Good morning. 🌊🌊🌊

23 August 2025

You know how they say, “time flies when you're having fun?” Well, I must be having a blast, because somehow, it's Saturday again. Didn't we just have one? I can't decide if time speeding up is a blessing or a warning. Sure, it’s rushing by because—like I said—we’re having fun. But it also feels like it’s hurrying us toward the inevitable. You know... the big you know what.

If only we could make time stand still. Just pause everything—take a breath, take a beat. Then again, if we’re breathing, time’s still moving, isn’t it?

There’s another line people toss around: “we have all the time in the world.” That one’s a lie, isn’t it? Though, when we were young, it sure felt true.

“One day, you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.” - John Green

#morning #life #time #ocean #waves #photo #photography #photographer #nature

Good morning. 🌺🌸🪷

17 August 2025

It’s eight minutes to mealtime and still no sign of Charlie. I imagine he’ll round the corner any minute now to remind me of my duties. And speak of the devil—here he is, muttering something. I swear he tries to talk. Sometimes I think I catch actual words like “let’s go” or “go out.” Is it just my imagination running away with me?

Anyway, I’ve prepared breakfast for Charlie. I use all my culinary talents—the same ones I use for myself: I open a can. When Charlie eats, if I stand too close and watch, he gives me the side-eye and a low growl. But when I eat, he plants himself right in front of me and stares until I tell him to go away.

Yes, I’ve posted this Jane Goodall quote more than once. It earns the repetition.

“You cannot share your life with a dog … or a cat and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.” — Jane Goodall

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #nature #morning #dogs #flowers

Good morning, friends. 🌺🌺🌺

9 March 2025

There was a time in my younger days when I could jack up my car, set it on a stand, crawl underneath, and replace the clutch. I used to handle my own tune-ups, oil changes, and more. Those days are behind me now, and even if I still had those skills, I’d probably take my car to the dealer for maintenance anyway. Just a couple of weeks ago, I realized I didn’t even know how to open the hood of my car. I had to look it up in the manual—which, by the way, is digital and on my phone. Eventually, my wife came to the rescue, figuring it out in about ten seconds. She used to supervise mechanics in the army; now, she supervises me! ;-).

"Money may not buy happiness, but I'd rather cry in a Jaguar than on a bus." - Francoise Sagan

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #morning #wildflowers #cars

Good morning. ⏰🫘☕

12 February 2025

It is another rainy day, just right for wasting away. I will have to go out today.

There is a movie starring Harrison Ford where he is a New York police officer who, upon discovering there are corrupt police officers committing murder, hides among an Amish community in the country, probably Pennsylvania. The Amish people had a saying whenever they ventured away from home, "be careful out there among the English." I use that sometimes when leaving home, i.e., I have to venture out among the English. Truthfully, my ancestry is English; there's been some genealogy done with my family, and all roads lead to England so far.

“Genealogy, n. An account of one’s descent from a man who did not particularly care to trace his own.”– Ambrose Bierce

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #morning #sunset #geniology

Peanut Catcher

I've been watching red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) in my backyard for years and I've never seen them leave a bird feeder with anything but a peanut.

I've had several inquiries about how to get a print of some my photographs. This is a hobby for me, so I haven't been equipped to handle those requests. But I enjoy what I'm doing and want to share my photographs.

So, I set up an account and website with pixels. My website is:

https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

If you want a print of one of my photographs, you can get it there, If I haven't loaded it, let me know which one it is, and I'll gladly load it there for you.

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #birdphotography #RedBelliedWoodpecker

Good morning. 🌴🌴🌴

9 December 2024

I wonder what people born in the 21st Century think about music of the 70s. Is it historical? Well, I suppose it is, what I mean is, do they view int like I did music of the 1920s as ancient. That is about as far back as it is possible to go for music on the radio and vinal records didn't really become popular until the 40s. I just barely have context enough to try and understand. I've mentioned before that I stopped listening to contemporary music at about the turn of the century. Now-a-days when I listen to music it is almost exclusively music from the 70s. It used to be 60s and 70s, but SiriusXM move the 60s channel 6 to somewhere else.

“When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me / Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” - Beatles, 1970

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #nature #morning #1970s #landscape #music

Good morning. 🏖️🩴🏄‍♀️

4 December 2024

Good grief Martha! Hmmm ... for some reason that just popped into my head. When I was a child, I was a diehard Dennis the Menace fan. I had a collection of comic books. I even formed a local fan club on the American naval base at Yokosuka, Japan. There was only one other member though, a kid who I hung around with at the time. We dreamed of getting into all kinds of mischief, but it was mostly just imagination. Now-a-days though Calvin and Hobbs are my go-to comics. I have a collection of Bill Waterson's books in the garage somewhere. He tries to answer fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, and reality. 😂

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” - Albert Einstein

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #birdphotography #morning #philosophy #beach #DennistheMenance #CalvinandHobbes

Did you see that?

Those are chipping sparrows that appear to have some kind of altercation in midair. Another sparrow looks on, while a house finch looks at me as if to see if I see what he is seeing.

