Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
It seems to me that 2014 has come and gone in the blink of an eye. It was a busy year which probably accounts for that. It’s Thanksgiving morning and I’m relaxing with a coffee and donut supplied by my better-half who was the early riser this morning. It’s been quite some time since we’ve had a snow storm on Thanksgiving and I’m looking out the window at a winter wonderland. I can’t believe she was up and out so early in this weather. It’s one of those special holiday miracles I guess.
I spent time yesterday as the snow was accumulating trying to keep the driveway passable. The snowblower was unveiled and got it’s first use this season and so did my back and arms. I’m more than a little stiff today but that’s par for the course here in Maine.
The final snow numbers indicate between ten and twelve inches with most of the area suffering from downed tree limbs and power outages. I’m not sure how we missed out on the loss of power but for a change we made it through the storm with only a few momentary lapses. We have our issues with this snow and as you see so do the birds. They’re scratching their way to the food as best they can.
The sun is shining and is being reflected off the snow and it’s amazing. I can’t wait to get dressed and get out with my camera. Everywhere you look there are beautiful pictures to be taken and I’m going to get my fair share.
I’d also like to send out a special thank you to the Saco town snowplow operator responsible for destroying my new mailbox during the first effing snow storm of the season. I wish I knew who he was and where he lives. I might just do a drive-by on his mailbox with a baseball bat. Freaking A-hole!!
For the first time in a while our Thanksgiving dinner will be just for two. All of our family and friends are scattered about the country celebrating their holiday. We’ll have our meal this afternoon and be thankful for our good health and the blessing of a quiet day to properly enjoy it.
I do love the snow and I’m sure we’ll be seeing much more before this winter is over. I hope you and yours are enjoying this holiday and appreciate your lives together. Now we can rush headlong into the Christmas season and then the welcoming of 2015.
I needed a few hours of peace and quiet and since that’s virtually impossible at home I decided to take my camera and disappear into the woods for a couple of hours. The temperature was in the low forties which made the woods a little more bearable than normal. No hordes of black flies and gnats and no sweating through my clothing because of the summer heat. That’s a win/win anytime for me and motivates me to make more visits during these cooler months.
As I walked onto the trail the first thing I noticed was the absolute quiet. That’s a Winter quiet that takes a little getting used to. During warm weather the place is nothing but noise from birds, squirrels, and any other wildlife that’s passing through the area. The leaves have fallen and the fields of milkweed pods have opened up and spilled their seeds everywhere.
This place is usually teeming with birds but almost all of them have headed south for the Winter. I saw two cardinals frolicking through the nearby trees filled with red berries. They should be really happy, there’s enough berries in this area to feed them and all of their friends until next summer. If you squint just a little you can just see the male cardinal keeping an close eye on me while his mate eats nearby.
I always try to visit the small ponds and swamps when I’m here and today I found the places dead quiet as well. It’s been just cold enough over the last few days to begin freezing the ponds. Even in these conditions I still love spending time here and I’m not sure why, I just do.
Another thing I like about the late Fall is that the leaves have dropped and now make it possible to see things you normally can’t. It’s the only time of the year when I can truly appreciate the beauty of the white birch trees scattered throughout these woods. They almost seem to glow in the bright sunlight and it’s really breathtaking.
The quarter mile before returning to my car is a walk that takes me through an area diverse with every kind of tree and bush. It always seems in such perfect balance, something Mother Nature seems to be very good at.
As I return home I feel refreshed and relaxed, something that always occurs after I’ve spent some time here. I’ll be returning soon after the first significant snow fall to begin my 2014 Winter collection of photos.
I’m still stalking my friend, the big fat barn owl. I took this picture a few years ago and have been trying to find him just one more time ever since. I’ve seen him flying overhead on many occasions but he apparently roosts in some of the tallest pine trees located along the Scarborough River. It makes getting any decent photographs very difficult. I hope some day my persistence pays off and he agrees to pose for me again.
The big day has finally arrived and now my better-half is one year older. I’ve never been one to celebrate my own birthdays but for her I can make an exception. We started the day off perfectly when we looked out the window of our bedroom to see the first snow fall of the year. We’d had a flurry or two a week ago but this snow covered everything just like it should and as you can see.
