GREAT GALLOPING GOBS OF GHOSTLY CRANES

A glance out the window early this morning told me it had been a frosty night. Rays of sun breaking over the Swiss Helm mountains cast an eerie yellowish  pastel glow over the valley through a low hanging bank of fog. The day later dawned clear as a bell & all the magic mushroom like clouds of the past couple days were gone. The big blue Arizona sky was back.....and so were the welcome cooler temperatures:))

There was a continuous sound coming from high overhead that lasted the whole morning. Great soaring formations of Sand Hill Cranes circled on the air currents rising to heights only seen with binoculars. Round & round they went on the thermals. Some formations sweeping in one direction would intersect with other formations going the opposite way. The sky was alive with a 'weebling' sound. It never let up. At times the birds appeared dark against the blue sky & other times as they swooped into a turn the sun backlit the whole feathery flock giving them a massive ghostlike appearance. Laying back in a chair with my 8 x 50 binoculars I was reminded of film clips I've seen about the Battle of Britain. Formations of Cranes looked like squadrons of British Spitfires spiraling, diving, tightly turning with near collisions, & close formation flying. Some flew in large groups, others as pairs intermingled with single flyers. Some groups criss-crossed others, some followed, & some seemed to make head on passes. And all the time came the steadily weebling sound from the sky.  There was a definite intelligence in the air & it was an entertaining morning with a grand stand seat to a free & well co-coordinated air show.

RICK had another very informative post this morning talking about Verizon (& other) air card usage & how to wisely keep from blowing through the monthly 5 Gig cap. I suggest anyone using an air card read Rick's blog & file it away for future reference. In last night's blog I had mentioned about listening to Old Time Radio on Saturday nights but I don't do that while we're on the road because streaming audio like that really chews through the bytes. I only do that while at home with the desk top computer. 

Going to keep this blog short. One day to go before we roll into a new Verizon coverage month & then we will start anew putting some of Rick's air card tips into play.

Sorry about the quality of the Sand Hill Crane photos.  I was trying to stretch my 200mm lens with a 2TX converter & the results were less than poor:((

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I once worked in the woods as a Lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe!!

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

WHY WERE THEY SO STIFF & STODGY?

A TOUCH OF FROST ON THE CLOVER THIS MORNING

Well, my "no news is good news" approach to CNN's morning news (or any other news) is working well & it's been a couple of weeks since I turned my back on that whole repetitive 'doom & gloom' factor.  And 'how sweet it is' to be rid of all those never ending bone jarring loud ridiculous & practically non stop commercials to boot.  I think CNN has been taken over by one big long jumble of infomercials anyway!!!!

Oh Oh, now what did we get.	It's looking like a new Coleman
Yep, burner on left, grill on right	Very compact & storable

(Click on any photos in the blog to enlarge them)

Had a 'LIVE WRITER' question that asked........"I'm using Live Writer  but when I get a picture in my blog post, it won't expand with a click like yours do."

Open up a photo in your live writer & then click on it.  Whenever you see the white dots around your photo it means you can work on it.  Look to the right side control panel & click on the word 'Picture.'  Look down to where it says 'Link to' & make sure it says 'Source Picture' in the little box.  Now, click 'Options.'  A 'Source Picture Options' box opens.  Click arrow & choose 'Large (1024x681)'  Also make sure both little boxes have check marks in them & then click 'OK'.  Now, the important & easy to forget part.......Look over to your control panel at right & go to the very bottom looking for 'Save settings as default' & click that.  If by chance you don't see that settings control just try minimizing or maximizing your screen because on my desktop computer the 'Set categories' bar at bottom left has a habit of covering up my default settings button on the bottom right if the screen is maximized.  That little problem cost me about 3 handfuls of hair before I finally figured it out........

