Road Trip

Honk Honk, Beep Beep, Outta my way everybody. 

I'm all smiles because I am going to see my Grammy.  Going to spend a whole week with her.

I've loaded up the car and I'm ready to hit the road.

And if she doesn't take too long to pack, I just might let my big sis tag along.  We'll share the driving.

Gotta go, it's high time we get this ole heap moving...

I'm thinking it might take us a couple of days to get there.

(Many thanks to B for letting me pirate her wonderful photos of the kids.)  

Wild Things

I don't often have the opportunity to photograph wildflowers, or at least wildflowers as I think of them.  They just aren't prolific in south Florida.  When I stumbled upon this little patch on the island one morning I knew I would return for pictures.

 

Wildflowers are always bright and cheerful don't you think?  These were no exception.

I don't know their name.  I should look it up, shouldn't I?  But I probably won't.  I am content to enjoy their sunny disposition in ignorant bliss.

I especially like this more untraditional image.  D usually scoffs when I attempt to make "art" with my work.  He is such a traditionalist.  After all a picture of a flower should look like a flower.  But I like to experiment and sometimes the results please me.  This one pleases me.

It was a serendipitous find that small patch of wildflowers growing in unlandscaped abandon on our manicured island.

Just the right thing to brighten up a Wednesday morning.

There's a First Time for Everything

Late one afternoon last week D and I were lazily lounging in the pool without a care in the world when we heard a commotion emanating from the house next door.  Being the inquisitive types that we are (translate nosey) we were compelled to investigate.  Katie (of K K K Katie photo fame) and her parents were standing on their dock talking excitedly and pointing to a large object floating in the water.   I gasped in shock at the sight I beheld.  In ten years of living on Marco I have never witnessed such a thing.

This big ole daddy was cruising the waters of our canal.  Meandering along in ultra slow gear and generally ignoring the excited humans on the dock.  Manatees I expect to see; fish of various types; even an occasional dolphin has been spotted on the hunt for its next meal.  But an alligator?  Never.  Where on earth had he come from?  

Talk about a fish out of water, we have always heard that gators don't like salt water.  It is related to buoyancy or something else similarly scientific.  Thus we have never given a thought that danger could be lurking in the waters of our back yard.

As we stood in awe watching this misplaced reptile, I offered thanks that the tide was low.   Alligators have notoriously short legs. While they can move quickly on land, those squatty 

appendages would prevent our intruder from climbing over a seawall and wreaking havoc on our quiet neighborhood.  Instead, he was forced to remain water bound, cruising along until boredom must have overtaken him.

He slowly made his way out to sea, or on to the next neighborhood.  It's a good thing too.  I wouldn't want to wake up one fine morning and find this waiting on me. 

It would give me nightmares for weeks!

Dog Training 101

She is the sweetest dog we have ever owned.  (No disrespect meant Rosco.  You were sweet too, and definitely had one of most distinct personalities ever; but in the sweetness department Henna is the winner.)  She loves people, she loves kids, she doesn't get into things, she rarely barks, and she has never had an accident in the house.  What could be the problem you say?  (Here is where I wish I had a picture to illustrate.)  All you would see was her tail moving away from me as fast as those legs could carry her, dragging her leash behind.  When given the opportunity she bolts, she dashes, she runs, she flys.  It's a game for her.  But one that scares me to death because we live so close to a busy road and she has run away when we are out of town.  That makes her a stranger in a strange land and I'm not certain that cute little nose could find it's way home.  Add to that the fact that she just doesn't listen and you know why doggie obedience school is the order of the day.

How does she feel about it you ask?  I'll show you:

She wasn't too excited about the prospect.  

But it doesn't matter.  We called for an evaluation which took place a couple of weeks ago and it  went something along these lines:

Trainer:  What seems to be the issue with Henna?

Loyal Pet Owners:  She runs away, she jumps on people and while she is a very good dog, she doesn't listen.

Trainer:  I understand.  Hand me her leash and we'll see how she does.

Loyal Pet Owners:  Sitting back with smug looks on their faces, knowing that our Miss Henna would hang herself with her independence.

Trainer:  Tempting her with dog treats, puts her through her paces.  Henna  sits on command, lays down; she sits again, she stays.  She stays when the door is opened.  She stays while the door is open and the trainer takes a 3 mile hike.  She stays until trainer returns and rewards her with one of th0se tempting treats. She performs like an obedience school star.

Loyal Pet Owners: Stunned.

Trainer:  Sits down and in a quiet voice states the obvious.  "Henna seems to understand.  I think her owners are the ones who have the problem."

Loyal Pet Owners:  Humiliated  and speachless.

Trainer:  You're just not important enough to her.  I think all you need to do is sign up for some basic obedience group classes and you'll get the hang of it.

Not important enough?  How can that be? We feed her, take her for walks, talk to her, lover her, care for her and treat her like the princess she is.  

And so after signing up for Dog Training 101 we slunk out of the evaluation,  our egos deflated but firm in our conviction to become the most important things in her life.  How's that working out you ask?  We just completed week three and we're making progress.  We have hope. 

I am secure in the knowledge that as long as one of those savory dog treats is in my hand I am the most important thing in her life.

HDR Photography

When High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR) first came onto the scene I wasn't certain I cared for it.  The images had a more painterly quality and in some instances were just not believable.  But as with most things new I became accustomed to it, learned to accept it, and finally grew to like it so much that I had to learn how to do it.  After all one wouldn't want to be left behind would one?

With HDR you can take an image like this:

Throw it in the stew pot, cook it awhile, stir , and serve up something like this:

It's almost that easy, but not quite.  The beauty of HDR is that it allows you to take lighting conditions that would usually make horrible photos (high contrast, a lot of shade and bright sunlight mixed together), take 5 to 7 shots at different exposures, run them through the software and get one (hopefully) perfectly exposed photo.  The fun really enters the picture when you take that photo and play with the adjustments.  The result can be realistic or funky depending on how playful or creative you are feeling that day.

You can also take a single image, something like this:

Throw it in the stew pot.  Cook it awhile, stir quickly, cook it some more and finish with a dash of funk.  The result might look something like this:

 And while I don't always like the results, the process is great fun.  You just never know what might come out of the pot at the end of the day.  

Who knows, it may be the next cover for National Geographic.  Oh wait, I think that's them on the phone right now.