This was set at one image every second for 40 seconds.. (the first three images were culled).
Since 2009, the retirement home of Shot On Site Photography... the source of the finest sighthound performance images in the world. As of August 1, 2022, the blog will become much more photo-centric. Not only will I post images from the homestead in the foothills of the Little Florida Mountains, and surrounding environs, but also tips about shooting, editing, archiving, software, hardware and more. The political rants will become few and far between (but not eliminated! It is 2022 after all!)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Using the Tools.
This was set at one image every second for 40 seconds.. (the first three images were culled).
Friday, June 27, 2008
Flora.
Some flowers are already done blooming for the season...
And for you fungus fans... just hang on as they're only now beginning to erupt. Probably throw some images up next week before we take off for parts known, and unknown.
UPDATE 1: I've done a little looking around, and it would seem that the blue flower might be some type of Lupine... which would explain the similarity to the bluebonnet, which is also in the Lupine family. Still looking for specifics..
That seedball reminds me of some of my fireworks pictures.. or a fountain I've seen somewhere; probably in a mall.
Walkin' the Dog.
Who is That Guy?
...supposedly this is John McCain. Does he look like this guy?
Now that looks like McCain.. (doing his best Pete Coors- well known right wing Nazi- impersonation; love the way the pocket flaps wave in the breeze!). Could it be that the first image has been manipulated to make him appear more... oh, I don't know... younger? Presidential? ...instead of like the old guy in your neighborhood who stands in the yard in his bathrobe, shaking his fist at all the cars, and yelling at them to "slow down!.. whippersnappers!" Hey, it works for all the fashion magazines.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Preparing to Travel.
Then we'll be off on a "leisurely" 2+ week trip to Lompoc, CA, where we'll be shooting a whole lot more lure coursing, plus LGRA racing. Specifically, we'll be there for the Scottish Deerhound Club of America's National Specialty, but there will be other Regional specialties going on, including greyhounds, and a couple of other breeds.
We've been told Lompoc is a "must experience" at least once. Beautiful surroundings. Cool nights, warm days, and near the ocean. As it turns out, the coursing and racing will be taking place in Santa Maria, about 30 miles away, so I'm not sure how much Lompoc we'll get to "experience".
In our "Year of Meeting Bloggers", we'll add Christie Keith of Dogged Blog, Pet Connection, and other blogs, to the list we started back in February with Steve B. As we're both Deerhound owners, I guess this meeting would be inevitable... eventually.
Once the Lompoc event is done, and we haven't yet experienced an earthquake, wildfire, mudslide, traffic jam, inversion layer, or any of the other events that make California.. special, we plan on hanging around to do the lure coursing trials up in Hollister, California. The folks there have tried to get us to come out for a while now, and this is the best opportunity we'll have. Hollister is best known for the 1947 "takeover" by motorcycle gangs that was the inspiration for the movie, The Wild One. Cool- I hope there's a museum!
After that? We're workin' on it, but I'm sure we'll be tired of the People's Republic of California by that time and will be working our way back East.
Stay tuned, and watch the schedule.
Lure Coursing, Racing, and OFC stuff..
There.. that should be vague enough to not violate Big G's terms of service.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Visitor.
Belligerent. Wouldn't run away, even with 5 dogs pushing me from behind as I stood in the doorway to capture this, admittedly soft, (understatement), image.
Dammit, they're a pain in the ass, but they sure are cute!
Margaret's Garage Sale
Today's science report involves that tree in the background, to the left of the EZ-Up. The one with all the clumps of white flowers. It's a Japanese Lilac Tree, and it's attracted a number... a large number... of Carpenter bees. At one point they were too numerous to count- over 30, anyway, plus numerous smaller bees, flies, and butterflies.
Look at the hind leg on this guy. He'll be popular when he returns to the nest.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
I Did It.... Again!
Today's missed opportunity: Baby turkeys.
Reconsidered taking the camera when I walked Sandia, and I was still close enough to go back for it, but decided, "nah.. won't see anything today". I had even taken a few steps back toward the Express. Sigh.