She was on a day-off which allowed us to be bed buddies for an hour or so. I brought her some excellent coffee and we relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the moment. Much to her surprise I’d hidden a birthday gift or two in the closet and brought them out. Our normal routine has always been to open gifts at the end of the day but I wanted to change things up a little. She opened her gifts and read her cards (one funny and one mushy) and we planned the remainder of our day.
It wasn’t long before we were in the car and on our way to Lowe’s. What better way to start her birthday than with a snow storm and a flu shot. That little chore took five minutes and we were headed out to Portland for a day of walking around, people watching, and shopping.
You’ve got to love shopping in Portland. Let’s see if you can guess what state your in by the merchandise they have available for sale.
We made a few purchases and hallelujah, a birthday miracle, the sun came out and the skies cleared. It was still cold as hell but it was turning into a perfect Maine winter day. We were thoroughly enjoying the day and decided to stop at a little out of the way tavern for a quick drink and some French fries. They also have this great fish tank.
It was while we were there that she contacted some friends who we socialize with occasionally and agreed to meet later for drinks. We left Portland and made our way to my favorite coffee spot located inside the Maine Mall. I ordered us both some excellent Ethiopian coffee and we split one of their triple berry yogurt muffins, It was incredible.
We had our dinner at the nearby Sebago Brewery which while being a small brewery is also a restaurant and bar and usually packed with people. A Friday nite at this place is a freaking zoo and we were dropped right in the middle of it. We finished our meal and a short time later our friends arrived and the birthday celebration continued. Her day was filled with emails, messages, and the dozen or so tweets she posted on Twitter. She also received calls from her children, siblings, and other friends. She was in heaven.
We returned home at a reasonable hour, fell into bed and relaxed. That’s when I brought out her quad-chocolate layer cake. She blew out her candles, made her magical wish, cut us two slices, and we pigged out a little. What better way to finish our day right where it all started. More laughing and enjoying each other’s company and then to sleep. Isn’t that what it’s all about after all.
Happy Birthday Lovey!
This is my week for celebrating. There aren’t many days during the year that I choose to remember fondly but this is one of them. Today is my cat Stormy’s fourteenth birthday. Don’t worry, this posting will not be some crazy-ass cat lovers gushy and sentimental rant. I’m not some over-the-top PETA idiot who thinks animals are more important than people but I do have a soft spot for certain ones.
I’m what most people would consider a cat person. Over the years I’ve had a number of dogs, a snake, a ferret or two, hamsters, and a few cats. For some reason I like having a friend who keeps his or her opinions to themselves, who is that perfect listener we all seem to be looking for, and is somewhat self-sufficient. A friend whose who offers a fair amount of unconditional love and will listen to whatever nonsense I decide to spew. If he doesn’t like it he just walks away without snide remarks or any rolling of the eyes.
Of all of my pets two stand out from the others. They’re both cats and both lived to be more than fourteen years old. I started out as a dog person due to my father’s decision to raise and sell hunting beagles. We always had dogs and puppies running around the yard and I shoveled my fair share of excrement as part of my chores. I really do prefer shoveling it from a litter box instead of scraping it up from different areas of the house.
Once I returned from the Army and started my working life, dogs became more responsibility than I could handle. My jobs required that I move around from apartment to apartment, state to state, and having a dog would have been impossible. Dogs for me are much like small children who never grow up and remain needy as long as they live.
Stormy came into my life for a number of reasons. I found him in a local shelter the week after 9/11. One of my ferrets had just died and her bonded mate was grieving terribly. I brought Stormy home and that cat and ferret eventually became inseparable. Years later when the second ferret passed on Stormy was inconsolable and slept on top of the empty ferret cage for months. We’ve been together every since, thirteen years and counting.
He’s makes friends easily, had his own Twitter page for a while, and even had a children’s book written about him. Now that he’s reached middle age he’s slowed down some but still the best mouser I’ve ever seen. Just last night he was on patrol all night because he saw one of those annoying field mice that decided to take shelter in his house. It’s only a matter of time before that stupid mouse makes a fatal misstep and I’ll find his corpse in the kitchen next to Stormy’s food bowl some morning. That’s where he leaves his trophies so I can see and appreciate them.
