Crunchy Frog

Photoblog

2006-09-10T15:53:00.000-04:00

I am experimenting with posting pictures on a new photoblog, just to give me something to do. It is at http://www.freewebs.com/mwalters/index.html. Check it out and let me know what you think. My intention is to put a picture there everyday; we'll see how that works out.

Not much is going on here, as usual. Yesterday we watched the shuttle launch from the front yard. I didn't try to take any pictures, as I think they pretty much look alike from this vantage point. (On the other hand, most of my pictures look alike, and that hasn't stopped me so far ...)

We went out to eat at the Chinese place last night, it was pretty good. Not as good as the one in Coca, but it is much farther away, about a 30 minute drive each way. This place is right down the street, so it is much more convenient.

I found a place online to listen to the Aggie football game, so I did that last night, and alternately ran in the next room to watch t.u. get beat. It was a hard game to watch, as I'm not a big Ohio State fan either. I was happy with the result, at any rate.

Hope all are well. Look at my photo thingy and leave some comments, so I can see if it works!

Gulf Fritillary

2006-08-06T19:44:00.000-04:00

Gulf Fritillary Laying Eggs
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a shot of a butterfly laying eggs on our Passion Flower vine that I took yesterday. This is the same kind of butterfly that hatched out a week or so ago. This was just a lucky shot; I didn't know it would show this until I looked at it later. I knew what it was dong, but didn't expect to see anything like this. If you look closely you can see one of the eggs near the tip of the butterfly's tail. I think most of this crop of eggs are gone already, as I couldn't find any this morning.

Friday we had another goof-off day, this time it was a picnic for the whole organization. Seems like this place has more picnics and goof off things than anywhere else I've been in the AF. Left work about 11:15, and went. The food was good, and I managed to stay out of the Doritos and beer. After eating a few of us sat around and played spades for a couple hours while listening to the live band they had. They were not too bad. I left there about 2:30 and went to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes, then went home.

We've had a nice quiet weekend. Yesterday I got up early and went to the base to get a haircut, then went to the gym for an hour or so. I like it better when I'm not in a rush to get home. Spent a little time outside chasing butterflies, and had a little success. We seem to have a lot more of them around now that the plants are growing in. Usually you don't have to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes to see one now.

Saturday night we went and tried a Chinese place that a guy at work recommended, and it was pretty good. Not a big place, but the food was good and service was good too. We all had a good time, and Anne seemed to be in a good mood and enjoy it too. It's nice to have another restaurant to add to our list.

Didn't do much today. Worked a little outside to try and fix some of the landscape lights that broke some time ago. Two of them are at the base of our three big palms. I'm not sure if the chunks falling out of the trees broke them, or the lawn mowing guys bumped into them. Managed to fix one, I think, but the other is too broken to support itself. We're thinking of having them all replaced with solar-powered lights, then they would be a lot easier to replace if something went wrong with them.

Not much more to say here! Hope all are well.

Swan

2006-07-30T18:47:00.000-04:00

Swan nature wildlife
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a picture I took the other night when I took my new tripod (b-day and anniversary present from Sally) out to play with it. I used a longer exposure as an experiment, and think it came out interesting, it's nice and peaceful looking.

The last four days have gone by way too fast, but they were great. My birthday especially was real good. Friday the UPS man showed up with my tripod, which is real nice and allows me to try things I couldn't do before. Saturday and today were nice and quiet. Went to the zoo this afternoon and took some pictures of the alligator and crocodile feeding, some of which are OK but not great. Perhaps you'll see one of them in the near future ..

I'm having a hard time figuring out what to use my birthday loot for, so my current plan is to save it! I need probably one more lens at the wide angle end, and then I will be more or less happy for a while (ha). Other than that, I don't need too much!

Hope all are well!

New Butterfly

2006-07-27T12:44:00.000-04:00

New Butterfly
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a newly emerged Gulf Fritillary on our passion flower vine! A nice way to start my birthday, after sleeping in!

We are well. I have been going to the gym real regularly, and feel good! I'm thinking of going 5 days a week rather than just the 3 they give me at work, so I can alternate some of the weight lifting with the treadmill etc. Hopefully I can keep it up, as I feel better and it gives me something to do.

Sally is busy making me a chocolate birthday cake! Can't wait! Wish all of you were here to help us eat it!

Space Shuttle Discovery

2006-07-04T15:07:00.000-04:00

Space Shuttle Discovery
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, graciously delayed by NASA until Anne's 25th birthday. I took this from the driveway. It came out better than I expected; at full size you can see the booster tanks. Hope you enjoy it! God speed to the astronauts.

We are all fine here; Sally made reservations for the good Chinese place tonight so we can take Anne and celebrate her birthday! Hopefully the other 200,000 who showed up to watch the launch will have gone home by then (but i doubt it, with fireworks scheduled).

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July!

Passiflora

2006-07-01T12:38:00.000-04:00

Passiflora
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a picture of one of the passion flower blooms in the butterfly garden. The plants are starting to look better, as we have had a good amount of rain this week. We're supposed to have a chance for more over the next few days. Hopefully not today, so the shuttle can launch on time. We will be able to see it from the front yard (if we don't forget to go look!). Actually from this distance the launches all look sort of alike.

The most interesting thing I have done over the last few days is figure out the combination to my old padlock that I want to use at the gym. Sally found the lock for me, and it was open but there was no sign of the combination. I thought I remembered it (until I locked it and tried to open it). Oops. Before getting a new one, I decided to look online and see what I could find.

Turns out there is a way to narrow down the number of possibilities for the combination to only 100 if you have an older Master lock. The basic idea is that you can figure out the last number by pulling on the shank and turning the dial, and seeing where it sticks. If all goes well it will stick in 12 places, one of which is the last number. You can actually figure out which of the 12 is the last number also. At that point, there are only 10 possible first numbers and 10 possible second numbers, so you only have to try 100 combinations. (Not as many as it sounds like).

I was led astray at this point, because I thought I knew the last number, so I didn't investigate the 12 possibilities as closely as I should have. Turned out I was wrong, and the last number was one of the 12 I did not suspect. If I had trusted the directions (and known what I know now) I would have found the last number right away.

It opened on the 25th try, so it only took about 5 minutes once I had picked the last number correctly.

So, if you have an old master lock combination lock you can't open, don't throw it away!

All is well here, as we count down to the Anne's birthday!

Butterfly plants

2006-06-25T18:31:00.000-04:00

Butterfly plants
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a shot of one of the plants in the butterlfy garden. So far they are all still alive, although we haven't had much rain. We did get a little today, but not as much as we were expecting. Hopefully the rain will pick up a little.

The most excitement I had this week was the other day when the tv started changing channels all by itself every 10 seconds or so. It was driving me crazy until I figured out I was sitting on the remote. Go figure.

We have had our usual exciting weekend; didn't do anything but did go out to eat tonight instead of last night. We went to Outback, and it was good but slower than usual.

Hope everyone in Richmond is having a great time; we look forward to seeing some pictures of everyone together. Hope all are well; we are fine here.

Happy Father's Day!

2006-06-18T17:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day!
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad and Father-in-law! We wish we could be with you guys today!

Not much is going on here, as usual. Went to dinner last night at the Italian place (my choice!) and it was great, as usual.

We had a fair amount of rain overnight, and it has been a little cloudy most of the day, and cooler than usual. We had over a 1/2" in the rain gauge this morning, but I'm not sure when it was dumped out last. At any rate, we need all the rain we can get.

Hope you had a good time camping, Mom and Dad, and that all is well!

Klipspringer

2006-06-16T20:14:00.000-04:00

Klipspringer
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Happy Birthday to my favorite granddaughter!

The picture is a klipspringer, taken at the Brevard Zoo last Sunday. They are small deer-like critters.

