I snuck a peek at the site on monday before I left Nevada and saw the new challenge.  I didn't have much time to take all the photos I could've, while in my home town, and the ones I did take aren't that good, most are drive by shooting.  But here goes.  

I was born in Orange, CA, but moved to Gardnerville, NV when I was 9.  Nevada will always be my home.  

I loved the house I lived most of my life in, DeanHouse (it was red when I lived in it) I even rented it from my dad when he got remarried and moved.  

I spent most of my time in the barn DeanBarn, which I helped my dad build.  It was full of great memories, times with my horses.  I loved the smell and the sounds, and would sit out there for hours.

I loved to hang out at Sharkey's Casino Sharkeys they had video games and great hot chocolate.

Bently's is where my mom worked for many years, and I ended up working there for 5 years before I moved here to IL.  I would probably still be there if I hadn't moved.

My favorite views are of the Carson Valley, this is from Kingsbury Grade coming down from Lake Tahoe, Carson Valley and there are scenes like this all around the valley, CarsonValleyScene  

This is home and will always be.  I would love to move back there someday, just not sure I can talk the rest of my family to go with me.  :o)

Thanks for the great memories!  Have a wonderful weekend!  :o)

A couple of childhood memories did these shots bring back to me.  There was not a place I would stick my head into to see what was in there.  Sometimes it posed a problem.  Not every place is meant to be seen.  who is in there? A couple of childhood memories did these shots bring back to me.  There was not a place I would stick my head into to see what was in there.  Sometimes it posed a problem.  Not every place is meant to be seen.  

I love all flowers.  Any flowers.  my black and white dasey lots of lilys tiger in the grass I love all flowers.  Any flowers.  

I was the oldest of 3 girls and always kind of a loner.18 months
I began early on to prefer the company of animals 9 months My devotion to animals grew thru the years.7 years   As I got older I was able to get myfirst horse Later it was smaller animalsD D and Aires even bred my own,D D and Aaron As my houses got smaller,so did my pets...Pearl

Finally, after resigning myself to being alone with my animals forever,.... Lee came along and rescued me.  No animals now, but a much sweeter companion.
Not childhood, but the best way to end the story....
Lee_Me

...  My Grandmother's Elegance... Trips to Watch Hill... My Grandfather's Timepiece ...Moments I will never forget!

...  

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share with you some new information that I have recently become aware...TIME FLIES so quickly when you have Love and Children in your life.  I wonder why I waited so long to have kids,  and hope that I can have more.

Many of you have seen pictures of when we first brought my son, Ryan, home.  
Well, eight months later...WOW!  
Just look at this little bugger now.  He is "combat" crawling and getting into everything!  Its wonderful.  

Going from ....Baby Ryan Sleeping   and....Little Bugger Smiles

to this....Smiles
and turning into a cowboy here...Little Cowboy

and getting tuckered right out.....OneTiredBoy

We have been truly blessed by God.   We are all here but for a whisper of time, and this makes it all worthwhile!

Babies grow up to be  Cow boys.

The local cattle barron is not satisfied with the lands he already owns.  He wants more.  So he tries to expand his territory and force the locals to sell.  This leads to a heated argument.  The barron decides he needs some help, so he enlists the local villain.  And it never hurts to bribe one of the local deputies.

As tensions mount, a confrontation(Ctrl N) occurs in the street.  The odds are not good for the barron, so he backs down.  He realizes he needs more help.  So he hires the "Cowboys" a notorious gang from Arizona.  

With the Cowboys backing his play, a showdown is coming.  The barron confronts the sheriff and his posse.  It doesn't take long before the lead starts to fly.  After the smoke clears, who will be left standing?

That's for you to ponder.

Ever since I can remember, our family went camping; usually to just a local park, sometime on our yearly vacations.  During those times, I would wander the woods, usually alone, sometimes with a friend or family member.  It seemed like I always wanted to cross over the next bridge, always looking for the next trail.  Even today, if I find a path in the woods, I wander where it goes.

wafer bay bringing the bacon home good day
Adventure
Over forty years ago the world was much bigger then today. In San Jose, Costa Rica I met a couple of Belgians who asked me to join them on a treasure hunt to Cocos Island.
This was before the place was turned into a tourist circus and a world heritage site.
Together we had maybe $2000,no communication equipment, a tent, rice beans, coffee and spices to last for a few month. Hubert had a "treasure map" and a metal detector.
I had a burning craving for adventure and little else.
A chartered shrimp boat dropped us off.
For almost six month we lived off the island without seeing another human being. Then a tuna fishing boat picked us up, barely alive.

the camp wafer bay bringing the bacon home good day
Adventure
Over forty years ago the world was much bigger then today. In San Jose, Costa Rica I met a couple of Belgians who asked me to join them on a treasure hunt to Cocos Island.
This was before the place was turned into a tourist circus and a world heritage site.
Together we had maybe $2000,no communication equipment, a tent, rice beans, coffee and spices to last for a few month. Hubert had a "treasure map" and a metal detector.
I had a burning craving for adventure and little else.
A chartered shrimp boat dropped us off.
For almost six month we lived off the island without seeing another human being. Then a tuna fishing boat picked us up, barely alive.

Every Wild West town has a couple of Old Codgers

A Saloon

A few Saloon Girls

Of course there are some Town's people

But you better not get caught napping, cause you never know when the local villian will show up.  So you better watch your back.

Up next:  The Argument.

