Turkeys!
On my way home from work on Friday, I saw a large flock of turkeys. I just happened to have my camera with me (although not the telephoto lens, darn it) so I stopped to take some pictures, of course.
I counted 16 turkeys in this picture (click it to make it larger if you want to disagree with me.)
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"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." ~WKRP in Cincinnati
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Stein cat
This is my brat of a cat. He’s pretty difficult to photograph. Unlike my sister’s cat, who was more than happy to pose for me, he tends to be quite camera-shy, and I had to sneak up on him to get this one.
Whiny Stein.
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The beauty that is in my front yard
I don’t ever remember noticing saucer magnolias until college, when I fell in love with the massive one in the library courtyard at Cal Poly. This particular tree is out in front of my house, and I didn’t notice it until about a week ago. I so love these things. If you haven’t ever seen one, the blooms come out before the leaves, so you have this beautifully-shaped skeletal tree with these enormous pink flowers on it (there are variations on the shade of pink–I’ve seen everything from a pale shell pink to a deep magenta.) They’re absolutely amazing.
Saucer magnolia - close up and somewhat desaturated.
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Stepping back a bit.
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Aerospace Museum of California
Last Sunday I ventured out in the torrential rain (over an inch!) to the Aerospace Museum of California to check out their new space display, a NASA-created traveling exhibit that will be there through September. I like space well enough, but I didn’t think the exhibit was worth the extra $10 on top of the regular admission price. I did find the huge GM commercial at the end of the exhibit rather amusing… at least they funded it before things went south!
One of the things they had that I thought was interesting was a bicycle-powered centrifuge. I got to take a ride on it – it was fairly neat. Close your eyes, tilt your head the direction it spins, and you just feel like you’re moving. But try to face up or opposite of the way it’s going, and instant stomach-churning. Also, opening your eyes also = a bad idea. For the record, I was only a bit green when I stepped off.
Me trying not to yack.
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My favorite part of this was, maybe not surprisingly, a camera. According to the display, astronauts on Apollo 17 used this 70mm Hasselblad aboard the command module during their December 1972 mission to the moon. The docent seemed bemused that I was taking a picture of a camera. I couldn’t explain it to him more than “it’s just cool” because, well, it is cool, or at least to photobug me, anyway.
Space camera.
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The reason I wanted to go to the museum yesterday was that this week’s photo challenge is “the moon”. I’ve only got a couple of shots of the moon, and neither is particularly creative. I was hoping to get something more moon-ish here, but alas, this chunk of rock was the best I could do.
Moon rock.
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While I thought I’d be more into the space exhibit than the aviation part of the museum, the opposite ended up being true. I really had a good time looking at the planes and plane accessories (sorry, lame King of the Hill joke), and I wish I’d gone on a day where it wasn’t raining, because they have a HUGE outdoor lot with old restored aircraft on display. Inside, along with all of the vintage planes, they also had one that was in the process of being restored, and I spent a long time just checking it out – it was waaaay neat.
Wing struts.
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The plane was a 1939 Cessna T-50 “Bobcat”, built as a passenger airplane. I was surprised to see all of the wood used in the plane’s frame, but then put two and two together and realized that they probably were trying to conserve steel for ramping up preparations for war. The accompanying display, which I read after I drew this conclusion, referred to the plane as being built out of “non-strategic materials”, so I figure I guessed correctly.
Wooden wings.
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Anyway, the plane had a reputation as being easy to fly, so it was frequently used as a trainer aircraft. When it’s in one piece, it looks like this:
Cessna T-50 Bobcat
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As you can see, they have quite a ways to go with the restoration. :-)
I don’t remember what this next plane was, and I forgot to take a picture of the sign that went with it, but it was shiny and therefore captured my attention.
Oooh, shiny!
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I saved the most awesome thing for last, though. Right when you walk into the museum is the thing I think they’re most proud of, and rightfully so – a 1932 Curtiss-Wright B-14-B biplane. There were apparently only two of these built, and one of them was destroyed in a crash in the ’30s, so this is the only remaining one. It was built for air racing, but it’s been primarily used for aerobatics instead. It spent seven years (from 2000-2007) being restored, and then was flown to the museum where it sits now. I couldn’t back up enough to get decent pictures of the entire plane (need a wide angle lens. need a wide angle lens.) so you’ll have to content yourself with this picture from someone else’s website, only imagine it a heck of a log brighter and shinier. Seriously, I’m not a huge mechanical stuff buff, but this thing was GORGEOUS. I could have spent an hour cheerfully ogling it.
The N-shaped wing strut was apparently well-known. I just thought it looked cool.
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Curtiss-Wright.
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Cockpit.
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Engine and propeller.
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Engine and propeller.
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High water
We’ve had quite a bit of rain here in Sacramento these past couple of weeks, and as a result, the American River is fairly high, or at least compared to how I’ve seen it since I moved here last summer. The other day I decided to walk the half mile from my house to the river to check out the water level, and I was quite surprised at what I found. As always, clicking on any of these pictures will get you a larger version.
One of the more sad things about this city is the requisite bum-in-the-alley population. Yes, I did take a picture of him sleeping. Yes, I have no soul.
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I don't have a train obsession. I can quit at any time. Honest. :twitch:
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Weepuls in the wild. Anyone remember these things? They were the ultimate junior high status symbol at my school. I found this little dude nestled in the dirt in an alley.
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High water. For scale, the river's edge is normally another 20 feet past the end of the treeline.
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I felt like I was in a bayou or something. Out toward the middle of the river, the water was rushing, but near the bank, the water was just so STILL. So neat.
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I'm not sure what this was supposed to be, but it was kind of neat.
