Backlit Coleus
Blossoms on Marina’s Pear Tree
Crab apple blossoms
Tiny Daffodils
A little Color
Tag: Cottonwoods
First Butterfly, Etc.
Woodpecker
Flycatcher
Daddy Owl napping
Mama Owl with a ULO (unidentified leaning object).
Minimalist Skies
Jupiter above the moon at 6:15 am this morning.
Daddy Owl blowing in the sunset.
Crows play in pink.
Sparse clouds over the Sandias.
Mama Owl is still “tufting” it out.
Washboard clouds
Minimal clouds to the west.
A Country Song
Spunk relaxing in on the deck rail this afternoon.
Two-Stepping To Nowhere
Music: Ron Blood & Joel Lewis. Arrangement: Joel Lewis. Rhythm Guitar: Joel Lewis. 2nd Guitar: Timothy Price. Bass: Timothy Price. Drums: Mark Simma.
Spunk: “NOOooooo! Not that stupid country song!!!”
Two-Stepping To Nowhere is a collaboration between Ron Blood, Joel Lewis, Mark Simma, and I. Ron sent Joel tracks with a bass line and Mark Simma’s drum track. Joel wanted to make a country song, so he slowed it down, which messed up the bass line, so he took out the bass. He recorded the rhythm tracks with the drum tracks playing a semi-hollow body Tele, if I remember correctly, and sent the song to Ron and me. I listened to the song, lyrics popped into my head, I wrote them down, went into the studio, added a vocal track, and sent the song with vocals back to Joel and Ron a couple of hours after Joel had sent the rhythm guitar and drum tracks. Later I added the twangy 2nd guitar playing my Black Tele, and a new bass line. It’s a really silly song, as you can see by Spunk’s reaction above. But it’s fun and funny. The lyrics are at the bottom of the post if you want to follow along.
Spunk taking over my lunch back before I got it packed this morning.
Spunk: “And YOU thing cat herding is really tough!”
Spunk: “Oh Gwedolyn! Did you really need to break wind?”
Silver planning his attack for after I turn out the lights.
A little before sunset tonight.
Two-Stepping To Nowhere
Music: Ron Blood & Joel Lewis
Arrangement: Joel Lewis
Rhythm Guitar: Joel Lewis
2nd Guitar: Timothy Price
Bass: Timothy Price
Drums: Mark Simma
I barfed on my cat today
He was pissed. It’s always the other way
I dragged myself out of bed
Stepped on cats trying to get them all fed
The life of a cat herder is really tough
No one ever seems to get enough
Chorus
It’s like trying to glide
Across the dance floor
When all you do is a slide
Two-Steppin’ to nowhere
I got myself made up and dandy
Going to go dancing and find some candy
A lovely chica got me out on the floor
She looked real nice she knew the score
But it was just my dumb luck
I drove my car, I had left my viagra in the pickup truck
Chorus
It’s like trying to glide
Across the dance floor
When all you do is a slide
Two-Steppin’ to nowhere
Out in the truck to do some shoppin’
The County station was down,
I had to listen to a dude named Chopin
It’s hard on a fella and his imaging
When the country chicas could hear
The wussy music he was listening to
Chorus
It’s like trying to glide
Across the dance floor
When all you do is a slide
Two-Steppin’ to nowhere
I barfed on my cat today
He was pissed. It’s always the other way
I dragged myself out of bed
Stepped on cats trying to get them all fed
The life of a cat herder is really tough
No one ever seems
No one ever seems
No one ever seems to get enough
A Long Talk With Nora, and Tea Toast & Trivia
Nora Owl deciding what to think about the chatty paparazzo.
After I got home from work, I left the laundry for tomorrow, gathered up all the energy I could, and walked the mile north to check on Nora. I ran into Leslie who was also checking on Nora. Leslie said Nora was hunkered down in her nest so she could hardly see her. When I got Nora’s tree she was pretty hunkered down in the light of the setting sun. I started talking to her and asking her if she had any owlets yet. After about ten minutes she started responding and sat up a little. Then she sat up more and look different directions. Her breast feathers looked pushed up as if she had something under them. At one point she tilted her head back and pushed her chest out, but I couldn’t really see any owlets yet. After 30 minutes of pestering poor Nora Owl with my pesky paparazzo chattiness, I left so she could sit in peace. I think the owlets have hatched, but they are still too small to poke their heads out. I think Nora Owl made her best attempt to show them to me. Osric Owl started hooting behind me. When I found him he gave me “mad dogs”.
