Existing In BFE

Went out to the Causeway in the wee hours of the morning last month to catch two things. One, the South Taurid meteor shower was scheduled to do whatever they do that morning. The second thing I wanted to capture was the planetary conjugation of the moon, Jupiter, Mars and Venus. In non-astronomical circles conjugation means clumped-together, in case you wanted to talk normal. I caught one, but the other was elusive. That's Tampa over there and the Moon and Venus.  But if you look close enough...  ...you begin to see the other, more faint celestial bodies of Mars and Jupiter. This kind of outlay in the sky passes for some kind of whoopie, these days for an old guy with a camera in the dreaded bowels of Florida. As you can see I'm on a walking bridge that were I a bit more ambitious would take me all the way into the outskirts of the Dark City. But since there be Dragons there, I stay safely on the other side. Actually, the walkway is pretty abandon

NEW POSTS ON MONDAY. ENJOY YOUR LONG THANKSGIVING WEEKEND.

Wishing my friends and family a healthy, Happy Thanksgiving Day, wherever you are. Today I'll be in Emerald City in Northlandia with my brother, sis-in-law and her son.  It will be a different kind of day for me, my first without my immediate family since I had an immediate family.  It is liable to be a tough one for me. But if I must wallow in self-pity wallowing with the Wombie is the best medicine - and a reminder of things I am thankful for.  The rest of this post is one I did four years ago for Thanksgiving.   Here are some early Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade pictures from the late 20's and early 30's.  Existing In BFE will return on Monday. Here are a couple balloon pics from 1938, including the 120' Sea Serpent, Clown with 68' Nose, and Uncle Sam: Below is an old photo of  Felix the Cat  and a couple other characters from 1932/33: And some other balloons through the years. Frankly,

My first trip to the nature world around here was fairly unspectacular.  A few days ago I showed you pictures of dragonflies that I took, but nothing more exotic.  That's the way it goes sometimes, gators are so finicky when it comes to humans with cameras.  So I'm afraid there won't be too many exciting things to show you on the 2nd part of the trip.  That's when you walk out of the watery swamp areas and start on the solid ground part of the trip. Frankly the water areas are more exciting than the scrub brush.  If you see anything at all it will most likely be a buzzard circling overhead, lips wet with anticipation.  Maybe a stray turtle, but nothing neat like a snake or armadillo.     Not too far from the water's edge I did see this clinging to the side of a small tree.  I don't have any idea what it is, but looks to be some sort of egg sac(s).  

Good news from my latest doctor's appointment.  My polyps are not growing at the moment, so the steroidal flushes are doing their job.  What all that means is that, for now, I am averting the allergy panels and 6 months of shots.  Woo Hoo!  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I am presently in Northlandia and you should know that posts may be non-existent some days. I am attempting to put these together with spitwads and duct tape.  Monthly dues will be gladly refunded.     ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I wasn't here more than a day before we started to get reports of an impending blizzard.  I ran into old family friend Gary Greer from Seaton and he said he didn't think I was that stupid to come up here at this time. I think that was a compliment.  Hmmm? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Something I noticed right off was the continual political ads filtering over here from Iowa stations.  That's one thing we don't get down in Florida...yet. +++

Next to last in a series of photographs taken waiting for barges in New Boston during the warm summer months.  I will try for some more pictures in the cold weather now covering the North.  Let's see if there is any Midwest Tough left in me. The yellowish color is light pollution. I'm not sure which town or city it is, but if I scanned the camera further to the left (South) the light from Burlington would be visible . The grain elevator is right next to the dock and that red glow is from a single red bulb. Since this is a timed picture it looks far more vibrant than it really is.  What is more fascinating to me is the number of stars out there than we can see by the naked eye.  The times aspect is able to catch many more stars. That is a picture from the south end of he floating dock looking northward.  That is me standing on the dock.   This is a pretty good idea of how dark it is out there at 3:00 am.   With the sounds of wildlife across

Looks like one of those casual, nonchalant but nevertheless posed photographs with no info whatsoever. I have said there are many secrets to be uncovered by any photograph. I thought that until I found this. It seems to have no mystery or secrets at all. Just a college kid in the living room of his home in Seaton. The only interesting aspect is the painting on the mantel. My memory weakens and I'm not sure where this came from. I want to think it had something to do with my then sometimes GF Pam Patterson. I'm thinking she may have given it to me but why, I simply don't remember. That is one of Marj's cool glassware items behind me on the mantel. It is summer. I am wearing a watch which I started wearing at some point and have since given up with the advent of cell phones. The picture is a Polaroid. Who was the picture taker? The expression is as close to Mona Lisa as I can get. It betrays nothing. It speaks silently. All it is is a second of time a

When the temperatures start moderating down here it is usually time to hit the nature trails. My personal favorites are Boyd Hill and Sawgrass. If you have followed this blog you have been there with me many times. Our visit today was a little different. Didn't see any gators this time, a rairity, but I did seem to see loads of dragonflies. And so oddly, those are the only featured critters today. I have a "Part 2" but today is all about those creatures that date back to the time of the dinosaurs. I was fairly pleased with these shots - dragonflies aren't always the easist thing to photograph, but immensely easier than those damn fluttering butterflies. I no longer even try for those. Dragonsflies are a pretty cool bug, as bugs go. Oh, and that last picture? Thats not a dragonfly. That is a damselfly. Same family, different body structure.  Now you know.

It's all over. It wasn't as much fun as I had hoped because we didn't win it. But I had a blast. For a whole month I reveled in our success. This was my fifth World Series, having been there in '69, '73, '86, '00, and now '15. A lot better than the Cubs and no where near as good as the Cards. I'm not gloating nor rubbing it in, but simply explaining how damn important it is when you do get there. Here are some tips I have learned that may help you enjoy the Series, I'm talking to you Cub fans, when you reach playing ball games into November. 1. First, you need symbols and good luck charms that you use with each and every game. Above you see that I lit the palm tree before each game. It worked for the Dodger and it worked for eh Cubs so I kept it going through every inning of every match. 2. That brings up another important point. Watch each and every second of each and every game. It is so tough to get there you can't ris