Out of the brush and onto the trail they came... singly, and occasionally in pairs. About 5 inches tall. Not sure how old that would make them, but they could fly! Once they realized there was a large human- with a dog- not 15 feet away, they took to the trees. They fly better than adults, who wandered slowly off in the opposite direction. I think we were meant to follow.
What next? Waiting for our first Bobcat!
Oh yeah... I did pick up at least one tick. Penance.
But Don't Let Him Pee on the Water Cooler!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
I Rest My Case..
Good Luck Little Guy
Anyway, he moves pretty quickly for a tiny tot, when you approach him, so I couldn't interfere with "nature" even if I wanted to. Still, the odds are against him, which must be why the hens typically lay 6-15 eggs, and can sometimes lay up to 40 (!). And they do it twice a year. Their numbers are solid, and trail only Mallards in numbers shot each season.
I could be seeing more.
Friday, June 13, 2008
With "Friends" (of the planet) Like This, Who Needs Enemies?
Any of you who may have viewed the Planet Green network in its brief life, let me know if it's really this bad...
"It's impossible to say whether the show's smug superiority is more grating than its anorexic thinness of content, but seeing them in combination may fill you with a kind of retributive rage. I for one want to go out and kill a dolphin."
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Things You See When You Haven't Got a Camera...
And Sandia self-posed for me in a nice setting... What's the Boy Scouts' motto? Oh yeah.. Be Prepared. Well, I once hacked a hole in my knee with a hatchet... during a "hatchet safety" session at a Boy Scout "Camporee". But, that's just me.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Another Milestone.
Not So Cold.
Doubly Suspended, at the ASFA II
And here's something only a handful of people saw on Saturday. The lightning and thunder were closing in, the judges on Field B decided to get the hell off the top of the hill, and to get the lure operator off the ladder. The whippets that had been at the line, were on their way down the hill to shelter. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye in the direction of the woods...
...and away he (she?) went, across the coursing field, and over a fence and out of sight. Someone shouted the obvious, "loose the Deerhounds!". Only myself, 2 of the field clerks, and the two judges saw it.
I have no idea if the deer was watching from the edge of the forest, waiting for an opportunity to bolt, or if it was just the beneficiary of extremely lucky timing. Whichever... it showed great form!
Monday, June 09, 2008
Video Evidence.
Why didn't I mind being towed? We had two big climbs in front of us, including Sidling Hill, seen here. We figured we saved $30-$50 in gas! This thing looks much more foreboding when approaching from the East.
Speaking of hills... here's the driveway at Bill's Truck & Auto-
Somehow, we didn't get a shot from the bottom looking up. But you can see me in the only place I could get a cellular signal!
Home Again, Jiggety-Jog...
Prompting our stop was I-68 itself. Mountains. If this trip taught us anything, it's that the Express needs a new radiator. We boiled the coolant once between Wheeling and the campground (which was just past Cumberland). We figured to let it rest overnight for the remaining climbs before the descent into Virginia.
We were only about 125 miles from the site of the ASFA II now, and we got an early start to take advantage of the cool morning. We were halfway up our second climb of the morning, the transmission had dropped to 2nd, and our speed to 30mph when there was a loud "BANG!!", followed by a rhythmic "bang-bang-bang-bang...." etc. Margaret, believing I am all-knowing said "What was that?". Proving I knew a little something, I replied, "Uh, nothing good". We kept climbing, the temp didn't rise, and other than the noise we kept rolling until we could get to an exit.
Being prescient, we had decided to finally renew our RV road service plan about 5 days earlier, (it had expired last November). Fortunately, there was cellular service at this particular remote exit, so I called them up and told them what had transpired: After getting out I went around to the driver's side where the noise was the loudest, got down, and was hit square in the face with pulsing hot air mixed with oil. It was coming from the back cylinder, where the spark plug used to reside. Half of it was hanging uselessly from the wire, while the rest was still in the cylinder head. It just decided to blow up. Inspecting the remaining pieces, it appeared it had worked itself loose over the months since we'd had the plugs replaced last August.
