Putting Up the Christmas Tree!

Here is me and the cat putting up the Christmas Tree at my house. It is always an adventure!

12 Days of Christmas

A fabulous version of The 12 Days of Christmas, plus about 15 other holiday songs all rolled into one as perfomed by the singing group Straight No Chaser.

The drought continues

How bad is the drought here in the southeastern USA? It is very bad. We took a trip up to Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center on Saturday and hiked several of their trails. Despite the beautiful fall colors, one could not help but to notice the very low water levels in the ponds and lakes. Some of the ponds were totally dry. Hopefully, some rain will start to fall on a regular basis soon. Otherwise, it is going to be a very tough winter for the wildlife....and possibly for the people who live in the area as well.

Dockery Lake camping

Ron, Bonnie, and I went up to Dockery Lake last weekend for 2 nights of camping. The weather was great and the leaves were at their peak of color. Unfortunately, the website that I archived the photos at tended to mute the colors. But you will get the idea. Here is the link to all of the photos. There are photos of the lake and trees, some waterfall shots, and some from a short hike to the longest suspension footbridge east of the Mississippi River. Overall, it was a great weekend!

Car hits my neighbor's home

Not sure that this is "news", but certainly an uncommon event....

Around 2:20pm today, a car drove off of the road and smashed into my neighbor's home, totally demolishing the front porch. Fortunately, nobody was near the front part of the house at the time.

A really terrible thought crossed my mind

I saw the article below in the newspaper yesterday. My questions is...do they charge extra for cremation, or is it thrown in at no charge? Yes....a terribly joke, but it came to mind, so I am sharing it!

Funeral home burns in Griffin
The Associated Press

GRIFFIN, Ga. --
Federal and state investigators will try to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Griffin.

Griffin Fire Chief Tommy Jones says the business operated out of an antebellum house that was at least 130 years old.

The fire started on the second floor of the house. Authorities say it was fueled by embalming fluid and other chemicals.

More Ocmulgee Indian Celebration Photos

Ocmulgee Indian Celebration

I spent the day at the Ocmulgee National Monument, at the Ocmulgee Indian Celebration. It is a nice intertribal gathering with lots of crafts, foods, music, and dancing. The photo-taking was not the best in the world, but the day was still fun.

WORLD CHAMPIONS

THE LOCAL LITTLE LEAGUE TEAM WINS THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!

The team from just down the road in Warner Robins, beat the team from Tokyo, Japan to win the 2007 Little League World Championship. This is the second year in a row that a team from Georgia has won the top spot. The score was tied at 2-2 for four innings, then a long drive that sailed over the wall to clench the victory with a homerun. Congratulations to all of the players on both teams for winning their own national championships, and especially to the local kids for their World Championship! (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, from the Macon Telegraph story).

A unique sound

A friend sent me this link earlier today. The Hung Drum has such a unique sound...very relaxing. Just what I need to get past the stress of "back to school" season. Plus to add to the misery, it is so hot. 100 degrees each day this week has made for long days. And it never cools down really. It is now 6:15 in the morning, and it has only cooled down to 78 degrees outside!

Enjoy the "cool" sounds.....

Extreme Bigfoot Makeover

Oh what a beautiful morning!

5:35 - Woke up to find the cat sitting on my chest, staring at me. She was ready to eat her breakfast!

5:36 - Felt a twinge of pain in my back as I sat up.

5:37 - Fed the cat and took some pants out of the clothes dryer from the night before....another bit of pain on the right side of my lower back. I began to hope that it wasn't a kidneystone.

6:10 - Pain rapidly escalates and is clearly near my kidney.

6:30 - Called into work and told them that I wasn't coming in right away.

6:45 - Drove the hospital in considerable pain.

7:00 - Arrived at hospital and was thrilled to see an empty waiting room. Promptly threw up in restroom from pain and began profuse sweating.

7:20 - Finished with the forms and paperwork and was in an exam room.

7:40 - Pain medication and anti-nausea.....HURRAY!

8:00 - Off to get x-rays of my abdomen

9:00 - Still suffering, but begins to ease off on the pain.

9:20 - I lied.....pain now increasing again.

10:00 - HURRAY! The kidneystone made it to the bladder...no more sharp pain. Only the dull aching type.

10:45 - Got the ok to leave the hospital, paid my $50 deductible, and off I went home.

Superkitty

Here is the latest in the fashion world....polyethylene plastic capes. Exactly what the smart dressed superkitties are wearing for this season.

Callie has recently began to stick her head through plastic grocery sacks and then run around the house with them billowing behind her. This particular bag is an old one that she has about shredded.


Happy Fourth of July to Everyone!

Ski Trip

The trip is January 27th - February 3rd, 2008 in fabulous Colorado.

After a few hours of work, I finally got the new website up for Kay Redmond's Annual Ski Trip. I wasn't able to go skiing in Colorado last year, but have enjoyed going on 4 other occasions with this group. It is very affordable...under $900 for the week's lodging, food, lift tickets, and airfare from Atlanta....so not too bad.

The website is here, if you want to check it out....or even sign up for the trip and come with us!

More folkschool photos

Here are some more photos to go along with those from yesterday. click on them to see a larger version.

New Folkschool photos

Last week, I went back up to the John C. Campbell Folkschool for another week of photography classes. Larry Hunsucker taught the course and it was a wonderful macro-photography workshop. The other six people in my class were so friendly and we all learned a lot.

We studied the basics of aperture and shutter control, composition, light and shadow, and printing. The bulk of the week was spent at the folkschool, shooting on campus and the surrounding trails. We did take a short ride over to Fires Creek for some water shots. We did not really go into Photoshop very much, so these images have only slightly been altered....no major changes to them, in general. You can click on the images below to see a slightly larger version.

Memorial Day on the Flint River

I was joined by nine friends for a very relaxing weekend of canoeing on the Flint River. The weather was wonderful and the water was clear and shallow. Photos are available here.

John C Campbell Photos

I took off recently for a week of photography at the John C Campbell Folkschool in Brasstown, NC. I was taking an introductory class to the macro and the wide angle lens. I will be going back later this summer for a more detailed class on macrophotography. Here are a few of my photos. You should be able to click on them to see the larger version (hopefully).