Another Desert Adventure

I'm not sure the photos will do yesterday afternoon and evening justice....but I'll try. Next time, I hope I shoot better under pressure :) In the end we were stuck for about 3 hrs or so until the wind and sand calmed down enough so that we could make our way out to the road.


An Afternoon of Clear Blue Skies in Kuwait




We Could See for Miles




We Had a Great Little "Camping" Spot




A Nice Breeze for a Glide





Trouble Rolls In





Roar is a More Apt Description





Same Rocks from the First Photo...Different Angle





Night Came Early

Patterns

I like taking photos of patterns...look back through and you can see a lot of patterns here. Tree bark and leaves...cemetery stones etc. Anyway, I still await "my stuff" which includes my computer, the drives with the bulk of my photographs and everything else. In the meantime, from some of the memory cards I do have and my time in D.C. in January, using GIMP and my laptop I present a few more patterns:

Metro Station - Washington D.C.



Pine Bark - Patuxent Research Refuge, MD

Never Too Far From Home

Apparently there is a market here in Kuwait for Kroger brand Worcestershire sauce....this figures to be about $2.30 for a 15 ounce bottle.

A Long Way from Cincinnati - Kuwait

An Evening in the Desert

We spent an evening out in the desert a couple nights ago with a group of new friends. Here are some of photos...I'll be anxious to see what they really look like when my good computer gets here. These are the jpegs out of the camera with some editing on my laptop via GIMP, the open source image editing program...it is to Adobe's Photoshop(CS5) what OpenOffice is to MicroSoft's Office Suite. It is the first time I've used GIMP (just downloaded it last night) and the laptop screen isn't what I'd call photo-editing friendly for color, contrast etc.

Desert Ridge and Four-Wheeler Tracks - Kuwait




Shadows in the Sand - Kuwait




Looking Toward the City - Kuwait




Hang Gliding at Dusk - Kuwait




Desert Ridge at Dusk - Kuwait

Been Busy...

and will continue to be so for a while. I have been taking photos though, just not much time to go through them.

Reeds in the Wind - Patuxent Research Refuge, MD

Corvette Museum

One of our stops was the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Corvette has always been one of my favorite cars, partially because it has stayed essentially true to form since it's introduction in 1953. It hasn't tried to be an economy car, a family car...nope just a 2 seat sports car for over 50 yrs. I wouldn't mind having one some day, even if, as many women have told me, "it is an old man's car".

Since pretty much everyone has seen Corvettes, here are a few other photos I took at the museum. The mural is composed of hundreds of small photos of people with their Corvettes.

Corvette Mural - Corvette Museum, Bowling Green KY




Iconic Corvette Emblem





Corvette In the Chrome Era

Kentucky Bourbon Trail

We took off for a few days and went on a little trip down to Kentucky. It was a nice break. First order of business on the drive was a stop at the Jim Beam Distillery outside of Louisville (one of the six bourbon distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail) for a little tour and tasting. I've been on a lot of tours of breweries and wineries over the years, but this was my first time to a distillery. The combination of chemistry, cooking and art fascinates me with regards to beer, wine and spirits...with the added bonus that you get to drink the results. (I like things where you get to eat the results too :)

Jim Beam is the largest producer of bourbon in the world (by far). The tour currently does not include a stop by their working stills, but we did go through one of their barns (aging warehouse) for storing the barrels while the aging occurs. It was fascinating. Six stories of white oak barrels all stacked up and rolled on beams. The warehouse essentially consisted of some kind of corrugated material for the roof and sides to keep out the rain (and probably little else) along with beams of wood to roll the barrels along. Jim Beam does not climate control their aging warehouses. After spending years in these barns, some of the barrels look a little worse for wear. The barrels are used for bourbon only once, then the lucky ones get an all expenses paid trip to Scotland to be used in the aging of Scotch.

Besides the namesake bourbons (Jim Beam 4yr, 7yr, Green-5yr, Black-8yr and Yellow-Rye whiskey), Beam also produces what they call their "Small Batch Collection" of premium bourbons. I think Knob Creek is probably the best known, but also Baker's, Basil Hayden's and Booker's. Also a newer product, Red Stag. The tasting consisted of Booker's and Red Stag. Booker's is their super duper premium bourbon. It is uncut, straight from the barrel so each barrel will be slightly different. The particular bottle we tasted from was 127 1/2 Proof and I found it quite tasty with a little higher viscosity than other spirits I've had. Red Stag a flavored bourbon infused with black cherry and a bit sweet. I liked it too, but more as a cordial type drink I think. Here are a few photos from of the aging.

Barrel of Aging Bourbon - Jim Beam Distillery, Clermont KY



Barrels of Aging Bourbon Stamped with Lot # etc.



Corrugated Wall of Aging Warehouse

April 18, 1810 - May 12, 1890

I drove out to see the covered bridge over Stonelick Creek yesterday and get some photos with the snow and blue skies. I wasn't so happy with the results, but of course I enjoyed the nearby St. Philomena Cemetery. Here a couple of photos with the third being the result of messing with various black and white techniques in photoshop.