We finally got some rain to speak of, although it is nice today. Work this week went by real fast, as we were pretty busy. Hopefully we will have a quiet weekend. Not much is planned (big surprise there ...). Maybe a trip to the zoo tomoroow, but that will depend on the weather etc. I don't like to go if it is too cloudy, as it is pretty dark in the first place. I need to go back on a Sunday afternoon some time, and try to get pictures of the alligators and crocs jumping out of the water when they feed them.

Hope all are well!

Heron

2006-06-11T18:37:00.000-04:00

Heron
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a young heron that I saw at the zoo. He's sitting on the platform where they feed the crocodiles. This picture is cropped in quite a bit, but I think it came out pretty well for as far away as it was.

Sounds like everyone at Mom and Dad's is having a grand time. Wish we could be there! I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of everyone.

We got about 1/2+ inch of rain today, with the prospect of more to come in the next few days as tropical storm Alberto does its thing. Doesn't look to be much of a storm at this point, but we should get some rain at least. Don't think the winds will be much to worry about.We've had a good weekend so far. Dinner last night was sub-par at Durangos; got a waitress that didn't do a whole lot and the steak Anne and Sally shared was not too great either. Other than that it was great!

Hope all are well!

Watch the birdie ...

2006-06-05T17:50:00.000-04:00

Watch the birdie ...
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

My new toy came today, so I had to run out and play with it. This was taken with it from our driveway. It's a little easier to sneak up on the birds with this lens, but I still can't get too close.

Yesterday Anne and I went to the zoo, and watched them feed the alligators and the crocodile. I didn't take my camera because it was threatening to rain (and it did while we were there). I'll have to go back and get some pictures of that, especially the crocs which are pretty amazing; they just about jump clear out of the water jumping up to get their food. The alligators can't jump so high, but there are a lot of them so it is still impressive.

I think the rainy season has finally kicked in here, some places around here set a daily record for rainfall yesterday I think. We didn't get much here unfortunately.

Hope all are well and having a good time! Everybody hug everybody else for me...

Florida gator

2006-06-03T18:20:00.000-04:00

Florida gator
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is an example of the local wildife! Fortunately this one is at the zoo, and not in our backyard ...

We just came back from eating out, our usual Saturday night excursion. Had another good meal. It is quite hot out, probably mid 90s I think. We haven't had any rain to speak of for a while; I hope it gets to it pretty quick. I think there was a thunderstorm last night, but we didn't get any of it. Soon thunderstorms will be a lot more frequent, which should help.

Not much is new here. We are all well. I hope that Brian and Christine and the little one have a safe trip to Mom and Dad's house and that all have a good time. We wish we could be there too! Also hope that you are feeling better Mom; try not to overdo it while the kids are there.

Baby Sandhill Cranes

2006-05-31T18:06:00.000-04:00

Baby Sandhill Cranes
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

First, let me say Happy Birthday to my big sister! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Here is another view of the baby cranes at the zoo. I think they look like baby rubber chickens, myself.

Here is a cute logic puzzle you may enjoy. The directions are in Japanese, but I'll explain it below. It may take a while to load if you have a slower connection, but I think you'll enjoy it. When the page loads, you hit the big round circle in the lower right corner to start.

What you see is a group of people at a river. The goal is to get everyone across the river using the raft. Only two people can ride the raft at a time, and only the adults (the mother and father or the policeman) can drive the raft. The father cannot be alone with the daughters, and the mother cannot be alone with the sons. The convict cannot be with any of the family unless the policeman is there (i.e. the convict must be alone or with the policeman).

Click on the people you want to cross to put them on the raft, and then click on one of the red knobs to make them cross.

Anne did this in about three minutes, much faster than I did. Hope you enjoy it!

Sandhill Cranes

2006-05-29T16:11:00.000-04:00

Sandhill Cranes
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

I'm enjoying my last lazy day away from work, so thought I would post another pic and add a few words.

I got up this morning and went for a walk while it was still cool(er) then came home and decided to go to the zoo for a bit. I only stayed long enough to fill up one memory card (about 65 pics, most of which aren't any good!) and then came home. It was really starting to get hot. They open to zoo to members 30 minutes early, so it is easy to park and there's not many people there.

The sandhill crane babies are really growing; we saw them 2 weeks ago and I think they were about 1/2 this size. They are pretty cute I think. Never see any babies around here (although we did see one once by the side of the road in Melbourne while going to dinner).

Still no rain here. My new lens was shipped today, so maybe I can get it by the weekend and try it out!

Hope all are well!

What are you looking at?

2006-05-27T11:26:00.000-04:00

What are you looking at?
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Sorry I have been so remiss in blogging ... part of the reason is that I haven't taken many new photos recently, and the other part is that nothing much is going on!

I am enjoying my time off from work; most of us worked overtime for the last two weeks so we could take yesterday off and make a four-day weekend of it. So far it has been nice and uneventful, which is the way I like it (other than spending two hours yesterday fixing my broadband connection).

We had some thunderstorms yesterday, but very little rain to speak of. The ponds here are really starting to show the lack of water; one has completely dried up and the others are not looking too happy. Hopefully we will enter the rainy season (such as it is) soon and get caught up, without any hurricanes!

Well, that's about all for now. Hope that you are feeling better Mom. I know you are looking forward to seeing Brian and family in a few weeks; we are also looking forward to getting to see them as soon as it works out!

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-14T11:46:00.000-04:00

Frangipani
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Happy Mother's Day Mom (and to all the other mothers that might read this!) I hope you have a great day! Wish we could be there to spend it with you.

Not much is going on here; we went out to eat last night after our trip to the zoo. Went to the Italian place, and got there early enough that we had no problem getting in. It was very good, as usual.

Still no rain here. Went for a walk this morning, about 3 miles or so. It was nice, not too warm yet and there was some breeze. We sure need to get some rain, as the ponds are real low. I bet they are at least a foot low, if not more than that! Soon we will get into the summer thunderstorms, and things will improve!

Hope all are well, we are doing well here. Anne is out on the back porch, combing some of her sheep's wool that she got in Maryland (to prepare it to spin). Bye for now!

Anne and friend

2006-05-13T15:40:00.000-04:00

Anne and friend
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

We took a brief trip to the zoo today, and then came back to get ready to go out and eat. Guess what happened right after I took this picture? Actually it wasn't too bad.

Sorry I didn't call yesterday for your birthday, Dad. I intended to when I got home and forgot, and then decided later not to because I thought you might not be home. I'll try to call later tonight or Sunday for mother's day. Hope all are well and that you had a great birthday! We all we could have been there with you.

Alpaca

2006-05-11T15:07:00.000-04:00

Alpaca
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is an alpaca, taken last weekend in Maryland. They are pretty cute. Check out the eyelashes!

Today we had another mandatory fun day, left work at 9:30 and went to a baseball game, then home by 2:15. It was not too bad, for baseball. We all sat in the outfield on our lawnchairs on the berm and ate hot dogs for 3 hours. Not bad work if you can get it. There were about 5 balls hit out where we were, one home run and some hop over the fence types. We let the little kids get them, as they seemed to enjoy it.

The brush fires continue to be a problem here, with the freeway closed in the morning and other road closings occasionally. So far I think about 6000 acres in Brevard county have burned. Fortunately very few homes, maybe only 1. They say the fires actually burn under the ground sometime and start what they call a "muck fire", which can smolder for days and pop up some distance away from where it started. I think such events are as nature intended, we are just living in the wrong place. So far it has not impacted us much, other than smelling a little smoke now and then. If we wanted to drive to Orlando, that would be another story! Fortunately we pretty much sit tight most of the time.

Hope all are well!

Jo and Eric

2006-05-08T19:49:00.000-04:00

Jo and Eric
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Another pic from Virginia. This was the best of Jo and Eric. As before, I can send you the full size if you want.

