Duckie update

"Well," Hubby said, looking out the window at ducks chasing each other across the yard, "Duckie is definitely a girl."
Oh no, not already.
"Yep. And they're using her topknot to hang on. I think she's missing a few feathers."
Just in the past day or so I'd noticed that Duckie wasn't clinging to Bluebill (Mom duck) any longer. In fact Bluebill made another nest and is sitting on eggs again. So is the female Muscovy, but I think she's already been off the nest too long. She seems to think, especially in the first few days, that it's ok to sit on the nest half the day and then walk about the other half.

In other news, I have a new camera! But in the rush to take pictures before the light faded last night, I didn't adjust any settings, and most of the pictures turned out blurry. (Really, the light had already faded.)
Please let me know if this picture looks too dark on your computer screen. It looks fine on my laptop, but pictures seem darker on our other computer and I'm not sure which one is "normal".

A Superior View

Well, the fall colors are taking their dear sweet time showing up this year. That doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't get out and enjoy nature! There are still beautiful views to be enjoyed even without the colors of autumn. The view shown here is along the Middle Falls Trail in Grand Portage State Park. The trail crosses over a ridge and this is one of two magnificent views that are available from the top of the ridge. This view overlooks Lake Superior and the Susie Islands and is always beautiful no matter what time of year it is. Over the past year, CCM (Conservation Corps Minnesota) crews have been hard at work making improvements to the trail. Stairs have been constructed on the steepest portions of the trail and benches have been constructed in strategic locations where visitors can rest and appreciate the spectacular views of the Minnesota north woods. Although the fall colors are slow to appear this year, the leaves are changing and before long this view will be even more magnificent as the greens change to yellows and oranges!

Gallup to Albuquerque

Its only about 140 miles on I-40, but yesterday it took me all day to go from Gallup to Albuquerque. In Gallup I stopped by the train/bus station information booth. That verified my plan to play tourist on the way.
South on 602, I saw signs advertising Winfield Trading. Now, I had to check it out.
the store is a seller of fine Indian jewelry. Besides us having the same surname, we are both Nam vets. Had a nice conversation. Left with (bought) a new money clip.
As I approached Ramah, NM, I was getting hungry for breakfast. Not sure what I might find in a small town, I opted for the first eatery I saw. That was Ramah Valley Diner. As it happens, the owner grow up in Iowa and used to run/work at the Perkins Restaurant in Council Bluffs (I-80 and I-29).
On to El Morro National Monument. I hiked the Headland Trail. the trail climbs the bluff and past Ancestral Puebloan ruin, Atsinna. From there, it traverses the top pf the bluff (see photo) and back down. At the bottom you are treated to inscriptions carved into the stone left by visitors years ago - from ancients to early conquerors.
From there, it was a short drive to El Malpais National Monument. I hikes a little of the El Calderon trail. From there I went down Hwy 117. Drove the road up to the Sandstone Bluff Overlook. Then down to La Ventana Natural Arch.
The day was capped wth a dinner with my cousin (an Albuquerque resident).

Aspens and Sea Smoke

This photo was taken on a VERY cold morning in February . I think it was almost 20 below zero the morning I made this image. There was a lot of steam or "sea smoke" as people like to call it, rising off the lake. More common in early winter, it was a treat to see the steam in late February. My friend Roger and I had spent sunrise right along the water's edge taking photos of the rising sun and the ice on Grand Portage Bay.
To give you an idea of just how cold it was, while we were walking through some deep snow drifts to get to the water's edge, I tripped and fell in the snow. My tripod went right down under the snow, and was only in the snow for a few seconds. The tripod had been warm from being inside the car, and as soon as I pulled it up out of the snow it had ice on it. The snow had melted briefly when making contact with the warm tripod and as soon as I lifted the tripod up into the cold air it the melted snow that was on it froze instantly. I had a difficult time the rest of the morning adjusting my tripod legs due to the ice that now covered it.
After about 20 minutes in our first location we headed up to an overlook which looks down onto Lake Superior and Wauswaugoning Bay. From this elevated vantage point it was magical watching the sea smoke as it rose off the lake and drifted out away from shore. Roger has a Vari-ND filter which lets you block several stops of light and I thought this would be a perfect place to use it so I borrowed it for several exposures. The stationary trees and the edge of the ice combined with the moving steam made for a very compelling photo. Exposure time on this shot was 15 seconds, aperture f16, ISO 50. It was taken with my Canon EF 100-400mm lens.

Santa Barbara Scenic

Tall Mexican fan palms line the beach in Santa Barbara. The Santa Ynez mountains rise in the background.

The Sun Sets on our stay at Association Island

The Campground is empty!

Gary finishes up an electric post repair

We leave Association Island and begin our next journey. Our inverter has died and all of the window shades are broken and our microwave/convection oven bit the dust as well! So much for no longer having home repairs!

Rapid response

When the roads in the city centre are choked with Festival and Fringe traffic, and some streets closed to cars completely, the ambulance service still needs to get through. Obviously there's no hospital transport provided by this part of it.
Having seem some of the acrobatic, contortionist, flame-throwing and just downright enthusiastic Fringe street acts, I wonder how much of the business was dealing with injured performers.

I hope to resume normal blogging service soon. So many things have combined to create that TBTB (Too Busy To Blog) syndrome.