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #bird #birdwatching #birdphotography #birdsofmastodon #ChippingSparrow #HouseFinch #GoldFinch

Yellow butterfly.

I think that this is a cloudless sulfur butterfly (Phoebis sennae). My first search turned up another butterfly that looked just like it but it turned out that, that bug is found in Africa. Anyway, if my identification is correct, this is a female noted by the dot on each of the forward wings.

Hmmm ... I seem to remember, years ago butterfly collecting was a hobby. People would catch butterflies and pin them to a cork board. I, myself, had a butterfly net at one time, but aside from taking in out once or twice for amazement, it never caught on. I wonder if that is still a thing.

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #butterfly

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Here's a great egret that I saw this morning flying pass some trees on a small island in the lake.

"Visit a pond or coastal marsh and look for an all-white bird—slightly smaller than a Great Blue Heron, with black legs and a yellow bill. It may be wading slowly or standing stock-still, peering intently at the water as it searches for fish. If you live outside of the species’ breeding range, you may still see Great Egrets in late summer as they move about widely before heading to their wintering grounds." - allaboutbirds.org

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #GreatEgret

Morning moon 20230910

September 10

Waning Crescent

Illumination: 18%

#moon

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

"The oldest known wild, banded Blue Jay was at least 26 years, 11 months old when it was found dead after being caught in fishing gear. It had been banded in the Newfoundland/Labrador/St. Pierre et Miquelon area in 1989 and was found there in 2016." - allaboutbirds.org

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

I was trying some different camera setting this morning. It didn't really work out well, too much noise. Here is a tufted titmouse flying; beware, the photo isn't all that sharp.

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #TuftedTitmouse

Good morning, friends. 🪷🌸🌺

26 August 2023

I mentioned a couple of days ago that in the early 60s, my family lived on the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan. As I said we lived on the third floor. The stairway was of polished stone as were the banisters. When going down, I would lay my upper body on the banister and slide, it was the quickest way down.

I had a pogo stick back then and was pretty good. Well ... I couldn't do back flips on the pogo stick or anything like that, but I could and did pogo up and down the stairs ... without a helmet ... madness. Do know what? I don't think that they even made bicycle helmets back then.

In those days, my favorite comic was Dennis the Menace, later in life I discovered Calvin and Hobbes.

"Calvin: Life's a lot more fun when you aren't responsible for your actions.” - Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #morning #flowers #childhood

Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)

"Where Eastern and Western Meadowlark ranges overlap in the central U.S., the two species refuse to share territories. Their songs sound totally different to each other, like a foreign language, so singing doesn’t always do the job of communicating territorial boundaries. Instead, the two species are likely to fight for territorial supremacy." - allaboutbirds.org

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #EasternMeadowlark

Moon 20230824

August 24

First Quarter

Illumination: 51%

#moon

Moon 20230820

August 20

Waxing Crescent

Illumination: 15%

#moon

Good morning. 🕊️🕊️🕊️

15 August 2023

In the summertime when the weather is hot, you can go outside and sweat a lot, in the summertime you got winter, you got winter on your mind.

You might recognize the rhythm of the above lyrics, that is if you were around in the 1960s. I altered some lyrics of Summertime by Mungo Jerry. It's kind of how I feel right now, though I'm really longing for fall more than winter. During the winter, I'll wait for spring.

I just read something about the rains of August and wonder where they, it hasn't rained here this month and we are halfway through. The long-term forecast has rain coming next Monday and Tuesday - we'll see. I should be careful what I wish for, it's still hurricane season.

“This morning, the sun endures past dawn. I realize that it is August: the summer's last stand.” - Sara Baume, A Line Made By Walking

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #RockPigeon #RockDove #pigeon #dove

Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #CarolinaChickadee

Mean while, back at the feeder.

7 August 2023

In this photograph, there are two female house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) at the bird feeder and one arriving and about to land at the feeder. There is a northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) flying away from the feeder.

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #HouseFinch #NorthernCardinal

Red Spotted Admiral (Limenitis arthemis)

I chased this butterfly around yesterday during our walk. I'm pretty sure it's a red spotted admiral, I've photographed one of these before. I was trying to get a photo in flight, but no luck. It's harder than you might think. They flitter about here and there constantly never headed in a single direction. But they do land for a few seconds or minutes. In this photo the butterfly is on a Chinese tallow leaf.

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #butterfly

Good morning. 🕊️🕊️🕊️

7 August 2023

Every now and again I think "wow, it's 2023." I've written about this before, more than once. And I always seem to mention the British TV show Space 1999. I also remember a teacher telling me that I can't begin a sentence with the conjunction "and" but here we are. Anyway, then, in the 1970s, 1999 seemed like an unfathomable long way off. The same for 2001 a Space Odessey.

One of my prize possessions back in the 1970s was an eight-track tape player. With one of those in your car, you could take your music with you everywhere. It was like magic. I also had a record player or turn table. I no longer have any 8 track tapes, but I still have some vinyl record albums, all purchased in the 1970s. But, alas, they are boxed up in my garage somewhere.

“When you make a choice, you change the future.” - Deepak Chopra

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #pigeon #RockPigeon #RockDove #dove