93/365 - Time to get out of Dodge

93/365 - Time to get out of Dodge, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Or in this case, Denver. Snow was rolling in -- and lightning with it. If you are flying, you don't want to be in Denver when there is lightning. It is an automatic 30 minute ground hold w/o lightning before crews get back out on the tarmac to move planes.

We made it out. It was a bit rough in the air (the passenger next to me stripped their sweater and turned on the air vent to combat the motion sickness), but it smoothed out eventually.

92/365 - Hotels

92/365 - Hotels, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This captures my mood on the evening I took this picture perfectly. Plastic wrapped, monochrome, and in the ether.

The hotel was fine, but I sure wished I was at home.

89/365 - Luxury?

89/365 - Luxury?, originally uploaded by panodanno.

How many pillows equals luxury? At Homewood Suites, 6 seems to be the standard.

For me, it just means 5 pillows on the floor to trip over and one on the bed.

I'm in Memphis tonight w/ an early morning tomorrow. Night, night!

Light Painting

87/365, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Suprisingly, I didn't end up w/ any real interesting photography from Lake San Antonio. We were too early for the flowers (they will be there next month for sure), and we were too busy w/ other stuff to search out the real opportunities.

This morning while we were running along the lake I saw "the picture". There was fog in the oak trees across the lake. The trees are spread out a bit, so there were lots of composition opportunities. Of course, I left my camera behind. We were running w/ a bunch of triathletes so I knew it would be competitive. The last thing I needed was to lug along my G9. Can't let those kids think they've can school you, you know.

Anyway, this shot was from last night after dinner. We hiked up the hill to see if there was anything interseting. Naw. So I took this night sky shot and painted the tree with my headlamp

Here is a picture of the sky from Friday night. No light painting though.

Yesterday afternoon this jet flew over. Just a little reminder of the work to come tomorrow morning.

It looks like a ghost, but like work, it is very real. 500 new shiftworkers this week. I'm sure it will be interesting. Oh yeah, back to Memphis, and I'm not even done in Savannah.

Outrage of the Day

Today we are honored to have a guest post from my Dad! Here goes!:

The Department to the Navy has decided to give Rep. "Fightin'" John Murtha (D-PA) its Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest public service recognition given to a non-employee by the Department of the Navy. This would be the same John Murtha who, in May 2006, slandered U.S. Marines by accusing them of war crimes, saying they were nothing but "cold-blooded killers" who "murdered innocent civilians."

That is the biggest demonstration of pandering that I can recall since John Glenn got a ride in space as a US Senator.This guy has proven where his loyalties lie and it is NOT with the Military!

There is a petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/usmc2009/petition.html where you can tell the Navy leadership your feelings about this outrage. Also if you want to read more about it is on the Patriot Post article entitled - Department of Military Correctness: Murtha's Award - http://PatriotPost.US

Hal Capshaw

________________________

First of all, Dad's post is proof that the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree.

Secondly, this goes to show that the politicians don't have a monopoly on being political. Then again, any junior officer can tell you that military "leadership" (at the top that is) is 90% politics. That said, the commanding officers I worked for were some of the smartest, most able people and leaders I've known.

Headed to Lake San Antonio today for Wildflower and OKFree training. Yipee!!! And of course, there will be wildflowers posted here soon as a result.

And, just to share, here is this morning's sunrise:

85/365 - West Point Inn

85/365 - West Point Inn, originally uploaded by panodanno.

On my run today I stopped for a couple of minutes at the West Point Inn on Mt. Tam. Here's the dining room. The view was reflected in the window since I was shooting from outside in.

At first I went for the shot because I liked the shadows and furniture. The reflection was a big bonus. I'll take it!

84/365 - Handsome Tom

84/365 - Handsome Tom, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This morning's commute was fantastic. I felt good on the bike, and I was in a hurry to get to work. Perfect fit.

That also meant that I put the camera in my back pocket and didn't plan to take any pictures. Well, maybe only if I saw a turkey doing the mating dance.

Well, just as I topped out on Bolinas ridge I saw a bobcat. He/she leisurely trotted across the road and down the hill. No time to stop, but cool.

Next I saw a group of four deer. They walked off the road, but then watched me ride by like so many domestic animals. No time to stop, but again cool.

Then I saw the coyote as I was barreling down a steep section. He was also on the road. He dashed off the road and turned around and stared. Hmm, cats and dogs today. Very cool.

Next up, a tom turkey cruising the road. No females about, so he was just being... cool. Finally I pulled out the camera.

And then I saw this guy. He was in full dance mode. As long as the girls were about, he wasn't going anywhere. He fluffed and strutted until the hens moved off the road and into the woods. (The hens were around the bend, so I couldn't get their picture.) Then it was time to move on and let the cyclist pass.

From there I re-entered civilization and just had to avoid all the turkeys in their cars and trucks.

Yep, quite a commute this morning.