BBBC 2016 #2 – Everyday Things

Today’s prompt BBBC 2016 is “an everyday item in your house.” That prompt can be interpreted in so many different ways. I’m anxious to see how other participants incorporate that prompt into their posts.

Speaking of which… Thanks to David of Life on Two Wheels, the blogger who joined BBBC most recently, for the idea to include links to each participant’s prompt-specific post when I publish my daily entry. There’ll be a list at the bottom of each of my daily posts, which I will try to update regularly. Not everyone posts first thing in the morning you know.

Anyhoo.

I think most bloggers will agree it’s not always easy coming up with things to share one one’s blog. Not to mention finding the time to create a proper post. It’s not as easy as you think, trust me.

Everyone sees the world differently, right? We think about things differently, too. Even the most ordinary, seemingly mundane things can set the brain into overdrive. Depending on the time of day. In the wee morning hours, I’m lucky if a sight even triggers a spark.

There’s nothing artistic about that shot. It’s not even visually appealing. But it’s a sight that warms my heart.

Seeing scenes like that periodically transport me quite a few years back to the day a girlfriend’s father died. His death was sudden and unexpected. After leaving the hospital, we went back to her parents’ house. I was standing in the kitchen, looking at her father’s multi-day pill container. The kind with little compartments that have flip-top lids stamped with a label for each day of the week. The lids were raised over empty compartments for the first few days of the week. The rest of his meds were still in their sealed, marked spaces, ready and waiting for him to ingest.

That morning, when he’d taken his meds, he had no idea he’d never stand there to take his pills again. He had no idea he wouldn’t be needing his pills after that day. Imagining that one final fleeting moment, the briefest of instances that probably seemed so ordinary and insignificant to him at the time, moved my friend and I to tears.

So, yes, seeing Hubby’s wallet and iPod, on the counter where he leaves it every day makes me happy. It reminds me of how lucky I am. I have a husband who loves me. He’s a good man. He treats me well (most days, anyway), and he makes me laugh. He likes to cook. We take turns cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, etc. He’s a live-in riding partner, travel companion, dinner date, etc.

I’ll stop. I’m guessing everyone gets it by now. But I really AM lucky.

What can one learn from a bowl of raw eggs sitting on my kitchen counter? A tip we learned from our son, which Hubby has been using A LOT lately. You’ll like this, too, especially if you like hard-boiled eggs, but hate peeling the little bastards.

Set some eggs on the counter the evening before you plan to boil them. Sitting at room temperature does something to the eggs — I don’t remember all the details — essentially changing them from Grade A to Grade B. Boil them as you usually would. You’ll see, when it’s time to peel them, that the shell comes right off. Really. This is apparently common practice in commercial kitchens when Grade B eggs aren’t available for purchase (Eric is working his way toward becoming a chef).

Our toothbrush holder, which we’ve had for MANY years, was sitting empty the other day when I saw it and realized it looks like a face. I’ve seen that thing thousands of times and never saw a face before. Why is that? And now, every time I see the thing, I see a face.

You know how once you see something, you can’t unsee it? Of course, I’m not usually seeing the happy face as shown in the picture, but a poor, unfortunate dude with a toothbrush sticking out of each eye socket.

Yes, I like frogs (and toads). And yes, I like quirky stuff. So I have quite an assortment of frog and toad stuff in my office. It’s concentrated here in this room because Hubby can be a bit short-sighted at times and doesn’t share my affinity for kitschy amphibian decor. Silly man.

Oh, and I do realize the big yellow guy is not a frog. It’s an M&Ms candy jar. I just happen to love his happy, yellow color.

The long skinny thing is a string of ceramic angels I bought in Bassano del Grappa, a picturesque town in Italy we visited in 2012 about a month after my Mom died. She loves angels. It was one of those moments where, as soon as I saw it, I thought, “Ooohhh, Mom would love that. I have to buy it for her.”

But then I remembered.

So I bought them for myself, instead. Both to remind me of her and that life is fleeting.

We never know how long we have on this Earth, do we? Or how long our family, friends, and other people we love will be here.

It’s important to appreciate the little things. Don’t fret over small stuff, but take time to smell the roses, too. It’s a delicate dance. And that’s all I have to say for now.

See how other BBBC 2016 participants interpreted today’s prompt.

