Day 120

It's the end of another wonderful weekend. Back to the grind tomorrow. Matt was home this weekend and it was nice to have him around for a while. He has to go back up to G'ville tomorrow. He still has two finals to take. It's hard to believe he is finishing up his junior year. Reba gave me some crap about my picture yesterday so I went out and looked for something a little more fitting tonight. We had gone down to the riverfront in Sanford last night and ran into a big antique car thing. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. While we were there, I noticed that the Condor (mentioned in an earlier post) was in her nest and the babies were getting bigger. I thought maybe tonight I would go back and get a shot of them. For some reason, they weren't around tonight. Instead, I got a picture of this old abandoned dock. I guess palmettos can grow just about anywhere.

Day 119

It was a busy day today. I went and shot another real estate thing. I didn't want to use one of them for my PAD though. I thought this subject was interesting, mainly due to the pattern and bright colors.

Day 118

I am slightly late getting this posted. I took the picture Friday evening, sat down in the easy chair to watch TV and eventually woke up about 4:00 am. I didn't really feel like finishing it up then so it waited until this morning. I've got to say, my new chair is a keeper.

Day 117

"Amaryllis by mornin'...." Ok, if you aren't familiar with 1980's George Strait songs, it isn't funny. Even if you are it's not real funny. Today's picture is of a plant called Amaryllis. this particular plant was a gift from Reba's mom to my mom on Christmas of '89. It has been in our front yard blooming every year since.

Day 116

You know what they say. "An apple a day..." Today I was practicing with some lighting on closeups. Eat an apple and I'll see you tomorrow.

Day 115

I stopped today on the way home from work to deliver a chest to our nephew Todd. He had told me of a park near his home so I figured this would be a good time to check it out. It is called Secret Lake Park. Of course it's not really a secret anymore but it was a lot more secluded than one would think judging by the fact that it is located pretty much in the middle of town. It is from that park that today's picture was taken.

Day 114

Since I did hear about my adventure into the world of new age grammar, I decided to keep this somewhat more conventional. The latest addition to my PAD comes to you from our front porch. I think this may be a mum. On second thought, it may be a daisy. I'm not sure but it is yellow.
Have a nice day.

Day 113

The yard sale is finished and I am very happy about that. We have decided that it will be our last. We did manage to get rid of some stuff we didn't need though so I guess it was worth it. I actually had an opportunity to do something photographical (is that a word?) today. This is a picture of a rose I got for Reba just cause she's so darned sweet.
BTW, I looked it up (photographical) and it is not a word but I'm going to leave it since you knew what I meant anyway. I read somewhere many years ago that proper grammar (and I suppose it carries over to spelling in some instances) am to insure that one are conveying the correct message, thus if you am understood correctly, then technically your grammer were correct. Now, try to sell that load to an English teacher.

Day 112

Well we finally got around to actually having our garage sale. I'm always amazed at what people will buy. It also surprises me when one has an an item which is new and is a small fraction of the price of one purchased at a store, and people look at you like you're nuts for asking so much. I feel like saying "OK a__h____, dont give me $1.50 for it. Go to the store and pay 20 bucks." Oh well, I guess that's really half the fun of it. I did take a break for a while today to take some pictures of a house for a friend who sells real estate. It is one of those that will be my picture of the day. This house was pretty cool but I really liked one feature in the bathroom.

Day 111

OK, OK. Not my best effort.(again). Actually, we are having a yard sale tomorrow which has kept me a little busy for the last couple of days. Now I guess that I could pull out an old one that I took on a day when my schedule was not quite as hectic but that would defeat the whole photo a day thing as I envision it. This started out as my favorite photo taken each day. So even if it sucks, that is what it is going to be. Reba worked very hard on today's subject so let's all give her a big round of applause.

Day 111 Bonus Picture

Since I'm not really pleased with what I have put up here the last two days, I'm throwing in a bonus pic that hopefully you will like better. This is one that I recently submitted in a competition and came out with a 3rd place finish.

Day 110

Not really much here to look at folks. I got busy tonight and had to phone one in so to speak. Have a good day.

Day 109

Today I went for another flower shot. I was experimenting again with the "soft focus" thing. Maybe I'll try it on a portrait one of these days.

Day 108

Hey, I hope everyone recovered from tax day. Reba has been off since Wally and Julie's closed. She won't admit it but I think she is getting bored. It is amazing how many little things she has found to do around here. She even planted a flower garden in the back yard. Tonight's picture is from that garden. I played around with it a little trying something new with the processing. Have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow.

Day 107 TAX DAY. Time for the fair tax.

