Tale to Astonish

... man, finally got a good day of sunshine and temperature, with perfect 'Yough' water conditions ta' boot - what a great day to "head out" on the river - unfortunately, by the time some neglected 'chores' are finished, it's well past noon, and 'muscle girl Sarah' and the 'Z-Man' are due at 5pm for a "birthday dinner" - no time to squeeze in any "quality" river time...

... have a few hours to kill - pull out the "shades", beach chair, a smoke and a few 'PBR's' and "post-up" in the back yard under a clear blue sky...

... Whoa!!??... not even two swigs, and what's this smoking in from high in the western sky? - rockets in like a meteor and zaps to the ground like a bolt of lightning - luckily, I now keep the 'T2' "close to the draw" (see 'Famous Last Words') - WOW! - if I had to choose - animal, mineral...

...it's a big-ass vegetable with a bright 'cycloptic eye' - with "telepathic communication" ta' boot - this photo is just after "touch-down" (vapor contrail spotting trajectory)...  

... says his name is "OOD" - he roams the galaxies - saving worlds forests and depleting all of cut firewood fuel supplies...

... and he ain't XXX!! around - locks on and is quickly movin' in to my 'stash' - then the world!!.. gotta' do somethin' quick to save the planet!!!...

... remember seein' a movie' recently where they played some old 'Slim Whitman' tunes to defeat some 'Martian' invaders' - I rocket into the house and am frantically pitchin' CD's left and right - XXX!! - no 'Slim Whitman'!!!! - closest thing I got Is 'Elvis' and 'Jailhouse Rock'! - I crank it up - and get an immediate response!!!...

... he comes to an immediate halt - cyclo-eye diminishing... (and neighbors screamin' "turn down the XXX!! music!!!")....

... and out...

... next thing I know - I'm flat on my ass - watching a speeding fireball disappearing into the western sky (photo left)... (neighbors screamin' - "you set off one more XXX!! firecracker and we're callin' the cops!!!")

... and fading cryptic symbols ....

... Ha! - that was fun - thank you mister 'Stan Lee'...

... and mister 'Jack Kirby'..... 

... ya' have to be familiar with these old comics to appreciate the "silliness'...

'Nuff Said!....

09/08: Made a few edits - a girl whose young son frequents here asked us to "tone down" the referenced "obscenities" - we obliged and apologize.

Tale from the "Hood"

All summer long have had a "gang" of 'Bluejays' roaming the "hood" - harassing other birds, beating up cats, and causing overall mayhem as the mood suits them - even swooped down at me twice...

... early dawn this morning, just past 6am, I'm awaken to one hell of a racket - the 'bluejays' are battling a "gang" of 'crows' over some old bread that I threw out "for the birds" late last night - and they're really goin' at it - on top of that, 'Ig the cat' is goin' crazy - he's about to go thru the window screen to get out to join all the "action"....

... I go runnin' upstairs to grab a camera, and in haste, stub my toe big time - I'm flyin' back down the stairs changin' lens' - bang - stub the same toe again! - but the battle is still "raging" -  I open the back door to step out on to the porch to snap some photos - sh*t!! - forgot about 'Ig', who goes rocketing out the door and right to the center of the "melee" - he pounced on one crow (who was as big as he) who managed to escape - probably twenty birds go scattering in every direction before I could even look thru the lens - SH*T!!! - missed it all!!!...

... about an hour later I'm fryin' some eggs - more commotion! - I look out back - the bluejays have returned and are now fighting over the bread amongst themselves - these guys don't even like each other!! - luckily I kept the camera "at the ready" - I try to creep out on to the porch but they spot me and scatter...

... the whole time I'm eating breakfast they're all wound up - making all kind of "racket", chasing each other from tree to tree and occasionally quickly snatching a piece of bread - after eating, I snuck quietly out on to the porch, camera in hand, and sat very still below the railing, hoping for some more action - hung out for probably two hours - didn't get anything as good as I missed, but not bad...

... this shot alone was worth the effort - this is the whole "gang"- and got "em all in one shot - there's been eight of 'em all year - I've noticed that they hang in pairs of two (male & female?) - I numbered 'em on the photo for easy viewing - number 7 is hidden behind some leaves, but you can see his tail...

... here's one alone...

... one, with one in the upper left of the photo, who is just "taking off"...

... here's a pair...

... this guy's pretty well hidden...