How did the other brave, bold bloggers respond and/or interpret this daily challenge? See for yourself!

Richard of Richard’s Page
Rachael (aka Fuzzy) of Fuzzygalore.com
Steve of Scooter In The Sticks
Mark of Markneustadt.com
David of Life on Two Wheels

If there’s no link in the above list, that blogger hadn’t yet posted at the time of my writing. I’ll do an update as soon as I can. You can always use the link to each blogger’s home page in the list provided below.

This Year’s Brave, Bold Bloggers…

Be sure to visit their blogs to see how each interpreted this challenge.

February 1, 2016January 31, 2016

BBBC 2016 #1 – About You

If you’re a blogger and missed my Brave, Bold, Blogger Challenge for 2016, click here. We’d love to have you join!

So, it’s for the first post for BBBC and I’m at a loss. LOL. Where do I start?

That’s me with the Jolly Roger Muffler Man in Ocean City, Maryland. I have always hated the way I look in pictures, so you’ll often see selfies like these, where only parts of me are visible. I do post “normal” pics of myself every now and then.

I’m in my late-40s, but I won’t be able to say that for much longer.

I’m married to a wonderful man, Mike, who I usually just refer here to as “Hubby.” I have three adult children, and one of them has three children, which means I have three grandchildren, too. We don’t see them much, though, since the eldest lives in San Diego, the middle child lives in Washington State with her husband and kids, and the youngest lives in Maryland with his wife. I live in Warrenton, Virginia, about 45 miles west, and slightly south, of Washington, DC.

10408968_10206128219477584_4701096601095240779_n — Me and Hubby with the Grandkids, July 2015

Here’s a picture of Mike and Me from August 2015. We were at a wedding. We don’t usually get all gussied-up like that.

In fact, we both ride motorcycles, so you’ll usually see images of us wearing our helmets and gear. Or, more likely, wearing gear and sporting serious helmet head, like in the image I posted below.

Hubby rides a 2013 Victory Vision. I ride a 2010 BMW F650GS. Every now and then — think rare occurrence, here — I’ll ride on the back of his bike. The last time I did that was October 2014, I think.

He likes riding long distances. I prefer shorter jaunts. He did the USA Four Corners Tour last year. That’s a LONG ride. It was 10,116 miles to be exact, spread across 15 days of riding. This year, he plans on riding to Utah so he can hit all the states he missed “in the middle” when he rode around the country.

Here’s a fact I haven’t shared before… earlier this year — April, maybe — I noted that I had about 9,500 miles on my odometer. Now, I have over 17,000. That means I rode an average of about 2,400 miles/year for the first four years I owned my bike, and I rode about 8,000 miles this year. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

I’m not trying to set any records or anything, and I’m sure lots of other people rode more, but it’s certainly a good indication that I spent much more time enjoying my bike this year than I have in years past. Yay for me!

The yard is a bit of a disaster, and there are quite a few unfinished projects around the house, but I don’t care. It was worth it. This year, I hope to log even more miles.

My solo trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway helped boost that mileage total. Hubby and I did a couple long weekends together, too, both of which involved The Snake. That’s a good road.

I should also mention that I have two dogs, too. They appear on the blog occasionally, and they show up in my Instagram feed and on Facebook quite frequently.

I work full time, but am a remote employee, so I do my work at home. That just means I don’t have to commute. I still work full days. For the record, one can work just as hard in their pajamas as they do in professional attire.

Other things I do in my spare time include photography, reading, and sewing (quilt-type stuff mostly, not clothing). I volunteer with a couple of dog rescue groups, mostly transporting dogs, but I have fostered several over the years. I like to paint old furniture, too, but haven’t done any of those projects for a while. I also like travel in general and am looking forward to a trip to Washington State in April and Europe (no details yet!) in September. Weekends rambles in the car are fun, too.

I guess that’s about it. It’s certainly enough about me for now.

I am really looking forward to seeing what all of the other BBBC participants reveal about themselves today. Thanks for visiting.

Tomorrow’s Prompt: 2. An everyday item in your house.

January 31, 2016January 31, 2016

Enjoying the Painted Sky

I’m a visual person. I love color, shapes, patterns, angles, etc. And I really love seeing a pretty sky. And interesting clouds. Heck, I even like a completely empty sky when it’s that amazing, intense blue you usually get after a huge storm has passed. You know, since the storm has almost completely scrubbed the atmosphere of moisture.

