Welp, that's that.

Her Rock & Roll career has come to an end, the final gig at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

Now it's off to University to learn engineering.



I hope she continues to play...if only for fun.

 

Welp, that's that.

Her Rock & Roll career has come to an end, the final gig at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

Now it's off to University to learn engineering.

View attachment 352632

I hope she continues to play...if only for fun.

What field of engineering did she choose?

 

What field of engineering did she choose?

Materials Engineering.

Weird, I know.

 

Materials Engineering.

Weird, I know.

Not from my perspective ... I'm a Mechanical Engineer and I find the science of materials fascinating ... kudos to your kid, for her passion and dedication to her music, and for her interest in practical sciences. She's going to have an interesting, and fulfilling life, I bet.

 

 

 

View attachment 352981

 

Not raindrops. Sprites.

If you look closely, you can see Tinker Bell.

 

Tinker Bell

She was my youngest crush ever ...

 

She was my youngest crush ever ...

I try to stick with 21 or older.

(Your dangling modifier is going to get you in trouble someday.)

 

 

 

Good morning.

I haven't posted in a while, so here are some resent exports from Lightroom. Basically a random selection based in time—the first 10—so they may not be my best shots but I hope you enjoy them.

Barn Swallow—these little guys eat bugs that the catch "on the hoof"—so to speak.
They often perch on things they can't grab and just balance there, even if it is windy.


Red-winged Blackbird—one of the most successful species, they are everywhere. One of the keys to their success is extreme aggression in response to any perceived threat to their nests, which they build much to close to the ground. The male and female cooperate in this with the female (who, thanks to very clear sexual dimorphism would not be recognized based on knowing the appearance of the male as she looks like an oversized house sparrow) raising the alarm and make every attempt to seem scary and the male flying to the rescue going as far as to attack the potential threat with that needle like beak—even humans. But, if you engage with them, looking directly at them with cowering or fleeing, the will continue to try to be scary but will not dare actually attack. Runners, cyclists, and uninformed mamas with strollers often get pecked as the bird perceives the as fleeing. Hawks, Ospreys, Eagles, Falcons, and Herons trigger the RWBL attack squad to scramble and these larger birds do flee, chased off by a group of shiv wielding maniacs. It is a common site to see a raptor (or a Crow, or a Blue Jay) beating a hasty retreat pursued by a squadron of flying ice picks.


Another Barn Swallow


A Common Grackle, in the sun, the angle wrong to reveal it's iridescence, instead
revealing that it's usually black looking plumage is mostly dark brown and oily.


Ring Billed Gulled, noisily protecting a nest in a rookery. No, I wasn't flying next to it, it is closer to the ground than it appears thanks to the clouds in the background. The rookery was established in the parking lot of an abandoned mail where there were at least 200 nest sites, and many more times that in sometimes angry acting gulls.


House Wren—a very small bird with outsized lungs. They can be hard to spot because if you hear them the could well be hundreds of meters away even if they sound like they are in the tree you hear the reflection of their loud call from at a volume that matches what you would expect from a bird actually in that tree.



Another noisy House Wren



Great Blue Heron



Peregrin Falcon—perched about 100 feet up a communications tower. I spotted this one from across the river so the site line to it was about 150m. At first I thought it was a Red Tailed Hawk but then it moved and I saw the unmistakable falcon profile. The amazingly clear photo is a testament to the quality of the lens and camera body, and the sophistication of modern postprocessing tools.



Osprey—what you see here is a small crop to make this photo 16:9, I was photographing this formidable hunter when she dove for a fish in the river that apparently got away because before she hit the water she aborted and went around, coming close enough to fill the frame thanks to the 840mm EFL (Effective Focal Length) of my 600mm ƒ/4 prime combined with a 1.4x extender (Canon-talk for a teleconverter). I appreciated that she left me with a shot susceptible to artistic cropping. Those talons, though... glad I am not a fish.​

 

Materials Engineering.

Weird, I know.

Maybe she will invent new composites for the next great guitar, and she can play for fun—and profit.

 

Traffic Jam at the city boat launch.

 

Traffic Jam at the city boat launch.
View attachment 353094

fortunately, you're an extremely patient fella ...

 

Traffic Jam at the city boat launch.
View attachment 353094

The early bird gets the ... fish (which gets the worm).

 

(... which gets the hook) ...

 

Dandelion in the hills of Córdoba (Argentina)

Still wet, early (cold) morning.

 

Sunset in Tierra de Fuego, Chile. In one of the many channels which crisscross it.