Had we been in a normal part of the country, where roads are flat, we could have driven it, but the road service determined this..
...was the wisest option. We'll try to post some video in the future to show why I couldn't disagree. And they were paying anyway.
But the fun was only beginning! The tow truck company was located up in Pennsylvania, about 45 miles away. The road service folks, in their infinite wisdom, tucked away from the realities of the world somewhere out in Phoenix,
decided "Bill's Auto & Truck" in Hedgesville, West Virginia was the place to go. "They're only 17 miles from where you are now", the road service tech told me. Not even as the crow flies was it that close! 60-some miles later, we were parked on a rural two-lane, at the foot of the steepest driveway I've ever seen. It was 20 degrees if it was 1. I drove the car up to the garage, where a hand-written sign on the window proclaimed, "Closed today for doctor visit. Sorry for the inconvenience".
This was more than a little confusing, as the road service people had talked to "Bill", and so had I. He was expecting us. I wanted to call him and find out WTF? what was going on. But there was no cell service. Big surprise.. look up Hedgesville, WV on a map sometime... the garage is up in the hills, 5 miles west of the town. I returned to the wrecker driver who stated the obvious: he couldn't pull the RV up that driveway.. and he couldn't turn around with the Express attached.
I kept trying my phone, and finally found that if I stood up on a stone block next to the driveway, and held my head perfectly still, facing in a northwesterly direction, I could manage 2 bars! First I called the road service folks and told them, as civilly as I could manage, that this was bullshit. If the truck had towed us up to PA to his garage, we'd be back on the road already. Next I actually got hold of "Bill", who told us about an alternative driveway, (not unlike an alternate universe) right next to the steep one. It's actually a "road" which showed up on my map program. We explored it, and I wasn't crazy about its possibilities either.
At this point, the tow driver said he had to go. So there the Express was left, on the side of the road, in the hopes that Mr. Bill would arrive soon.
Margaret drove off towards Hedgesville to do business at the post office, get gas in the car, which was nearly empty, and to try and get a better signal with which to speak to Bill, the mystery mechanic.
About a half hour after the tow truck left, Bill arrived in his vintage Ford Escort.. (popular item.. his neighbor was driving one as well!). Here is where things speed up; finally! Bill decided he could do the work right on the roadside as long as I turned the rig around so his legs wouldn't hang out on the road. He didn't have the right plug, or wire, and couldn't find one locally, but he had acceptable substitutes, which he magically modified. We fired that sucker up, as Charlie Daniels would say, and I swear it sounded better than it did before the explosion. The bill was $40. The tow was covered. We were on the road by 3:30, and got to Morven Park in Leesburg, VA way before dark!
It's now more than ten days later, we're back at the Holiday RV Park in Michigan, with the II and the Saluki National Specialty under our belts, and nowhere to go for over three weeks, and frankly, we can use the rest.
We'll post some pictures from the II and such in subsequent posts.. Meanwhile, I'll be searching the internet for a suitable radiator... it's got to be installed before we make the brutal drive to Lompoc, CA in July!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Welcome Back, Stanley
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
My Vote Must Matter.
The first was from Barack Obama his own self.
The second was from Michelle Obama.
And the last was from the hottest member of the US House , our lone Representative, Stephanie Herseth-something..
...(she went and got married! The Horror! The Horror. )
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Hitting the Road.
Business out of the way, we went to dinner last night with the good doctor and his wife. Before that, though, we went to their house so we could see the newly remodeled kitchen. Wow... it's a chef's version of Heaven.. check out the Electrolux professional stove. That's restaurant quality there.
Speaking of restaurants, nobody's going to be surprised when I tell you we went to the Metropolitan Citi Grille. Was it as good as I remember? Of course. Bummer of the night was that Margaret and I were the only Detroit Red Wing fans in the place, and the Wings were losing!
