Category: kids

a second look, adventure, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, exploring new places, Florida landmarks, friends, fun, kids, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography

Sarasota Audubon Nature Center…

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We nearly missed this center located adjacent to the Celery Fields trail. The sidewalk we were riding led us past the beginning of the trail and over to the Audubon center. It wasn’t open since it was past noon, but the multiple bird feeders set up outside were amazingly busy. When we first stopped to see what we could see there were little kids there, talking excitedly and running back and forth to grab snacks from their mothers. But I can’t say that the birds, and there were lots of them, were bothered by all the action. We were bothered however, so we decided to go get some lunch, and when we came back to the feeders we were there by ourselves. That was much nicer.

There must be some truth to the saying that ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ Or so it would seem.
In the light I thought they looked slightly green-ish, mostly because that’s what I hoped they’d be. I hoped to see painted buntings, but we didn’t. These are brown headed cow birds, and I’ve never seen them before.
I think I probably have seen them before, but didn’t notice them being different from all the other little brown birds.
A red-winged black bird in non-breeding colors. I had to look this guy up, thank goodness for Merlin.
We see cardinals daily on our bird feeder. This one kept to himself, mostly in the bushes or on the ground, and was gone fairly quickly.
The blue jays didn’t stay put long also, but this one stopped at the bird bath for a drink.
It’s that ”birds of a feather’ thing again. I was excited over the purples and blues of the feathers in this photo, but Merlin says they are common grackles. I think they were the most abundant birds at the feeders.
Red-wings share a snack.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy kids, and their conversation was fun to listen to, but they were lined up across the table part of the picnic table viewing spot, making it tough to frame a photo. Their mothers were around the corner, paying no attention, as the kids came and went with their juice boxes and snacks, which included slices of watermelon. So in the feature photo, the slice of watermelon in the bird bath, placed by the Audubon folks or the kids? Guess we’ll never know.

a second look, attitude adjustments, fantasy images, friends, fun, hockey, kids, old dogs new tricks, perseverance, photography, technology

Hockey Halloween…

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Off we went to the USF hockey game the other night, me armed with my nice light new camera and the 18-150 lens, expecting to not shoot many pictures. But I got distracted…

We were waiting for the other photographers to arrive when he passed by.
The free skating rink had so much mist rising from the ice, plus the lighting was changing colors, that photos were tough to take. But that’s where I found the cute kids that I saw arriving in costume.
Brother and sister I think.
This cute little fairy was on a mission. I love those little dolphins they have for the little kids to learn to skate.
These two arrived just as the photographers did also, so it was time to watch the game.
This picture was taken from ground level, brr, and through the plexiglass that is just as scuffed up as the walls are in this photo. Finding a square inch of clear glass to shoot through is almost impossible.
Talk about scuffed up walls, look at those pads! I wouldn’t have made a good hockey mom, wouldn’t have wanted to watch them shooting a puck at my baby!
I went to the upstairs level to escape the cold and find a seat, and discovered that the netting was raised so the view of the ice was so much better. The fact that the puck sailed over the plexiglass in my general direction didn’t spoil my fun. Guess the net does serve a purpose after all, but I was glad it was up. And USF scored!
I tried to get some shots that showed action. The puck had dropped and they all took off after it.
I wasn’t finished with my costume shots as it turned out.

Warmed up and with a better view I enjoyed the rest of the evening. Plus ‘we’ won, 8-2.

a second look, attention to detail, childhood, facing facts, fun, kids, perseverance, photography, Uncategorized

Smiley faces…

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I walked down the block for the sunrise the other day. I’d sort of forgotten about this little park, and the charming little chalk drawings I used to see there sometimes. The last time I was there was the day after a hard rain, and the whole surface was fresh and clean, looked brand new. But this time I saw images that made me smile.

The cute faces in chalk were hard to miss. But when I saw this photo I saw another smiley face lit up in the clouds. Or is it just me?

The color kept building, a pretty sunrise.
As I walked away I noticed message left by a slightly older somebody. Someone is having a birthday, and someone was there, and someone is single. I had to laugh when I read that one.

I’ve thought about buying myself some sidewalk chalk and leaving a message, but I’ve come to my senses. I may feel like I’m in my second childhood these days, but I’m old. I think I’d best leave these kids to their fun and just check in on them from time to time.

a second look, attention to detail, friends, fun, kids, moments, perseverance, photography

Under the influence…

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I was under the influence at the races on Saturday. We had a nice group, and the feature photo is the person who was influencing me. She likes to concentrate on the people at the race track, in addition to the races themselves. So when I was up on the balcony and saw her below me, shooting into the crowd between races, I was challenged to try to see what she was seeing. And she was an interesting subject herself.

