Twisted Time

It has been a real bummer finding time to get on and check out the blogs I follow let alone post anything of my own. From January until now it seems like there has always been something to do.

Just in this month alone I probably have over 80 hours in the volunteer work I do as a board member for HOA we live in. I was a committee member before we were turned over by the developer. I said I wasn't going to run for office and I didn't. Then a newly elected member couldn't fill the office he was elected to and I was asked to fill in the remainder of his term...1 year. I said okay. Two or three months go by and not a lot of action then the billing process starts and bids for maintenance have to be let.... I'm the retired member so I can get a lot done, thus, I've been busy.

I took this picture back in January and when I saw it again I thought it was fitting as an impression of what has been going on.....twisted in every direction.

Blue Sky and Clouds

 These clouds give the sense that it's summer and rain is emminent but looking at the trees you can see leaves are missing. We had 6 inches of snow Sunday, here in southern Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. We're so close to Kentucky that many people talk with a twang and a lot are considered transplants with visas.

I got this shot of the moon by chance. I just happened to look out the window and there it was. Haziness from the clouds and low light conditions. I enhanced the blue sky a tad but not much. I was pretty much this way.

Wild Life Visits

 It all started with a Heron showing up at the pond to feed. I'm not sure if it is the same bird but either it or several come on a regular basis.

 

Next came the Lesser Scaup Ducks. There were 8 total, 5 male and 3 female. These are what is considered as diving ducks. They eat more from the bottom of the lake or pond than the banks or even further off the waters edge as many ducks do. I think these were migrating north and just did a stop if for refueling. I was playing with my depth of field on the 2nd and 3rd picture here.

Lastly we have the Yellow-Shafted Flicker. They are of the woodpecker family. The top 3 are all shots of the female. The last is of the male.The difference is the male has what is called a mustache. Both have what looks like a black kerchief under their beak but the male has a black marking on either side of the beak on the cheek area. It can be seen in the photo but his position makes it difficult. This was his position the whole time he was here. We were just starting to get our "spring" winter storm. Four to ten inches.....we got about six.

Several Days Late

I follow a blogger out of Portland, ME. He recently posted a picture from in front of a restuarant in Rockport, MA. If you have never been there I will simply say you're missing a lot.

I posted on pORTcITYdAILYpHOTO that I had several photos from there and that I would put them up. Well, since then I have been supper busy and not had the time until today so without further delay here they are.

This was a little carry out. You went in toward the back, got the food you wanted and left out the same door. By the way, the doors in this old old area are not the standard height. I almost have to duck and I'm short. They might be 6'. Well, I wouldn't have to duck but it makes me sound tall. This is the menu next to the door.

 

This next image is looking through an opening that is a boat ramp and you look into the safe harbor. You may recognize this shot as it is in the movie The Perfect Storm. I took this before the movie came out. I was only into film back then and for some reason I had converted this one to b/w. I need to go through my boxes of photos and find the original, the big building is red with very colorful bouys on it. I believe, if my memory is correct, that some of these boats are in the image in the movie.

 

 

Like I said, if you can get up there you should. Start at Glouchester, MA and take the 26 mile loop. Rockport is at the top of the loop and then you start back more inland.

 

Something to look at. http://www.discovergloucester.com/



Winters Last Effort To Stay Alive

We've had a cold winter but not a bad winter like north of us, the states out west and New England but Old Man Winter has probably given his last blow for this season. We've been below normal for the last two or three weeks but precipitation has been low. Only had to clear snow from the driveway twice, once was a shovel job and the other one I blew about a 4" covering with the electric leaf blower.

This time it was a wet snow with a forecast range of 2" to 10" over a range from Cincinnati to the north near Troy, OH getting the 10". We got about 4" and west of us got the upper numbers.

It made for some great photo opps. Perfect for practicing taking snow shots which can be actually hard to do due to definition and blowing out the white balance of the image.

I started taking shots the night before and then took some more in the predawn hours the next morning. I only took a few during the day yesterday.

Click to enlarge.

Icicle forming as the rain starts the storm.

Dancing ice figures on the window. Can you see them?

A pair of ducks in the early hours that spent the night.

Same pair, snow had stopped.

Such a fantastic look an hour or so before official sunrise.

Shortly after dawn, we won't see the sun today.

Bright Light

We've had clouds for the past week or so. Mostly from the storms that went north of us across Lake Erie and on up into New England.

Well, yesterday we got a pleasant surprise with some bright sun around 7:30 AM. Just thought I would take a shot and see what I got. It put me on notice......my lens needed cleaned. I also got some natural light flares. Did a tad bit of burning of the image but all in all this is right out of the camera.

Starting tomorrow the weather goes the other way, clouds dropping some rain then freezing rain and then snow turning back to freezing rain etc etc. Forecast, we will either fall into the 2 -4" range or the 6 - 8" range. North of here is upwards of 10 inches. Come on 2 - 4.

Click to enlarge:

Only 4 Survivors of the Doolittle Raiders Left

This past Tuesday, Feb. 26th, Major Thomas Griffin passed away. He was 96 years old and was living at the VA Nursing facility in Cincinnati, OH. He was hoping to make it to this years reunion as it will be the last for the Doolittle Raiders. Last year he and three others attended the reunion in Dayton, OH at the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB. 

Not only did the Major participate in the raid on Japan but he was also a prisoner of war for two years in a Nazi prison camp.

I took this picture from afar last year when the B-25's flew into Dayton. This is my tribute to Major Griffin as I figure he has flown one last mission and he's in a plane like this.

Click to enlarge.