Mike's "Succinct"

I have not been getting out of the backyard much these weekends.  OK, I have to admit that the rain stalled the job, but it also softened up the clay enough to make the digging a lot easier.
I came up with a fairly "succinct" solution to the neighbor's rocks that are knocking over our fence.  Dig out the footings and apply equal force from the other side.  The final solution has not been decided.  I need things to dry up a bit.  If this does not work, I tear down the fence and let him build one in his yard.

Next week: "Pet"

"Succinct" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Ryan's "Self Portrait"

Not quite what I was looking for, but better than nothing:

/rl

Cory's Self Portrait

I also wanted to do a really awesome shot of me on a motorcycle or with one of Mike's guitars, but I didn't have anything like that around.  I also tried planning something of me working out in the garage, but that didn't work out either.  So here I am as I frantically post another weekly photography picture.

No, it isn't actually an Apple ad.

Mike's "Self Portrait"

I wanted to do a really cool portrait of me on a motorcycle or with one of my guitars.  You know, something really James Dean looking.

That's not what I did this weekend.  I fought with this fence.  Some of you might recall me posting some pictures on FaceBook a while back complaining about my neighbors rock wall and how it pushed our fence over.  I made a "water drill" and though I dug as deep as I could by hand, I was able to get the rest of the way down the footing with a stream of water shooting out a 5 foot length of PVC.  I have about 3-4 more posts to do.

Next week: "Succinct"

"Self portrait" due tomorrow.

Anybody have some topic ideas? We are running low.

/rl

Fred's Herbivore

We had a little visitor in our back yard Sunday morning.

Cory's Herbivore

Horses are herbivores, right?  And bikes must be too, I suppose.  But what if you combine both?

I don't know what my camera decided to focus on for this picture, but I decided to post it anyway.  Just don't click on it and everything will look great.

Mike's Herbivore

No explanation needed.

Next week: "Self Portrait"

It's about time for another round of portraits, isn't it?

"Herbivore" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Cory's Flat

As David noted last week, there was an eclipse last Sunday.  The cheapest, safest way to view an eclipse is to project a pinhole image of the sun onto a flat surface, thereby viewing the sun indirectly.  It turns out that spaces between the leaves in trees make oodles of little pinholes too, so when the moon blocked most of the sun we got lots images of the eclipse projected onto the flat surface of our garage.

Ryan's "Flat"

I'm not sure all wide flat surfaces are safe for turtles to walk on....

/rl

Mike's "Flat"

If your by Tilden, NE and you get a "flat" tire.  You might well end up here to get it fixed.
I had a long chat with the man walking towards me.  He had pictures from later in the summer when they their planters are in full bloom.  He has also been a friend of Bill W. for over 20 years.

Next week: "Herbivore"

"Flat" due tomorrow. Or Monday. Whatever works. /rl

David's "Shape"

My shape is round.

Fred's Shape

This is the Triumph TR7.  It was advertised as "The shape of things to come" when originally introduced in the late 70s.

Cory's Shape

The yearly Los Alamos Kite Festival was this weekend, and there were lots of kites in a variety of shapes there this year.  I think this one was the most creative shape I saw.

Not far from where I took last weeks picture I found these "Shapes"
They are like 3D pieces of some sort of pie.

Next week: "Flat"

"Shape" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Fred's Mess

The kids at one of the local high schools are restoring this 1974 Triumph Spitfire.  Right now, however, the car's a bit of a mess.

Cory's Mess

The dining room table was nice and clean before dinner, but afterward everybody left Baby Emily behind to clean up the mess.

Jim's "mess"

Torn, tattered, rain stained..

Ryan's "Mess"

Have you ever wondered why city parks are a mess? People like this explain it:

Yes, he saw me take the photo. Yes, his passenger stepped over the trash when they got into the car. Yes, I picked it up and threw it away.

/rl

Wanted to take a stroll around the Gene Leahy Mall this afternoon, but had to take detour because of this "mess".

I'm not certain if they are redoing the walkway that used to be under the bridge at 10th and Douglas, or if they are going to widen the bridge.

The pedestrian bridge on the West side is completely gone, and it looks like they are putting in footing for something wider.

One of them shovel ready projects, I guess.

Next week: "Shape"

"Mess" due tomorrow.

/rl

Cory's Tour

I took myself on a tour of one of the trails behind town on Saturday, hiking through the area that burned rather severely just over ten years ago.  Things are growing back nicely in some places, but others are still obviously barren.  This is an example of that - a single tree trunk left standing all alone on the hill.

Ryan's "Tour"

Jenny returns from a tour of a little Nebraska lake:

/rl

Mike's "Tour"

I participated in a motorcycle tour Saturday through the Loess Hills of Iowa.  I saw this old gas station along the way.
It reminded me of days gone by when stations like this were prevalent along routes like the Lincoln Highway and such before Interstates were developed and bypasses created around small towns.

Next week: "Mess"

"Tour" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Cory's Dinner

Yum yum.

Ryan's "Dinner"

My dinner is delayed until tomorrow - busy writing distance vector routing code....

/rl

Fred's Dinner

This was dinner Tuesday night while traveling for work.  It's a big burger with mushrooms, cheese, green olives, mustard and a fried egg.  The pen is there just to show the scale.

Next week: "Tour"

"Dinner" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Ryan's "Growing"

Slightly dehydrated but still growing catnip:

/rl

Cory's Growing

It's springtime, so now is the time to plant vegetables.  Lis got things started a few weeks ago, and here are some peppers she's been growing from seeds.  Someday they'll be big enough to transfer to the garden boxes I posted a couple of weeks ago.