He’s also attached himself to my better-half and slowly over time has become her official bed buddy. So a big Happy Birthday to Stormy and hopefully he’ll have many more years with us. I might even spring for a can of Fancy Feast for dinner tonight, after all it is a special occasion.
Another Halloween has come and gone and it ended last night with a visit from the grandson. He’s now officially more than two years old and obsessed with all things Mickey Mouse. He’s a big fan of the Mickey Mouse Club much as I was while growing up but for entirely different reasons. He loves the music, wearing the ears, and dancing around. All I had was Annette Funicello and her two perky friends. It’ll be a another ten years before he begins enjoying that part of the Mickey Mouse Club.
Halloween is an odd holiday anyway and it’s more for the costumes and candy than anything else. Since I’ve pretty much given up on that part of the holiday I figured I was safe for another year. Leave it up to my better-half to come up with something for me do. She walks in the door two nights ago carrying bags of groceries which I later found out were for some party being held at her work place. She’d been anointed as the head cheerleader in that store as well as the official food preparer for all functions. Apparently my cooking services are available because of her and they get them free of charge.
I was sweetly requested to help prepare enough taco filling for ninety to a hundred tacos. That’s ten plus pounds of cow, browned perfectly and seasoned with that magical blend of Mexican spices. I began my preparations but something seemed to be missing and I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. It was this:
I think that cooking Mexican food of any kind without tequila or jalapeno flavored vodka is against the law in a few states or should be. I slammed down two quick shots of vodka, picked up a couple pounds of meat and got to work. Four shots and ten pounds of hamburger later the meat was cooked, seasoned, and packaged for shipment to the store. Not only was I relaxed, I was positively glowing.
The party was a huge success with more than ninety people filling up on tacos and enchiladas. It’s not your typical Maine meal by any means but everyone loved it anyway.
This Halloween I was able to do some cooking (I love that) for a large gathering that I didn’t have to attend (Yeah!), loaded up the grandson up with as much candy as possible which I wasn’t then forced to eat (Yeah again!), and didn’t have to worry about dressing up in silly costumes (Yeah #3!). That for me is a really successful Halloween and I hope to do it the same way next year. By then we’ll have a little brother or sister for the grandson tagging along to make it even more interesting.
I hope your holiday was as exciting as mine. There are times when I miss the costumes and craziness of years past but then good sense prevails, I have a glass of wine, and kick back and relax.
I’m not sure how it happened but we’re enjoying one gorgeous Indian Summer day. The sun is shining, the day is crystal clear, and the wind is blowing with a slight chill. My better-half is again on a day off and again obsessing about chores around the house until I want to scream. We’ve been house bound for a week and days off are meant to be DAYS OFF. It took some doing but I strong-armed her into getting out for some picture taking and a ride along coast.
I have to admit it was one of my best ideas ever. The beaches were empty of tourists and the first one we visited was peaceful and quiet and highly enjoyable.
As we traveled south we stopped occasionally to snap a few pics and all the while I was directing us towards the Kennebunkport area. We normally visit that town once or twice each summer but this year we were just too busy. I was planning a nice surprise lunch at Federal Jack’s Restaurant and a leisurely stroll around town to window shop. Federal Jack’s is also the home of the Shipyard Brewing Company, a perennial favorite of my better-half who is responsible for keeping their shares of stock at such a high level.
My side-story for today started six years ago and involved a plate of bad mussels at a nearby restaurant which will remain nameless (Olive Garden), a few drinks, followed by three hours of projectile vomiting where I’m sure I set a new world record for distance. Since that time I’ve been unable to look at, think about or eat mussels. Over the last few months I’ve found myself tempted to try some once again but always chickened out. I was determined today to finally get that food monkey off my back. My order of mussels was delivered, consumed, and thoroughly enjoyed.
‘Before’
“After”
They were so briny and garlicky, I was in hog heaven. I’m so happy to have mussels returned to the top of my favorite food’s list. It’s been a long time coming and a big hooray for me. We did our stroll through town, enjoyed some window shopping, and then returned to the car for the ride home. A slow and easy ride north along the coast road.
All in all it was a wonderful day and I’m glad we took advantage of it. The next trip to this area will probable involve snow, ice, parka’s, tassel hats, and gloves. There’s nothing more fun or colder than walking the beach in January and February.