 

Ever wondered why people had such serious faces & never smiled in those old black & white portrait photographs you see beginning back in the 1800's.  How could so many people feel so sour for so long.  Well, the problem wasn't with the people, it was with the camera itself.  Back in those days there was no such thing as shutter speeds, or for that matter, no shutters in the cameras at all.   The photographer had to insert a negative photo plate into the camera, remove the lens cap & count in his head how many seconds (or minutes) he thought would allow enough subject light to imprint itself on the negative plate.  The length of time mainly depended on the lighting situation in front of the camera.

THE MIGHTY MAITLAND RIVER HEADS FOR GODERICH ONTARIO WHERE IT EMPTY'S INTO LAKE HURON

Many portrait studios used available light coming in from large angled windows.  I remember the LEMP STUDIO  in Tavistock (my home town) Ontario was a good example of that many years ago.  The subject in turn had to remain perfectly motionless or else any movement would blur the image.  Now, have you ever tried holding a smile on your face for any length of time.  Maybe half a minute or more.  Not likely, so people were told to just relax their faces in a normal deadpan stare & concentrate on not moving a muscle & especially not any smile muscles. 

THE BISBEE KIDS ARE LOADED UP & READY TO RUMBLE

You will also notice in many old photos that people's heads may be slightly tilted up giving them kind of a royal & regal look.  This also had a practical purpose because behind the subject was a steel up & down rod with an iron hoop on the top of it for folks to rest their heads against for those long exposures.  That resulted in a slight uplifting of the chin, thus the royal pose.  And also notice most portraits were done with people in a sitting position.  This simply made it more comfortable for people & lessened the chance for movement.  Whewwww, thank heavens for the digital age:))

THESE PHOTOS SHOW HOW WE HAVE THE RIG CONFIGURED FOR TRAVEL.  MAX LIKES TO LAY ON THAT FOLD DOWN BED & LOOK OUT THE WINDOW

I have never felt comfortable photographing posed people so you will rarely see that sort of thing in my pictures.  I do enjoy grabbing candid photos of people though.  More natural & less stress for the people & the photographer plus I would much rather catch folks being themselves. Don't care for those phony smiles when in reality they would rather hit the photographer over the head with his own camera.  I tried my hand at a few weddings many years ago & immediately decided that was something I would never try again!!  Also tried some portrait stuff with friends & they all seemed to come out looking like grotesque cartoon characters.  Those friends have never spoke to me since!!  So, I just stick with doing things I like best & Mother Nature offers a never ending array of ever changing beautiful subjects.

WE TOOK THE BIG CLUNKY TV OUT OF THIS UPPER AREA LAST SUMMER. YOU CAN READ THE FIRST BLOG OF THAT RENOVATION HERE

Turned on the rig's propane tank yesterday & test fired the furnace, water heater, stove, & blue flame heater this morning.  Everything checked out A-OK but had trouble lighting the Legacy Blue Flame heater.  Tried repeatedly but no luck so had to call in our resident Top Gun.  Kelly hit the switch once & it was running!!

BOUGHT A FLAT SCREEN TV & MOUNTED IT HERE.  BELTS SECURE IT FOR TRAVEL

Check out RICK'S BLOG to-day if you are confused about air cards, wifi connections, & routers etc while on the road.  He does a good job at de-geeking the confusion.  We have a Verizon air card while traveling & just love it:))  And, if your into Motorhome renovations be sure to stop by BIG BACKYARD & check on Karen's on-going series of posts about changes to their older motorhome.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

CONFINED TO THE BOX:((

MOUNTAIN RAINS IN THE DESERT

Traveling east & west across the continent always involves time changes. If it's done slow enough, the mind & body adjust accordingly.....sort of!! About 15 miles east of us is the Arizona/California State line & that marks our third time change since leaving home. We finally remembered to adjust our clocks ahead one more hour yesterday, so early this morning our slow adjusting body clocks told us it was the usual 5:30 a.m. getting up time. One glance at our recently adjusted time pieces slammed us with the reality that it was, in effect....4:30 A.M. !!!!!!! To add insult to misery, rain was beating against the windows & the rig was being rocked by heavy wind gusts. Awwwwww nuts...........it was going to be a loooooooooooooooooooooong day confined to the box:(((((((

