African Daisies — Dead and Alive

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow, click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

I thought I’d shared these before, but I can’t find any evidence of it. So, here they are.

A brief history of how these shots came to be: this particular African Daisy plant managed to survive through November 2020 and part of December, so I thought I would try to keep it alive until Spring 2021. So, I started keeping it in the garage when temperatures were below freezing outside. Well, in late December we had us a cold spell so the plant didn’t make it outside for a bit.

When it did warm up again, I looked at it and saw that some sort of fungus or mold had taken hold of it. It was then time to get rid of it because I’m not a fan of fungal growth or mold.

But, not before I snapped a few photos . . .

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Fresh Photos from Cache River Watershed

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos as this will pause the slideshow.

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

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Tiny Thoughts 001 — Nuances

Many of today’s bitter arguments, nee discussions, are on issues that allow — no, demand — only binary answers: Yes, No, Right, Wrong, True, False.

“Isn’t it true that surgeons cut patients and sometimes cause patients to die?”

“Yes, but—”

“NO BUTS! Surgeons are awful people!”

Everyone recognizes the weakness of the argument. It may well be surgeons are awful people, but for reasons completely independent from them cutting into and mucking about in people’s insides.

That extreme example exemplifies the level of debate for many contentious issues.

Abortion and guns are two issues that come to mind; issues framed as being binary but aren’t.

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The SDS Challenge — Second Envy Voting Reminder plus . . .

. . . Water Launch and Driving Mr. Bagel.

If you are new to the SDS Challenge, a little background.

Three writers will each write one story a month going down the list of deadly sins. The stories can be anywhere from 666 words to 6,666 words in length, although those numbers are not set in stone. If ambitious, the writers will provide accompanying graphics. These stories will not be anonymous because some writers may want to use the same characters for each story and write a series — or book — encompassing all seven sins. Finally, interpretation of the titular sin is up to the writer. Meaning, each ‘sin’ can take multiple forms.

Disclaimer: The writing challenge has no restrictions and the stories will likely span a wide gamut of genres. The majority of the stories fall in the PG-rating range with a few perhaps pushing into the soft R-rating. Some readers might find a few of the stories disturbing because of the topics, language, and/or plot points, and if so, stop reading and move on.

If you want to read the Seven Deadly Sins submissions for the Sin of Envy, and then vote, your gateway is THIS POST <<link. There, you’ll find links to each of the three stories and a poll for you to vote after you finish them (if you be so moved).

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Pelicans and more — October 25, 2021 — the photo files

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow, click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

Regular readers will recognize the above from the videos shared in THIS<<link post. I now aim to share the photos I snapped when I wasn’t shooting video.

I debated how to best present the photos and decided on chronological order. That means that photos from the D7500 and P900 are mixed in together, and I won’t bother identifying which is which, although one could probably guess based on the composition. That said, if you are curious, click the “i” button for the photos in the SmugMug Gallery and it will bring up information about the given photo.

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The SDS Challenge — First Envy Voting Reminder

Just a quick reminder that the voting for the SDS Challenge Envy Stories is underway.

If you are new to the SDS Challenge, a little background.

Three writers will each write one story a month going down the list of deadly sins. The stories can be anywhere from 666 words to 6,666 words in length, although those numbers are not set in stone. If ambitious, the writers will provide accompanying graphics. These stories will not be anonymous because some writers may want to use the same characters for each story and write a series — or book — encompassing all seven sins. Finally, interpretation of the titular sin is up to the writer. Meaning, each ‘sin’ can take multiple forms.

Disclaimer: The writing challenge has no restrictions and the stories will likely span a wide gamut of genres. The majority of the stories fall in the PG-rating range with a few perhaps pushing into the soft R-rating. Some readers might find a few of the stories disturbing because of the topics, language, and/or plot points, and if so, stop reading and move on.

If you want to read the Seven Deadly Sins submissions for the Sin of Envy, and then vote, your gateway is THIS POST <<link. There, you’ll find links to each of the three stories and a poll for you to vote after you finish them (if you be so moved).

Continue reading →

Stuff about cameras and photos

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow click HERE. When you click the link, it will open in a new window and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos as this will pause the slideshow.

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

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Pelicans and more — October 25, 2021 — the video files

There will be a separate post for the photos, but for now, a quick post of the videos

I thought all the pelicans had left the area, but during a drive to Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge on October 25th, I happily saw that was not the case.

This first video is a compilation of a few clips (not in slow motion – 1080p) of Pelicans at the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge on October 25th. It shows incoming pelicans joining a group of gathered pelicans, some shoveler ducks (I think), seagulls, and the little birds flying around are Tree Swallows.

The last bit of that video shows another group of pelicans roughly 0.7 miles from where I was filming.

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The SDS Challenge — “Envy” Voting

For the few, the brave, the individuals who’ve been waiting to once again not only read but also cast powerful votes for your favorite story (or writer, or both), the time has come. . .

If you are new to the SDS Challenge, a little background.

Three writers will each write one story a month going down the list of deadly sins. The stories can be anywhere from 666 words to 6,666 words in length, although those numbers are not set in stone. If ambitious, the writers will provide accompanying graphics. These stories will not be anonymous because some writers may want to use the same characters for each story and write a series — or book — encompassing all seven sins. Finally, interpretation of the titular sin is up to the writer. Meaning, each ‘sin’ can take multiple forms.

Disclaimer: The writing challenge has no restrictions and the stories will likely span a wide gamut of genres. The majority of the stories fall in the PG-rating range with a few perhaps pushing into the soft R-rating. Some readers might find a few of the stories disturbing because of the topics, language, and/or plot points, and if so, stop reading and move on.

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SDS Envy: “Two Tales of Envy” by E. J. D’Alise

If you are new to the SDS Challenge, a little background.

Three writers will each write one story a month going down the list of deadly sins. The stories can be anywhere from 666 words to 6,666 words in length, although those numbers are not set in stone. If ambitious, the writers will provide accompanying graphics. These stories will not be anonymous because some writers may want to use the same characters for each story and write a series — or book — encompassing all seven sins. Finally, interpretation of the titular sin is up to the writer. Meaning, each ‘sin’ can take multiple forms.

The fifth set of stories cover the sin of Envy. This is my offering. Some might be surprised I’m offering anything at all since I’d hinted I might abstain . . . well, once again I had an idea and had fun exploring it, so here we are.

Disclaimer: The writing challenge has no restrictions and the stories will likely span a wide gamut of genres. The majority of the stories fall in the PG-rating range with a few perhaps pushing into the soft R-rating. Some readers might find a few of the stories disturbing because of the topics, language, and/or plot points, and if so, stop reading and move on.

Continue reading →