Group photo

2006-05-08T19:44:00.000-04:00

IMG_3064
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a picture of all of us in Virginia. This is the only one that has the entire group in it (I thought there was another, but there wasn't). I uploaded this at the original size, but Flickr did not save it at that size. So, if you want the original size (i.e. to print) let me know and I will get it to you somehow.

We had a good time in Richmond and later in Maryland. Thanks again to Jo and Eric (and Becky) for putting up with us! It was great. We are pretty tired, but home in good shape.

Mom, I hope you feel better soon! We miss you all.

Brushfire

2006-04-28T21:14:00.000-04:00

Brushfire
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is a picture of the smoke from the brushfire in Northern Brevard county taken yesterday from our driveway. As of this afternoon it had burned about 1800 acres, but I don't think any homes were burned. The fire is about 15 miles away from us, farther than it looks. When I took this yesterday I didn't really know what it was; this morning when I went out I smelled smoke, and thought there was a fire in the neighborhood or something. When I saw the paper then I realized what I saw yesterday (duh). The freeway has been closed on and off today and yesterday because of the smoke and the lowflying helicopters that are dumping on the fire. I think it is pretty much under control and is no threat to us because it is far away. If you want to read about it go to www.floridatoday.com. It will be nice to get some real rain, as things here are very dry. Shouldn't be too much longer before the rains begin; we finally had thunder the other day for the first time in a long while.

We are fine, I'm glad the weekend is finally here!

Lorikeet

2006-04-27T20:16:00.000-04:00

Lorikeet
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Another lorikeet picture. I really like them, they are amazing little birds and very colorful.

I got home last night about 8:15, after helping the gal at work move. There were four of us that showed up, plus her husband who had rented a big u-haul truck. The five of us were pretty busy. When we got the truck over to the new place, we discovered that the guy they bought the house from had not moved his furniture out like he was supposed to. So, we got to wedge everything in amongst the rest as best we could. It was interesting. Especially when the sprinklers came on and we had to move the stuff we had put on the lawn. But it all came out OK! Needless to say I was pretty pooped when I came home. I'm looking forward to this weekend...

Reflections

2006-04-25T20:57:00.000-04:00

Reflections
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is a tree right down the street; I took it early one Saturday morning. I'm not sure what kind of trees these are, but they all are surrounded by the little stumps sticking out of the ground. I liked the reflections on this one.

This week has been slow so far. Tomorrow night I'm going to help one of the women at work move; three or four of us from the office and her husband are going to haul furniture for a few hours. Should be a lot of fun (not)! Fortunately they don't have any big stuff, so it shouldn't be too bad.

I was sorry to hear your news from the weekend Mom and Dad. I hope you are feeling better now and can return to normal soon. These last few weeks have been hard on you I'm sure; wish I could be there with you.

Miss you all!

Scarlet Macaw

2006-04-20T21:27:00.000-04:00

Scarlet Macaw
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Yet another bird picture ... I have a lot of them, because they are the most photogenic things at our zoo. So, you'll probably have to get used to them!

This week is going by very quickly; we have yet another sanctioned goof-off day at work tomorrow afternoon (otherwise known as an offsite). This time we're going to leave early and go to the beach and eat pizza. Nothing like mandatory fun, but at least it beats working! So I should be home early tomorrow.

The bookcases came today, and they look real nice, just like the others. We got an extra shelf, because they said one of them was messed up (thought they couldn't find it when they tried to show us). So, if we have enough midget books we can use an extra shelf. One thing we don't seem to be short of is books.

I took another nice walk tonight, I figure just under 3 miles as I walked 48 minutes. I have walked 99 miles since I started in February, a little over two months ago. Can't believe I'm still doing it! I can tell that it is doing me some good.

Hope that all are well!

The Easter Anteater!

2006-04-17T18:44:00.000-04:00

Giant Anteater
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Couldn't find a picture of the Easter Bunny, so thought I would post one of the lesser-known Easter Anteater. After I took this he stuck his nose (snout?) through the fence and checked me out. They are pretty big. I'm not sure what he eats, since I didn't see any ants. Maybe Purina Anteater Chow?

Went for a nice 48 minute walk tonight. I have found a nice walk that I can go out as far as I want and then turn around, so I am walking by time rather than distance for now to try and build my time up.

Hope all are well! Enjoy your camping trip Mom and Dad. I'm looking forward to hearing from Brian and Christine and the little one, and seeing them again. I hope they are getting settled in OK. I know how hectic that is to fit in at a new place and get everything taken care of.

Happy Easter!

2006-04-16T17:15:00.000-04:00

Lorikeet
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

I hope everyone had a happy Easter today! We have had a peaceful day at home. Sally is going to fix the ham etc. in a little while, which should be good. I'm hungry, as I just got back from walking again. I took a different route than usual, so I'm not too sure how far I went. I walked 45 minutes, so I figure it was about 2.6 miles based on my usual speed which isn't too fast. This route is nice, about half of it is through the woods so it is more shaded. Also don't have to cross much in the way of streets, so I won't get run over while not paying attention to where I'm going.

The picture is a lorikeet, taken in the aviary at the zoo. Be sure to look at the original size if you have a chance; I think it turned out real nice. (If you look real close and use your imagination you can see my reflection in the birds eye). These birds are very colorful, and will eat out of your hand if you use the stuff they are happy to sell you at the zoo!

Brevard Zoo Bird

2006-04-15T19:28:00.000-04:00

Brevard Zoo Bird
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Believe it or not, I went to the zoo again today. Sally and Anne decided not to go at the last minute. It's a good thing, because it was real hot, much hotter than I expected. I took a number of bird pictures that I will post in coming days. The aviary is nice, because the birds are flying free and you can go right up to them. Makes it easier to take nice closeups. This shot is not cropped, just resized from the original. Check out the full size!

Hope all are well. We went out to eat at Durangos, and had a nice meal. I got shrimp for a change, and Sally and Anne split a nice steak. We had a good time.

Looks like we'll have a warm and rainless Easter. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and the bunny brings everybody lots of goodies!

Zoo squirrel

2006-04-14T20:04:00.000-04:00

Zoo squirrel
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Another week is over. We got off about 30 minutes early today, so I was able to get home a little earlier than normal. Had another nice walk at about 5:30, after the sun was a little lower so I don't burn up. So far I have walked about 90 miles since I started in February, and have lost about 5 pounds. So far so good!

You probably heard from Sally that she talked to Brian today on the phone briefly, and that they have arrived in good shape. Hopefully they can get settled in soon, and before long we can see them again!

Giraffe

2006-04-13T17:23:00.000-04:00

Giraffe
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

The zoo has some real nice giraffes. There are about 5 of them I think, also a baby that was born a few weeks ago but is not yet on display. They will walk right up to a platform where you can feed them from your hand; I have some close-up shots I will post later. I was on the platform when I took this, so we are both at the same eye-level. Makes for an interesting view.

The weather continues the same. Cool and sunny, with no real rain to speak of . We got off work about 15 minutes early today, so I was home earlier than usual which is nice. I may skip my walk tonight since I have walked four days in a row now; but haven't decided.

Brian and family should be on their way home today! Can't wait to see them.

Flamingos

2006-04-12T19:23:00.000-04:00

Flamingos
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here are some flamingos (I think) at the zoo. They have maybe a dozen or so of them wading in a big pool.

The weather continues to be cool, with not much rain. We had a little yesterday, but just sprinkles. I think this is usually our driest part of the year.

Not much else is going on. Just got back from my walk, and Sally is putting dinner together for me so thought I would take a few minute to write another note. Wish I had more to say! Work is going fine, we're real busy as usual.

One of my friends at work gave me some milkweed plants to put somewhere, to try and attract Monarchs (butterflies). I think Sally will put them in an empty flowerbed on the side of the house where they don't really show. Once the caterpillars get to them they look pretty mangy, but the idea is to attract the butterflies and grow some new ones, not to look at the plants! We'll see how it works out.

