Stormy Sunset in Sepia

This is the very end of a beautiful sunset I spotted on the way home from work last week. I didn't have my camera with me, so I had to get home as fast as possible to see if I could find a good place for a photo op before the beauty disappeared on the horizon. I was lucky enough to find this spot just a couple of blocks from my house after I made my way around the massive trees that block any view of the sun from my front yard as early as the mid afternoon.

I thought that the sky looked rather unusual on the evening of this pic, but I didn't know the reason ... this could be due to the fact that I pay no attention to current events or weather. It turns out that the remnants of a tropical storm were moving in. We had rain starting the next morning that lasted 4 days. Rain, rain, and more rain.

Here's the photo SOOC before I clicked "sepia" in iPhoto. That's right, I do all my editing in my free version of iPhoto. I have Photoshop envy. But that is another subject for another day :-)

Singin on Sunday

My Sunday morning began much earlier than I have grown accustomed to since I road tripped with mom and dad to a singing. After a cup of mom's coffee, we set out for Lookout Mountain. This mailbox at Pine Grove church marks the spot for day two of the singing convention.




The front row of the tenor section looks ready for action.




A look over at mom's book during Holy Manna.




Papa Coy is leading one of his favorite songs.




Just hanging out in the treble section.




Once the kids get tuckered out, you can tell we're nearing the end of the afternoon ...




Some folks traveling by horse and buggy stopped by for a quick chat as we were getting ready to head home.




And hey! Check it out! They're riding in style with a stereo system and air conditioning ... this looks like a sweet set up.

Treadmill Love

I hear people say all the time that they don't like running on treadmills. They only do it when there is no possible way that they can run outside, etc. I have to respect this point of view. Maybe they don't live in the south. Maybe they have superhuman cooling powers. In any case, I happen to love the treadmill ... especially in August. Here are the reasons for this love:

1. It is located in an air conditioned building and has a little personal fan that I like to set on high.
2. It has a personal TV & iPod dock.
3. I don't have to stop/slow to let a car pass and then try to come up with the motivation to pick up the pace again.
4.. There is a cute little place for my water bottle, phone, towel, etc.
5. If I faint or become otherwise incapacitated, someone will be close by to bring me smelling salts
6. I have the goofy, woozy leg feeling for a few minutes when I dismount. This reminds me of the few minutes post trampoline or moonbouncing activity.

With all that said, as of tonight, it does appear that the treadmill may not share the same affection for me. Right around the 15 minute mark of my treadmill adventure, I apparently felt very sleepy and subconsciously rested my eyes for a split second. Before I knew what was happening, my right foot was on a stationary platform, my left foot was still on the spinning belt, and my hands flailed to the side handle things to save me and I amazingly remained in an upright position. With a lot of grace, I stumbled back into place and pretended like nothing happened. Even though I had the music at a considerable volume, I still heard a sound as close to burning rubber as a tennis shoe and treadmill belt can make. And yes, there were three people behind me and one person right next to me. I'm sure they quite enjoyed what might have otherwise been a dull evening.

In-laws and Idols

The event that inspired our trip to Atlanta last weekend was the American Idol Tour at the Gwinnett Center. The in-laws love the show and I have really gotten hooked on it in the last couple of years. DVR helps because we can fast forward through the huge amount of coke commercials. Can you even imagine how happy the producers were that the tour made a stop in Atlanta, the World of Coke? They couldn't help themselves ... that was one of the first "plugs" that we had to hear about. Anyway, last season, we went over to the in-laws to watch a few of the shows. We also took it to the level of making picks. We each had a list of our fav contestants and who we thought would win. David came up with the idea of a road trip weekend and we added in aquarium fun and outlet shopping. David's step-dad made everyone aware that high on his to-do list for the weekend was getting to the Bass Pro Shops.

The concert was really good. Of course, it was all karaoke style (like the show) and all of the top 10 idols from the last season performed. It made for an interesting concert because of so much variety. The most entertaining part for me was the crowd in attendance. Every single age group was represented - from huge groups of teenage girls to a group of middle aged teachers with matching t-shirts (I got to hear one of them tell all about it in the bathroom line) to lots of elderly folks. One grandpa-type sitting very close to us danced in his seat the entire night. We also got to witness the healing powers of Adam Lambert. The build-up for the runner up was amazing. Every time his picture flashed across the big screen during intermission, the whole place went wild. I'm not an Adam fan, so this was comical. I couldn't imagine what would take place when he actually took the stage. Well, when that moment came, David called my attention to the handicapped section. Over half of the people in wheelchairs were on their feet! Awesome display of fan dedication.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the event because they proclaimed that no cameras were allowed - not even point & shoot. I did see hundreds of cameras in use with no apparent consequences, but I diligently followed the rules because I didn't want to risk confiscation of either of my awesome cameras.

One fish. Two fish.

I went to the Georgia Aquarium last Saturday as part of a fabulous weekend trip. I have been hearing about this place for many years ... well, as many years as it has been open. At one point it was so prestigious, there was a waiting list to get tickets.

Jellies!! They look very puffy and soft. Don't let them fool you.

This lion fish seems to be all about business. His business is very somber. I did a little research on this guy because he looked so interesting. It turns out that he is quite poisonous.

Here you can see people moving on the people mover. It was very nice not to have to walk while trying to coordinate the task of looking overhead into the huge saltwater tank and taking pictures. Those three things at once could have proven to be too much for me :)

This school of fish came right on over to pose.

The whale shark looms in the background behind all the little dudes.

What is this strange specimen??? Oh, just a human.

We made it through the tunnel and found some sea anemone.

Oooh, look at the weedy sea dragons. I couldn't get any good pictures of the seahorses because the tank was too dark. These might be just as cool anyway.

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea. The belugas were so graceful. They are very flexible and just swirl around all over the place. I've never seen anything like it.


I'll leave you with this crazy water screen image. We also got to walk through a very interesting Titanic exhibit, but they did not allow any photography. There were many artifacts that have been recovered from the site of the wreck, as well as stories about some of the passengers. They even reconstructed sample rooms of first class, second class, and third class. There were only 2 bathrooms per 700 people in third class. Also, the first class one way tickets cost up to $80,000 when adjusted for inflation.

Coming up ... the remainder of our weekend adventure.

Dear Diary

It is time to be blogtastic. Blogalicious. The blog diggity. I have been on the sidelines and have thoroughly enjoyed reading about everyone else's world for the past few months. You could call me a casual observer of sorts.

Now I feel compelled to share my basic template, beginner photography, and stories.

Get excited. It's time to enter the Life of Birdie ...