Things that Make you go Hmmmmmm

Have you ever experienced or seen things you just can't understand. Now I am not talking about complex things like how the sky never ends or why Richard Simmons is annoying or anything like that, I am just talking about simple day to day stuff.

For instance, who is it at Blogger whose job is it to invent the word verification words? Do they enjoy making up words that are too hard to pronounce much less type first thing in the morning when you are on your first cup of coffee. It is difficult enough to do with a simple font but then they want to torture me with a bubble font that I have to squint to see. I try my best and cringe when it tells me it's wrong and pray they give me an easier word. Why can't they just have words that are easy to read like cat, dog, bird, frog?? If you are a spammer it is just as time consuming to type those words in as it is the others. I bet whoever it is who does this for a living likes to torture us bloggers with their fancy words and bubble fonts.

Why do people go to McDonald's and order a Big Mac, Supersize Fry and a Diet Coke? I just don't understand it. Heck when I go to McDonald's I don't want diet anything. Give me as much fat and sugar as I can take in one sitting. Do they think they are being good with their order and feel less guilty as they are woofing down their Big Mac as they take a left on Main Street or do they just prefer Diet Coke for some reason.

What is it with the Facebook ads on the right hand corner of your screen. Do they target women born in the 60's with ads as ridiculous as the one above? Do they honestly think all women in their 40's want to look like they are still in their 20's? And if they do WHY would you show a photo like that? She looks as if she is waiting at a street corner for who knows what! I will just leave that to your imagination.

What's the deal with people who are always on their cell phone while driving? Is that the only time they can catch up with loved ones, friends and co-workers? Better yet, the ones who talk on their cell phones while grocery shopping. When I am at the grocery store I need full concentration or I will forget why I am there. I was in the produce section last week and heard all about a woman's blind date that weekend and how annoying he was because he kept talking on his cell phone. HA!

There are a bunch more but those are all I can think of for now. How about you? You must have some!!! Spill the beans and share! ;o)

Do you Bird Blind???

Source: http://www.michigannature.com/kwikcamo.html for product and pricing information.

I have heard a lot about bird blinds lately from fellow bloggers who use them. Based upon the fabulous pictures they both take, I am guessing they are a great way to photograph birds who may otherwise be skittish of your presence. Birding in Maine And Country Captures if you want to see this great photography for yourself.

Anyhow, I was at the library this evening and grabbed a book on nature photography to browse through as my son studied for an exam and they had a whole chapter on bird blinds and suggestions on how to dress for nature photography. One thing they suggested was a good pair of cammies. HA! I thought to myself......I can do that. I pictured how chic I would look on the bike path with my cute cammies and matching green top along with a cammie wide brimmed hat. I would look like a nature version of GI Jane!! Yes this is definitely something I could do once the snow is melted. I picture the look on my kids faces as I leave for the morning decked in my outfit and I giggle a little. My son glances up from the book and I blush and bury my face in the book again. Must go to the second hand shop to buy some vintage cammies.

They also showed some elaborate bird blinds that I would never have thought of on my own. For instance, did you know there are some birders out there who set up bird blinds in tree branches!!!! Yes, I saw it myself in a photo. What they do is use plywood to jimmy amongst a couple of branches for a seat and then use the cammie netting to hide themselves even more. The book showed some of the incredible photos they took and I was intrigued at the possibilities. Hmmmm......How does one get the plywood into the deep woods???? And what would happen if I fell out of the tree??? Would I get cell service to call 911 and if I did what would they think of me when they found me on the ground with a camouflage sheet wrapped around me???? Perhaps not........Plus, what would fellow hikers think of me as they passed me by...........

The last one completely blew my mind it was so clever!! Most birders know how challenging taking pictures of waterfowl can be. For one thing, many times they are too far into the water and away from land for a decent photo. They are also skittish little birds who take off once they make eye contact with you. Not anymore!!! What the book suggests you do is get one of those sturdy rubber rafts that come with paddles and get out in a pond with the camouflage netting wrapped around you like the photo above! Of course you paddle to your destination before you put the netting around you and then you wait for the waterfowl to pass by and you get wonderful, up close photographs! I can hardly control my excitement thinking of the possibilities and I am beaming in eager anticipation. I can see my son looking at me with that worried look he gets when I am about to embarrass him. I start thinking of the small pond nearby that has a ton of waterfowl that I have not been able to get close enough to even identify much less photograph.