Golden Eagle

2006-04-11T18:43:00.000-04:00

Golden Eagle
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a golden eagle at the Brevard Zoo. He obliged me by spreading his wings out real nice. The original size at Flicker looks better; hope you enjoy it.

Today was not too eventful. I left the house earlier than usual and did not figure out why until I got to work (yes I was wearing my pants). Turned out that I forgot to shave. I haven't done that in a long time; I think I did it once in 25 years I was active duty (Sally brought my electric razor to work for me!) I was not thinking straight this morning; I also started to throw my tooth brush in the trash can after I finished brushing my teeth. Guess my brain was preoccupied. Fortunately we have a rather relaxed dress code at work (we were told we have to wear clothes). But I managed to get to work and back without coming close to running into anyone or doing anything stupid.

They are putting in a traffic light at the main intersection down the street from our house, which I hope will make it easier and safer to turn in there. There was not much progress for a long time, and all of a sudden they have the whole thing up, but not turned on yet. I'm sure that's exciting news...

Parrot

2006-04-10T16:39:00.000-04:00

Parrot
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is a close-up of the same parrot I posted previously. I thought this came out pretty good considering it was about 15 feet away or so.

Not much happened today. I just got home from work. I almost ran in to two different idiots on the way home (one of which would probably have been my fault), so I think I need to take a walk and slow down a little bit! There are a lot of crazy drivers around here. I need to make sure that I am not turning into one of them!

Hope all are well!

Red Ibis

2006-04-09T08:59:00.000-04:00

Red Ibis
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is a red ibis at the Brevard Zoo. They are actually redder than this, believe it or not.

We had some thunderstorms overnight, and it sounded like we got a good shower.

The fire at Wickham park burned up about 250 acres, but there was no significant damage to any homes. Some storage buildings in the park burned. The fire actually jumped across the road that we drove down when we went home after dinner after we left, but was put out quickly. I think they were watching it through the night, but the rain hopefully squelched it. That was the first significant rain we've had in quite a while, so hopefully it will help with the dry conditions.

I didn't walk yesterday, other than the 3 hours at the zoo! I'm a little sore, so I must have walked more than I thought. Hope all are well!

Parrot

2006-04-08T14:22:00.000-04:00

Parrot
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

I thought you might like this picture I took at the zoo today. The zoo is nice, not real big and not a lot of different animals, but there was enough to keep me busy for a while. Lots of interesting birds. The butterfly house isn't open yet, so that gives me something to go back for.

The weather continues to be the same, sunny and not too hot. We're supposed to have a chance for rain tomorrow. We sure could use some.

Hope all are well! We are fine. In another hour or so we're going to stop back by the zoo (I got a membership so we can all go as often as we want) and then go out to eat again. Anne seems to be doing well.

Yet another flower!

2006-04-07T18:23:00.000-04:00

Flower
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This flower was quite large, probably 6 or 8 inches in diameter as I recall; I have no idea what it is but thought it was interesting.

Tomorrow we may go to the zoo, so maybe I can post something besides butterflys and flowers for a change!

Hope all are well.

Flower

2006-04-06T18:05:00.000-04:00

Flower
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is another picture I took last week; not sure what it is, but it is colorful. If you know what it is, let me know! I should probably write down the names of things I photograph, if I know what they are.

Sally called me at work this afternoon and said they were about 2 hours behind, and had just taken Anne in. They are not home yet, so no news on that front. I'm sure they are fine, just taking their time.

Glad to hear that you got home OK, Mom and Dad. Sorry we could not be there with you. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of your flowers, Jo. Wish that we had more in the yard here; I am finding it almost more challenging to take pictures of flowers than bugs. They don't run away as fast, and they look better too! The new lens is very good for this sort of thing; I can fill the frame with a butterfly or flower bud etc. without getting too close and end up with a pretty good picture sometimes.

Sally just called and said they are on their way home, and that all is well!

Monarch 2

2006-04-05T18:28:00.000-04:00

Monarch 2
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is another picture of a monarch butterfly I took last Saturday at Rockledge Gardens.

The weather is really nice today, cool and clear. We just got home from going out to eat at the new Outback that opened not too far away. Since Anne is having her wrist worked on tomorrow we thought we'd give her one last chance to cut some meat. It was real good for a new restaurant, and we didn't have to wait to get in although it was crowded.

Hope everyone is well. Sally tells me she mailed the CD today with the pictures on it, so it should come before too long. Of course, then you will have seen all the pictures I can put on the blog, so I guess I need to find something else to take pictures of!

Monarch

2006-04-04T19:42:00.000-04:00

Monarch
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is another photo I took on Saturday at Rockledge Gardens. This is one of my first Monarch photos, and I hope you like it.

The weather has become cooler, and it is quite cloudy today. Still no rain however.

Hope that all are as well as can be expected.

Orchids

2006-04-03T17:19:00.000-04:00

Orchids
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Saturday I went to Rockledge Gardens (a large nursery) and took a lot of pictures. They have lot of nice plants and a butterfly house. I made a cd that we will send to you, Mom and Dad, similar to the one I sent before. If you want prints of anything on it, let me know and I will make them for you. The pictures on the cd are not good enough to print (not high enough resolution, but OK to look at on the computer). More pictures to come ...

anthers

2006-04-01T08:06:00.000-05:00

flowers
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

I'm up early on this beautiful Saturday, while the ladies sleep, and decided to post another picture. Hope you like it. Later this morning I plan to go looking for butterflies, unless I get lazy.

The weather continues to be about the same, very nice with no rain. It looked on the radar like maybe they're was some rain in Texas last week. Wish some of it could come here, but it will soon enough. Only 2 months until hurricane season! (ha). Hopefully this year will be less of a worry than last year.

I hope your trip to Louisiana was OK, Mom and Dad. I'm so sorry that Elmer is not doing better. Hope everyone else is well.

Grapefruit are coming again!

2006-03-30T18:36:00.000-05:00

grapefruit
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is a picture of some of the blooms on the grapefruit. The petals have already come off of these I think. Looks like we will have another big crop. I thought it was kind of early, but Sally reminded me the tree was blooming when you were here last year.

Not much new to report.

This bud's for you

2006-03-29T19:57:00.000-05:00

This bud's for you
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Took this picture in the front yard today after my walk. I'm not sure what they are, but they are very small flowers, maybe an inch or inch and a half in diameter.

The weather here continues to be the same. Nice and cool, but dry. We are about 6 or 7 inches behind in rainfall since November I think. I think this is typically our dryest part of the year.

Sally and Anne are well, and I am doing good too. Hope all is well.

Yet another swan!

2006-03-28T18:54:00.000-05:00

Swan
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

The weather continues to be very nice here. Still no rain. I came home from work today and took a walk. I can tell that the walking is starting to make a difference, my feet etc. don't bother me at all anymore. After walking I went out and played with the new camera lens that arrived yesterday. It is a 100mm macro lens, so I can focus very close to things. I used it to take this picture too. This is one of my better swan pictures, so I hope you like it. It is hard to not overexpose them because they're so white, and it's easy to lose detail in the feathers. But I think this one is nice. Once the swan realized I wasn't going to feed it, it lost interest in me.

I hope all is well there; we are fine here.

Sandhill Crane

2006-03-26T08:06:00.000-05:00

Sandhill Crane
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

I took an early walk this morning and saw this guy down the street.

So far the weekend has been real nice, cool and sunny. Had some rain the other day for the first time in a while. We are all well. Went out last night to the Italian place, it was excellent as usual.

Sometimes you feel like a nut ...

2006-03-21T17:22:00.000-05:00

What are you looking at?
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Saw this little guy yesterday when I was taking my walk. All the critters are starting to come out. Sally and Anne had a baby swan siting yesterday, but I haven't seen them yet. I'm sure I'll come across them in good time.