... he just "swooped in" and made off with some bread...

... Uh-Oh!! - think I'm spotted!...

... yep! - definitely!...

... a pair "in flight" (on an overcast morning)...

... a "lone sentinel"...

'Ig' - playin' "retriever"... "Man - we been settin' here for over an hour and you ain't pulled that trigger once!!!"...

... by the way - these were all shot at maximum 200mm focal length - longest lens I have at the moment - not bad...

Valley of Fire (Part 1)

Valley of Fire State Park is located about fifty miles northeast of Las Vegas in southern Nevada. It covers an area of around 42,000 acres adjacent to Lake Meade at an elevation ranging between 2,000 to 2,600 feet. The main attraction of the place are the countless formations of eroded red sandstone rock and sand dunes estimated to be around 150 million years in age...

... which are all pretty cool...

... pretty colorful place when you contrast the red, tan, gray and pink sandstone against the green desert vegetation and blue sky...

... as well as the 'high desert' backdrop...

... lots of interesting formations...

... like this small rock arch...

... most formations are pretty large (buddy 'Matt' added for scale)...

... think that technical rock climbing may be banned - which in this case is good - couldn't imagine this place "all chocked up" and "bolted to death" - but there's tons of fun "scrambling" to be had...

... and plenty of exploring to do - we passed a few cars while "out and about" but ran into zero people (except hanging around the visitor center)...

... the early 'Anasazi' people called it home from around 300 BC to 1150 AD (we've learned) - evidenced here by this ancient rock shelter...

... as well as the many rock art 'Petroglyphs' found throughout the park...

... early version of those annoying rear auto window "family" stickers popular now'day's - this guy apparently had five wives and some animals...

... we were right - "UG loves wives 'Butt too Big', 'Butt too Small' and 'Butt just Right'" can be read in the lower right of this rock...

... typically, most of the areas and many formations have been named for mapping and identification - this is 'Rainbow Vista'...

... this is 'Fire Canyon'...

... and the prominent peak is 'Silica Dome', to name a few - more on these to follow - like to keep these things relatively short...

"What Not"....

.... and other "non-substance"....

....messed some more today with the 'T2' (see previous post)....

... 'Yough River' runnin' 4ft+ again on the 'O-hip-O-Lee' ('Ohiopyle') gauge today....

... used to pray for days like this "back in the day" (especially in the summer, when you're not frozen by the time you reach the take out) - hope they're rockin' the 'Lower Yough' up there (solid Class 4 above 4ft - don't let no one tell ya' different) with all this high water of late... that's 'Mojo Rapid' out at South C'ville pictured above... however - water level not good for runnin' laps on the 'Paddleboard' ...

... so - did some alternate 'four-wheelin' and 'picture takin'....

... upper 'Laurel Run'...

... an "old guy".... 'lookin and movin' good, though, for probably fifteen years age ('Belgian Sheperd Malinois' - 78lbs last weighing)...

... woodland "canopy"...

... about five years ago - someone had killed a house cat (nice black and white) and dumped it off to the side of this "pull off" - as mentioned before - wasn't a "cat person" back then - but after two weeks of parkin' here and havin' to view this poor murdered "creach'ter" (nuthin' was feeding on the "carcass" - guess "cat meat" isn't high on the menu out in the "wild") - I could take it no longer - the third visit I carried a shovel and buried it - added this small "headstone" - some nice moss growing on it...

... lots of green this time of year...

... a sea of 'stinging nettles'...

... Ha! - we were ridin' MTB's one day and 'buddy Matt' wiped out and rolled thru a bed of these shirtless and with shorts on - luckily we were right next to a creek and a deep water hole - also lucky no one was standin' in his way as he charged thru the forest to reach the creek - Ha! ...

... lower 'Laurel Run'...

... and this small waterfall...

... some nice contrasting color between the moss and the centipede...

... never see any of these - 'American Chestnut' - these two are "farmed" - have never seen one "in the wild" - used to be abundant in these parts but were wiped out by a "blight" in the early 20th Century - took out 99% of them... 

... these two were loaded with 'Chestnuts'...

... will probably be droppin' within the next week or two - they eventually fall to the ground and open when "ripe"...

... read that they were really abundant around here - when they'd bloom in early spring the white blossoms appeared as snow cover across the ridge-tops - that must have been a sight to see...

... this guys' extinct as well...