One last photograph that I stumbled upon as we were passing a very old cemetery. This is the place my late father, the golfer, would have wanted to be buried. It’s not often you can see a golf course and ball washer from your plot.
I’m still waiting . . . . for what you might ask . . . . for dryness. This last week here in Maine was like the monsoon season in India except for the bone chilling icy cold nights. I mentioned in a recent post about all the effing leaves I’ve been dealing with and I’m here to tell you it hasn’t gotten any better. Not only do we have more leaves than before but they’re now soaking wet. There’s nothing harder than trying to rake giant piles of wet leaves because they refuse to cooperate. I’m only bringing it up again because it’s my one and only chore for today and I just don’t want to do it.
‘Dumb Birds’
As I write this post I’m tightly wrapped in my red dragon blanket, still in bed, sipping my coffee, and looking out the window at another gray and damp day. Most of the trees have dropped their leaves except for a few of the more stubborn oaks. They always seem to hang on a little longer than the others before giving it up for the Winter. As usual I can just make out a few squirrels romping through the nearby tree branches enjoying the last days of Fall. I won’t see much of them again until we have a few warmer than normal days later in the Winter. They’ll sneak out, look around, smell the air, and try to find an acorn or two. Then it’ll be back to their nests to await Spring’s arrival. I guess those squirrels have the right idea. I’m trying to do much the same thing if you think about it. If it’s good enough for a bunch of furry little squirrels then it should work for me as well, right?
Most of the birds have headed south and at times I envy them. The woodpeckers, the blue jays, and chickadees are back in large numbers and will be around for the entire winter. We supply them with plenty of food and suet to help them through the worst of it. It always amazes me that any of them ever survive the Winter. This morning I found our backyard filled with black birds and I’m not sure what they were looking for but they working hard at it.
‘Stupid Birds’
For the first time in a week I can actually see blue skies and the sun. I can remember as a kid how much my friends and I loved climbing onto and under the piles of leaves. My Dad found it amusing for as long as it took him to realize we were making more work for him. Maybe today I’ll revert to an earlier version of myself, pile up some leaves, and dive right in. The smell of those wet leaves should take me right back to age seven for a few minutes. Then reality will set back in and I’ll realize I’m sitting in a pile of wet leaves in the middle of my yard and giving the neighbors a reason to question my sanity.
As I stepped out my back door I received another big surprise. From out of nowhere two chickens arrived at my door and are refusing to leave. Now I’ll be forced to spend time today polling my neighbors to see who they belong to. I’ll never again feel guilty about eating chickens . . . they’re too stupid to live.
“Dumb and Stupid Birds’
Anyone out there interested in a few chicken wings?
I’m happy to announce my computer problems have finally been resolved. That new Linksys Smart router got the heave-ho and I was forced to reinstall my original so called out-dated router. As soon as I did that the entire network came online and life was good again. I delivered the effing not-so-smart router back to Best Buy, returned home, sat on my ass, and relaxed for the first time in 5 days. I still have “The Cloud” to install but after this last week it will just have to wait for a while. I’ve had it with computers for now.
I need to get back to some semblance of normalcy and to take care of a few things that need to be handled before the snow flies. I’m patiently waiting for a day or two of dry weather because it’s Fall in Maine and I have leaves to deal with. In certain parts of the yard they’re knee deep and getting deeper.
The town has finished with their road repaving efforts and have moved on to other jobs. Things are quiet again, just the way I like it. The season is progressing and we’re starting to see flocks of birds beginning to congregate for their migration south. We passed this small pond yesterday and snapped a few pictures of these Canadian geese. They stop in this pond every year like clockwork to rest and feed before continuing on their way.
I’m looking forward to a few weeks without special occasions to clutter up my schedule. November’s coming which includes my better-half’s birthday and Thanksgiving. Then it’s on to the madness of Christmas and New Years with 2015 just around the corner. This year has flown by . . . .
