Cameras have become pretty amazing

It used to be the only geeks and nerds like me had a camera with them all the time.  Now everybody has one in their pocket AND takes pictures of everything around them all the time.  

While we were finishing up Laura's deck, the moon came out to say hello.  So I grabbed this shot on my iPhone while just standing there in her driveway.  I don't even know how it's possible to capture something like this, in such low light, so far away, cropped in so much, with such great color and gradient representation, but I love it!

The beauty of balisongs…

I like four things about balisongs

1. They hold their value pretty well so you can buy, sell and trade up.

2. They keep my manual dexterity and brain sharp.

3 They can be mechanical wonders and beautiful at the same time. 

4. It's something I can enjoy along with my boys.

I sold one knife and an old shooter and that gave me enough cash for this one.  I couldn't pass up the blue color, especially when it is sometimes purple depending on how the light hits it.  You can see some of that subtlety in the pictures like when the purple reflects onto the blade or interior of the handles.  It's amazing to see how the anodized titanium changes color as the angle of light changes. Pretty! More pictures to come, I am sure… ;)

In the midst of the holidays, Larry and I managed to finish off Laura’s deck

We'll stain it in the spring, then Laura will pick out what she wants for the top of the posts. Happy birthday sis!

NOW it’s time for Merry Christmas! :)

Thanksgiving is behind us, now we can celebrate the Lord's birth.  AND it's safe to play Christmas music and decorate.

Laura and mom wanted to have a “real” Thanksgiving…

So I waited around and joined them.  We enjoyed a relaxed meal and more time together.  You can see, we were all smiles as we reflected on all the blessings God has provided!

Even the milkweed gave us some interesting to see

Some of the recently exploded pods were starting to send their seeds abroad. It made for some cool photos in the meantime. :)

It was fun to find some beauty among winter grays along our walk.

What do you do between Thanksgiving brunch and dinner…?

…walk it off, of course! :) My mom, sister and I enjoyed a nice tour of the woods and fields around the Legacy campus while we were waiting for the turkey to finish.  It was a relaxing time with just the three of us.  We laughed, shared memories, caught up, and even backed up some photos and things.  

Do horologists finally have an Apple Watch they can get behind?

I think so.  With the Ultra, there are finally just enough buttons, bands and dials in the beauty and bulk to make it interesting.  It looks more like a "real" watch I think. Opinions vary widely, but I am giving it a thumbs up.

I always like my mom’s holiday centerpieces

They bring back memories from over the years, but also have a new twist or addition each year. :)

It looks like the Strong’s don’t take portraits too seriously either, haha!

It is fun welcoming bonus girls into the family. :)

This is the what happens when the kids pose for a Thanksgiving picture…

Good time all around!

It’s fun to see the cousins and the “plus ones” enjoying time together.

After our thankfulness, we all enjoyed some card games :)

There doesn't seem to be a clear delineation of the "adult table" these days, haha!

My sisters decided they wanted to try something different for Thanksgiving this year.

So we had a brunch menu at 10a.  It was different and the food was good.  My side of the family are traditionalists, but we still enjoyed the family time  and food.  I mean, you can't go wrong with breakfast food, right?! Haha.

Strangely, I found watching the buzzards to be an interesting version of nature’s process

 

THIS is difficult to resist…

I think Zoe is trying to tell me something…

…she keeps bringing me more and more toys!

What a cute pair!

I counted as many as 25 buzzards in the yard

Watch face fun…

I was messing around with customizing some watch faces this weekend.  I was trying to get as much info as I could on one face.  Johnny's reaction was they were pretty abhorrent, haha. Especially the second one.  It was fun to play with. 

I found it interesting…

You could see how some stood guard on lookout while others ate.  Among those eating, there was definitely a pecking order. Haha.

The vultures enjoyed having a deer to feast on…

A deer got hit by a car and landed in the neighbor's ditch.  It was interesting to watch the scavengers arrive.  It gave me a chance to grab a few nice shots too.  

Two heads are better than one when begging for food…

Andy set me this pic of Hannah and him getting harassed by Shadow and Percy for some of their food. 

Yard work done…

There is something nice and fulfilling in getting all the yard work, from both places, all finished up "before" winter. Feels like 19° for the hottest part of the day today. I worked Friday morning, and Sat-Sun afternoons. A little bit each day. :)

Here you can see I got the shore of the pond trimmed up with its winter do. Haha.

A post-race ride :)

I remember getting ready for a training ride with the boys (a little while after my race) and there being a little rain in the air.  While I was getting my bike and gear ready, they wanted an umbrella.  That lead to them clowning around in the rain and me getting these fun shots and memories.  We took off (them in my bike trailer), the rain stopped, and we had a good morning.