Hard to believe it has been a whole year since Mom and Dad were here. Seems like just the other day. I wish I could be there with you tomorrow for your birthday, Mom. You'll have to have some goodies for me.

Sally is busy making gumbo, and I just came home from walking. All is well.

All I need

2006-03-20T17:30:00.000-05:00

All I need
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Knitting? Check.
Spool of nifty yarn? Check.
New copy of Foreign Affairs? Check.
Rubber Ducky? Check.

Palm trees at the park

2006-03-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

Palm trees at the park
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Here is another photo I took yesterday when I was at the park in Suntree. This picture has been reduced from its original size, so it is not as good.

We had a quiet day today. I was up early as usual. Had a nice walk this afternoon of a little over 3 miles. Other than that, not much is going on.

Wish I could be there with all of you, I'm sure you're having a good time.

Big Bird

2006-03-18T10:32:00.000-05:00

raptor
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Got up early this morning and went out to look for something to put in my camera. Didn't see too much, but I did see this guy (gal?). Not sure what he (her?) is; saw it at the park down on the Indian river. There is a large nest on top of a tall pole there (see my pictures on Flickr, I'll try to remember to put one there), with lots of chirpy noises coming from it. This one here belonged to the nest I think, but I never saw it land on it. Will have to go back and investigate some more. I thought it was an osprey at first, but it doesn't look right to me after looking at other photos. I thought this picture was not too good, but have found a lot on line that are worse, so here it is! The park is real nice, but faces east so the morning sun made choice of photos a little limited.

Peek a Boo

2006-03-17T21:00:00.000-05:00

Peek a Boo
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Smile, you're on Candid Camera!

Walkway

2006-03-16T19:13:00.000-05:00

Walkway
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Another picture I took yesterday during my evening walk. Didn't turn out as good as I would like, but it's colorful at least.

The weather continues to be real nice, but it should get a little cooler this weekend I think. I'm looking forward to the weekend; this week has gone by real fast at work as I have managed to stay busy for the most part.

Hope all are well! Wish I could be there to see everyone.

Tree

2006-03-15T18:37:00.000-05:00

Tree
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This is a picture of a tree taken during my walk tonight. Eventually I want to get a sunrise behind this one, but I am too lazy to get up that early on the weekend! Unfortunately sunset is in the wrong direction.

We are all fine here. Weather has been real nice, and work is keeping me out of trouble. Hope all are well!

Scratch that itch!

2006-03-12T09:15:00.000-05:00

Scratch that itch!
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

Another old picture of Mickey I found rooting around on my hard drive.

Sandhill Crane in Front Yard

2006-03-12T08:21:00.000-05:00

crane3
Originally uploaded by mwalters2004.

This picture is actually several months old, but thought that I would put it on. I am experimenting with posting to the blog from inside Flickr. Hope you enjoy the picture. I hope to be getting more into the photo mode again, as we get into the springtime. Hope all are well!

We have had a quiet weekend as usual. Went out to eat last night. The last two times in a row we got the same table, right next to the kitchen so it is noisy and not much view etc. And the waitress for that table is probalby the worst one they have. Well, believe it or not they gave it to us a third time in a row! So we asked to sit somewhere else, and all was good! Pays to be picky.

Sunday

2006-01-08T15:03:00.000-05:00

Well, I survived the first week of work with no problem! Spent the whole week working on a computer program, so I had a good time and the time spent passed very quickly.
The weather has been cooler, but it is still nice. Yesterday we went out to Carabbas, the italian place, and had a nice meal. I tried something different, which was good, but not as good as what I usually get, so think I will go back.

I have started to use the Nordic track a little, but haven't spent too much time on it as I don't want to over do it. Luckily I didn't gain any weight over the holidays, even though I ate like a pig most of the time! Hopefully I can get into better shape this year and lose some more weight.

I haven't been outside with the camera lately, though I did go out and pick a few grapefruit this morning. They are good! After we get them all picked we'll have the yard guy reset the tree upright for us. He said he could dig it out and reset it for us with no problem. I'm glad we have him to take care of stuff for us; I can imagine what the plants would look like if we didn't. Mowing the yard is just a tiny fraction of what has to be done; the philodenron grows like crazy, and is already filled out and as big as ever.

Hope all are well!

Happy New Year!

2006-01-02T08:42:00.000-05:00

A belated Happy New Year to everyone who stops by! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long, and will try to do better in the new year.

We had a nice peaceful New Years. Saturday afternoon we went over to a small party with friends that I work with, and gave Sally a chance to meet some new people and get out of the house. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and we were home way early so didn't have to worry about traffic etc. I don't like going out on New Year's Eve much anymore, as there are so many crazies around.

The last week off has been very nice; I hate to go back to work tomorrow. Hope I can remember all my passwords on the computers! I have been taking it easy, eating a lot (but not too much), watching football, and reading and playing on the computer. Sally gave me the complete Calvin and Hobbes books (all 30 pounds of them) and I am through the first two and about half way through the last one. I forgot how funny they were and have been enjoying them a lot. My complete Peanuts collection is shaping up slowly, but will take a long time as they only release a few a year. Think they are only up to about 1960 or so.

I haven't taken any new pictures for a while (part of the reason I haven't blogged much also.) Things should pick up in the spring when the critters reappear, and Brian and family come back and come see us!

I hope everyone enjoys a prosperous and healthy New Year!

Hello again

2005-11-27T18:24:00.000-05:00

Here are some new bird pictures I took today down the street. Hope you like them. I haven't taken as many pictures lately, because it is usually nearly dark by the time I come home from work, so I haven't been walking at night. Of course that doesn't explain why I don't do it on the weekends.

We've had a nice restfully four days. I haven't done too much but relax and rest up. Watched the A&M game on Friday (most of it), which is probably the first time I have watched in some time. I was surprised they did as well as they did, but they still lost. At least Mount Union is hanging in there. They won 44-7 on Saturday, and are in the quarterfinals next week (for 14th time in a row).

Hope all are well. I'll try to add here more frequently!

2005-10-18T20:46:00.000-04:00

Took this in the backyard a few days ago, just before we got all our bushes trimmed back.

2005-10-17T18:36:00.000-04:00

Sand Hill Crane in the front yard a few weeks ago.

2005-10-16T13:14:00.000-04:00

Easy Soduko for Sunday 16 October

Tuesday

2005-10-11T17:53:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry that it has been so long since I posted; time just seems to get away from me when I'm so busy. Lately I have been distracted by the Sudoko game, which you may or may not be aware of. It's a very addictive puzzle, to put it mildly.

If you want to try it out, the best way is to download the program called "simple sudoku" It is a great program, and it is free. Did I mention that its free? It will generate puzzles as hard as you want, and also makes it much easier to solve by eliminating the drudgery associated with keeping track of what goes where. If you're interested, give it a try. If you need any help with the program or the puzzle, let me know and I will try to help.

The weather has been OK, not too hot and not too cold, but a lot of rain. Hopefully we can escape the rest of the hurricane season; this has been a more normal year for us, at least as far as the tracks go. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Work is going well, I am real busy and having a lot of fun writing programs which keeps me real busy. It is low stress and interesting, which is the best I could ask for besides more money! But, I can't complain.

We are all as well as can be expected, and hope that you are too!

White peacock

2005-09-26T16:54:00.000-04:00

A White peackock butterfly, sitting on an oleander plant down the street.
I took this one a month or so ago, and figured I would put it on the web. Didn't have too good an angle on this guy before he decided I was too close and flew off. This butterfly is known as "white peacock."

Long-tailed Skipper

2005-09-26T16:53:00.000-04:00

A Long-tailed skipper, with his tails munched off.

