Misc Photos

Got Some Splainin’ To Do

Splainin'

I’m now averaging sucking a bird to its death into the grill of the Emperor every 7 years or so.

Yesterday we took a long overdue road trip. The first objective was to head to our favorite bookstore in the Richmond Hill, GA. Objective #2 was to gather some Moss Motoring Challenge points and lastly was to enjoy a nice drive with the top down before the brain-frying weather that is called summer in the south shows up.

Inside a half full outlet mall just south of Savannah, Georgia is Book Warehouse. Hard cover books for $1.99. They are used /returned / off-lease library books, so they are about a year old and covered in shiny acetate with stickers plastered everywhere. In spite of the convenience of the Kindle, there is something neat about holding a hefty collection of inked paper bound together, inside a couple sheets of cardboard. For around thirty bucks we came away with half a trunk full of fine literature, Daniel Steele for her and Robert B. Parker for me.

On the trip down and back we made a few stops and racked up 5 Motoring Challenge points, two lakes, a state park, a city and one sneak peek.

Mission accomplished. We were gone from home on Sunday for 2 meals, nearly 300 total miles and 9-1/2 hours. This splains why all I had the energy for posting last night was two pictures, one from Saturday (we helped set up the reception room for a co-workers wedding) and one from Sunday (a variation of the sneak peek photo.)

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1476

Motoring Challenge Points 5, Approx Miles Driven 215
Totals So Far: 39 points & 930 miles

Sunday

Water Tower Alternate

A 16 mile bike ride that accomplished bill paying and breakfast eating.
Home in time to watch CBS’s Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.
I read a book made out of paper.
Wasted the rest of the day watching football.

Christmas in Hopeland Gardens

Hopelands

The last time we walked up to see the lights in Our Fair City’s Hopeland Gardens was 5 years ago (we tried last year, but were shut out.) Tonight we made the walking trip over to see if they had added anything new and they hadn’t. We were slightly disappointed, but in talking about it on the walk back, we decided that it is better if they don’t keep piling more stuff in there otherwise it would get too gaudy.

I Sprained My Blogging Muscle

Eclipse

I’ve got/had a bunch of stories I kinda want to write about, but can’t seem to get them from my head to the keyboard, so I’m going to start small:

When I finished my rollerblading route this evening I remembered that there was supposed to be a partial solar eclipse today. It was scheduled to start in our area about 5:30 and continue until sundown when there would be 40% of the sun’s face covered by the shadow of the moon. It was already after 6:00 PM and the sun was already so low in the sky that because of our tree filled neighborhood, I had no clear view. The “photo” above was taken from in my driveway and shot through the big magnolia in the yard across the street.

Bloody Moon

Bloddy Moon

I got up slightly early this morning to go out and see the “Blood Moon.” Because of the total eclipse of the moon by the Earth’s shadow it appears reddish in color. I left the house so I was probably the first customer of the day at the local DD. With my cup of coffee I started heading west hoping to find a high spot with a good sight line of the moon as it set. I tried a couple of spots, but couldn’t find the right combination. at this point the moon was still high enough in the sky that it was easy to see no matter where you were. As I drove along and the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon’s face it didn’t look very red. When I stopped just after the eclipse reach totality I rolled down my tinted window and Boom!, the moon was red.

Trying to hand hold a zoomed in shot of the Earth’s satellite, even with the camera braced against the car roof, means you are going to get what you see above. The two horizontal streaks are a set of power lines that got in the frame.

Sunrise Fishing

Sunrise Fishing

On this morning’s early walk on the beach, Donna sees a guy fishing and makes a bee line for him. “Where you going?” I ask. “To ask him what he is trying to catch,” she says. I mumble under my breath so she can’t hear, “Probably fish.” She chats him up for a few minutes while I try unsuccessfully to capture a photo of a pelican silhouetted by the the rising sun. When she asks him if the beach is always this uncrowded he tell her it is on weekdays from May to December.