Let's Take A Walk

Much to my husbands dismay I brought my camera along for our walk last night. He didn't feel he'd gotten quite the workout he hoped for with me lagging about snapping pictures here and there. So indulge me if you will, while I show you some sights along that 'Walking Park' we 'Drive' to most evenings.

Parking at the 'Walking Park' is getting more and more difficult... Clearly we aren't the only ones who 'Drive' to 'Walk'. We started our walk off near the Tennis and Basketball courts. Haven't seen anyone playing tennis yet but the basketball courts are always crowded in the evenings.

Next we wind our way around toward the most heavily wooded portion of the path. There is a portion of the pathway here that branches off into an unpaved trail (Freedom Trail) which meanders through the woods. The trail is just long enough to give you the impression you've left civilization completely except for the fact, the park has provided wooden bridges to aid in crossing over creeks beds. It's one of my favorite areas in the park and few people who visit seem to know about it. Most everyone sticks to the paved path. Sorry though, we didn't take the 'Freedom Trail' last night.

Next we meander our way around a large opening which skirts the tree line. It hasn't rained for a week or so but if it had, the ponds along the trail might be teeming with frogs and other creatures.

Winding our way around, we come to another branch off the trail which we call 'The Hill.' It's not too terribly long and not too terribly high. Just enough to give some folks an option for optimum fitness. Such as the guy we watched last week, who had weights strapped to his ankles and wasn't running up the hill he was JUMPING up the hill. I kid you not, he was making his way to the top by jumping with both feet together, taking great leaps, one after another in succession... WITH ankle weights! We've seen other guys with weighted vests running up and down 'The Hill' too. As for us, we didn't take 'The Hill' this time but we have in the past. I don't care for it too much because it cuts off a portion of the 'Walking Trail.'

Having made our way past 'The Hill' we now work our way toward what I call 'The Grove.' It's a stand of trees which completely ensconces the trail... You can see it's like walking into a tunnel. Should you have wandered here on a hot day and brought along sustenance, inside 'The Grove' are a couple of picnic tables.
Okay, so now we're beyond the grove and on the back corner of the course. The path is raised here and travels along marsh on either side. I'm not sure either of these mom's were all that thrilled I was taking pictures in their general direction, so do me a favor and don't click on the this pic because I don't think they'll be very happy about it.

(You just clicked on it, didn't you?)

I took the opportunity to snap a pic of she, who is clearly the better photographer in the family.

I am however, pretty proud of this shot I captured of the backside of 'The Hill.'



This is what most would consider the 'Front' of the 'Trail.' It wanders along the main highway but they did a pretty good job of masking it with low trees and bushes they left intact. There's a large portion of the 'Walking Trail' I left off here. Someone started complaining about how walking with two photographers was really cutting into his 'workout' so I put my camera away... Until we saw this gorgeous sunset and he agreed it was too good to pass up.

Thanks for joining us for a walk... And aren't you glad, you didn't even have to drive to get there.

Driving to the Walking Park

Sounds a bit insane, I know... But yes, our family has taken to driving 5 miles up the road so we can walk. But why not walk in your own neighborhood? Meh! Been there, done that. It's just so much of the same ol' same ol'. Whereas the 'Walking Park' is 300 acres of parkland. It has a nicely paved trail that winds for just under 3 miles around trees, marsh, basketball and tennis courts and a playground for the younger set. There's an area called the 'Freedom Trail' that winds through the woods which I find very pleasant. It's difficult to walk in the woods around our neighborhood because they're part of the golf course and unless I want to risk having my skull caved in by some Moe who fancies himself the next Tiger Woods, the only time I can walk the course is long after the sun has set. So, the Walking Park it is.

The park is brand spankin' new and in some areas, still a work in progress. It can get pretty crowded but that's the fun of going there. There are all walks of life and all shapes and sizes. It's nice to see people doing something good for themselves and it feels nice to be doing something good for me.... But driving somewhere so you can walk?... Crazy, I know.

Here's a pic of the trail I found online but when we head out for our walk tonight (and I know we will) I'll try to capture something a bit more interesting with my camera.

The Sweet Taste of Lime

What's that you say? Lime isn't sweet, it's sour? Not the Lime I'm referring to. I'm talking about Lime as in Michelle from House of Lime. Whilst heading south for a trip to the beach, Michelle stopped by the ol' treehouse for a visit and I can attest to the fact she's anything but sour. No, she's bright, sweet, tangy and a real pleasure to be with. I'd say she's a bit of a tart but that's just me trying to be funny.