It took me a long time to identify this one, because the back wings are supposed to have long tails. I have no doubt that it is what I think it is, after seeing other pictures on the web of the "whole" butterfly. The markings are very obvious, and it is an exact match other than the missing tail bits. I figure it got munched by a bird or something. I have finally identified the plant as Porterweed, which is supposed to be a good butterfly attracting plant (seems to be for us).

We are fine here, and had a relatively uneventful weekend compared to others, who had hurricanes etc. to deal with. Hope all are well and that Mom and Dad can read this soon. I just talked to them, and they are fine although pretty hot with no air conditioning and 97 degree temps. etc. Some neighbors have power, so hopefully it won't be too long for them.

Google Earth's view of our old house

2005-09-24T15:05:00.000-04:00

Our House in Ohio
Above is a satellite view of our old house in Ohio, from Google Earth. I think the picture is interesting mainly because Mom and Dad's trailer and their truck are parked in our driveway! You can see it in the middle of the picture. Google earth is really neat, but I think you need a broadband connection to use it.
I called Mom and Dad twice this morning, and sounds like they survived Rita OK. There are some trees down in their neighborhood, but sounds like they escaped without any significant damage. That is good news!
Bryan put a nice panorama shot on his web site, you can find the link to it in the comments to my post below. You might have to correct the link, because I think he spelled something wrong.

If you haven't heard, Sally got her car back already and it looks good as new! I am amazed, having seen what it looked like before. Hopefully this is the last time we have body work done on it.

Panorama shots

2005-09-21T17:18:00.000-04:00

Above is as panorama shot I made from two pictures I took at Niagara Falls using a free program called autostitch that I found on the net. The picture looks a lot better at full size, but had to shrink it down to put here. All processing is done automatically, and the program figures out how to put the pictures together. I am looking forward to better weather to take some nice shots around here. You should look at these in Explorer rather than Firefox, as they are too wide to display properly in Firefox. I think Explorer works OK, although it pushes the sidebar down.

I also loaded up a panorama I put together from pictures made on the beach at Biloxi went we went down for Brian's graduation. The final shot is of the ball field at Cooperstown. All these shots were made using only two photos (because I couldn't find any sets of three that would fit together; didn't have this in mind when I took them.) I wish I had known about the autostitch when I was at Niagara, I could have taken some really nice panoramic shots. At full size some of these pics are over 4000 pixels wide, so they would print real nice at large sizes up to 20 or 30 inches or even more (assuming you could print them).

Hope all are well, and the the hurricane does not cause too much problems. I will try to post more soon.

Sunday

2005-09-18T12:42:00.000-04:00

A closeup picture of my Bush slippers. Hope you like it!

I have been a little remiss in posting, so thought I would add a few lines. We are all fine here for the most part. The weather has been nice since Ophelia left. Looks like we will be lucky and avoid both the two systems that are developing now. One of them looks like it will go into the Atlantic, and the other will probably miss us to the South and enter the Gulf and head west I think. There is a chance the second one could bring some rain to Texas eventually according to the long range model forecasts.

We went out to dinner last night at Durangos. It was good as usual, but not too eventful. Since I have the beeper we went in separate cars in case I got called in. Of course, I didn't. I will be glad to give it to somebody else tomorrow.

Hope are are well! I haven't been outside with the camera lately, but hope to get around to that soon.

Mt St Helens

2005-09-04T12:27:00.000-04:00

We haven't had any good sunsets lately, so I decided to make one on my computer instead. Hope you like it. I think it came out pretty well, for a fake picture. I don't think the sun can set at that angle in relation to the mountain, but who cares, it looks nice! If you're interested, I used a free program called Terragen. It's pretty easy to use, once you get the hang eof it.

We are well. I haven't done a whole lot with my time off but goof off on the computer and have a good time. We went out to eat last night at Durangos, it was good as usual. Had some rain last night, but today looks nice so far.

Hope all are well.

Yet another sunset

2005-09-01T20:57:00.000-04:00

Here is another Florida sunset, taken tonight after dinner. We seem to have a lot of them, except for when it is raining.

I will be off tomorrow, as we worked overtime the last two weeks to get a four day weekend. I actually had about an hour more than I needed, but that is pretty typical. We're only supposed to work 8 hours a day (that's all they pay us for), but we usually get in more than that. Keeps me off the streets, at any rate.

We see to be having a gas shortage here, which is probably the situation everywhere. I was able to fill up at the base before I came home ($2.80/gallon). The base cops were checking IDs and limiting people to 10 gallons, which is all I could take anyway. That should get me through another week and a half, and Sally's tank is full too. I hope that the gas situation will not be so bad soon. We will see.

The situation in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast is very sad. We were watching the hurricane real closly at work starting at the end of last week, and pretty much knew where it was headed for the last 72 hours or so. I think the government did a real disservice to the people in New Orleans who could not get away; something should have been done to get them out. Actually they should have built up the levies a long time ago, as they have been talking about what a disaster a strong hurricane would be for New Orleans for a long time. Biloxi is bad too; the hotel that Sally and I stayed in is gone (Sally said she saw it on tv and it had a casino sitting on top of it.) The base (Keesler, where Brian was) took a lot of damage too, but not as bad as it could have been. I heard there was 6 feet of water in the BX and the commissary. Hopefully the situation for all will get under control soon. Makes me wonder how long I can live this close to the coast.

2005-08-28T10:26:00.000-04:00

Backyard bunny, taken a few weeks ago. I am still testing Picasa.

Picture test

2005-08-28T10:23:00.000-04:00

Purple Cat
This is a test of using Picasa to upload pictures to Blogger.

Friday Night

2005-08-26T21:26:00.000-04:00

Here is another sunset picture, taken the same night as the previous one, but I think earlier when it wasn't quite as dark.
We had a very busy week; we're working overtime this week and next so we can take next Friday off and have a four day weekend.

Hope all are well. Not much news here. Katrina missed us for the most part, adn we didn't get as much rain as I thought we would. Wish we could share some of what we did get with those of you who need it!

Sunset

2005-08-22T21:00:00.000-04:00

Took a walk after dinner and saw this nice sunset. Hope you like it.

Not much happened today at work, just another day in the salt mines. Actually everything is going well. I enjoy my work and don't have to work too hard at the same time. Could be a lot worse.

I'm not sure why you are having trouble downloading the pictures, Dad. They are not gif images, unless they are changed somehow in Flickr. I haven't tried to download form there. You should be able to right click on the image when you are looking at it and choose to save the picture, if nothing else. Let me know if you have any more trouble.

Surprise!

2005-08-21T11:36:00.000-04:00

Thought I would drop a few words since it has been so long! Sorry I have been so bad about posting; I will try to do better.Went out this morning to take some pictures. I knew the shuttle ferry flight was supposed to fly over Melbourne and land at the space center about 10:00, so I went out about 9:15 and went down the street to take some pictures, hoping I would see it. It flew over about 9:45, north of Vierra but close enough to tell what it was. I managed to take a few shots, but they are not too good as it was far away and moving pretty fast as you can imagine. Fortunately the ducks were moving slower and not quite so far away. I think it was one of my better duck photos, for whatever that's worth! Hope all are well.

July Fourth!

2005-07-04T07:25:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to Anne, who is 24 today! Hard to believe! Can't say that I remember my 24th birthday, but was probably working in College Station on that day.

Yesterday was pretty quiet. We went and saw the new Star Wars Movie. It was OK, but not great, but then I have never really been much of a Star Wars fan. The special effects were really good.

The frangipani (not sure I spelled that right) in the backyard, which we thought might be dead when Mom and Dad were here, has come back big time. Yesterday I noticed a bloom on it, way up at the top, so took a picture. It is a little overexposed, but not too bad.

Four day weekend!

2005-07-01T10:40:00.000-04:00

Another week has gone by quickly. I am off today, as we are working overtime this week and next to get a four day weekend. Took my car in this morning to have it checked (the charging system light comes on after I start it up, but goes off after 30 seconds or so.) They said the alternator and all are working fine, even under full load. So, they recommended I just keep an eye on it, and bring it back if the light starts to stay on. We'll see.

