It’s that time of the year…
Yep, my favorite time of the year. What evils shall lurk in the darkest hours? Witches and warlocks, black cats and things that are left unnamed. Perhaps, even the Galloping Hessian of the Hollow in search of Ichabob Crane!
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Whatever scares come your way, may your heart be strong and your feet be fast for nightmares await the one unfortunate to be last.
Hit the jump to see a few more pictures in celebration of the Day of the Dead – if you dare {evil laugh}
Here I sit wondering. was it having to load and then unload 20 bags of cement, or shoveling 30 5 gallon buckets of coal shale, or hand carrying said buckets some distance away, or moving a bunch of 4x8x3/4 treated plywood, or loading and unloading cement pavers, or having to haul 16 large tubs full of Halloween decorations back onto the tall shelving in my outbuilding, or complying with Linda’s demand to take out the trash that has resulted in destroying my lower back? Finally gave in to the nagging pain and had my chiro snap it back in place. Now just need to get the swelling down before another weekend’s worth of work stares me in the face. The good news is, right now, sitting doesn’t hurt as bad as standing which makes getting a post out one of the few things I can get done during the healing process. Oh, for the record – I am certain it was the trash duties that did this to me!
Took a gander at the photo queue and found a series featuring these beauties.
When it comes to Herons, the Great Blue holds command from a sheer size perspective, but when it comes to elegance, I think the Tricolored variety takes the cake…or maybe in this context, the fish. Something about the slate blue/grey interlaced with lavender and then contrasted with the white on the belly give this smaller Heron a regal look. An image that stands in contrast to the wet and muddy environments they tend to hang out in.
Hit the jump to learn a bit more about Mr. Tri.
Thought I would finally get around to showing off a Halloween project that was built for the 2018 Haunted Halloween Trail of Tears (link here). Those that checked out the trail walkthrough probably noticed a couple of interesting adds that I didn’t really talk much about. Was looking at my post queue and noticed I STILL had not posted on that project over a year later. This must be remedied immediately (as in before this year’s Halloween hits the history books). So without further delay I bring you Project Nightwings.
The night shots of the Nightwings didn’t come out the best because.. well, it was dark. Last year there was close to zero ambient light on the trail making it a bit difficult on the final camera round. Now, on the other hand, definitely upped the spook factor on the trail! If you look closely you will see a giant pair of wings adorning the back of the gargoyle. Now, making one pair of wings is fun enough, however, TWO wings pretty much puts this guy on cloud nine. The second pair is even harder to make out as the black wings blended into the darkness – unlike the zombie silhouette that looked awesome after an upgrade was made to the backing board that reflected the light better)
Hit jump to see how these new props for 2018 came to be!
Well, I promised a fellow blogger over at the Cedar Journal (https://thecedarjournal.com/blog/), a steady stream of bird posts in recognition of finally getting out of the pressure cooker. Probably over promised, but contrary to the great philosopher Yoda, sometimes “Try, there is”. Linda and I are starting to plan out the winter vacation. It is no secret we have spent a number of previous years birding the Texas Gulf Coast and then along the Rio Grande River. There are a number of other birding places we are considering, but hard to pass up the opportunity to get the abundance of birds down there in the tin – and Ron hasn’t ventured down there yet so any new checks allows me to claw back ground on his bird count. All that planning got me thinking there are plenty of bird shots still to post from our previous Texas trips.
Took a quick look to see what was available in the queue and found this set back from the December 2016 trek. The Loggerhead Shrike is not a new bird to the list having been featured previously back in November 2016 (link here). The Loggerhead has decided the entire southern region is a sufficient kill zone year round with some forays into the central north during breeding season to spread their reign of terror on even more victims.
Hit the jump if you want a pre-Halloween scare.
Deep inhale, deep exhale. There is something to be said about perseverance. One of those words that pack a lot of meaning into a mere 4 syllables. Half physical, half mental, a quarter of support from family and friends with heaping spoonfuls of luck that together give you a formula for success when whatever barrier before you takes well beyond 100% to make it through (don’t worry, I stayed awake in my math classes ha). I find runners tend to embrace this word, wrap themselves in its comfort like a warm blanket straight out of the dryer. Eyes forward, focused on the finish line.
My mantra, “one foot in front of the other”. No more, no less. Ignore the failure demons in your head and focus on the immediate that is within your control. Sure, there will be pain, sure there will be some self-doubt, but as long as that back foot makes it even the slightest amount of distance ahead of the front foot you will eventually get there… and when you get there, you can raise your wings, turn to your doubters and gloat like a proud Pelican.
Hit the jump to see a few more pictures of our friends from the southern coastline!
I’d like to say things are starting to settle down around here, but that wouldn’t exactly be accurate. This Saturday I once again toe the line in hopes of getting the 50K trail run check on the life list. If you recall, my first attempt back in July didn’t exactly go that well … and that is likely an understatement of the epic level of failure that was (link here). Fortunately, we are past the super hot days of summer and the current forecast looks like a very cool 40-50’s day (with a dip into the 30’s the night before). So, I do have that going for me and likely a new angel on my shoulder to help me through the rough points. They have promised me there will be NO box fans at the aid station so bloodletting should be at a minimum ha. Immediately after that is our annual Halloween party having been postponed due to our recent loss. Get past that and we are downhill to the end of what has turned out to be a year I’d rather forget. While I am waiting for Linda to finish up her cardio rehab for the day, decided to be productive – watching other people workout has to rate up there with one of the most boring ways to spend an hour second to maybe playing Tic-Tac-Toe against yourself.
Say hello to the King of South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center. We met this specimen on our trip down the Texas Gulf Coast back in December 2016 (which puts this almost 3 years old if my high levels of education serves me right). This dude (it is the male of the species) was hanging out on a sign near the end of the boardwalk passing the day taking mental pictures of all the flightless humans walking by.
Hit the jump to catch a couple more shots of the Belted Kingfisher.