Anyhow, it's an interesting thing when bloggers meet. I had the opportunity to meet 'Lime' face-to-face last summer. We had a lovely lunch at a nearby eatery where it would be safe for either of us to make a hasty exit should they find themselves face to face with crazy. Fortunately, Lime wasn't just normal, she was lovely, fun to be around, good natured and best of all, neglected to detect the crazy in me... Which is odd, because by my account, I didn't do a very good job of hiding it. So imagine my surprise when she contacted me last week to let me know she'd be passing through town again.

So Wednesday night, two bloggers came together once again but this time Lime got to meet the whole family for dinner at the actual 'Treehouse'. Since my husband wasn't sure what to expect, unbeknownst to me, he logged on to my computer, found my blog roll and spent some time familiarizing himself with 'The House of Lime.' Which added quite an element of surprise to our dinner conversation.

Fun huh? Bloggers getting together for an actual face to face. Or as Lime's daughter like's to refer to us 'Freaks in a Box' makin' it real... Even more fun is when blogger friends bear gifts.

Look! She gifted each family member with a pair of tie-dyed tube socks... Now THAT'S a really special splash of Lime!

Passenger Seat Hell

*If you eventually read this son, I'm sorry. I just couldn't hold the angst in any longer so I'm putting out to the universe.

He's completed the 'Instruction' part of the Driver's Training School. Now he's on to the actual 'Driver's Training' and that's all well and good, as long as I don't have to play the role of 'Instructor.' I know he wants to practice... I know he needs to practice... It's just the Practicing that's got me all tied up in knots.

It's become obvious that I just don't have what it takes to sit silently and let the learning take it's course. I'm a control freak... Doesn't he know that... A Control FREAK! So when he stops a half-mile short of the stop sign, I want to say, "Why are you stopping HERE, a half-mile from the stop sign?" And when he turns a corner while shuffling his hands along the steering wheel, I want to say, "Haven't you EVER paid attention to how Dad and I steer when we drive?"... Or when he creeps down the road with a line of cars stacked up behind him... Or when he took that turn too fast... Or that other turn too slow?... Or when he made that turn yesterday going the wrong way on the divided street and then yelled at me because I told him to go left without pointing out the street was in fact divided, even though this surely wasn't the first time he'd been on that street, how was I to know it was the first time he'd actually been paying attention?

I try to relax and not pay too much attention, even sit back and close my eyes, you know? I mean, I doubt he's at the point where he's going to hit anyone, but he's definitely at the point where he's most certainly annoying 99% of the other drivers on the road. But he's gotta learn, right? He's gotta learn. And I have to just stick a pin in it, in order to keep myself from going off... But DAMN, it's not easy for a Control Freak like me.

*Shaking head* Nope, it sure aint easy, for a Control Freak like me.

Black or White

I graduated from high school in 1982, Michael Jackson's music is so deeply buried into my psyche, I could measure many of the events of my life, by each of his hits.

• MTV

• Listening to 'Off The Wall' while babysitting.

• Dances

• Video Premieres

• Receiving the Thriller album from my husband on our first Christmas together.

• That time I was shopping with my husbands college buddy and I talked him into buying that stupid Thriller jacket.

• Laughing about just how BAD Michael Jackson could possibly be?

• The thrill I got sharing Michael Jackson's music with my son.

• Trying to explain to my kids how a black man became a white man, and why.

• Questioning guilt or innocence.

A boy who never grew up? A man who loved children more than he should have? A wacko? A freak? A black man? A white man? A misunderstood celebrity, whose life was manipulated by the media? All I know is, I feel a sadness, like a thread from the fabric of my life has been pulled loose... And yet, I criticize myself for... for what? For suddenly caring about the life of Michael Jackson.

Those annoying Rat Bastards with bushy tails

We're bird people... BIRD people I tell you!

We're definitely NOT squirrel people!

However, the squirrels are pretty thick headed and haven't managed to figure that out yet.

Our dog Anna has made that clear by chasing them off the deck.
We've made it clear by building squirrel tossing contraptions, only to have them wait in line for the E-ticket experience thrill ride.
We've shot them with water pistols, which I think they quite enjoy.
And now?
Now I've taken to throwing rocks at them. Oh CALM DOWN! Not rocks really, more like pebbles... And believe me, this really is a fairly benign squirrel deterrent, mostly because I've got the throwing arm of a 2 yr. old. (Yes, there's a reason I was always picked last for team sports, in gym class.)

Yesterday however, I ACTUALLY pelted one of the bastards. Well, pelted might be too strong a word. I hit him.... in the leg.... with a stone.... and he merely looked at me, with those little rat bastard beady eyes, as if to say, "Really?" and just stood there.

Today, they're double teaming the feeder... And just to cement the fact I've fallen into the deep side of crazy, I've begun talking to the little shits. Our exchange this morning went something like this:

Squirrel on feeder: "Hey beyotch, look at me, I'm eatin' all yur seeds!"