Took a few pictures this morning, and put the best one here for you to look at. This guy was hard to shoot, because he only stayed in one place about 2 seconds at a time. Very difficult to autofocus etc. before he moved on. This one turned out OK. Hope you like it!

We are all fine, looking forward to Anne's birthday!

Sunday

2005-06-26T18:45:00.000-04:00

Had a pretty quiet day today. Sally arrived last night with no problem, and didn't seem to be jet lagged at all. She is just about back to normal today as far as I can tell. Other than that, not much excitement around here! Anne and I are both glad to have her home again! Below a are a few more pictures of critters around the yard. Hope you enjoy them!

Butterfly

2005-06-25T13:21:00.000-04:00

Mickey was watching this guy out the window, so I went out and took this photo. Hope you like it.

Sally's home today!

2005-06-25T09:22:00.000-04:00

Below are some pictures I took on my walk today. We are all well, and are glad to see the end of this week. Sally comes home today!

Open Wide!

2005-06-21T17:59:00.000-04:00

Mickey on a rainy day! Very shallow depth-of-field on this one, as I am playing with my new 50mm prime lens. Mickey was obviously impressed by me laying on my stomach and pointing a camera at her!

Florida Sunset

2005-06-20T20:51:00.000-04:00

Nice sunset tonight after bringing Anne home from work.

Hybiscus

2005-06-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

Closeup of Hybiscus (I think) in backyard taken with my new lens which came today. So far I like it. It is very fast, so has a small depth of field at the largest apertures which will take some practice to get used to. Hope you enjoy it! As usual the larger version is much better.

Cranes

2005-06-19T18:04:00.000-04:00

Had a crane convention outside, so took a few more pictures!

Father's Day Bugs

2005-06-19T09:53:00.000-04:00

Below are some more pictures I took this morning. Hope you enjoy them! I forgot to process the first one, but the second one was sharpened a little. Both are much smaller than the resolution out of the camera. If you click on them and see them full size, they look a lot better.

Bug

2005-06-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

My first half-decent bug picture.

Pictures

2005-06-17T18:20:00.000-04:00

This guy was on guard. Right after I took this he came after me!

Not very good, but it's a start.

Rain Rain go Away

2005-06-02T18:49:00.000-04:00

Sand Hill Cranes in the Front Yard

Hibiscus in Front Yard

We have had a lot of rain lately. Probably over an inch this week officially, but Sally said we had over 3 inches in our rain gauge the other day (but it is not very accurate and not sure when I dumped it out last). At any rate, a lot of rain.

Work continues very busy. Had someone out today to measure the front windows for hurricane shutters. The kind we're looking at are some sort of clear acrylic stuff, so you can see through them supposedly. We may just go ahead and do the front, as I think the eastern exposure is the most dangerous bit. Plus they don't grow on trees as you can imagine, so couldn't afford to do the whole house at once most likely. I'm less worried about the back. I'm not convinced we need them since we survived last year OK, but would give piece of mind. Maybe over time we could do the back too. Will have to wait and see how much the estimate is. I can guess pretty close, as I think Sally said it is $15 a square foot. Not cheap. But probably cheaper than losing a window or two and then having your roof blow off as a result. We're getting an estimate from another place too.

Sally continues to be real busy as you can imagine. Next week I will take Anne to three different doctor's appointments (one is physical therapy I think), so will probably have to use sick leave or take annual leave (not sure how that works). That will give me a chance to leave early for a change, so it's not all bad. All the appointments are in the afternoon.

Had 5 cranes in the front yard the other day. Couldn't really get all five of them at once in a good picture, but did get the three above. Too bad they didn't come through when you were here. The other day I took a walk and saw two adult cranes with two little baby cranes, which was the first time I have seen that. The baby swans are really getting pretty big, they're growing real fast and are bigger than the ducks I think. Don't see them as often. Can't get too close to them because the parents are very protective and act aggressive also etc.

Happy Birthday Big Sister!

2005-06-01T20:19:00.000-04:00

A belated Happy Birthday to my favorite sister JoAnna! Sorry I did not post this earlier, but you know me!

Hope all are well. We have had a quieter day, after the excitement of the weekend. Sally is looking forward to getting on the road, and is very busy as you can imagine getting ready and putting things in shape so that I won't starve to death or run out of socks etc. Not that I can't do laundry or anything. Other than that, not much new to report.

I will try and do better to get everyone updated after Sally is gone. I tried to call Mom and Dad a few times on Monday, but the phone was busy everytime and then we ended up going to the Hospital with Anne etc. so forgot to call again.

So long for now.

Bookcases finally!

2005-05-29T18:06:00.000-04:00

Below are two pictures of the new bookcases in the living room! How many differences can you find between them? (I think there are 10, but lost count as I was doing them.)

We are fine here. Sally is anxious to go to Germany and see Brian and family. Wish we could all go with her, but that is the way it goes! Anne and I will have a great time here I'm sure.

Hope all are well!

Sunday

2005-05-22T09:07:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have not posted in such a long time. Yesterday the bookcases were delivered. They look nice; once we get them arranged I will send a picture for you. I'm still waiting for the new camera to show up (not sure if Sally mentioned that or not.) It should be nice, once I figure out how to use it

Here are some more puzzles for you, Mom. Hope you enjoy them!

"heaqs peobh zbguonn fbu ujh to bfdyokog ryhdjah nypuyiyfbuh yuhoqqypoufo." -doueyl hyllbuou

"r vcgj xqpzhznz qa nedfsd udgzqpz xtqzdp nq mdxhmd etq trz ntd odnndg frejdg." -gqodgn agqzn

"fto oivpeon jk fto kdfdeo seo fto oivpeon jk fto ipxr." -npe apxnfjx mtdemtpuu

"icbx nohlxcadc qv yh nohl yuc czycoy hg hoc'v qdohibojc." -jhogsjqsv

"gi gk svrcumpgvl omb tmsvl pcv im siicb pdhgpk." -dbgkimiwc

"arnt swi ahlsig tcwa hzl bsvl." -bnplbh rrngi (hzl zsbl swi hzl hnbhncal)"hdwtmjgtiq gdfktgdv opmmaxdvv im ygdvdgzd tiv wtcxtiq." -jlogpdv c. wosdv

"hdwtmjgtiq gdfktgdv opmmaxdvv im ygdvdgzd tiv wtcxtiq." -jlogpdv c. wosdv

Baby Swans

2005-05-08T16:18:00.000-04:00

Here is a photo of some cygnets we saw down the street today while taking our walk. Mom and Dad Swan did no appreciate us hanging around, so didn't get many photos. This one is probably the best.

Hope you are well Mom and having a wonderful Mothers Day!

Home Again!

2005-05-07T09:24:00.000-04:00

I am home again from my trip to Santa Fe. Had a good time and got a lot done. I was able to site-see quite a bit, as my hotel was right near the plaza in the old part of town. I took a lot of pictures, some of the best of which you can see at my Flickr account. Hope you enjoy them.

I left on Tuesday morning, and flew to Albuquerque via St. Louis. It was raining when I got to New Mexico. Rented a car and drove to Santa Fe, and got there about 6:00 or so. Found my place without much trouble and went out to eat. There was really good Mexican food within walking distance of my hotel. The restaurant I ate in was in a building dated from 1692. Very interesting and good food. The doorways were all real short, most under 6 feet, so lots of ducking!

Wednesday I was up early due to the time change, so went for a walk and took pictures. After work we went out to dinner at a place near my hotel, which was very good. On Thursday I was up early again, went to Starbucks for breakfast (they're everywhere) and then spent about 1 1/2 hours walking around taking pictures. Unfortunately the morning sun as not favorable for all, but it worked out OK. Had Thai food for lunch, and more good Mexican for dinner. Spent my last few hours Thursday night taking pictures again, and got to go into some of the shops.