St. Philomena Cemetery - Stonelick Township, OH



St. Philomena Cemetery via Lensbaby



St. Philomena Cemetery, In Monochrome

Maya and the Afghan

Maya likes blankets and pillows to curl up on...she seems to like Elesa's latest project before it is even finished...

Maya and the Afghan

7 - 10 Split

Luck wasn't with dad on the bowling alley earlier this week...

The Creation of a 7 - 10 Split

The Eagle

My sister has been telling me for at least 5 yrs that she frequently sees a bald eagle not far from her (and consequently, my) house, along SR126 in Indian Hill's (they limit access to residents) Grand Valley Preserve at Camp Dennison. But she's never gotten a photo. Her husband saw the eagle for the first time about a week ago and snapped a photo with his cell phone. Today she saw it on her way home from work, so she rushed the rest of the way home, got her new camera and me and we went out to take a look.

There were a number of other observers. A few of which are avid birders, and one of those is seriously into bird photography and has photographed the eagle a number of times. He is on flickr HERE. And a collection of the photos he's taken at the Preserve are HERE. The photos include a series of shots as one of the bald eagles swooped down and grabbed a duck "for lunch" as well as this SHOT as the eagle flew straight at him. His shots are accomplished with skill, patience and persistence I probably don't have...nor do I have (but I may some day :) the 500 mm lens and 1.4X Extender he was using.

Bald Eagle - Camp Dennison, OH

My New Toy

Mrs. Claus brought me a new lens for Christmas, a Lensbaby.

I first got to play with an original model back in Santa Fe a number of years ago and have wanted one ever since. The whole point of the lens is the blur and the way you can tilt the point of sharpness and focus. It will take some practice and getting used to because I don't see so well and it is a manual focus lens.

Here are a few of my photos from today. I walked through a local cemetery that has a number of graves from the mid-late 1800's. I figured that was only fitting since the Santa Fe National Cemetery was where I was first introduced to this type lens.

St. Andrews Cemetery - Milford, OH





St. Andrews Cemetery - Milford, OH




This is the same tree as in this previous post.
Sycamore Tree - Milford, OH





King on the Game Table

Winter Continues...

and it isn't even here yet.....spring seems a long time away

Pine With Snow

Baltimore's Inner Harbor

I spent a late afternoon walking around Baltimore's Inner Harbor last week. It was a beautiful, if a bit cold day with bright deep blue skies. It was amazing to see how much the harbor area has changed in the past 26 years or so. What used to be home to a lot abandoned docks and warehouses is now home to posh condos, hotels, and fancy shops and restaurants...

I'm not too good at merging photos into a panoramic shot, I don't have the time and I'm on my rather slow and old computer....so excuse the obvious merging skies etc in the first shot.

Baltimore and Inner Harbor from Federal Hill



Mooring Pylons with Seven Foot Knoll in the distance - Inner Harbor



Hard Rock's Guitar Towers Above Inner Harbor



Cannon and Flag on Federal Hill

Longwood Gardens

We visited Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania earlier this week and saw their Christmas display. We didn't have the energy to stay around late enough to see the lights once it got dark (we arrived at 10 am. and it was a pretty cold and blustery day). Walking through the grounds made me really like to see the gardens and fountains in late spring or late summer. This time, we spent most of our time inside the conservatory. It is something like 4 acres undercover and it was beautifully decorated for Christmas (and it was warm:). The various Christmas trees were especially nicely decorated.

The Longwood Gardens is one of Pierre Samuel du Pont's lasting legacies. Walking around the grounds made me wonder if any of the present day robber bankers will leave a legacy beyond their current blatant pillaging of damn near anything they can get their hands on (only with government approval of course).

Christmas Ornaments on Tree - Longwood Gardens, PA



Decorated Christmas Tree - Longwood Gardens, PA




"Silver" Plants as a Theme - Longwood Gardens, PA




Succulent in the Cactus Room - Longwood Gardens, PA

Winter is Here

A little earlier than I'd prefer. I took this on my snowy walk yesterday.

Cold Pumpkin

Man of War

Hopefully I'm back to posting more photos. I'm definitely getting the chance to take more again...a bunch of Portuguese Man-of-War were washed up on the beach at Destin last week. Most were the size of about a quarter, but some were bigger like this one, about the size of a small cantaloupe.

Man Of War

Reflectons Chicago 2007

Downtown Chicago Reflections - 2007

Looking Back,Two Years Ago Today - Lake Bled, Slovenia

Looking back fondly ... we had a great time, and I'm certainly looking forward to more weekend adventures...

Bled Island & Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary - SloveniaBlejski Otok, Cerkev Marijinega Vnebovzetja

Tonight - Crescent Moon

I missed that cool blue/purple twilight sky by just a few minutes...but the craters and details of the moon came out nice.

Crescent Moon and Venus9/11/2010 Over the Middle East


Crop of above to show detail...

Crescent Moon

A Year Ago...

...we'd just returned from our cruise. Here are a few photos I took on the flight the Seattle to Salt Lake City leg of the flights home. The window view flying into and out of Seattle is just amazing.


Great Salt Lake - Utah




Crop Circles From the Air




River





Mount St. Helens - Washington State



Contrails and Mount Hood - Washington State