Happy New Year and Squirrel Hunting

The beginning is just beginning. A New Year! A New Hope! Life Anew! I want to be more personal in my Blog Life; make it more about me, my thoughts and my experiences. I know that my life has been interesting, interesting even to other people. I think I could write a book. I may rewrite what I previously lost. That was Vietnam-specific. This will reach deeper into my past. Include my “people of interest.”

Watching a PBS program on writing convinced me that the most interesting people I would ever meet were those people who shaped my thinking in my childhood. I will record my experiences in my blog, then try to organize the random thoughts into what might become memoirs … the story of my life.

At first, that seems very egotistical. It may be. That’s okay. I’m writing this to me, hoping that my daughter and grandson will find it interesting; something to pass on in their memoirs. My legacy. If George Bush can have a legacy, why can’t I?

I can’t ignore that photography is my passion. I’m proud of my accomplishments. I also enjoy sharing more recent records of places and things we see. Of course, the personal history will be interspersed with current events, pretty pictures and interesting travels. That has already started. Jane and I are in Maryland. After spending the Holiday Season with our daughter and grandson, we are planning a diversion from our homeward trip. We’re touring the Atlantic Coast. Leaving here on January 2, our first stop will be Kitty Hawk, NC. We will visit there and take in the lighthouses and wildlife along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore; cross Pamlico Sound via ferry; take in the deep-south culture of Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA; then beat feet across the Southeast in route to Tow. We expect to reach home before January 9.

The Squirrel Hunt (a memory of my past)
My dad let me start hunting when I was ten, I think. I may have been twelve? We had bird dogs. Quail hunting was our primary focus. But, as with most young country boys, I wanted to spend my life in the fields and forests, hunting anything that was legal. Squirrel season preceded our quail season by a month. When I was fourteen or fifteen (I was old enough to go hunting on my own) I remember wanting to hunt squirrels on opening day. I asked dad to go with me but he said, “Nah. It’s too windy.” I thought, “How silly can you be?” Like Mark Twain’s, my dad didn’t get very smart until I got a little older.

Opening day was on a weekend. I was up early and in the woods before daylight. The wind was blowing fairly hard. I watched and listened as leaves rustled and limbs swayed in the breeze. I heard squirrels barking. I could hear them cutting and even saw hickory nuts hitting the ground. But I never saw a squirrel. By mid-morning I was bored. What my dad had said about the wind never entered my mind. When I got home dad smiled and said, “Did you get your limit.” Defensively, I said, “Nah, they weren’t moving.”

This seemingly insignificant remembrance was prompted by thoughts of a discussion with my grandson. I do a lot of thinking when I drive. We spent three full days driving from Tow to DC. That’s a lot of thinking. For whatever reason, I thought about a war story I had shared with my grandson. The subject was night vision. I was telling him about keeping one eye closed when flares illuminate the night. That allows you to maintain your night vision in one eye while searching the illuminated battlefield for targets with the other. When the flares go out, you still can see with the eye that was protected from the light.

We talked about seeing in the darkness. Identifying an object is difficult when looking at it directly. If you look slightly left or right peripheral vision more easily detects any motion. Motion will always get your attention. Dillon (my grandson) tried this and was impressed to find it true.

It was while thinking about our conversation that it hit me. My dad had told me that all those many years ago. You don’t see the squirrel. You see the motion. On a windy day, everything is in motion. I’m 68 years old. It took me about 55 years to figure out how dense I am. Dad knew damned good and well that I had not killed any squirrels. Like Mark Twain’s dad, my dad learned a lot between my thirteenth and twenty-first birthdays. :)

My grandson is fifteen. His mother is in that 13 to 21 age group. He was complaining to me about the silly rules she enforces; rules like homework, studying, bathing, going to bed, etc. Grownups are just too old to understand the modern world. After hearing him imply as much to his mother, I told him the story about hunting squirrels in the wind. Now, when I say to him, “Don’t hunt squirrels on a windy day,” he gets the point. But, he still gives me reason to say it frequently. I hope it doesn’t take 55 years for his mom to get smart. :)

