§ Monday, Monday...

More about this dog photo, later!! Well, I walked around the largest cemetery on Monday. No spring breakers there! lol The grounds workers were busy doing a lot of clean-up. Why even the 'evergreen' live oak trees were dropping their leaves. It's a mess there. The lanes meandering through the cemetery were ankle deep in leaves at some areas. The trees, for the most part were barren. This has been one odd winter. And I know that I keep talking about it, but it just continues to boggle my mind.

Now, about this dog...I noticed him sniffing graves. Really not paying much attention to me coming up behind him. I also noticed that it was part pit bull breed....you know the reputation they have, don't you? I kept walking, but still keeping my eyes and ears open for it coming up behind me. When I reached the corner of the road, I looked back over my shoulder, hoping I was now a safe distance from it. My guess-timation about 15 feet from where I first spotted it. Not all that far from the area. Not far at all. The walking time was about a minute at the most. When I turned around, expecting to see it following me...it was NOWHERE!! I looked to the ground thinking perhaps it laid down. Nope. I looked several feet in each direction. I looked across the street where the cemetery butts up against a park. Nope. To the right, to the left, my eyes circling in each direction; slowly. No movement, no dog!! The phantom dog!!!! A ghost?!!

I played a bit after I got home and resized the photos I took from my walk, and updated my profile image for my blog. The old one I used mostly is about 5-6 years ago, and really needed to be changed. I'm reading the computer screen and wearing my reading glasses. I thought maybe that was a good time 'cause the glasses mostly hide the crow's feet that dig deep into the corners of my eyes. Yep, it was certainly time for an updated change.

After done with that, I went out in the kitchen and began a long process of making an angel food cake for dessert after dinner.  The cake will be served with fresh wild blueberries and whipped cream.  It's been a long, long, time since I last made an angel food cake.  And now, I remember why.  Egg whites have to be whipped just right, and then, if you fold the whites into the batter too quickly, the cake isn't gonna turn out fluffy and light.  Oh, yes.  Now I remember!  Trust me, it'll be a long long time before I make one again.

At the cemetery, I heard one woodpecker, at a distance from where I walked and spotted only two birds, a white winged dove and a myrtle warbler [aka butter butt]

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PS...Kinda odd, talking about cemeteries and phantom dogs, and then the date pops into my mind as an important one in my life!! I just remembered: 53 years ago today [the 9th] Bud and I had our first dinner date!! Our very first date, actually.

I wore a black chiffon two piece suit, my amethyst pin. And the roses were from Bud. Wow, looking back in time...blond hair now white. Skinny, now? Well certainly not skinny any more. The weight gain has settled in areas I won't mention.

§ About Me...The Bird Brained Up Close & Personal

For the last 4 years of what is now going on 11 years living here in the Coastal Bend of the state of Texas, I have become an avid birder and amateur photographer of such. Bud and I were talking about the birds we've seen while birding and both wondered just how many different birds have been recorded in our state. Collectively, during migration, there have been a phenomenal number...recorded total [according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife site] is 615!! Some of which are only migratory, being that they don't 'settle' here but migrate in Spring and Fall from northern North America or south to the tropics of Central and South America...but, their migratory flight path crosses Texas. Of the 615, an estimated 333 cross our area of Texas to vast areas for breeding or southern wintering grounds. That boggles my mind.

Some have asked me how I got so interested in bird photography. Well, my previous paragraph kinda explains that in a nutshell. I live in Texas. But, I can tell you my 'love' of birds, as far as I can remember is around the tender age of 6 or 7. I got a chance to spend a month with my aunt who lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. I had a special upstairs room where...

§ To the Moon, Anni...

A few months ago, Earth experienced a "Super moon"...and I was there, outdoors, photographing it as it appeared over the bay downtown and then again when we arrived back home. My post about this phenomenon is HERE. On Tuesday evening, and Wednesday, we on Earth were encountering what science has termed "micro-moon". This month's moon is the smallest of the year. By that I mean, it is about 30,000  miles [50,000 kilometers] farther away in our atmosphere than when a super moon occurs. But, what has caught my eye is at nightfall this month there has been a very incredible bright 'star' in the east just after sunset. And that 'star' is Jupiter. On Tuesday evening, after we came home and as I was about to shut the garage door down, I got out the camera and snapped these two photos; facing East  --click to  enlarge for more detail

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Full view of the night sky with the Moon & the planet Jupiter to its left

Making use of the zoom lens to capture the craters and shadows of the moon

...another image of the wonders of nature...
Previously I shared the Brown Pelican. Today, I spotted this reflection of an American White Pelican on the mirror-like pond, it was like everything surrounding it was immovable, a still-life... and had to photograph it to share with y'all--

Did y'all read the last of my Wednesday post...regarding the Denver Broncos Championship game this Sunday afternoon? Just to get into the spirit of things, I redid my toenails in Bronco Blue and Orange Crush!!! My feet aren't dirty, that's tan lines. LOLOL

..and lastly this week, I mentioned I finished my sketch of my grandson - drawn from my favorite photo of him from long ago when he was just a babe!! Now consider that he was born with Down Syndrome, and just having him sit on his own was a feat worth raving over. But, to have him be so vain [comes with the bloodline I guess *wink] as to sit in front of the mirror while visiting with his great grandmother at her home just boggled my mind. That he could be in control of his muscles and coordination at such a young age after physical therapy so well; well enough to hold on to his hair brush and brush his hair blew me away. Besides, he was a cute little booger!! Okay, 'nough grandma talk. I went down and had a evergreen mat with black trim around the opening and placed my drawing there behind it, with a red maple wood frame---

My favorite photo of Clint -c. 1990 & beginning of sketch

Continuing the sketch & Half-way done...

...to the finished & framed sketch!!

Sidebar Linking to:  Thursday Thoughts, Friday Fragments, Random 5 Friday, Camera Critters, Saturday's Critters, Alphabet Thursday [today- the letter "i" as seen in my post with bold text], Skywatch Friday