Good Goose Morning!

 

Canadian Goose - taken w/Nikkor 500mm f/4 on D2X

What a nice memorial day welcoming. Was visted by 6 beautiful Canadian Geese this morning in the pond.
They were not afraid and didn't move as I brought out the "big guns" to snap out some pictures.
Took about 20 shots in all before remembering that I had the D2x metered down and also the mode set to A-Priority
with out concern for the aperture... :P --- Wonderful, huh?

In any case love the lens and the cam setup. It is fast, sharp and what a way to welcome in the day!

Good Kooky Loo Goosy Goo morning to you!

:P

Memorial Day Weekend --- Fun.....

Well, I got the mahogany redwood floors done including the new threshold that I had to strip, sand and restain (multiple times --- don't ask....how do I know how much urethane glue can adhere to everything when you don't want it to?) ---- :P

Got some new plants put in and life is good. Now, I have rejoined a gym for the first time since leaving Hammond, and I felt good today. Had a good 45 minute workout, felt strong especially considering the time apart from the gym, but I stay busy and active in general. I know it will be good for me, good for my health --- good for my mind. I cannot her from my mind even after all this time and I don't understand why. I just know we never got a real chance, and I let you down as a friend, but it is just in my mind --- she has long been gone away from these parts. Best to you, "M" --- wherever this message finds you.

Smiles, I am off to the beach tomorrow --- drop-top day I hope. Gonna try to catch the sunrise at the lakefront with my dog. Good intentions...alot of my past was built on those, not the best thing --- but I should actually make it.

Cheers.

Photos ----

Just a few random shots of photos I took recently. Click on photo for larger image.
Enjoy.

 

My first moonshoot taken last night (5/18/08) with 500mm Nikkor f/4 with 2xTC on D2X (Wimberly Sidekick)

 

Sonoma - 6 month old Border Collie. (D2x on 120-300 f/2.8 Sigma)

 

My daughter diving in the retention pond. (Fuji S2 with 18-70 Nikon)

 

Wild Louisiana Iris growing National Refuge - D2X on 10-20mm Sigma

Carpe Momento

SEIZE WHAT?

I recently saw one of those faux antique signs in a small Venician-wanna be strip mall coffeehouse in Mandeville painted "Carpe Diem" --- I thought to myself that is a overused cliche' with little to no meaning these days. Seize the day? I am lucky if I get home in enough time to seize an minute. That is a fine message for utopians and those with unlimited time and zero responsibilities. In the average day, most people are so consumed with what they have to do to survive, to work, to live, to handle their kids, to just get things done...seize it? You are lucky if you can survive it --- most days.

So, I thought...seize the moment would be more appropriate. Moments are what classify and define the borders between the areas of active thought and presence and simply existing. The chances to reach out, to say the right thing, to trust in your heart, to apologize, to really empathize, to express yourself...those are moments, those are opportunities...capture the essence of that, the essence of who you truly are inside.

CARPE MOMENTO

It has been nearly 2 months since my last post. Sicne then I have had my kids visit and I had surgery last week 4/22/08 which has not been fun at all, but it is all part of living and making each moment count. Now, I am a little more focused, a little less jaded and just a little calmer all around. Life is strange, unforgiving at times, mysterious at times...but in all, just a ride that you have to truly live to appreciate. Watching my parents get older and more feeble is depressing at times, but understandably part of the circle of life...the circle of moments.

I miss the moments that I see in my past at times, not fully understanding why.
It seems that I am still not able to move completely forward, to let go of those
who once stood there --- those moments just keep replaying in my mind. Perhaps it is just a cruel reality of life that we cannot choose our moments nor control which moments decide to stay in our hearts and minds --- which moments attempt to remind us of where we have been and how it felt to live.

Here's to better moments...

Visit with the Kids

 

Fields of wild Iris plants fill the trailside of Big Branch WMA near Lacombe, LA...
It was a great day for a morning stroll with my kids through the wonderous beauty of the marsh in Louisiana...
The walk on Tuesday 4/8/08 was a delightful time to spend with them and time goes by so quickly...

I love them dearly.
Daddy

Orlando or bust?

Spent last week in Orlando at a VoiceCon 2008 conference. It wasn't nearly as much fun as I would have imagined it might have been. Bored, tired technical seminars and just a plain-jabe exhibit hall. The food of course by Naw'lins standards was just about par with takeout, nothing exciting --- I did get most of my tasks completed and contacts were established with all critical industry players at the event, but all of that could have been facilitate in 1 day, not 5. All in all, I still find myself tired from the whole shebang as well as the piles of tasks I had waiting for me to analyze and sort out when I returned to my faithful grindwheel.

Oh grand grindwheel show me how you turn...grind my will down to dust and then leave me here to burn...abandon me, but make me remember why I came...for Andy is merely a good distraction at best on this big orbiting plain...dust to dust, distraction is my aim...my only saving grace is my ability to adapt, like steel to rust...I only watch myself change...let each of us take their swing at the plate, for Andy is always good for another meaningless date....another time, another place --- how far will I go, then realize it might be too late to turn the clock back, to redeem myself, to rebuild who I am? When do I reach that line in the sand?

Or have I already used all of the sand in my hourglass....grinding away on the stone?

Smile....just grind and smile....and grind and bear it.
ROAR!
:)

Relax on the Road...

I tell you what...waking up at 5AM and leaving at 5:45AM has not been difficult so far due to the move to Mandeville, but it has definitely been a change. The ride has made things substantially calmer, and I find myself relaxing to a larger extent and actually having more energy since the move. Is it the long drive across the causeway (24+ miles) that calms me down and allows me time to unwind after the stress of work, or just life in general...time will only tell.

For now, it is a wonderful distraction...kinda of my speciality. :)