Normally tax day is April 15, but of course it fell on a weekend so "T" day is today. It is getting late in the day so if you are reading this and haven't sent yours in yet, you had better get a move on!!! I am going to take this opportunity to editorialize a little. President Bush got some tax cuts through a few years ago. That was a start but we need to go further. The current tax code is over 60,000 pages of mess. Even H&R Block screwed their own taxes up. All we hear from the "liberals" is that the "rich" don't pay their fair share. In fact, the top 1 % of wage earners pay 34% of the taxes. The top 50% pay 97%of the total income tax collected. Now anyone that knows me knows that I am far from wealthy. I would like to be able to keep more of what I earn though. There is a bill before Congress referred to as the "fair tax" bill that I encourage you to learn more about. This is not just an idiotic scheme but a legitimate plan that has been analyzed by the leading economists in the country. It is a plan that would cause such a boom in the American economy that many companies that currently have headquarters overseas have said they would move back here. Please check out the plan at www.fairtax.org. Read the material that is there and read the frequently asked questions. I think you will be amazed. If you really want a good book on the subject, try The Fair Tax Book by Neal Boortz. Think about it folks, it's time for a change.

Day 106 Happy Easter

It is getting late so I'm making this a short one. Shot at a park adjacent to a canal off the St. John's River. Happy Easter.

Day 105

Today we went to Gemini Springs for an outing sponsored by the DeBary VFW to honor all of the veterans. My brother in law Mike and his wife Cindy are very involved with the VFW. It was a beautiful day for it and there appeared to be well over a thousand people there. There was good food, a Blackhawk helocopter, and a bunch of vehicles from different eras. Today's picture is of a fly-over by some old WW II planes.

Day 104

Tonight I decided against another heron picture. Our friend Moe seems to think I may be developing some kind of odd fascination with them so I will stay away for a while. It was still back down to the lake but to a different place. I went to the Sanford downtown lakefront. I was hoping to get that moon shot that I've have been talking about but the mosquitos came out before the moon did. In the meantime I did get a shot of the riverboat Romance going out for its sunset cruise on the river. If you will notice, atop the group of pilings is a bird. (no, not a heron) It is a Condor. Although I didn't see them, I was told by a nice lady with binoculars that she has 3 chicks in there with her. Apparently this woman has been watching them for a long time and said that the Condor and her mate have been coming back to the same place for about 5 years now. I am including a blow-up of the top of the piling so you can get an idea of what she looked like.

Day 103

Tonight was going to be the full moon but I decided to wait til next month. I really didn't feel like getting all set up for it and it probably wouldn't be ready to shoot until around 9:00, and ...
All kinds of excuses. I ended up going to the lake again. I may have mentioned that I like to go there. This is another from my heron series. I promise this will be the last...unless I change my mind.

Day 102

I had 3 different ideas at different times for tonight's picture.
1) I had a shot all planned of a full moon coming up at sunset over Lake Monroe. Full moon is tomorrow night.

2) Reba bought a pineapple at the farmer's market today. Sure tasted good but didn't pan out as a picture.

3) The old tried and true walk around the house thing. Bingo!

On the chain link fence separating us from our neighbor to the North, lives a vine called the Confederate Jasmine. It is very valued as a climbing vine in Florida landscapes. The small white flowers which emerge in Spring have a perfume-like fragrance. The vine itself can grow to a height of 20 feet over a period of 5 to 10 years. Despite its name, it is not really a jasmine.

Info from www.rockledgegardens.com

Day 101

For many years, 17-92 through Sanford and DeBary, had a drawbridge where it crossed the St. John's River. I remember how frustrating it was sometimes being in a hurry and having to wait for some silboat to slowly make its way through. A few years ago, the bridge was torn down and a new, taller bridge was built making travel a lot easier. The question then became "what do you do with the old one?" The center rotating part of the bridge was saved and moved to the side of the river to be used a a fishing pier. Tonight's picture is taken from the old one looking toward its replacement.

Day 100

In case you didn't notice, we reached the century mark tonight. It's hard to believe that we are 100 days into 2006 already. Tonight I needed a sillouette picture for a contest on a photosite. Since tonight was the deadline, I figured "what better place than the lake?". I know I have been spending some time by the lake and river lately but the wildlife has been cooperative as has been the sunlight. This is not the shot that I submitted in the competition but I liked this one too.

Bonus Picture

For two reasons, one because it is day 100 and the other because there is something that I want people to see, I am posting a bonus picture tonight. Actually it is two but the second is just a blowup of a portion of the first. I would like first for everybody to notice how cool that bird is. They are an amazing animal. Then, in the second picture, I would like for people to look dead in the center of the photo. There you will see the old fishing line of some inconsiderate bastard who was too lazy to walk 20 feet and put it in the receptacle that the county provides for him. Fortunately, the majestic bird did not get caught up in this line but someday he may not be so lucky and if he gets entangled he will more than likely die. If you fish, please use the trash receptacles and used fishing line tubes. The life you save may be this guy's.

