Just got back from a photography seminar by Ian Plant (link here). For the last three years, Linda and I have been going to the Peoria Camera Club featured photography speakers. The first two had speakers we were very familiar with, however, Ian was new to us and we did not know what to expect. There was some hesitation this year due to the fact that the $75/person fee is a pretty steep if you are unsure if you are going to get any takeaways for the investment. We checked out his site and his work was very interesting – he also ranged from landscape to wildlife which covered both our interests. Being that it was our little thing we do together, we took a chance. We definitely didn’t expect the 9+ inches of snow accumulation that started late last night and has continued throughout the day. This kept a lot of planned attendees home – living in the country we are accustomed to the slippery driving conditions and made it there without incident (can’t say the same for all the trucks and cars we passed in the ditches on our way there). Turned out we had a great time and have new ideas to try out next time we are in the field. Also had a chance to mingle with some of the Peoria Camera Club members which was fun as well.
Having been inspired by Ian today, thought I’d go ahead and put out another post.
Nope, that isn’t a bird for a change! Based on the multitude of hate mail sacks that hit our front door, it was apparent that you wanted a break from the birds. After a quick look through my queue, I found this prehistoric throwback and thought it would fit the bill. Granted, I did come upon this slow moving creature in the midst of birding Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on our Texas birding trip back in January 2017. This would have been our first visit to the Sticky Mud Lagoon (in case you were wondering what Atascosa means), quickly making its way into my top 10 birding locations. Just be sure and keep a close eye on the road into that place or plan a visit to your favorite tire alignment technician. Actually, let’s call it a giant pothole that leads into the park that happens to have some high gravel parts in it.
Hit the jump to read more about this featured creature!
Whew, it’s been a long road to get to this point. As mentioned previously, my spare time lately has been spent running between the digital darkroom and wildlife posting with multiple side jaunts to the reference library. With the Audubon talk officially wrapped up, things are starting to get back to normal – well, at least a little more routine for me. Seems like something is always happening around here that needs attention. Unfortunately, a lot of that “happening” involves some fix or update to the house or outbuilding. This is likely why one of my guilty pleasures is watching the DIY and multitude of flipping shows – of course, some of that is a direct result of the rapidly growing number of entertainers that have earned their way onto my LIST (running out of channels that have anything I want to watch). One of the flipper shows has always stood out from the rest and appropriately named Fixer Upper. Chip and Joanna Gaines have managed to get me addicted to their show due to a mixture of interesting design, truly talented constructions skills and humorous banter. Not sure how, but I discovered that Chip had a book out that gave an opportunity to learn a bit more about his life, what makes him tick and hopefully gave some background on how the show came to be. That book, Capital Gains: Smart Thinks I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff quickly made its way into my Amazon cart. Chip definitely gives some deep insights into the experiences that set him on his life course. From the shows, it was obvious he was into sports, so it seemed fitting when he told the story about his Dad being his baseball coach and how that led to playing for Baylor University (for his freshman year). At the same time he was cultivating an entrepreneur spirit which led to running 3 businesses which included flipping houses.