Fred's "Growing"

I really like the tulips around our house.

Mike's "Growing"

If this picture looks a little familiar its because every year Sandra asks me to take a picture of her snowball bushes.

In the spirit of Earth Day, here is something green and growing.  We have two of these monsters and no matter how much we cut them back, it rains or not, they grow over the fence, through the fence and produce these giant blossoms.

In 2010 this bush did not bloom until May 16th, and I did a B&W of it then too!

Next week: "Dinner"

"Growing" is due tomorrow. /r;

Cory's Alphabet

A while back, Maddy got this fancy set of embossed blocks as a Christmas present. They were so fancy that Quentin even used them for some artistry, so I figured I could use them too.

Fred's Alphabet

If I had an available "A," I'd be able to spell Theocrat.  Oh well.  I may end up with something simpler, like CAT.

Jim's "Alphabet"

From a car show this weekend...

Mike's "Alphabet"

I'm not certain which alphabet this is.
Surrealic?

Next week: "Growing"

"Alphabet" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Fred's Purple

Being Easter weekend, I thought this was appropriate.

Ryan's "Purple"

I ran out of time to take a "purple" picture. I got close, but it wasn't quite done:



/rl

Jim's "Purple"

Is color blindness genetic?

(Thanks for letting me join in the fun!)

Next week: "Alphabet"

"Purple" is due today.

I posted this yesterday, but it seems to be gone. I must not have saved it.

/rl

Cory's Purple

It's springtime, which is also time for purple flowers to appear!

Mike's "Purple"

When I really want to give my triceps and biceps a good workout.
I use these purple weights we keep in the living room.

Mike's "Best of Q1"

This is from my January vacation to see my daughter.
My son and I spent 26 hours in airports, changing, planes trains and automobiles to get to Washington State that week. Worst ice storm in 40 years there. By Nebraska standards... a little ice and snow.

Fred's Best Of Q1

Snapped this shot of frost on my car's side window in late January, just as the sun was shining through.

Ryan's "Best of Q1"

I really haven't taken many photos in the last three months. Took a few last night at a lake with friends, though:




/rl

David's "Best of 2012 Q1"

I don't know if it is my best, but it's my most whimsical despite spending a few hours trying to capture it.

Cory's Best of Q1

Back in January, I got up one morning and saw the moon just starting to creep behind the mountains as I ate breakfast. So I grabbed the tripod, went out in the front yard, and took a bunch of shots as it went down. I think this is one of the better ones.

Next week: "Purple"

"Best of Q1" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Fred's Memories

This week, I traded in my trusty Accord Coupe (foreground) for a used S2000 (background).  We generated a lot of memories in the Accord's 108,000 miles, but we're looking forward to lots of new memories in the zippy S2000.

Cory's Memories

Springtime has arrived (for now), so I built Lis some garden boxes in our back yard. Here she is with Maddy, creating some memories of planting carrots on one end of the box.

Also, I succeeded in taking the picture I wanted to post last week.

Mike "Memories"

Sometimes things, symbolize memories.  These 45's remind me of the rockabilly band I was in during college.  When Bob Kerry was Governor,  we recorded a funny song called Rock'n Bob. 
I found someone at work who can digitize them for me, so they came out of storage this week.  Just seeing any vinyl record reminds me of my youth.

Next week: "Best of Q1 2012"

Post your best photo taken Jan 1, 2012 to Mar 31, 2012. It doesn't need to be a photo taken for this contest - anything taken in the first quarter of 2012 qualifies.

"Memories" due tomorrow.

/rl

Fred's Horizon

This was the view over the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers earlier this week (Tuesday morning).  The Mississippi River is barely visible through the fog.

Cory's Horizon

No, this isn't a picture of a dusty lens. However, it also isn't the picture I really wanted to post this week.

Way out beyond the horizon are lots of stars, and ever since I moved to New Mexico two years ago I've had plenty of them to look at in my back yard. It started getting warm out this week, so I decided to break out the barn door star tracker that I built last year just in time for the cloudy season to arrive. My plan was to capture a stunning picture of the Milky Way to post, but Saturday and Sunday nights ended up being insanely windy and quite cloudy. So instead I have to post one of my test pictures from earlier in the week. I wasn't pointing at anything in particular in this shot, so there isn't really much to identify. I've marked a couple of recognizable stars in the flickr image though.

I'll have to come up with an excuse to use this thing again when the weather is a little more predictable.

Ryan's "Horizon"

The western horizon as seen from the hills overlooking Council Bluffs, Ia.



A front was blowing in right as I arrived. It didn't help the lighting any. I blended about 6 exposures to try to make up for it, but the result was rather flat.

/rl

Mike's "Horizon"

Well.  Like I said last week, I was shooting for the wrong week, but I think our two weekend rule is still in play?  A bunch of us got to hang out at a YMCA camp last weekend.  Weather as beautiful as this weekend.
This was the view from the back of our cabin.  I realized, at this point, that the further away the horizon is, the easier it is to get flood insurance.

Next week: "Memories"

"Horizon" due tomorrow.

Voting is a bit out of sync - I somehow failed to post the poll until Thursday. The "Dunk" poll will be active until Thursday.

/rl

Ryan's "Dunk"

Flowers appreciate a good dunking....



/rl