Into The Canyon

Yesterday we took a little trip down into the Palo Duro Canyon, hoping to find a lot of flowers blooming. We were a bit disappointed. The only things that were blooming were prickly pear, and then only a small fraction of them. They were hard to find, even for the bees. It was pretty common to see several bees working one flower. We did get to shoot a few things, such as these:

Caught this Golden-Fronted Woodpecker making a pig of herself. It looks like he has 3 berries in his mouth.

There are a lot of wild turkeys in the canyon.

The structure known as The Lighthouse stands about 3 miles from the observation area as you enter the canyon.

Had to take a couple shots of our wildflowers after we got back home, too. This one is the first of our Bachelor's Buttons that bloomed.

Maybe we can get down to the canyon later in the year when it's in bloom. But then, if we don't get some decent rain, it may be another brown year.

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Memorial Day Cememony

Memorial Day Cememony
Originally uploaded by HighPlainsDox

This photo was taken last year - in 2007. It reminds us of who is to get credit for keeping our country free - past, present, and future. It is our armed forces. It's not just the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. It's also the Coast Guard, the Reservists, and the National Guardsmen - no matter which of the "regular" forces they serve under. They have all been called to duty, to protect our freedom, our security, and our way of life. Many have fallen, and many more will fall to preserve our future. It is inevitable as long as there are those who would seek to destroy our way of life.


Let us not forget the price they and their families have paid. Shake the hand of the servicemen we cross paths with, and go so far as to buy their dinner if you see them at your favorite restaurant. At least give them a sincere "Thank You!" Those two words hold a value to them that we cannot often understand.

Speak positively of them, their mission, their desire to protect you, and their devotion to duty. They believe in what they do - today, as in WWII. Do not speak negatively of their missions, even if you do not agree with them. To do so speaks negatively of them - today, the same as with VietNam.

I know. I was one of them.

USCG Veteran, 1973-1977

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May our fallen servicemen and women rest in peace.
They have done us a great service.

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Interesting Day

It was an interesting day today. I got to watch a house being moved off campus property, to some unknown destination. They are making way for expansion of the campus. Didn't have my camera, so I can't show you. *G*

As I was going about my daily duties, I saw a young fledgling mourning dove hunkering down by a concrete wall. I thought it might be injured, so I approached it to see if I could help in any way. As I neared, he flew about 20 or 30 feet down the wall. I let it be. During my break, I got my camera and took this shot:


Not long after I got home this evening (about rush hour), we heard sirens - lots of 'em. I took my camera and went over to the freeway. Yep, there was a wreck. Here is what I saw:






I don't know what his condition is, but it appeared he was wearing a helmet. This was a single-vehicle accident. I hope he's not too bad off.

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Blue Jay

This is one of the birds I've been wanting to get a shot of. Blue Jays are usually more timid than this around here. He let me snap a few pictures of him while he was eying up some bread I threw out for him and his cousins.

Movie Reviews

Over Her Dead Body
It sucked. Quite dull. Not much more can be said about it.

August Rush
Four Stars! Excellent! See it!

(I'll bet you thought this was going to be a long one, didn't you?) *G*

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It Takes A Mother

It takes a Mother's Love
to make a house a home,
A place to be remembered,
no matter where we roam.

It takes a Mother's Patience,
to bring a child up right,
And her Courage and her Cheerfulness
to make a dark day bright.

It takes a Mother's Thoughtfulness
to mend the heart's deep "hurts,"
And her Skill and her Endurance
to mend little socks and shirts.

It takes a Mother's Kindness
to forgive us when we err,
To sympathize in trouble
and bow her head in prayer.

It takes a Mother's Wisdom
to recognize our needs
And to give us reassurance
by her loving words and deeds.

It takes a Mother's Endless Faith,
her Confidence and Trust
To guide us through the pitfalls
of selfishness and lust.

And that is why in all this world
there could not be another
Who could fulfill God's purpose
as completely as a MOTHER!

Helen Steiner Rice

Happy Mother's Day!

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More Of Nothing

I got more nothing in the mail lately - from Capital One. It was another form letter, again not acknowledging my ID Theft or their own evidence. I have updated my "Your Wallet" page, if you care to look in on it and see how fine a company they are to deal with - and to not deal with.

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Carrie Underwood - in Concert!

Last night, Shelley and I went to see Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner in concert at our Civic Center. Josh started off the night with his performance, which was exactly what you would expect. He did an excellent job! He sounds as deep and rich as his recordings are. We were discouraged from taking pictures, but there were so many pocket cameras and camera phones that they couldn't do anything about it. We took Shelley's Canon A630, and I managed to get a few decent pics. Unfortunately, we were at the back of the coliseum and couldn't get very close shots.

Here is one of Josh on stage. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

Carrie came out next, and I can only thing of words like "awesome", "fantastic", "incredible", etc. That young lady was the Energizer bunny! For nearly 2 hours, she belted out an amazing collection of her songs, and even one of her favorites by Randy Travis.

Five minutes before her show, they put up a timer to count down the seconds. Here it is at the "2-minute warning":

The crowd went nuts when it hit "0:00", and she appeared from below stage. She rode a platform up from below. The timer was shown on a giant "dot-matrix" video screen, where they showed live video of her performance and other videos for effect. There were laser light displays, smoke, confetti, and various other well-orchestrated props and videos. None of it took away from Carrie's performance, or steered your attention away from it. It simply augmented it in an excellent choreography of sights and sounds. Here are a few pictures I got of her performance:





Every few songs, the spotlight dimmed on her and some background music played. A minute or so later, she reappeared in the spotlight with a completely different outfit on. It was extremely well done! She expended so much energy throughout her performance that her voice was showing fatigue on the last one or two songs. She's an amazing young lady, for sure!

I would not have imagined such a professional family show to appear here. It was "awesome", "fantastic", "incredible"!

If you ever get the chance to see her in concert - do it!

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