meet my new nephew, B.
Aka: Critter, Squeaker, Turkey, Squirt.
The day he was born his brother was sick with strep.
The day he came home brother was still sick and everyone else was sort of okay, if not tired.
All was well.
So. I went home.
3 days later I get a call. From Grammy.
"Can you come help me?!"
She was totally trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
Turned out: B's Mom(who was trying to recover from a C-section at the time), Dad, and Sister magically all got sick with some sort of combination of the flu/strep/ebola virus.
Okay. No ebola virus. But still.
So. In order to keep the one week old baby from contracting evil illnesses and stay alive, Auntie K marched back up there (3 hours away) with a giant bottle of Purell,
a tub of Lysol wipes, and surgical masks.
Not kidding. Quasi-germ-a-phobe here. Remember?
Somehow Grammy has this invincible immune system and never gets sick, so even though she was, and still is, the in house nurse maid, she didn't contract whatever had taken out the other 4. So, I stayed up there for a few days and she and I and B played keep away from the nefarious diseases floating around.
We succeeded!
While B's family members were recovering from 103-105˚ fevers, fabulous displays of their upchuck reflexes, and general lethargy and uselessness, we managed to keep
the baby and ourselves healthy.
I think it's because I Lysoled all switches, doorknobs, handles and remotes upon the moment of my arrival, as well as used generous amounts of sanitizer anytime any
of the diseased even looked in my direction.
His poor mother. She didn't get to hold him for a week.
But. He survived the plague.
Welcome to the world, baby boy.
Well. Not really the plague. But I'm a germ-a-phobe, so any illness may as well be the plague.
Meet my new nephew, B.
Aka: Critter, Squeaker, Turkey, Squirt.
The day he was born his brother was sick with strep.
The day he came home brother was still sick and everyone else was sort of okay, if not tired.
All was well.
So. I went home.
3 days later I get a call. From Grammy.
"Can you come help me?!"
She was totally trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
Turned out: B's Mom(who was trying to recover from a C-section at the time), Dad, and Sister magically all got sick with some sort of combination of the flu/strep/ebola virus.
Okay. No ebola virus. But still.
So. In order to keep the one week old baby from contracting evil illnesses and stay alive, Auntie K marched back up there (3 hours away) with a giant bottle of Purell,
a tub of Lysol wipes, and surgical masks.
Not kidding. Quasi-germ-a-phobe here. Remember?
Somehow Grammy has this invincible immune system and never gets sick, so even though she was, and still is, the in house nurse maid, she didn't contract whatever had taken out the other 4. So, I stayed up there for a few days and she and I and B played keep away from the nefarious diseases floating around.
We succeeded!
While B's family members were recovering from 103-105˚ fevers, fabulous displays of their upchuck reflexes, and general lethargy and uselessness, we managed to keep
the baby and ourselves healthy.
I think it's because I Lysoled all switches, doorknobs, handles and remotes upon the moment of my arrival, as well as used generous amounts of sanitizer anytime any
of the diseased even looked in my direction.
His poor mother. She didn't get to hold him for a week.
But. He survived the plague.
Welcome to the world, baby boy.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Death by Shovel?
I was driving home from lunch. Minding my own business. Listening to music. Intently watching the road. Traffic was going 'bout 70mph and I was ~50 yards behind a Tahoe that was driving in the middle lane. There was a mini van ahead of it in the right lane. Everything was fine.
The next thing I know I'm watching the mini van run over a shovel that was laying face up in the right lane, thereby tossing it into the windshield of the Tahoe. Only...it didn't go through the windshield. Thanks to Jesus, the flat side of the shovel had hit the windshield, and due to g-forces, or Newton's laws, or whatever, the shovel decided to use the still intact windshield as a slingshot of sorts.
The shovel, no joke, went flying at least 70 ft straight up into the air, handle separating from rapidly rotating metal shovel on the way up. As I'm staring at the shovel, seemingly frozen at the apex of it's flight, (we're in slow-mo vision here) I wonder: "I'm about to be under that thing. Is it going to land on the hood of my car? Or come through the windshield? I really don't want to be decapitated. Perhaps slamming of the breaks would be required at this point."
So...I did that. Slam on the breaks, that is. Though, it turns out, I didn't really need to. The handle ended up landing in the right shoulder and the rapidly spinning in the air shovel landed in the left shoulder. I drove past it a half second later, watching it bounce as I passed by.
The whole thing probably took 5 seconds. Shovel hit by minivan. One. Shovel hits Tahoe. One and a half. Shovel goes flying. Two. Three. Quick decision- BRAKES! Four. Shovel hits ground. Five.
When I drove by the slowing Tahoe, both people in the front seats were okay, they looked freaked out, their windshield was intact, but the entire thing was spiderweb cracked. Like I'm not sure how the driver was seeing through it cracked.
Anyway. Everyone was lucky. No decapitations. Shovel pieces landing not on the road.
Stupid mini-van. How do you not see a giant shovel in the middle of your lane? He was probably on his cell phone. Yes, HE.
AND! HE didn't even slow down or realize that he had sent a guillotine flying at someone's vehicle. MORON, I tell you. MORON.
The next thing I know I'm watching the mini van run over a shovel that was laying face up in the right lane, thereby tossing it into the windshield of the Tahoe. Only...it didn't go through the windshield. Thanks to Jesus, the flat side of the shovel had hit the windshield, and due to g-forces, or Newton's laws, or whatever, the shovel decided to use the still intact windshield as a slingshot of sorts.
