What's in a name?

Haddy Nuff?  Me too.  That's why I chose it as my blogger name.  After 20 years of education and nearly 30 years spent in the corporate world I decided I had enough.  Time to do something else, or nothing, or whatever comes along.  This blog is dedicated to living life one day at a time - and trying my best to make the most of it.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Memorial Day Weekend

Summer has arrived complete with muggy afternoons and thundershowers, deer flies, and vacationers. Deb has planted her gardens and now is learning about fungus infections and evening slug-fests. What a difference a few months makes! Below are two pictures - one taken back in February and the other today.


It has been fascinating watching the grass grow. Okay, well fascinating is perhaps a bit too strong, but interesting none the less. The poverty grasses that cover the meadows have grown at a rate of up to an inch a day - some are already starting to go to seed. All this accomplished in about 6 weeks. With a growing season of about 90 days there is no time to waste. The milkweed plants are about 18 inches tall - on a par with their cousins in southern Canada. Various butterflies have been witnessed - but no Monarchs - these guys probably won't show until late July.

There are hummingbirds about, several varieties of sparrows and warblers, and the occasional hawk. Turkey Vultures float on the currents and ever so often one catches a glimpse of a falcon. The eagles still frequent the ponds below our house, but are seen less frequently now.

Frogs fill the quite pools and crawfish can be found in the larger, colder, faster moving streams. Snapping turtles cruise the ponds as do geese, beaver and muskrats.

As something of an experiment and learning experience I've begun to play with a variety of camera filters. The following two shots (compositionally not particularly interesting) were taken alongside the Blackwater River. The color one using a polarizing filter. The black & white one using an infrared filter. Interesting highlights can be seen in the infrared shot. I'm thinking this technique might prove worth exploring when the landscape is once again coated with white snow and I find it challenging to capture differentiation in the subtle highlights.



If I loaded them correctly, double-clicking the images above should expand them.

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