Buoys Gone Wild!

Here is a buoy that has washed up on Cumberland Island. The shot was taken for about 200 yards away and the foggy look is due to the wind blowing in a spray of sea mist over the beach; but that did not deter Tom from his morning hike. It did however deter me from doing a lot of shooting on the beach that day with my camera.

Royal Terns on Cumberland Island

Here are a few terns doing their best to out-perform each other, with wings folded down and squawking away. These two pairs were photographed on Cumberland Island this weekend.

Photohunt - Hands at Work

PhotoHunt's theme this Saturday is "HANDS".




These hands were taken up at the John C. Campbell Folkschool, where I was taking a pottery class last year (yes, they are a repeat posting from then, but it fit the photo hunt so well, that I decided to repost them).

I will be taking a nature photography class at the Folkschool with some friends at the end of next month. Can't wait till then!

Ferris Wheel in Motion

A longer exposure shot of the Ferris Wheel at this year's Cherry Blossom Festival.

...and the band played on.

A free concert on a lovely spring day atop Coleman Hill in Macon, GA.

Wordless Wednesday - Curved Tracks

Wordless Wednesday


Curved Tracks

Dixie Disc Dogs

The Dixie Disc Dog Championship made an appearance for a competition at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon. Owners and their dogs catch frisbees and almost dance together. It is something to be seen. This is a world-class competition with some outstanding animals!

Catch!

In recent years, we have had a traveling group of white tigers that came to the Cherry Blossom Festival. This year, the organizers brought in sea lions.

In either case, I hate to see the animals have to work for their food in such a manner. Although they might be well kept, it still is sad to see them that way.

Cherry Blossom Festival

The 27th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing. The trees are beginning to pop with their pale pink blossoms.

Photohunt - "Yellow"

PhotoHunt's theme this Saturday is "YELLOW".



This photo is from last year's Cherry Blossom Festival here in Macon, GA. This year's festival is going on for the next week, and I am spending the day today there, snapping photos left and right! So I should have some new ones to post in the next few days.

Attack Cat

Callie the Attack Cat lies in hiding in the English Ivy at my back door, just waiting on me to turn my back on her for a second. Then, she will spring into action!

Don't Worry, BEE Happy!

A bee enjoys the pear tree blossoms in my backyard. The entire tree was buzzing with activity!

Wordless Wednesday - Ichetucknee River

My Parents on the Ichetucknee River

Wordless Wednesday

Here comes the flowers!

Spring has finally sprung!

Redbuds

In the woods around here, the redbud trees are blooming left and right! I have never figured out why they are called redbud trees, as that neither the buds, nor the flowers are really red. More of a pinky purple.

Mystery Shot

Ok, so here is a photo that I snapped the other day. I did a little manipulation with it; but hopefully you will recognize the pattern and figure out what was being photographed!

Enter your guesses in the comments!

Cherry Blossom Festival is almost here

The big local event here for the spring is the 27th annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Our little city is known as the Cherry Blossom Capital of the World, with over 300,000 yoshino cherry trees planted all over town! While a lot of people go to Washington DC for their Cherry Blossom Festival, I have to admit that Macon is a lovely looking town when all of them are in bloom here!

And toward the last part of March of each year, we fill up with tourist buses, filled with little old ladies with that eerie shade of blue hair that can only come from a bottle (God Bless Them and their Tourist Dollars). The Festival lasts about 10 or 12 days and has everything from carnival rides, to hot air balloons, to tons of tours of historic old homes, to concerts, to an arts and crafts fair, to a street party, to a parade, to next to everything being painted pink in honor of the pale pink cherry blossoms (even a pink poodle).

A week from this Saturday, I have set aside the whole day for photography. There will be the carnival rides, a 5-K road race, a bed race, a motorcycle show, a national frisbee catching dog competition, and who knows what else going on. I am so looking forward to it, as that I haven't had that much time to do a lot of photography due to a busy work schedule. I will be joined by my photographer friend Bonnie, and we are hoping to meet a few folks from a MeetUp group of photographers.

Wordless Wednesday - Chattooga River Paddling

Wordless Wednesday

Who wants to go camping?

It is that time of year again, when I get the urge to head out camping!

My camper just needs to be washed and cleaned up a bit, but it is ready to ride!

PhotoHunt - "SPACE"

PhotoHunt's theme this Saturday is "SPACE".

So I decided to go with the big open spaces of the pristine beaches of Sapelo Island. It is such a luxury today to be able to go out and walk for a couple of miles up the beach and see not one single house, not one single condo, not even one single person.

It is just you and your footprints!

Wide open spaces, indeed!

Woodshed version 2.0

My father has built the fanciest woodshed that I have seen recently. I think he has too much time on his hands! It is about 8 x 20, and matches the house and barn as far as the log cabin look. It even has a metal roof on it.

Missing Out

Despite the dusting of snow on this past Sunday, the forecast for this coming Friday-Sunday is for highs to be in the mid to upper 70's. This can only mean one thing....time for canoeing and camping!

Unfortunately, I can't make the trip on the Oconee River with friends because the trip will include some days that I have to work.

Darn that pesky job is getting in the way of my fun again!

Wild Weather

Ok, so who can figure out this crazy weather. On Saturday, the high was 73 degrees and there were tornado warnings in the adjacent county, and the very next day (yesterday), we had an inch of snow on the ground here at my house, and up to 5 inches in some places. I can't wait to see what today will bring!

Actually, the snow wasn't that heavy and it didn't freeze up on the roads too much, so school probably could have gone on; but I suppose it is best to play it safe. Afterall, people down here in the South get snow so rarely, that they just do not know how to drive on ice, nor does the county have the equipment to clear the roads and bridges of ice.

No school tomorrow!

I just got a call from the Superintendent of the Bibb County School District (my boss), and she has decided that with the snow that fell today, and the freezing temperatures tonight...to cancel school tomorrow. Of course, I will have to go on in and shutdown the schools' HVAC systems for the day, but it still should make it only a 1/2 day for me.....maybe!

Altered Courthouses

I was playing around with some images, and ended up with two highly altered images. The first is of the county court- house and the second is of the federal court- house in Macon, GA