Hmmmmmmm.........I wonder if that raft I bought for the kids is still in the garage. I picture myself in this get up and remember that the pond is in the middle of two roads with lots of cars and I giggle thinking of the drivers who would pass by and see someone in a raft in the middle of a pond decked out in cammo netting with a little hole to take photos. Soon the giggling turns into uncontrolled laughter and I am crying in a library as my son sinks lower into his chair and people are giving me dirty looks. I can't stop so I run into the bathroom to compose myself some.

My son tells me he will never go to the library with me again........I think for now I will stick with the cammies. Allthough I may buy a little of the netting just in case. I have a feeling birding will be very interesting come spring......

Skywatch Friday-From Gray to Blue

Gray storm clouds compete with the sun on a cold Friday morning.

Eventually the sun wins.

Saturday morning sunrise. I am there to share it with the crows. The air is crisp as I take this photo. I am up on a hill and the frigid wind causes my eyes to water and fingers to ache from cold. I am up so high the sun never seems to make it over the horizon, the vivid red I long to see never comes my way. The extended daylight hours are playing tricks on me. The sunrise of last week is not the sunrise of today. One must get up earlier to catch that vivid red

and the birth of a new day.
Saturday afternoon blue skies. The sun warms up the earth and melting snow form tiny rivers of water against the rocky earth. I soak it all in and stare at the sky searching for life. A hawk soars riding the thermal waves the naked eye can't see. The crows follow yelling their outrage. Eventually the waves glide the hawk over the horizon and into peaceful solitude.

The Martha's Vineyard Times: Birds

Check out the tidbit of news I got from the right side bar to my blog. Under the Yahoo Bird News Section.

Some of the news tidbits that are making me smile right about now.

"On the evening of February 15, American woodcocks were engaging on their unique flight displays just at dusk in several overgrown fields. "

"Also arriving is another hardy blackbird - the common grackle. These large, iridescent, long-tailed birds seem to be returning north earlier every year. Red-winged blackbirds used to show up a couple of weeks before grackles, but for the past five years the arrival dates back on the Vineyard for the two species have almost coincided. A small number of this species also spent the winter, but again several flocks have been seen and birds showing up at locations where they were not seen all winter indicate that these are migrants."

I am hoping that means I will see some red winged blackbirds this weekend.


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Bad Case of Analysis Paralysis with my Camera

You know life was a little easier with my Kodak Easy Share. You see, it was tiny, durable and fairly inexpensive so I didn't baby it the way I am my FujiFilm FinePix S2000HD .
With my old camera, I didn’t give much thought to my lens because the Kodak EasyShare had an automatic flap that would close and protect the lens whenever it wasn’t in use. My new one has a cover which I am faithful in closing but am still running into problems with dust and dirt getting onto it. I bought some lens cleaner and have been using that, but have also been reading up on other ways to protect your precious lens.

One tip I read was to buy a UV lens for your camera which will not only lesson the harsh effect of the sun in your pictures, but also protect the lens itself as all dust, dirt, grime, etc will land on there vs. your lens.

Armed with my new information I decided to do a google search for UV lens for Fuji FinePix s2000. This doesn’t seem to work at all because all that gets returned back to me is information on the camera itself and nothing on what kind of UV lens I need for this particular camera.

Am I doing something wrong? Are there generic UV lenses I should be looking at or do I need to find the lens for my camera? To make matters even worse, I am also shopping for memory cards and can’t figure that out either. I went to the Fujifilm web site and printed out this fancy grid that will tell me what memory cards are compatible with my camera but it reads like Turkish to me and seems to confuse me even more.

While I am on the subject of camera equipment and accessories, what are some of your favorite online stores to go to when purchasing new things for your camera? And since I am asking all of these questions I will ask one more ;o). Are there any other things I should think of buying once I figure all of this out? I see all kinds of fancy stuff that makes my heart pitter patter like magnifying lenses, wide angle lenses, etc. Are these all useful things to have, or am I wasting my money?

Any comments, helps, tips, etc would be most appreciated as I am a babe in the woods here when it comes to cameras.

Skywatch Friday-A glimpse of what I see

The two pictures above were taken a week ago. I was up at the mall and had to take some pictures of it. We have been having a lot of gray skies lately, and this lifted my spirits.

A crow chasing a Red Tailed Hawk??

Lastly I picture I took today. If you look at the sun you may see the face of a boy with a hat on. That is what I see at least. ;o)