Which one tickles your fancy?

Actually it's not Potpourri - it's Garden Garbage. Potpourri just sounded better.   :)

 Original Potpourri 

 Grungy Potpourri 

 Abstract Potpourri 

This may not be perfection, but I like it better.

 Bluebird of Happiness 

I took a drive down Highway 1 from San Francisco south to Santa Cruz on Labor Day.  First time I have been down that road with a camera in almost 2 years.  The weather was picture perfect (usually it's foggy at the coast, but not this week).  I discovered Pigeon Point Lighthouse sort of by accident.

The actual lighthouse is closed to the public, but the grounds are open and it's a very scenic spot.  I think I'll be going back....

 lighthouse one 

 lighthouse two (my personal favorite)

 lighthouse three 

 lighthouse four 

 lighthouse five   (fun with photoshop)

Leaving for Hong Kong and Taiwan in a few days.  Hopefully the weather will be better there than it was in Japan.

Well after inheriting my mothers Minolta and buying two rolls just to mess around with, I finially got one roll developed! Now i hope i can figure out how to use this story feature.

 First Mate

 Burgers and Buns

 Wisdom

 Typical Myspace kid -.-

 Game Day

My family is my life and i thought i'd waste most of my first roll on them ;D but seriously I think the next 2 rolls or so i buy will be used for just family pictures that portray my time with them and capture that good ol' atmosphere that hovers around your grandmother.

I also hope to go with just stil lives and local places all the young people like myself go to hang out around my lame town!

comments and suggestions would be great since these are pretty much my firsts! (I know i wont be going to CVS to get them developed since i didnt have time for any better quality this time, i'll choose more wisely next time ;D )

I was sitting out on the deck sipping a beer and reading a Stephen King novel when this scene unfolded in front of me. I take it to be the leading edge of Hurricane-now Tropical Depression-Hanna. We are in for some nasty weather by day break, but it sure got off to a great start this evening.

 Leading Edge 1 

 Leading Edge 2 

 Leading Edge 3 

The is the next part of my camping trip.

There is lots to capture in this beautiful and natural place. I took a couple of hours to drive ( walking has not been a good thing for me lately I was having problems with my knee) around to see the different views. I stopped at a few places to shoot some pictures. here they are.

The first is Science lake;  science_lake_ reflection 
 science_lake_ 

Then to Red House Lake;  DSC_1668_edited_2    one_cloud   DSC_1977_edited_1 

This is Quaker lake in the morning;  DSC_2016_edited_2   DSC_1444_edited_1  and later in the day  quaker_erea_lake_  DSC_1434_edited_1

This is the creek that runs by our cabin  gypsy_lane_creek My boys love to collect crayfish and small fish from here.

This was always my favorite place in the evening.  DSC_1594_edited_2

I will be posting part 3 later. The woods.

Enjoy and all comments welcome as usual. ;)

Borrowed a 100mm Macro for my Canon Xti from a friend, for the weekend, and trying to think of some good reasons not to give it back - - -

Reason 5 - Laid it down in the woods and can't find it -

Reason 4 - Left it in the car in the camera bag and somebody stole it -

Reason 3 - Cats found it and pushed it down the furnace duct - into the furnace -

Reason 2 - I just don't want to be your friend anymore and ain't gonna give your lens back -

and THE NUMBER 1 REASON - Aliens came and abducted us,  took us aboard their ship - released us later but kept the lens thinking it was some sort of WMD.

  Macro 1 

 Macro 2 

 Macro 3 

 Macro 4 

 Macro 5 

 Alien 

Our daughter's rescued kitty presented her with 4 beautiful gifts! In 5 weeks they will be ready for really good homes!!!

 Where is everybody? 

 In the spotlight 

 The Purrfect Boyfriend 

 Too Cute For words! 

You all seem to be having so much fun with grunge effects, that I asked Kitzi to give me a leg up.

 Memories 

So I thought that I would never drive a motorcycle again. But things change. Even the motorcycle has come in a different form. It's light and small, gets over 70 mpg and has automatic shifting.......yes, it's a scooter.

I don't know if it's the same way for everyone else, but don't give up on the slideshow loading...it seems to take awhile to start.

 Scooter   

 Oddly enough, some of the (big boy) bikers will still give me the motorcycle brother sign when they pass-by me sitting on my small ride like a chair. I always thought that was a weird thing anyway.......how come people in cars don't give each other a recognition wave. But now that I think of it........ they do, it's just a one finger salute.

  I can take it on the freeway (if it's not to windy) and hills are no problem. The best thing is the 70 mpg, the second best thing is the storage for the camera equipment.

   "X"

There was a spider outside the upstairs window and I wanted to get a shot of.  Couldn't get the screen out since it's removable only from the outside so had to face a fear of heights to get close to it.  So I grabbed the 7 foot ladder, climbed it, then had to fight my way through a wisteria vine and then pull my camera through.  I got the shot of this  BananaSpider .  Know it's centered and the siding of the house was in the way but hey, I faced a fear of heights to get it!  What a person will do to take a picture!

Have a great day!

... this little beetle  Tiny weevil was too cute to pass up.  It'a less than 1/2 long (including snout) and was on the window framing near the light.