Today, we'll head for Virginia where, I hear that besides the rabid foxes, they're also having a bad tick year.. deer ticks no less, so a quick trip back to Radcliffe's office before we leave is in order, to pick up some Preventic collars.
Weather forecast for Leesburg, VA for the weekend calls for 88 degrees and scattered thunderstorms on Saturday, and 86 and sunny on Sunday.
Desperate Times.
Looks like our votes won't end the primaries with a (technically) clear winner, but, hopefully the nonsense will end and the senator from New York does the right thing.. what she should have done the minute she realized she couldn't catch Obama.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorial Day
On Saturday, our great friend, Mike Lorenzo lost his battle with brain cancer. I've known Mike and Karen for about a decade. We met through sighthounds, of course, but Mike's interests went way beyond just dogs. We've spent many a late night's cross country travel, in cellphone conversati0n about politics, exotic cars, motorcycles, real estate... and, of course, dogs. We were talking, not necessarily to learn anything from each other, but to keep each other awake, as I would be driving from Wisconsin to Texas to shoot a trial, and he and Karen would be driving from New York to Georgia. It's those talks I may miss the most.
Update: And weather. We talked way more about the weather than is probably healthy. Or wise.
If you knew Mike, and wish to contribute something to his memory, there are a couple of options, but I'm only going to list one: Send a check payable to "Mike Lorenzo Medical Expense Fund", to 49 Sunrise Ridge, Florida, NY 10921. I found the above photo, along with a few more of Mike and Karen, while sorting stuff for our big garage sale this weekend. I'll be including them with our check.
Farewell good friend.. and be strong, Karen.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Shots Up To Date?
While some are concerned that the temperatures will be intolerable for hounds and humans alike, Patrick has posted on a potentially more serious problem: Rabies. In the neighborhood.
Forewarned is forearmed.
We'll be there, of course. I've shot every II since 1996 except 1997. You could say I'm a fixture at this point. We'll be joined by my friend, Steve Surfman of Steve Surfman Photography. Steve has helped shoot a few previous II's.
We'll also be joined, briefly, on Saturday by the aforementioned working terrierman himself, Pat Burns.
A good time should be had by all. See you there, and make sure your rabies vaccinations are current!
The Problem With Google Ads.
The downside is that I have no control... zero... zilch... over the ads that show up. So what's up there now? Some total right wing bilge about a certain presidential candidate (a word these dipshits can't even spell) I wrote about the other day. They rotate regularly, so it may not be there every time you look, and eventually it will disappear as I write on other interesting subjects. Anyway, it's pretty despicable crap, so I might as well get some money out of them! Click away... make 'em pay.
Thanks.
Global What?
Only the most rigid, and inflexible are in denial over the concept. I spoke with one at the trial last weekend.. an old friend, and way too set in his ways. When the first drowned polar bear washes up on his Indiana lawn, he may begin to see things differently.
Normal people on all sides of the political spectrum now agree that the climate is changing; the argument is over whether we, as a species, are the cause.
We've already had more tornados this year than we normally have in a full season.. including big ones in the middle of winter. Alaska has had it's first deaths- ever- from yellowjacket wasp stings. I've seen dead armadillos as far north as central Missouri, on I44.
So with all this evidence of so-called "Global Warming"...
...Why the hell does it feel like early April in Michigan... at the end of freakin' May? (Don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question). It was 39 degrees when I got up yesterday, and the wind blew strong out of the northwest. I had to wear my coat all day. This morning was no better.. 41 when I took the dogs out.
The weekend promises to actually be like late Spring, rather than late Winter. We're going to bail on the trial we had scheduled, to move out a bunch of the things we have in storage. Then maybe we'll have a picnic... if picnic weather happens.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
But the Cops Wouldn't Have Padded His Bill...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
And She Does Even Better With White Men Who Married Their Sisters.
Exit polls in Kentucky today, and in West Virginia last week show Barack Obama has problems getting support from white, redneck Jethros. This is news?
Lessee... dirt farmers below the Mason-Dixon line can't bring themselves to vote for a"Exit polls showed Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, again had
difficulty with white working-class voters in Kentucky. Clinton won more than 70
percent of white voters, and three-quarters of those who did not finish
college.