Day 99

It was down to the river today. I went to a park just upriver from where the St. John's exits Lake Monroe. It is a nice park with a boat ramp, camping and several docks that people can sit on and fish. This guy flew in a hung around long enough for me to take a whole lot of pictures of him. Of course a lot of them looked just alike 'cause he was a very patient fisherman. (or is it fisherwoman? fisherbird?) Anyway, he finally got full and took off, I'm sure not ever knowing that he is becoming famous tonight.

Day 98

Have you ever seen the signs on the side of the road pointing out a "Great Florida Birding Trail"? I see them around occasionally and have always wanted to check one out. Today was the day. There is one of them near our house so I took a little ride. After arriving, I learned from the display that it is apparently a home to many Scrub Jays. I'm sure there are other species but they weren't mentioned. It is a nice area, divided into 3 trails, one about a half mile, one was 1.2 miles, and I think the last one was 2.7 miles. It was getting a little late so I chose the middle one and took off, camera in hand, huntin' birdies. Now if this is a great Floria birding trail, I would surely hate to see a crappy one. I saw a grand total of 3 birds on the 1.2 mile hike. Only one of those was a Jay. It happened to be on the ground when I came around a corner and I think it scared both of us. He took off before I could get a picture off. Anyway, it was pretty windy so I am going to assume that the birds were laying low. If nothing else it was a nice walk. The picture today comes from that area. A splash of color in a pile of brush.

Day 97

Spring is here and that means that we are seeing more and more birds, squirrels, lizards and other critters running and flying around. At dusk tonight, I went to our back yard and took this shot of a mockingbird (at least I'm pretty sure it's a Mockingbird) on a power line. I played around with it in Photoshop and ended up with this. I think it doesn't even look like a photo anymore.

Day 96

Many years ago, when we moved into our new house, our friends Carol and Blake gave us an orange tree. We planted it in our back yard and waited. For years we would anxiously await the time of year when the orange blossoms would sweeten the air with their distinctive scent. But alas our little tree was barren. Year after year it refused to grow big and strong. Nary a bloom would appear. We loved it anyway but felt bad that it was never going to bear us the fruit that we dreamed of. Then one day, Reba was talking to the neighbor lady and telling her of our little tree. Marylin asked what kind of fertilizer she used. Fertilizer? That little tree took off like a rocket. It now takes up a corner of our yard. The oranges are so plentiful that they weigh the branches down and you can't see the ground under the tree. It is the only orange tree I have ever seen that still has good oranges on it when the new blossoms arrive. Finally fulfilled, our tree gives us all the oranges and juice we could ever ask for. Go little tree.

Day 95

Unfortunately, this picture is crap. I know it, you know it. There is a reason for it though. I think in a recent post I complained about the people who delivered our new couch (If I didn't then I should have). Anyway, the chairs were scheduled to arrive today between 9 and 5. Someone was to call this morning and narrow it down. Reba was home today so they could deliver. To make a long story short, 7:30 tonight the truck finally drove up. Reba had been on the phone to everyone who would listen. Needless to say, she was not very happy. In honor of her day, this is the back of my new recliner. Yes it is as comfortable as it looks.

Day 94

OK, OK, just one more from the lake and then I'll do something else. I keep trying to get that egret flying in with the sunset behind him (or her), but every night something happens and I miss it. Tonight I was ready. He/she shows up each night somewhere between sunset and dark so I was aimed, focused, and ready to shoot. So tonight, he/she flew in from behind me. Go figure. I give up. Here's one I took while waiting.

Comments

It was brought to my attention today that comments could not be left by other than members. That has now been corrected so that anyone can leave a comment and no name is necessary. Thanks for coming.

Day 93

Finally daylight savings time has arrived and this is the first workday with a little sunlight left at the end of the day. How did I celebrate? I stayed inside and watched the end of the Cub's game on TV. Hey, it is opening day. Btw, the Cubbies won 16-7. After that and dinner, I went back up to the lake for a while. There wasn't a lot going on wildlife wise (except for a couple sitting on a bench) but just before dark, the old trusty blue heron showed up.
Oh, and good luck to the Gator basketball team tonight. GO GATORS!!!!!!!

Day 92

We went to Gemini Springs today for a little while. As we were taking a break on a bench, a caterpillar crawled up next to Reba. Of course I was expected to get rid of it, which I did but only after taking a picture.

Day 91 Goodbye Wally and Julie's

Tonight marked the end of an era in DeLand Florida. Wally and Julie's restaurant closed its doors tonight after 56 years. Reba has been working there for the last 19 of them. In its place will be Molly Malone's. Congratulations on your retirement Wally and good luck.