Here are the photo details:

• Camera: Nikon D40X
• Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 G with +3 accessory lens
• Focal Length: 55mm
• Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
• Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
• 1/60 sec - F/10
• Exposure Comp.: +1.0 EV
• Sensitivity: ISO 100
• Optimize Image: Normal
• White Balance: Auto
• AF Mode: Manual
• Flash Sync Mode: Front Curtain
• Flash Mode: Built-in, M x 1/32

A different perspective as seen by the small creatures in a back yard

 grass forest1 

 grass forest3 

 grass forest4 

 grass forest5 

 grass forest7 

Mesa Verde was our last puebloan stop and our second to last stop of the trip.  We had visited Chaco and Canyon de Chelley's ruins, but these topped the cake.  Why you ask?  Because we actually got to crawl inside!  And there were times where I literally mean crawl.  But mostly there were ladders to climb.  This is the entrance to balcony house and the shortest ladder I climbed while there. 

The wood sticking out is the actual remains of a balcony (hence the name of the ruins) and the inside of a kiva (a ceremonial space).  They were a bit fearless and would build almost to the edge of the coves. 
While here we learned that the ruins were used by pueblo people who originally lived on the mesa tops above, but eventually moved to these natural coves to build their dwellings.  Men would literally scale the mountain (like we had to to get out of the dwelling) and tend to the crops up above while the women stayed in the dwellings.  There are actual smoke stains on the ceilings from where they had fires in thier homes.  Men averaged between 5'2" adn 5'4" and women around 4'9".  Men lived longer than women, typically ranging around 35-40 (at this time they became the "story tellers" and quit working the fields) while the women's lifespan was only around 25.

The park was founded on a basis that it be open to the public and that the public be able to walk through the ruins.  They still allow people into the ruins, however to keep erosin to a minimum they only open certain houses up at certain times of the year.  And lastly, they are still finding more ruins in the Mesa Verde Park but the debate is whether to excavate them or leave them as they are to avoid anymore deterioration.

Coming soon, shots from Cliff Palace.  One of the largest dwellings in Mesa Verde.

 Sunset 1 

 Sunset 2  

 One Last Post on my trip from St. Louis to Oakland.

Co-Pilots Log: day 7; Bakersfield, CA, we’re nearly there. Inside a Motel Six that, apparently doubles as a drugstore, (if you know what I mean). We’ve a little liquor left from the bottle of Patron we opened in Vegas. We had told our selves we were saving it for our arrival at our new home. But Vegas called for it. The Hotel we found was amazingly cheap and amazingly decked out. The pool was much needed and things seem to be looking up. I’m getting ahead of myself though. The Grand Canyon came first and it was beyond words. There is nothing like it. Movies and pictures do not do it justice. The complete vastness of it would take years to explore. We saw only a small portion of the southern Rim but snapped about eight rolls of film. We woke up from our bed of rocks at what we supposed was seven A.M. It turned out to be six but we didn’t find that out till later. It was good that we woke up early and beat much of the tourist rush. The area where the fancy hotels and cabins are located was disappointing and lame, but the throngs of foreign tourist and ignorant American brats running about was pushed aside for the majesty of the canyon. I’ve never stared so long at a hole in the ground. I wish we could have spent more time, but Vegas were calling and it was a few hundred miles away. After brunch at a Flintstones themed restaurant/gift shop/dilapidated theme park, we sped through the remainder of Arizona. I actually got to take the wheel for only the second time on the trip. I drove as fast as I could without alarming the Capitan the stretch was long, straight, and flat. That was until we reached the winding down hill road of the Hoover Dam. That was after we survived a police check point that reminded me of the old WWII films. “Where are your papers”, were the only thing they didn’t say. I angered everyone behind us as I took the turns through the Dam slowly. Had we not been hauling everything we owned I would have loved to stop and get a few pics. I relied instead on the Captain hanging out the passenger window. The ride out was equally as winding only uphill instead. Then it was onward into Vegas. After we got into some heavy traffic the Captain demanded the wheel back and we pulled into the hotel. Terrible's Hotel and Casino, $39 bucks a night and you get a giant ass flat screen TV, a phat ass pool surrounded by Palm Trees and all the towels you can steal. The place was guarded by a Giant neon and steal Mexican Sherriff. We were so giddy. The power of the Canyon had reinvigorated us and we were prepared to take on Vegas. I of course was pre occupied with hopes of getting hitched by the King of Rock’n’Roll. This caused some friction, but not as much as the lights and gaudy shtick on the main strip. We had more fun the next morning in the Hotel casino. I recommend Terrible’s to one and all. There service was impeccable and there steak was delicious. They were the only ones who actually paid attention to our empty hands and glasses. About $60 was lost overall, not bad. After our Steak and Nachos breakfast/lunch, the Captain gave in to my desire to be married by Elvis. Only there wasn’t enough time to get the license and the wedding without staying another night. The whole deal would have run us another four hundred easy and we simply couldn’t afford it. So we’ll have to come back.  Beyond Vegas lied Death Valley and 111Ëštemperatures. “Out in the Dessert”, John sang, “There would be no worries.” No worries Other than the van overheating, and not making it to any camp grounds before dark, forcing us into another motel. And any motel would be a letdown after the luxury of Las Vegas. And we weren’t any where special hidden three blocks off the strip. But dreams of penny slots will have to comfort me tonight as I drift off to reruns of Ghost in the Shell and crystal meth is bought and sold outside the door. I’m not sure how Cali is going to receive either of us, but we are here now. The heat is starting to subside. I think we may do alright.

 New_Mexico44  Kansas12  New_Mexico3  Flinstones2  Kansas7  Kansas6  Dodge_City5  Grand_Canyon42