About 20 percent said race played a factor in their vote -- similar
to the percentage last week in West Virginia, where Clinton trounced Obama."
I'm glad Senator Clinton is proud to claim the same supporters as Lester Maddox, George Wallace, and David Duke. She's changing her name to Hillary June.
Ah.. the beauty of blogging; you can write whatever you want.... with impunity!
Returning now to normal programming.....
Monday, May 19, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Meanwhile, Next Door to the MGA Trial..
Yes... that's a freakin' Gremlin! Who knew there were still roadworthy examples out there. Most popular marque: Subaru Impreza WRX. Some nice Saleen Mustangs in attendance, too.
Procrastination.
Ageless.
That pales in comparison to Geenie the Greyhound in Florida. Wow.
HT Mary L Kenworthy.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Spring Has Sprung!
A member of the lily family, the Trillium that we know in Michigan, is also plentiful all across the Upper Midwest and Northeast. It's also known as the "White Wake-Robin", and in French, "Trille Blanc".
Following the link under the photos will take you to information about this complex and scientifically important plant. It will also explain the inexplicable: those leaves? They're not leaves. And the stem's not a stem. WTF??
Around here, it's just the final sign that Spring has sprung.
Feelin' Like Hedda Hopper..
The ASFA trial this past weekend was a carbon copy of the previous 4 weekends.. one good day, one day of rain. The trend had been rainy Saturday, and pretty nice Sunday. As a change of pace, this past Saturday was gorgeous.. probably the best trial day of the year so far, and Sunday.... let's just say I'd finally had enough of the rain and wind and cold, already. I walked off the field!
While hanging out around the Express watching Margaret work ;-) I spotted this license plate.
I didn't think much of it at first, figuring it was just another vanity plate purchased by a dog fan who had an affinity for the United Kennel Club. Then I started to "put two and two together." Judging at this particular trial were two "high elected officials" of ASFA. Ok... the two highest officials. During lunch I noticed these two officers in earnest, private conversation with a mysterious dark-haired woman I didn't recognize from the trial.
What could it mean?
I keep coming up with "Four".
Monday, May 12, 2008
"Grapes."
Uh... Thanks!.... Somebody.
Let me back up a bit and explain how our mail works.
Full time RVers, like Margaret and I, get to pick where we call "home". Pretty cool, huh? After a lot of research, back in 2003, we chose South Dakota. Thousands of other RVers call South Dakota home, as well, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because there is no state income tax, no vehicle inspections, and vehicle insurance rates that rank among the lowest in the nation.
Where there are incentives like that, there are numerous businesses that sprout up to cater to people like us. One such place, in the tiny town of Emery, SD, is My Home Address, Inc. When you send something to us by USPS, that's where it goes. It gives us a street address in the community that allows us to get driver's licenses, vehicle registration, voter registration and more. For all intents and purposes, were South Dakotans! Unlike many of the people who use this service, we actually stop in from time to time and pick up our mail in person. That lets us go to the bargain hot lunch at the Senior Center, and meet and chat with our "neighbors".
Usually once a week we call Ron at My Home Address and tell him where we'd like that week's mail sent. And that's where we came in...
Last weeks mail delivery came in two packages.. one Priority Mail envelope, containing all the bills, and check
The folks at My Home Address had to obliterate the original address and return address before they put their address label on it, so the original return address is mostly unreadable. I can make out the last three letters on the first line: "son", (maybe "sson"), and the last digit of the zip is "5" (maybe "45", maybe not).
So there it is... somebody knows about my checkered military past, and sent an appropriate gift. If someone doesn't fess up here, it will forever remain a mystery. But thanks... whoever you are. I wore it at the MGA trial this past weekend.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Fun With Photoshop Elements.
Meanwhile, On the Fringes of a Field Trial...
The military's largest aircraft, the C5, doing touch and go's at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and out on the cross-country course, this young lass....
Field trialing is never boring.