The shovel, no joke, went flying at least 70 ft straight up into the air, handle separating from rapidly rotating metal shovel on the way up. As I'm staring at the shovel, seemingly frozen at the apex of it's flight, (we're in slow-mo vision here) I wonder: "I'm about to be under that thing. Is it going to land on the hood of my car? Or come through the windshield? I really don't want to be decapitated. Perhaps slamming of the breaks would be required at this point."
So...I did that. Slam on the breaks, that is. Though, it turns out, I didn't really need to. The handle ended up landing in the right shoulder and the rapidly spinning in the air shovel landed in the left shoulder. I drove past it a half second later, watching it bounce as I passed by.
The whole thing probably took 5 seconds. Shovel hit by minivan. One. Shovel hits Tahoe. One and a half. Shovel goes flying. Two. Three. Quick decision- BRAKES! Four. Shovel hits ground. Five.
When I drove by the slowing Tahoe, both people in the front seats were okay, they looked freaked out, their windshield was intact, but the entire thing was spiderweb cracked. Like I'm not sure how the driver was seeing through it cracked.
Anyway. Everyone was lucky. No decapitations. Shovel pieces landing not on the road.
Stupid mini-van. How do you not see a giant shovel in the middle of your lane? He was probably on his cell phone. Yes, HE.
AND! HE didn't even slow down or realize that he had sent a guillotine flying at someone's vehicle. MORON, I tell you. MORON.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Puzzle Adventure #2.
I like puzzles.
They irritate me to high hell while I do them, but once complete I'm totally proud of myself for showing commitment to finishing the project, and the new piece of wall art I've just produced.
I just completed a 1.5 foot by 2.5 foot 1,000 piece puzzle a couple of days ago. I did it over 5 days, though I'm estimating it took collectively less than 24 hours to complete. I like more fierce looking black dragons (think 'Reign of Fire'), but this white one is still pretty.
They irritate me to high hell while I do them, but once complete I'm totally proud of myself for showing commitment to finishing the project, and the new piece of wall art I've just produced.
I just completed a 1.5 foot by 2.5 foot 1,000 piece puzzle a couple of days ago. I did it over 5 days, though I'm estimating it took collectively less than 24 hours to complete. I like more fierce looking black dragons (think 'Reign of Fire'), but this white one is still pretty.
It will join the 3 foot by 4.5 foot 3,000 piece Caribbean scene puzzle in my hallway that took me 4 months to complete 2 years ago. Behold the power of the wide angle lens.
Both of those are Ravensburger puzzles, the company that makes 18,000 piece puzzles. I saw one in a store 2 years ago that I had been incredulous about at the time because I thought about how horrific it would be to sort out 18,240 pieces and deemed the idea crazy. Then, recently after discovering that Ravensburger graciously separates the puzzle into 4 bags comprising of roughly 4,500 pieces a piece, I decided that finishing 4 different puzzles to make one giant one was totally within my reach. They make a few, all but one I found visually unappealing. After all, it has to go up on my wall. The one I wanted, and saw in the store two years ago, was a puzzle of 4 historic world maps. When I go to see about purchasing the behemoth last month, I sadly found that it was discontinued last year and nowhere to be found online.
This one couple realized how fun it would be the moment they saw it. The puzzle is exactly 18,240 pieces and is 6 feet tall by 9 feet wide. It took them 1 year to finish.
Rock on.
Both of those are Ravensburger puzzles, the company that makes 18,000 piece puzzles. I saw one in a store 2 years ago that I had been incredulous about at the time because I thought about how horrific it would be to sort out 18,240 pieces and deemed the idea crazy. Then, recently after discovering that Ravensburger graciously separates the puzzle into 4 bags comprising of roughly 4,500 pieces a piece, I decided that finishing 4 different puzzles to make one giant one was totally within my reach. They make a few, all but one I found visually unappealing. After all, it has to go up on my wall. The one I wanted, and saw in the store two years ago, was a puzzle of 4 historic world maps. When I go to see about purchasing the behemoth last month, I sadly found that it was discontinued last year and nowhere to be found online.
This one couple realized how fun it would be the moment they saw it. The puzzle is exactly 18,240 pieces and is 6 feet tall by 9 feet wide. It took them 1 year to finish.
Rock on.
long time...
Merry New Year!
Yes, yes, I know it's been a century since posting, but I have some pretty pictures and and a few interesting (i.e. ridiculous) stories to tell. Like how I almost got killed by a shovel. Or how the plague almost took out my brother's family.
In due time. In due time, my friends. For now, I give you a photo of a bird in the tree in my back yard. Not necessarily pretty, but kind of dark and artsy-ish. No Illustrator here. Just a photo to which I added plenty of contrast.
Yes, yes, I know it's been a century since posting, but I have some pretty pictures and and a few interesting (i.e. ridiculous) stories to tell. Like how I almost got killed by a shovel. Or how the plague almost took out my brother's family.
In due time. In due time, my friends. For now, I give you a photo of a bird in the tree in my back yard. Not necessarily pretty, but kind of dark and artsy-ish. No Illustrator here. Just a photo to which I added plenty of contrast.
Check back soon for my latest puzzle adventure.
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