Rebecca at Tea Toast & Trivia interviewed me on the subject of Blogging, Photography, and Connecting. You can listen to my attempts to impart words of wisdom about blogging, photography, and connecting at https://wp.me/paMWWK-Cs. I really had a great time with the interview. Rebecca and Don, who does the recording, are two of the loveliest people I have ever met.
Still giving me steal eyes while starting to sit up more.
I think this was Nora’s best attempt to expose the owlets.
Osric Owl giving me “mad dogs”.
The pTerodactyl watching the sunset.
It was quite a sunset the pTer was watching.
Dancing Daze
The Dance Floor Lyrics and Music by Timothy Price
The Dance Floor is an original song I wrote and recorded recently. It’s a song reminiscent of the days when people could gather together, dance, and put on whatever charm they could muster in attempts to go beyond the dance floor. Maybe Dancing Daze will make a comeback.
After another long day of dismantling the old office, configuring VPNs, and breaking into the WiFi units in the new office building and configuring them, I did manage to get out to see Mama Owl and Daddy Owl after I got home at sunset. I couldn’t see Mama Owl in her hole when I got in view, but I called her, and she gave me an ear tuft up to let me know she was still steadfast on her nest. Daddy Owl was gazing out at the bosque and gave me half eyes over his shoulder for my calling out to Mama Owl.
Speaking of chicks, I did see a few on my way to and from my visit to the owls. Our mini daffy’s bloomed.
Towhee
Sparrow
Paint the Light Dramatic
We did get rain, snow, and high winds last night and most of the day. We got rain in the valley, but the Sandias and foothills got snow with really high winds.
The afternoon light from the sun peeking through the clouds was intense on the cottonwoods.
Looking SE to SW after sunset.
The Sandias with clouds at sunset.
Cottonwoods, dry irrigation ditch, and gate.
Looking west.
Dramatic light on the Sandias.
Ether Blue Spaghetti
I moved our 48 port switch to the new building today. I got 3-foot long patch cables because I didn’t know where in the rack I was going to put it. The screws that were left in the rack are slightly too small, so they pulled out of the holes under the weight of the switch. So the switch is on top of the rack for the time being with a mess of spaghetti-like patch cables all over it. We also got Internet installed today and the alarm techs were installing new alarm equipment since the old alarm was old and the person who installed it is long gone. The old alarm system didn’t call out to anyone, so if it got set off, then only people who would know about it are the tenants on the west side of the building. We will be able to monitor and control the new alarm system from our phones. I got Bruce’s desk built between working on wiring, answering questions for the alarm, and tracking down the wiring for the WiFi.
A wider view of the wries, surveillance monitor, the new alarm controller on the right, the old telephone system punch blocks, and the electronic access box.
Bruce’s desk that I was using to test the Internet.
The Internet we installed is 50MBps up and down highspeed wireless. The test is showing faster speeds.
Loki is a bit dazed by all the tech talk.
Guess who?
Daddy owl looking like a king with a royal robe wrapped around him.
Mama Owl was peeking over the edge tonight.
The forecast is for snow tonight. I believe it.
Daylight Crazy Time
Dawn on daylight savings time
A pair of Wood Ducks in water.
Crazy clouds just before sunset on daylight savings time.
Daddy Owl looking jolly on his new perch overlooking Mama Owl.
Crazy clouds just before sunset with various faces and critters.
Wood Duck Daze
When I went out on a walk this morning, I found Daddy Owl in the tree he sits in when he watches over the owlets. Mama Owl’s ear tufts barely stuck up above the edge of the hole in the tree. A few cranes flew over close to the tops of the cottonwood trees. Most of the cranes have headed north. Only a few cranes are holding out.
Then I saw something moving in the cottonwoods. It was a female Wood Duck hopping and flying around between branches. A male Wood Duck soon followed. That was the first of three pairs of Wood Ducks I saw in the cottonwoods as I walked in the bosque this morning.
A couple of months ago there were some birders looking for the elusive Wood Ducks. I told them they were too early. They looked at me like I was crazy. The birders acted like the Wood Ducks are rare. Well, they were quite rare in the middle of the winter, but they are not rare now.
I took a lot of photos of the Wood Duck pairs. I was thinking about the best way to show a lot of Wood Duck photos and decided I’d write a song and put the photos to music. The song is not very polished, but I had fun doing it. I hope you enjoy Wood Duck Daze and the all photos of the Wood Ducks.
Off Center & Not Even 