Anyway… I captured quite a few sky shots the other day at the Blackwater Refuge. Some are even good enough for me to want to share here.

As I’m looking at these pics, I see my CMOS sensor needs to be cleaned again. Sigh… Maybe no one else notices or even knows what that means? LOL.

That picture doesn’t do the sky justice. The spot of intense color was neat to see. Those instances of color are very fleeting, so I had to work fast, and I didn’t capture it very well.

I had to darken the final image, using PhotoShop, to make the intense color appear in the photo. Now the picture just looks too blue to me. I decided I’d share it anyway.

I love how the short contrail/flat-and-skinny cloud toward the top, center part of the frame is lit up.

I get very excited when I see the sky lit up, and I usually start clicking away at the shutter button, trying hard to capture the color appropriately or at least in a way that’s pleasing to the eye. The problem is, I don’t always remember to make sure the horizon is flat.

Since I’ve mentioned that on here, I figured I’d give you an example.

Way crooked horizon. See how it slopes to the left? Not good.

The second shot is passable, but it’s still not perfect. I can’t remember if I was trying to capture a flat horizon with that shot, or if I just got lucky.

Below is an edited version of the same, passable shot.

IMG_3417 edited — Flatter with more-intense color.

See how much better?

Is it me, or do the clouds look like a goose in flight?

Here’s another look at that same cloud formation.

A pretty end to an interesting, but cold, day.

January 31, 2016February 2, 2016

Brave, Bold, Blogger Challenge 2016 (BBBC)

Why is it that February, the shortest month, often feels the longest?

Really.

It always, ALWAYS takes forever to get through February. And this year, there are 29 days!

A year or so ago, a blog friend issued a blogger challenge, which helped the month go by faster. And it was actually fun. So I figured I’d throw down the gauntlet and challenge fellow bloggers this year. Of course, most bloggers I know are moto bloggers, but any bloggers can participate.

Better yet… there are NO rules! The idea is to post daily, addressing the theme that coincides with that day’s date. But if you have to play catchup, no problem!

You can use images and/or pics to address the themes. Be creative.

Add your name in the comments, and the address you want me to use for the link. I’ll update this post to include a list of participants, with links to each blog, so you can see who else was brave enough to take on the challenge.

If no one else is interested, I’ll just be a huge dork and do it on my own.

1. All About You (pics and/or words)
2. An everyday item in your house
3. Today
4. Misused and/or mispronounced word or words that make you CRAZY.
5. Name a place you want to visit this year. Why?
6. Your age
7. A daydream
8. The weather.
9. Favorite shoes.
10. A story you love to tell.
11. What are you thankful for today?
12. What event are you currently looking most forward to?
13. Share a photo of your motorcycle (or car) taken on the same day you write your post.
14. Image of someone that you love (pets count as people, but I promise not to share a dog pic!)
15. Describe your dinner (you can share a pic, too).
16. Stupid, weird, or silly thing you did today, on purpose or accidentally.
17. Share an animal image and explain the rationale behind your choice.
18. Fruit
19. Favorite snack food.
20. Your best friend.
21. Best book ever (or at least a really good one!)
22. Map or GPS
23. Meaning behind your blog name.
24. Photo of your handwriting (use longhand/cursive!)
25. Spice
26. How you make a living.
27. Selfie, captured specifically for your post
28. Childhood photo
29. The first song that comes into your head and why.

That’s it. Easy peasy. Who wants to join the fun (or submit to some novel torture)?

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

This Year’s Brave, Bold Bloggers…

January 31, 2016

Few White Faces at Blackwater

I went to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge yesterday with hopes of seeing big flocks of Snow Geese. I’ve been thinking about visiting that place since October, when I failed to see Snow Geese during my visit to Chincoteague. It’s a three-hour drive from my house, though. Sometimes it’s hard for me to justify — to myself — investing an entire day just to go see a bunch of birds.

So, when I learned of a dog transport passing through this area, I figured I could multi-task again. I could help transport the dog AND drive to Blackwater.

ellie's map — Ellie’s Transport – Rustburg, VA to Whiting, NJ (not the actual route)

Originally, I was supposed to take Ellie from Warrenton to the other side of DC. But I figured if I carried her to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the folks on the NJ end might appreciate traversing ruralish highways instead of Interstate 95.

