1920s - 1960s, Still Standing

      Built in the 20s; left in the 60s. Hardwood floors, green tiled roofing. How very much we wish to renovate this house where we saw a barn owl hiding in one of its closets. Clay caught it gently and released it out the door.
      "I used to have lunch on this balcony," he said. "You can see for miles from here, before the trees grew."
      Time passes, and I wondered what it felt like for someone to see his folks' place abandoned, in such disrepair . . . a mammoth skeleton in the midst of the prairie that reminds contemporary people of past wealth and perhaps, of the tender grasp of happiness and hope, both fleeting. Yet, forty years marks a long life span, and I want to think they were a good forty years in this home.

Metal In the Broom Weed.

        Heading out to the countryside wishing to spot wildlife, we came upon a couple of old cars.
They appear to be from the 50s. Post-processing with Silver Efex makes making photos like these even more fun and challenging.
         And did we spot wildlife? Yes, buffleheads, gadwalls, northern harriers, and red-tailed hawks.

After Validating Pilot's License

       After a fun flight that included the maneuvers of stalls and emergency landings, the Scissortail sits on the ramp at sunset, ready to be pulled to 'er hangar.  H.-P. validated my license after following the WINGS program. I have another two years to fly as a qualified pilot. Fun!

Infrared January

A north Texas countryside during January.

     

Big

       My ol' Scissortail sits safely in a huge, huge hangar this week while they repair a few leaky spots on the roof of my hangar. The hangar looks especially large when empty but for one small plane. Here are Ed and Daniel pushing 'er back inside after a nice flight.

        MyMrMallory took the flight controls and flew a 360-degree turn so that I could take an image of a double line of quadriped power lines leading into a power plant, an impressive sight from above, especially, as one can see the vast distance they cross. This one is near Vernon, Texas.

Finally Flying

     Four weeks! I endured four weeks sans Scissortail while the mechanics inspected, repaired, and renovated my ol' bird. Finally, MyMrMallory and I flew.

Someone took this image in Mobile showing the aircraft that raced in the 2011 Air Race Classic. That's my Scissortail there, pointy nose number twenty. (I have long felt that 'er nose resembles the nose of Jimmy Durante.)

Jump ahead to today, and here I show the shadow of my hand on the instrument panel, waving.

Through my window, the Red River.

Hodge Runs

      Eleven-year old Hodge runs joyfully in the north forty. 

Flight Lesson: How Planes Fly

      My flight instructor, Jim, emailed this diagram to me. Since I respond visually to learning, it all makes so much sense to me now.

Created by http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/874/

Lichen Up Close

Snows Reveal

    A predatory bird found dinner, perhaps, an owl or a hawk, and a squirrel, or a songbird . . . 

Snow on the roof of our shed reveals activity.

Lights Reflected on the Wing of a King Air

Made this image in Louisburg, Kentucky during a stop-over.

Mamiya Lichen

     Intriguing in their colors and most particularly in their location, my attention to the lichen on the rocks knows no end. Here they are again, taken with a Mamiya 645, 45mm lens, 1/500 sec., and some tweaking of sharpness and cropping the overblown sky in the digital darkroom.

         Gnarly rocks covered in lichen and a Mamiya: A fine combination in photography.

Night Flight Helicopter

Wild Cam Image of Two Does

Dogs Hunting Hogs

     As MyMrMallory and I wandered about in the countryside, we came upon quite a sight, well, quite a sight for this town gnome. We saw two all-terrain vehicles piled with several men and dogs. The dogs alone were a sight to see. A couple of them stood on the hood, noses up, vigilant for the odor of wild hogs; they had dogs that wore protective vests; and all the dogs wore tracking devices around their necks.
      We stopped. "You look as if you are ready for anything," said MyMrMallory.
      "Yeah!" said the hunter. "Why don't you follow us?"
      And we did. We watched until the hounds and the hunters in their all-terrain vehicles disappeared into the winter bushes. Wikipedia has an interesting entry on hog hunting through the ages.

Rough terrain rarely stops passionate hunters.

Banshi, a pitbull, wears a protective vest. 

Jasco and Skipper rushed into the wild when they smelled a hog.

Focussed.

Red Dog, the youngest and most vocal.

Red Dog announces her eagerness to run.

Hank is steady on the hood as they traverse the country in search of hogs.

       One of the all-terrain vehicles pulled a wagon in which, at the end of the hunt, they held a captured 230-pound sow to take to market.

Tracking the dogs on his GPS.

         The hunters released the hounds and all disappeared into the bushes. At this point, MyMrMallory and I turned around and returned to bird-watching on our own. 

The next morning, the wild cam made an image of a wild hog.

Nice Day for Countryside Walk

Cloudy skies, gnarly oak trees, interesting rocks covered with lichen . . . my cup of tea.

Shadow of a King Air

Wintry Wind

I like the effect of moving my camera as I open the shutter. 

Leafless oak tree.

Evening tree lights. 

Yellow in the Parking Lot

Still Snow

      We've had a wintry week with snow remaining on the ground since our white Christmas.

Fortunately, Hodge has a sidewalk and keeps his paws dry 

as he returns home from doing doggy things.