Friday, I was up at 5:00 and off to Albuquerque to come home. Had a direct flight home and got to the house about 5:00 p.m.

Titan Launch

2005-04-30T16:15:00.000-04:00

Above is a picture of the Titan launch I took last night on the beach. You can't see much from the picture, but it was pretty spectacular. I think Sally really liked it. You could see the first stage booster separation very clearly, and then the second stage separation later which caught us kind of by surprise. It was pretty neat.

Me on Sunday Afternoon

2005-04-24T18:00:00.000-04:00

I've been playing with the camera and took a picture of myself using the timer - I'm a lot happier than I look! The camera went off sooner than I expected. It's really nice outside, I've been sitting on the patio reading the latest Smithsonian magazine. Wish you were here!

It's a Slow Day....

2005-04-24T11:33:00.000-04:00

Another close-up pic of the philodendron, which is a very interesting plant. The more I look at it, the more interesting it is...

Sunset

2005-04-24T09:24:00.000-04:00

Sunset picture taken last night in the back yard.

Philodendron Monstrosa

2005-04-24T09:19:00.000-04:00

Here is another closeup of the philodendron I took last night. You can click on it to go to my photostream and see a larger version. I altered the photo to make it a little more interesting.

Philodendron Pics

2005-04-23T10:08:00.000-04:00

Can't believe another week has gone by already. I was real busy this week, busier than usual. Everything is going well at work and the weather has been great; it's very nice today.

The yard guys came and mowed the other day and trimmed our bushes etc. It all looks real nice. They trimed back a lot of the growth on the monster philodendron thing, and it looks better. They essentially cut away the growth at the bottom, so you can see the plants underneath now. Probably need to add some more plants, as it looks quite bare underneath it now. I added couple of shot to my flickr account that you can see below.

I have been remiss on posting puzzles for mom, so here are a bunch:

"chfb f sglznofu suovongxg hfy bhoy nobbng fxobfbodj dr bhg pufoj cholh cg lfnn "bhdzxhb"." -hzmg

"pom jiqqmf pom fmya-aidm cftjambu, pom qfmypmf pom pmhsmhgz dtf pom siugicaihm pt fmpfmyp ihpt y fmyuuxfihq dyhpyuz-ayhs td yjupfygp pomtfz yhs pmgohigya byhicxaypith." -ptb hyzatf

"bhv ucb bc oixcai z azu cw esxxiee, osb hzbkih bhv bc oixcai z azu cw jzmsi." -zmoihb iduebidu

"xgrgvzrpkk tzppf hnpmk krppi evzhgvkrq." -fgms xdgskbq

"v glkkx zvxlpm eqhabz phkilpm." -ahtkvlqb

"nziki oy xlct xli nzolg ol nzi sxkcu sxkyi nzml piolg nmcwiu mpxbn, mlu nzmn oy lxn piolg nmcwiu mpxbn." -xyqmk socui

"rczcy mcxxec qhxj qsyvm qjnx psf knr nkksauehmj qhxj n genacxjysqcy." -lyfkc gchymxchr

Another Sunday

2005-04-17T14:57:00.000-04:00

Greetings again from sunny Florida! I have posted a few new pictures I took in the backyard, so you can see them below in my Flickr picture sidebar thing. The new growth is really coming out on the frangipani, so I added a picture of it, plus a few others. Sally's spider plant is going wild in the front flower bed, as new spidey things are branching out and rooting all around it. Will have a flower bed full of spider plants before too long!

This week has gone by fast. It would be a good day for a walk, but I have the beeper this weekend on don't want to get to far away from home in case I have to go in. So, looks like another lazy day sitting around the house, until we go out to eat later. Kind of like all the other days, now that I think about it (except for the going out to eat bit). I think I'm starting to get dyslexic, as I have to go back and constantly change letters that are reversed. My right hand seems to be faster than my left these days while typing.

I ate another big grapefruit this morning, it was real juicy and red on the inside. I think there is one more before all are gone. Not sure how many are set on the tree, as they are harder to see now. There seem to be fewer than there were blooms, but I think the blooms are easier to spot. Once they start to grow I'll take some pictures. Hopefully some of you can come and help me eat them all!

Hope all are well. Anne has been getting a number of baby blankets delivered to the house, as you have probably read about on her blog. She never fails to amaze me with the things she thinks up to do!

Monday Redux

2005-04-11T18:49:00.000-04:00

Another Monday has rolled around and mostly gone by, and it seems remarkably like most of the rest of them! We had a good weekend, did absolutely nothing of consequence and enjoyed almost every minute of it.

I went to the base Saturday morning and got a hair cut, about 30 minutes before an 18-year old girl managed to die in a car accident on the same road I travelled. She worked at the mexican restaurant we found last week (very good place, and not far from here either). Not sure what she did, but she managed to cross the median, go airborne, spin around and get hit by a dump truck. It's very sad, and probably due entirely to inexperience. I know the merge lane where it happened is very short, and sometimes a little dangerous if you don't watch or know what your doing. There have been 6 or 7 local teens die in car accidents in the past few months here; according to the newspaper and guys at work they don't have to take driver's ed here to get a license. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. One accident was a case of a car going 90 miles an hour on the Bee Line to Orlando and rear ending another car. Really senseless.

On a cheerier note, we are well here and the weather is very nice. Still haven't walked since last week, but that is always something I plan to do tomorrow!

"emll gp kbamr cgve qoor pbubigvbhp." -cgllgbu u. eolrmh

Friday

2005-04-08T17:57:00.000-04:00

Can't believe it is Friday already! We had a relatively uneventful week with nice weather for the most part.

Not much new is going on here. I'm going to have to get busy this weekend and get my income tax finished; I've been putting it off because we owe this year for the first time in a long time.

Took another good walk the other day for the first time since you were here, with Sally. Didn't walk as far as usual since I was feeling a little gimpier than usual, but I am OK now.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

"yse uedtwqdlxe gdq dhdfyt scgtexn yw yse jwuxh; yse rquedtwqdlxe gdq feutctyt cq yukcqm yw dhdfy yse jwuxh yw scgtexn. yseuenwue dxx fuwmuett hefeqht wq yse rquedtwqdlxe gdq." -mewume leuqduh tsdj

Sunday

2005-04-03T14:52:00.000-04:00

Today is a beautiful day. I went outside and took a few pictures of the growth on the plant in the back (you remember, the one we thought might be dead; I think it is a frangipani or plumeria but am not sure about that.) I will keep my eye on it and upload more pictures if anything develops in the way of flowers etc. I uploaded two of the pictures to Flickr and you can see them if you click on the photostream in the side bar. There are more buds on the grapefruit, but was not able to get any good pictures of them. Still not much to look at there yet, but the tree seems greener to me.

Yesterday the weather was nice also, after a morning rainshower. Anne had to work, so Sally and I went to the unfinished furniture place and bought some bookcases. We just got four to start with (good thing, as they don't grow on trees.) Fortunately we are independently wealthy (ha.)

Sally has taken Anne for a follow-up doc appointment, since they are open today and Anne didn't have to work. Other than that, it is nice and quiet around here.

We really enjoyed the visit with Mom and Dad, and I am still sorry it had to go by so quick. Here are some more cryptograms for you Mom; I didn't make these up either, so am not sure how hard they are or what they say. Hope you enjoy them. Probably won't take you long, since you do them so fast!

"oile ih tfhu yse bacseb ugism aluer asyuger." -eokeru gfkkarb

"vouqu rp njdjtz pj rqqrvsvrny sp pjaudjtz xrvo kupp rnvukkryunfu snt ajqu punpu vosn xu oshu." -tjn ouqjkt