Last dodgeball game before the playoffs
Well, we came in fifth in the league, so it looks like we’re in the playoffs next week. Go Average Joes! Anyway, last week I was stricken by the Virus From the Depths of Hell Itself, and while I was feeling better by Wednesday night, I opted not to risk a relapse, and I sat out our game and took pictures instead of playing. I also got some pictures of the other teams playing as well. Fun stuff. :-)
As always, here are a few selected pictures. The first three are of my team (which is dark green, except for Katie, who for some reason wore a blue shirt instead. This is easy to do–I showed up in my kickball shirt two weeks ago. Whoops.)
Rundown
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Air Steve
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Hail Mary shot--he was the last man standing, and was attempting to make a basket in order to bring the whole team back in. For what it's worth, he does have two legs.
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Oof!
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Someone's gonna get it.
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Wandering about town last Saturday
(This post is brought to you by They Might Be Giants. For why, check out the last picture in this post.)
Last Saturday was the Sacramento stage of the 2009 AMGEN Tour of California, and as it was happening less than a mile from my house, I figured I’d amble on down there and take a peek. As Saturday’s weather was chilly and windy and there was the threat of rain, I didn’t stay too long, but I did have a nice time wandering around while I was out. I was hoping to get a picture of Lance Armstrong, but alas, I showed up at 12 and Lance didn’t get there until almost 4, and I didn’t feel like hanging around that long. And he probably doesn’t like us all that much anymore anyway, given that while he was here, his bike was stolen. Whoops.
I took my time wandering around downtown, and on my way home, I decided to detour down the bike trail toward the river a ways, then I walked home through the alleys rather than on the main streets. It was quite nice–this town is infinitely more interesting in the alleys than on the main streets, I think.
Wall mural.
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I really needed a wider-angle lens for this one.
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During warm-ups.
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Not so mellow yellow.
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He has jelly beans on his jersey!
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I must still be five years old, because I get a kick out of when the train engineer waves to me. :-)
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Fun with reflections.
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The old (Victorian house) reflected in the new (modern building).
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I got waved to TWICE today!
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Train crossing.
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Don't eat the berries!
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Cattail along the bike trail.
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Seen in a window in an alley between C and D somewhere between 20th and 27th Streets.
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Dumpster kitty.
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Blossoms.
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"Make a little birdhouse in your soul..."
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This made me smile
Cute tip jar sign, originally uploaded by Kari_Marie.
Tip jar sign at Rick’s Dessert Diner in downtown Sac. :-)
One of the reasons I love Sacramento
One of the reasons I love Sacramento is the relative proximity of everything. We’re about an hour and a half from Tahoe/snow/skiing, an hour an a half (ok, or longer depending on traffic) from San Francisco and the coast, we’re a decently large city but can easily get to the Bay Area if we want a larger city, and we’re also close to the mountains if we want wilderness. I live in midtown Sac, which means I’m close to the Capitol and pretty much smack dab in the middle of everything, but in only 10 minutes, I can drive to where I’m out with nature.
I took advantage of this a couple of weeks ago when I made two trips (one sunset, one sunrise) out to the Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area, about ten miles from my house. The entire Sacramento Delta area is part of the Pacific Flyway, so tremendous numbers of birds pass through here on their way north and south, making for some fun bird photography. I’ve driven over this particular stretch of land many times while taking the Yolo Causeway, AKA I-80, west from Sacramento to the Bay Area, and I’ve always admired it because of its wide-open space, rice fields, and wetlands. It’s especially beautiful at the end of the day, when the setting sun reflects off of the shallow, standing water and tens of thousands of birds (no, I’m not exaggerating) swoop and settle in for the night.
I went for sunset, and I was so blown away that the next morning I dragged myself out of bed in the dark and cold hours and went to watch the sun rise as well. I wasn’t disappointed… In fact, the worst part of the whole experience was trying to figure out how I was going to delete some truly awesome shots (since I really can’t and don’t need to keep everything…)
As always, a few shots :
Day 1: Sunset
Dried star anise. It smells like black licorice!
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Mallards!
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You really need to click on this next one to enlarge it.
Red-winged Blackbirds swarming and then settling in the reeds for the night.
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Collision course.
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Egret silhouetted against the sunset sky.
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Day 2: Sunrise
Sunrise over the Sacramento River delta.
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Red-winged Blackbird.
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Red-tailed hawk.
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I was carefully walking closer to an egret, trying to get a good shot, and inadvertently flushed out this blue heron. Sweet. Check out those wings!!
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Great egret.
[Gallery of more pics can be found here]
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Annie collage
Picasa makes some wicked awesome collages. Seriously, I couldn’t resist making this. :-D
I made a collage!
Dad’s collage, originally uploaded by Kari_Marie.
I know, this may not sound like much… After spending time in Photoshop and getting irritated because (a) it’s hideously slow (on my laptop) and (b) I couldn’t get everything to line up right, I realized Picasa does the job quite efficiently. :facepalm:
Oh well, I love how this turned out. :-) It’s my dad meeting his granddaughter for the first time.
My favorite portrait subject
I’m visiting my dad in Southern California for the weekend, and my sister and BIL are down here with my niece. Because she’s totally irresistible, I just *had* to take more pictures of her. Such a burden, I know.
Annie meets a balloon
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I did say she was irresistible...
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My cousin lost his two front teeth. He’s incredibly proud of this, and as gap-toothed smiles are one of the cutest kinds (on kids, anyway!) I had to take a picture. :-)
Kenny, minus his front teeth
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- Three generations: Annie’s mom, Annie’s great-grandma, and Annie
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Annie was majorly cute in her jammies this morning, so I had to take some pictures, of course.
- Annie in her jammies
[Click here for a gallery of all of the pictures]
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