*Okay, the squirrel isn't really talking to me... I haven't gone that far 'round the bend, BUT if he could talk, that's what he'd be saying... I'm quite sure of it.

Me: *giving him the evil eye* "Oh no you don't, you rat bastard!"

Squirrel: "Whatcha gonna do 'bout it bitch?"

*I run to grab more pebbles out of the planter that contains the dusty fake plant in the corner of the family room... Opening screen door with all the dexterity of a highly trained ninja... Um, I mean a spastic clown... I stumble out onto the deck... Squirrel fakes right and with the nimbleness only a squirrel can possess, jumps off the deck onto the stairs and sits on the bottom step below, while his tag-team, rat bastard, friend bounds from under the deck below.*

Me: "Now I've got ya, right where I want ya!"

*I begin lobbing stones in the squirrels general direction... Sure, I mean to pummel them, but my uncooperative throwing arm makes this task nearly impossible.*

As I 'try' to hit my mark the squirrel, sitting comfortably on the bottom step looks up at me as if to say: "Yo bitch, you're not really serious are you?... 'Cause even if I ate ALL your seeds and my ass grew to the size of the backside of a barn, you still couldn't hit it!"

You know, I don't want to kill 'em or anything. I just want them to leave my bird feeders alone... But it's 'Game On' now you rat bastards, 'cause I will NOT be mocked by a squirrel.

Tale of 2 Cameras

On Saturday my husband, Nature Girl and myself took another trip to our favorite photo op place on earth, Valley Garden Park. It's down right impossible to get crappy pics in a place SO beautiful... Right?

Well, unless you have a crap ass camera like my Canon Power Shot S3IS. Seriously, this camera has just made me sad for so long now. It's been rather lackluster in it's ability to capture deep rich color (even after going back and forth on factory settings vs. manual settings), it hasn't performed at all well on automatic focus and the most frustrating of all, macro mode was for shit! Instead of automatically adjusting it's focus in macro, I had to move back and forth until I managed some semblance of focus. Then I would just push the button and pray my bad eyesight was able to compensate for a reasonably decent shot. Good thing it's digital or I would've been wasting reams of film, because I would blow through a dozen shots just to get one half-way good one.

For example, here's a pic I tried to shoot ten times and it's still blurry. Sadly, those flowers were actually blue!

This next shot either myself or my husband took.

I think it turned out reasonably well but you can't imagine how much fudging it took to capture it. 'Fudging' AND a lot of whining on my part. After every pic, either myself or my husband shot, I'd turn to him and say, "See, see what I mean? It's crap, this camera is just CRAP!" Poor guy, I'm such a bitch. However, this is the first time he's ever really tried to work with the camera and even my husband, he of the 'Old School All Manual 35mm Club' seemed surprised with the photo quality. He made a few snarky comments about how 'if I'd only read the manual, I probably wouldn't be having such a hard time' which I chose to ignore. When we returned home that afternoon and loaded the pics on my laptop he seemed surprised that even the pictures he took sucked. That's when he sat down for awhile with both my crap ass camera and it's bore me to tears manual.

On Sunday, my husband informed me he was taking a trip to the Big Box Electronic Store to procure a new hard drive for one of our computers who, by the sound of it, is threatening to give up the ghost. He asked me if I needed anything while he was there. Under my breath I muttered, "Yeah, a new camera." Imagine my surprise when he returned home with this:10X optical zoon, 9 mega-pixels and look at that 'sweet' 3" viewing screen. It only takes 2 AA batteries as opposed to my old behemoths 4 and it's so compact it fits neatly in my purse. I know this camera is fantastic because it's the same one 'Nature Girl' uses. We purchased hers last year for her 15th birthday, so she has a little older model, still, they're pretty much the same, except for my bigger LCD, but her eyesight is still 20/20 so she'll just have to deal.

Yesterday, 'Nature Girl' and I went on a little photo safari to 'Howard's Pond' right after I purchased a carrying case for my new baby. Check out 'this' macro:

This little orange flower was amidst a sea of tiny white flowers, the only one of his kind. Roughly an 1/8" in size, it makes me so happy that he 'dared to be different!' I quite simply love him!

On these next few picks I was struggling with the breeze (which I won't complain about as it served to keep us cool) and fighting the palsy in my hands. Can you see the little bug in the middle of the 'Queen Anne's Lace?'

And look at this one, it's like a little phallyic firework celebration.

I wondered if these berries were edible? They weren't too terribly far away from where the homeless campsite stood, but I wasn't willing to risk searching one of the campers out in order to ask.

And then look who we found... Doh!, a Deer, a female Deer! Now this is a testament to the 10x optical zoom because she wasn't going to let us get too close AND this was a very low light situation.

Gosh I love my new camera!... And Surprises... AND My Husband, Especially My Husband (and not just because he brings me presents.)