Have a Happy New Year and don't Hunt Squirrels in the Wind.
l8r

29 Eagles

A pair of eagles winters near my home. Their huge nest in an old pecan tree is just far enough away from Highway 29 to make photographing them a VERY long lens proposition. I went out this morning with my 300 mm and a 1.4 teleconverter. My Nikon D80 crop factor of 1.5 makes that combination the equivalent of a 630mm lens. I still have to crop heavily to get eyeballs. Any underexposure results in grain the size of the eyeballs.
I've been there several times but have yet to get a decent picture. It finally struck me that I was going at the wrong time of the day. I was trying to get pictures with a setting sun. The setting sun is behind them; I need to be there at sunrise. Jane has trained me to sleep. It's been a long time since I saw a sunrise. :)
I was up at five, trying not to wake Jane. She was so tired after all the hours she's putting in that she hardly moved. I made some coffee and gathered my equipment into the truck. It's about twenty minutes to the site. I got there about fifteen minutes before sunrise. I could just make out a dark lump next to the nest. The lump flew away before there was enough light for a picture. I made myself comfortable in the truck, sipped my coffee and listened to public radio. About thirty minutes after its takeoff, the first bird flew across the nest but kept going. There was a lot of noise as the two eagles called back and forth.
After a bit more than an hour, I saw a white head peak over the edge of the nest. The mate was getting restless ... and probably hungry. I could just imagine what it was saying, "Hey baldy (play on words), get your feathered fanny back here. I'm hungry too and this egg is getting very uncomfortable."
I kept one eye on the mate and the other scanned the sky for the first eagle's return. It was nearly two hours before eagle number one returned. After all that waiting, I shot all the following photographs in less than five minutes. The eagle on the right (I won't try to specify male or female) is the one returning. The mate is turning over the egg incubation responsibilities. The mate then flew toward me, perched in a dead tree, and posed for my pictures. :)
The following shot was just as the eagle settled on the dead limb. I love my quick focusing Nikon 300mm AF-S. It tracked the eagle from the nest to this tree and never lost focus.
This was a very cooperative eagle. It perched in the trees, surveying the surroundings and ensuring that I had ample opportunity get a sampling of mug shots and profiles. They are beautiful birds but quite intimidating, I'm certain, to any animal unfortunate enough to be prey. Look at the eyes. They are so fierce. They look intelligent, don't you think?
As always, click on the image to enlarge.
All this was a thrill but the morning was cloudy and overcast. I had to crop drastically to enlarge the eagles. I'll need to return during brighter light to avoid the noise from dull lighting. More to come. :-)

l8r

Kooks, Crazies and Apple Pie...

Having original thoughts is not condemned. Expressing those thoughts publicly is the problem. Throughout history it has been true. Speaking out can get you crucified or ridiculed.

Ridiculing the opposition is a favorite ploy of the present administration. Our entire congressional representation lives in fear of saying the politically incorrect thing. If they stand up for anything, it is couched in such mush-mouth terms that their intention can easily be "re -spun." George Bush has done more name-calling than all those combined that he brands fanatics. I have to laugh when he refuses to call the Democratic Party Democratic. Have you not noticed that he refers to the party as "Democrat Party?" Diplomacy~~~ What's that?

And now Ron Paul is fighting against the very ploy that his Republican Party so vigorously uses. The man makes sense ... to the rest of us Kooks. If you aren't aware of his political philosophy, you should take a few minutes to visit here.

I've tried to stick to my Democratic roots but am having problems believing what the candidates offer. Same old Shit. The closest I can get to the party is John Edwards. His stated support for labor efforts and the unions makes me believe he can be "People-Oriented."

Obama tried to take that stance but his desire to win the Presidency has seen him waffle (in my opinion.) He needs corporate support and has begun to lean that way.

Hillary turned me off completely when she said, "Lobbyists serve a needed purpose." The problem is ... corporations own the lobbyiests. I, and most people, can't afford one.

The most experienced, in my opinion, is Bill Richardson. I could support him. But, he will probably wind up Vice Presidential nominee or Secretary of State. And, Bill is same old same old ... business as usual.

I'll probably vote Republican in the primary, just so I can support Ron Paul. I doubt that he wins the Republican nomination but hope he will accept the Libertarian Party's nomination. The guy makes sense. No matter how much the media avoids providing equal consideration.

Please, read what the guy stands for. He ain't afraid to go against the tide.
l8r
OH... I lied about the apple pie. :)