I was right. 🙂

Ellie with her foster Dad, Bob Fairbanks

So, after handing Ellie off to her foster parents in Queenstown, MD, I drove about another hour to Blackwater.

It was around 3:00 when I got there, and there wasn’t a whole lot of daylight remaining.

Unfortunately, there were few Snow Geese to be found. I did get lots of other cool pics, though, and quite a few crappy ones.

Before I share my captures, I will say this… I am no bird photographer. I take pictures of birds, but I don’t have the right equipment, i.e., a big-ass, expensive zoom lens and industrial-strength tripod, to capture technically good bird photos. I just take snapshots.

I also have to say that it was very windy and cold there yesterday. Temps hovered around 40 degrees F (about 4.5 C), but the wind made it feel much colder. The wind also wreaked havoc on my focus. Using a zoom lens requires a tripod and/or a very steady hand. Although I had taken the tripod along, I didn’t bother setting it up because of said wind.

The first set of pics was taken with my point-and-shoot camera.

Blackwater — a tidal wetland — is a pretty place.

Cool — and mysterious! — pattern in the ice.

I really like my captures of this pattern in the ice. I’d hoped the folks at the visitors’ center could explain how it was created, but they were equally intrigued.

A bit of grass in the foreground, while blurry, makes this shot, I think.

My point-and-shoot — a Canon G16 — is a higher-end camera, and it has pretty good zoom capabilities, but digital zoom is only good if the light is bright and the camera is very still. Remember, it was windy. And daylight was fading fast during my visit.

The pics shared below were all taken with my DSLR camera, equipped with a zoom lens.

This image of a Great Blue Heron is blurry, but I think that adds to the shot.

I like how you can also see the bird’s feet in the second picture.

I saw quite a few herons yesterday.

I like the blurry marsh grass in the foreground.

This guy (or gal?) was kind enough to land right in front of my car.

I’m a sucker for interesting reflections.

There’s that interesting pattern in the ice again.

I stopped at the visitors’ center for a potty break, to warm up, and to ask about the Snow Geese. I was starting to think they’d all flown north already (Blackwater is one of several over-wintering spots for them on the East Coast).

That’s where I captured this eagle shot, which I posted to FB with the caption, “Got really close to an eagle! That’s a phone pic, no filter.”

Of course, the prankster in me left a few important details out of that caption. It was a real, but dead, stuffed, and mounted, eagle in an exhibit.

The volunteers at the visitors’ center told me the Snow Geese were spending their day in nearby fields, off-refuge, eating. While there was still sufficient light, I set out to see the elusive Snow Geese.

Snow Geese (some were quite far from the road; see the white dots in the background?)

After observing them for a bit, I drove back to the refuge, hoping maybe they’d return before dark.

Note, I did NOT say Canadian Geese. They’re CANADA Geese, people, not Canadian Geese. That’s one of my pet peeves when people talk about birds.

Along Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater Refuge.

If you look at a larger version of this image (just click on the picture) you’ll see that its neck feathers were blowing in the wind.

I captured quite a few nice sunset shots, which I’ll share in a separate post.

The Snow Geese did return to the refuge, but not until after sunset. I DID capture a few shots with the point-and-shoot, but they were blurry.

One blurry, dark photo of Snow Geese in flight.

The pics I captured during my previous visit are better. The first image shown below is a good pic from my visit in 2011, when I still had a separate moto blog.

It’s really pretty amazing to see — and hear! — hundreds of geese in flight. I guess if you like that sorta thing.

If you’re curious, here a link for more info on about Snow Geese. And here are some nice pics captured by someone else — found via Google — that clearly show Canada Geese beside a Snow Goose.

I must say, it was nice being out in the world for a change. I hope you enjoyed your virtual visit. 🙂

January 26, 2016January 26, 2016

Snowpocalypsemageddon Part 2, Pictures

As promised, I sorted through the gazillion pictures I took over the weekend — what else was I supposed to do? — and selected a few to share with you. Okay, maybe more than a few. So I created a handy-dandy slideshow for you. With music.

Be sure to mute your speakers if you’re viewing on the sly instead of doing what you should be doing.

Here’s the slideshow. I hope you enjoy.

For the record, neighbors, I have no control over the image YouTube selects as the cover.

I look at it as a happy coincidence. 🙂