Two tired adults & 3 bored dogs in an 8x33 foot motorhome on a cold, windy, & rainy day somewhere out in the sandy & rock strewn Sonoran desert in the month of December has been quite a test of tolerance to-day..........for Kelly & the dogs of course!! Temps only got up into the low 50's & the wind chill factor drove them back down into the 40's. However, all we had to do was click on to our laptop's Canadian weathermap to put things into perspective & make us realize how truly fortunate we really were to be where we are. They are having an absolutely dreadful winter back home.

ARE WE GOING HOME SOON DAD??

The Yuma weather station called this cold wet weather here a very rare weather disturbance. I think the weather Gods somehow knew the Bayfield Bunch was in the area.

Several things got us through the day. We are soooooo glad we went with the Verizon Air Card in Silver City NM when we did. We have had an internet connection ever since arriving in this area Monday afternoon & being on-line to-day was a real lifesaver. With this heavy cloud cover our previous satellite system may not have worked at all & the gusting winds would have been playing havoc with the dish. We are very happy campers with our Verizon set up as we both alternated on the computer all day. I spent a couple hours on the website making some changes. Took me about 5 minutes to totally screw things up & the next hour & fifty five minutes having to re-do the whole thing again.

The clarity of our flat screen television has been another positive thing. We are picking up 10 clear stations with just our antennae. Too bad 7 of those channels are in Spanish!! Our Sirius/XM satellite radio was another good decision a few years ago. We can pick up news channels as well as non stop favorite music channels & all of the above make a tough & cooped up day in the motorhome much more bearable. However, Kelly just informed me that if it's raining in the morning when we get up she is going to need the shovel to dig a 3x6 foot hole about 6 feet deep. Hmmmmm, wonder what my wonderful dear wife has in mind for me.................. I'm sure it will be something nice:)))) I just uploaded the past 3 days photos to a new album.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AN INTERNET DECISION IN SILVER CITY

SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN THE JAVA INTERNET CAFE...SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO

Well, it's been quite a day & we're finally back from Silver City. Before dropping into that Internet Cafe where I sent the earlier blog from this afternoon we had gone to a Verizon Cellular place to check out prices & programs for a Verizon air card. Because of our problematic satellite internet system from time to time & then the break down this morning, we knew it was time to make some decisions. The technology in cellular air cards has advanced in leaps & bounds the last couple of years & it just made sense for us to get on the cellular wagon.AND THEY HAVE GOOD COFFEE HERE TOO

While at the internet cafe Kelly looked up additional info on Verizon & then we made the decision to go with it. The monthly cost is the same as what we were paying for the Hughes-Net satellite program so that cancelled itself out. Because of the great TV reception we've been getting with our antennae this year we will probably discontinue our Star Choice program as well & that will save us another bundle of monthly money. INKING THE DEAL ON OUR NEW VERIZON AIR CARD PROGRAM

We had a young fellow at the Verizon store load the software into our laptop & get everything up & running. Within minutes we were on-line right there in the store. We stayed on line as we carried the computer out to the car & Kelly was on-line all the way back to the park getting caught up on all her Deerpark correspondence. For us, this was truly amazing. There we were, driving down the road while still connected to the internet. We thought to ourselves, why didn't we do this in the first place but after a little thought we realized that when we bought the satellite system a couple of years ago, all this new cellular stuff was just beginning to come into it's own. Anyway, so far so good. We've been on line with the air card for about 4 hours now & it's working flawlessly. Next test will be in a few minutes when I attempt to upload this blog with some pictures. AND WE HAD INTERNET ALL THE WAY HOME:))

To-morrow we plan to move the motorhome to a park in Silver City for a day or two. After that.....who knows:)) Didn't upload any photos to the web album to-day.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/