One of the reason I love living in southern Maine is the peace and quiet. There are days when the quiet is absolute except for a few cars occasionally whizzing by. This road we live on has been a nightmare for years and in the winter accidents occur in and around our home quite often. It has quite the collection of potholes of every size and shape along with frost heaves to make things really interesting. For those of you that don’t know, a frost heave is a large mound that erupts beneath the road when the ground begins to freeze in the Fall. Our normal flat potholed road turns into a an amusement park ride. Living here requires that we develop and maintain a good relationship with a competent mechanic. I average a front-end wheel alignment every two years and that doesn’t include the costs for damage to wheel rims and tires. Once Spring arrives the road immediately returns to normal.
I was awakened this morning when my bed and house began vibrating and shaking. At first I thought we were having one of our occasional earthquakes but a glance out the front window explained everything. There was a gigantic machine rolling down the road, spitting smoke in every direction, chewing up asphalt and spitting out a fine black powder.
Apparently the town fathers finally decided to pave our road and of course never notified anyone who lives here. Just one big noisy machine after another beginning a 7 am and lasting the entire day. For most of the day I was forced to stay at home because my driveway was blocked at first by a dump truck and then later by a huge ten ton roller. I was thrilled to see my tax dollars working for me for the first time in a long while. Since Maine is known for it’s over the top approach to spending taxes on welfare for illegals, I never thought it would ever happen so I was stunned. I had finally won the tax lottery.
Here are a series of photos of the big project from start to finish.
Here’s my reward for you for being made to look at my boring pictures. It’s a limerick I wrote with all of the liberals politicians in mind who are determined to oust Republican governor LePage. It would be oh so sweet if LePage was reelected. It would make them crazy and hopefully send them right over the edge once again.
There once were politicians from Maine
Who in truth were a liberal pain.
They smile and they lie
But as hard as they try,
They’re too dumb to get out of the rain.
I’ve had 24 hours for my blood pressure to return to normal levels after receiving that letter from Planned Parenthood. It really got me going for a while there. But on to better things to talk about today which will help me relax a little.
It’s a day of nonsense for me. I finished a good solid 40 minute workout on the treadmill which left me soaking wet and somewhat winded, it was great. I spent an additional ten minutes in my continuing efforts to get my cat Stormy to walk on it with me. It’s taken me six months just to get him to sit on the damn treadmill but he’s gone like a shot as soon as I turn it on. I’m nothing if not persistent and I hope he lives long enough for me to accomplish this feat. He knows exactly what I want him to do but he’s just dragging this out to mess with me. I sometimes think he’s actually the one training me.
‘Here’s what I want.’
‘Here’s what I got.’
Have I mentioned recently that I’m a bit of a klutz. I trip over things, fall into things, drop things and occasionally break things. It’s a life long issue that appears unfixable. As I was in my workshop putting the finishing touches to a small book shelf I’ve been building I found it necessary to stain a few small pieces of trim before finishing the project. I pulled out a quart of stain and an old rag to stain just two small 8 inch pieces. How much trouble could I get in? That evil klutz that lives inside me decided it was time for another visit to make my life a little more interesting.
I opened the can of stain carefully after putting on my latex gloves. I hate getting that stuff on me because it’s as hard as hell to remove. I picked up the rag and placed the pieces of trim the on the bench to begin staining. As I turned to pick up the rag my arm struck the nearby can of stain and sent it flying. Needless to say I now have a stain on the floor of my workshop that’s approximately 6 feet long and four feet wide. That doesn’t even include the splash-back onto my arms, chest, face and glasses. I ended up spending more time cleaning that up than I did building the damn bookshelf in the first place. The evil klutz got me again.
I then returned to my man-cave to post about Planned Parenthood and what do I find? No internet connection. I’ve been having periodic problems with my connection for the last few weeks but this time my home network was dead. After running diagnostics, checking cables, cursing a blue streak, and making a quick visit to a nearby Time Warner office, it was once again operating.
I’ve been considering a complete upgrade of my home network and after today I’m convinced it’s badly needed. Along with the network upgrade I’ll be adding a home cloud system and hopefully it can all be done at the same time. At least with my own cloud I’ll feel much more secure about the safety of my music and photographs.
I’m off to take a shower and clean the remainder of the stain from my magnificent body. It’s like having graffiti on Michelangelo’s “David”.
That was supposed to be funny in case you were wondering. After that I foresee a large mug of Jack Daniels and Pepsi to smooth things out a little more. Another wonderful day in the neighborhood comes to a close.
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