RetroBlog 2006-06-10

And here I am finally crossing the finish line of my 100 mile bike ride.

I set out to stretch myself and contribute to a good cause.  In the end, I made new friends and accomplished something I didn't think I could.  Even better, I learned a lot about fitness and performance along the way.  I ended up riding a total of almost 120 miles that day.  I finished in the top 100 of the >2,000 field of riders.  We had been trained and prepared well.  I had enough energy left to ride back from the finish line to pick up remaining members of my team to wind-break and encourage them on to the finish line.  We did this until we had every last one successfully across the finish.  It was a fulfilling day.  :)

RetroBlog 2006-06-04

Zoe loves everybody, but ESPECIALLY her boys!

She just about melts with happiness whenever they come over to hang out with us.  Their girlfriends are a cause for great excitement also, haha!

Yes, I have satellite SOS coverage on my phone these days…

And of course, I HAD to test it!  It is a cool little interface that helped me find and connect with the satellites right in my front yard.  I never know where my travels will lead me so it's nice to know I have a backup if cell coverage fades for some reason.  Pretty cool technology.

And now we’re NOT moving…

This is what a traffic jam looks like on bicycles.  They had to close the road to attend to someone that had wrecked trying to go too fast down a hill.  Luckily they were treated at the hospital and recovered.

Two injured in Sunday bike accidents tahoedailytribune.com

RetroBlog 2006-06-04

And, we’re off!

Race day is finally here for our charity ride!  Lots of people ready to hit it!  The best part though were the views! Mountains, snow, pines, and water!  I stopped to take in this view and shot as some of my team went by (first two riders).  Yes, I carried my big DSLR on the whole 100+ mile race! Hahaha.

RetroBlog 2006-06-04

Pepper just hanging out under the lamp shade…

I made up “I Love You Day” the year we were first dating. :)

Now Julie's trying to get the kids to join in with their girls.  I got Julie some flowers and a night out for dinner at a steak place we've always wanted to try.

Johnny had a candlelight dinner "in" with Savannah:

Andy told Hannah he loved her… ;)

The view changes a bit through polarized sunglasses. ;)

RetroBlog 2006-06-03

The mountains, trees, and water of Lake Tahoe

It was certainly a beautiful area.  This was the view from a nearby ski lodge.  We drove up to take a look. :)

RetroBlog 2006-06-03

You can tell winter is here…

…by the pieces and parts of cats that are hanging out from under the dresser where the furnace blows, haha.

Andy working on his dynos… Dymnamic climbs. He’s a beast for sure…

 

Just another pretty shot of the mountains around Lake Tahoe

We were staying in South Lake Tahoe.  It was right on the California/Nevada state line.  It was nice to be able to take little rides out to see this kind of beauty while we did our final prep for race day. :)

RetroBlog 2006-06-03

Andy has been known to sleep just about anywhere…

Julie came in to find him HERE one day after his nap time… I was on my trip to Lake Tahoe, so she decided she better capture this shot.

RetroBlog 2006-06-02

Isaac thought this looked a little “fire hazardy“

I think I kind of agree with him… ;-)

It's not obvious what I'm doing here, but I have a battery powering the AC adapter to my laptop, then I have a second battery charging the first battery at the same time. I can get three hours of runtime from the two batteries and another few hours from the laptop battery. The batteries did get warm, but their internal fans kicked in too…

My mom and I had a few minutes to enjoy the sights of Linden, Michigan last weekend

This is a beautiful view on a pre-race ride

We were starting to get excited about what the ride around lake Tahoe held for us to see. :)

RetroBlog 2006-06-03

Enjoying nature while on a pre-race walk in Tahoe

The blue bird was really pretty and interesting. 

RetroBlog 2006-06-02

Surprisingly, my mom had pictures to share…

…along with stories backed up by diary entries I'm sure!  Her nephew Jim is shown here enjoying the memories with her.

Back to modern day and road trip with my mom last weekend.

We were off to see the visitation for on of her nephews.  Bob Morey.  A decent way to spend a Sunday together❣️

The big weekend at Tahoe

In a couple pics on my RetroBlog, I hinted at training for a 100-mile bike rode around Lake Tahoe.  Well, here we are the day before our big event (with my riding partner for the day).  It was certainly a beautiful vista!

RetroBlog 2006-06-02

Random pic from Spain

I don't know why this was out of sequence in my photo albums, but I thought it was worth sharing anyhow.

RetroBlog 2006-03-19

The benefits of 21…

For the longest time, Johnny has wanted a nice big revolver to shoot.  Well, now that he's turning 21, he can get one.  So, what did we do to celebrate his birthday? We went shopping for guns.  Savannah, he and I enjoyed browsing and happened to stumble on EXACTLY the brand and model he wanted at a great price, so… Stay tuned.