I remember the pleasures of growing up near the beach in Greens Farms CT. Days at the beach
I enjoyed visiting my Grandmother and Grandfather_and_me who, it seemed, wanted me to be a drugstore cowboy.
He would take me to the beach in Bridgeport CT, near the Light by the beach
I think what I enjoyed the most though, was living on a farm where I could ride Jerry, an old Drafthorse that had a bridle that was too small and no saddle.
I would lay awake at night dreaming of owning my own Saddle or reading myself to sleep with comics such as The Green Hornet and Superman while eating Little Green Apples.
(no, I never got a belly ache even though mom promised that I would.)

Most photos here are "borrowed" except days at the beach and little green apples. Grandfather and me, grandmother and the lighthouse were handed down.

Enjoy more of my Childhood Pleasures.

Same deal as yesterday's post...
Comments, critiques and criticism welcomed.

as Grandpa refered to it...shaped the south in which I was raised. The Confederate Soldier was not a history figure to him...three of his older brothers fought in the war. He could chronicle the Battle as if he had been there. He seemed to know the pain Before the Battle. He did not romanticize life as a Drummer Boy...drummer boys died. He made the war real for me.

waterbaby When nudity and innocence were indistinguishable.

Just like when I was a child I spent time in the woods this week atMt. Pisgah campsite.Downtown Brevard  has changed a bit, but Looking Glass Fallshas not.Davidson river hasn't either. _        Rhododendron and Tiger Lily both were spectacular.

I decided to use this challenge as another test run of RAW.  I set these up in my living room floor used my built in flash and post-processed in Capture NX.  I played around a little with some of them, saturation, graininess and such.  But not much.  Just testing the waters of both RAW and the program.

Hope you guys enjoy some of my Childhood Pleasures

Comments, critiques, and criticism on any element you can think of (lighting, color, post processing, composition... it's my first try at setting up still lifes).

The thumb is my baby pic :-D

This probably comes as no surprise to those of you familiar with my buggy posts, As a child, my best days were when I played in the fields, explored in the woods, found bugs and frogs. This little guy reminds me of those days. ribbit croak eye see you

After an highly anticipated vacation to Yellowstone National Park last month, I was able to semi-narrow down the list. I know it is not staying with this bi-week's challenge, but just thought I would share just some of our favorite photos up for y'all to enjoy.
Mommoth Hotsprings Inside joke- Mammoth Hotsprings

 Chubby tracks AbandonedVapors

 
 Purple Passion
Say cheese
Howling Clear day Prismatic Pool Best Post Office

Burning nights Cherish

Still learning and as always open to any suggestions. BTW can anyone tell me how someone can copyright their photos?  

  In a small community with very few forms of entertainment we found ways to amuse ourselves, and expend the energy of youth, that ranged from mild amusements to minor felonies.  Pig-riding fell somewhere in the middle.
  We had a small slaughterhouse on the river near where we lived, Valentine Packing was their name.  Almost every Sunday morning, weather permitting, we'd sneak along the riverbank and climb the fence into their stockyards for a little pig-riding.  Sundays they were closed and the guard only half-heartedly tried to run us off.  We were serious pig-riders though and half-hearted attempts wouldn't deter us for long.  One guy even brought a BB gun to shoot us with... I guess guards need their amusements too!
  The objective of pig-riding is to get on at the farthest (dry) end of the lot and hang on during the short, wild, furious, gallop to to the other (wet) end.  Getting off before the wet end near the barn, where the pigs lounge, is important.  Unless your one of those guys who hates company and likes to take more than one bath a day. Getting off was usually easy. The hard part was getting on and hanging on.  We think of pigs as fat but it's a hard fat...kinda like riding a rock.  They are rounded on top with no mane to hold onto, if you were lucky and could catch the ears it helped but that took the perfect mount.
  There were two techniques for getting on, depending on the number of riders.  Both involve herding the pigs to the dry end and bunching them for the mounting attempt.  It takes two, preferably three guys to herd the pigs.  With this small number of guys you had to bunch them, pick your pig, make a mad dash, leap for it's back, hold on for dear life if you make it, avoid trampling if you miss, and don't forget the wet end comes fast.  With a larger number of guys we'd take turns and the riders would climb the fence and the herders would herd them to where they could just drop on the pig's back from the fence.  This was the easiest, surest mount.  Now I don't pretend to understand pig herd dynamics but I do know it's hard, sometimes impossible, to get them to go where you want and when they decide where they want to go, they go there as fast and direct as possible.  I also know when a bunch of screaming guys jump on their backs they want to go to the barn (wet end) in a hurry.  You can effect a little, very little, steerage if you manage to get hold of the ears but I think any change in direction is more from confusion than compliance and it's tough to get the earhold anyway.
  The ride itself is short, intense, exciting, and loads of fun... and if someone doesn't get off before the wet end it's hilarious.  Now before you accuse me of animal cruelty, remember this was probably their last day on Earth and why not let them enjoy it running wild and free occasionally trampling one of their future consumers.  Their last chance to get even before they're bacon.  And since my Dad and Grandpa both bought meat here for their grocery stores we surely ate a few of our former mounts.
  Alas, the golden days of pig-riding are over, at least the urban pig-riding we enjoyed.  My kids never got to experience the thrill of the ride and Jaryd will never get to.  But as you can see from this snapshot, his look of glee and "no hands" technique show that he carries the pig-riding gene in his DNA.  My gift to him.

Snapshot of the New Pig Rider.
 

long, long ago, there was this cute little girl named Kitzi. She lived in an old apartment building in the quaint German town of Schierstein.Kitzi loved to walk to the harbor and look in store windows.   She dreamed of living in a castle on the Rhine River.
  So there you have it...some of my childhood pleasures, of time spent in a small German village on the Rhine. These shots were taken last year when I had the priviledge of returning to my childhood stomping ground. The apartment is the actual apartment I lived in years ago.