This girl would probably be happy to know that her outfit was every bit as pretty as she hoped it would be.
You aren’t supposed to take pictures inside the clubhouse itself due to the number of serious gamblers studying their forms. I guessed that this guy directly below the balcony was fair game though.
This horse caught my eye as he was brought out at the start of his race. I remembered the little girl from our last day at the races who told her mother that one of the horses was being ‘naughty’. I really like his orange socks, but in looking at my pictures of his race I couldn’t see orange socks at all, so I don’t know where he finished.
This is the female jockey who won her race last time, and she won the first race this time. My vantage point on the balcony makes it impossible to see the finish line, but at least I can see the track itself. And I was told early on that getting a shot of the horses with all four hooves off the ground was one photographic goal, so I was a doubly pleased with this shot.
This was taken from track-side, of the race that the horse with the orange socks was in. What was exciting here was that the horse on the rail had led for the whole race, and this was the moment coming down the stretch that he was overtaken and I believe he came in fourth. Hmm, do the first and second horses both have all four feet on the ground?
I caught the photographer beside me aiming his camera at this little kid. He had successfully done a somersault off of this railing several times, and I was mad at myself for missing the shot when his hat flew off in the process. So I started shooting also, and got this shot. And he was still somersaulting so I kept shooting…
Let me caution you that no children were harmed in the process of getting this shot. Yes, he fell onto his back and cried, but he was okay. I believe he stopped somersaulting after that.
a second look, Florida landmarks, friends, fun, kids, live and learn, making memories, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, perseverance, photography

Catching up with Riplee…

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The other day it dawned on me that it’s been quite a while since I checked up on Riplee. You remember him, the baby orangutan who was born last November 15th, so he is nearly a year old. I think that each time I’ve been back to ZooTampa I’ve hoped to see him displaying his own baby-orangutan self, but up until yesterday each visit had him still in his mother’s arms. The infancy lasts longer than I might have thought. But this visit, I hoped, would be different. And it was.

We arrived early enough to catch the orangutans enjoying heads of romaine, and slim branches covered in tasty leaves. As evidenced by the enthusiasm they displayed.
At first glance Riplee seemed to be coming in second to the head of romaine his mother, DeeDee, held. You can probably guess that I took pictures almost constantly once Dee Dee turned around and I could see the baby, but it was hard to get one that showed his face at that point.

After taking many, many pictures we decided to walk through the rest of the zoo to see what we could see, but when we returned we found that Dee Dee and her mother were sitting side by side up on a large post with their backs to us. Riplee was between them, holding onto two ropes and appearing to be wishing to climb them. Now this was the sort of photo I’d been hoping for the last few times I’d been to the zoo.

It was so exciting to see him on his own, so to speak. The only thing was that once I looked at my pictures in the computer I realized that Riplee’s poses were not modest, not a bit. I wasn’t sure which photos to use on social media in that circumstance, but lucky for me I had so many that I was able to find some that were cute and also preserved his dignity.
He not only wanted to climb the ropes, he also seemed to be willing to taste them too.
He climbed ever higher, while his mother, by all indications, paid no attention. It shouldn’t have been surprising since n their native Borneo their name means’ tree people’, because they live most of their lives in the tree canopy above them.
Somehow he found things to taste as he climbed.
Eventually he reached the tippy-top, and suddenly there was mom, who took charge and got him down.

This little guy will be so much fun to continue to visit. If orangutans hadn’t already been a favorite of mine they certainly would be now.

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, exploring new places, friends, fun, kids, learning, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel

Odds and ends…

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I was chauffeur driven for a week in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, which means I was taking pictures from the car, a lot of pictures. Now when I look at my pictures I have some that never did fit into any post I made already, but I liked them, so here goes. The feature photo is one of the four tunnels we drove through every day we were in NC. Two tunnels were longer, but that doesn’t make for as interesting of a picture.

Mingus Mill. A destination in the park, but one that didn’t yield as many pictures for some reason.
I loved seeing these silos along the roadside in Bryson City. After wishing to stop each time we drove past I finally said something and my driver kindly obliged.
This view escaped us the first couple of times we passed by, but once we noticed it we made it a point to stop for a picture.
The actual water wheel in action. Just for show at a shopping area.
This is a view into the house at the farm museum at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. I noticed this boy standing still, looking into the room, after the rest of the family had moved on. I wondered, hoped really, that he was trying to imagine life in those days.
Just a flower that caught my eye.
This carving is outside the Indian museum in Cherokee, NC.

I’m so glad that we made this trip. My computer is full of images of lovely fall scenery. I was initially disappointed that all the hills weren’t ablaze with color, but once I found myself traveling through tunnels of foliage overhead I was quite happy with the fall foliage we did see. It was a nice trip, but it’s also nice to be home…