Looking for Wildlife

For those of you that are conscientious followers of my photoblog you have probably noted my absence and wondered where I have been. I just returned yesterday from almost two weeks in Southern California with my family. Between activities with my family I managed to squeeze in a little bit of photography. As a result of that I have thousands of images to edit. Wildlife along the coast in that part of the state is found in little pockets. A good example of that is one morning I was out looking for surfers along Moonlight Beach in Encinitas and I found a small flock of Marbled Godwits feeding on sand crabs. I had a great time crawling around on my belly in pursuit of them. Here are a few images. Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time editing images over the next few weeks. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Small Town Fourth of July Parade

Independence Day is celebrated all across the United States of America with parades. The little town of Willits where I live in Northern California isn't much different. Here are a selection of images the parade in Willits this year. God'slove and blessings to all, chris

Little Bit of Lightning

Tonight we had one of our rare thunderstorms come through Mendocino County on the North Coast of California. Pray that there was enough rain to knock back the fire potential from this storm.I drove out into the Little Lake Valley and found a small rise on the side of the road to photograph from. I stayed there for quite awhile until it seemed the storm was getting too close for comfort. I had one image that I really liked from the many that I attempted. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Ultimate

Yesterday evening was spent watching and photographing Ukiah Ultimate. I have played Ultimate off and on over the years and it is both exciting to play and to watch. It's like football, soccer and basketball combined into one sport. Ukiah Ultimate has been played in Ukiah for over thirty years. A bunch of people get together and play on Tuesday nights, Saturday mornings and one group branches off and plays on the beach at the coast in summer time on Sunday mornings.A good time is had by all. God's love and blessings to all, chris Here is a link if you are interested in how Ultimate is played. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_%28sport%29

Lights , Action, Carnival!

Every year during the end of June through July Fourth Willits, Ca throws a big celebration with the "Willits Frontier Days" as a major fundraiser for community organizations. It's a very big deal for a small town. It includes gymkhanas, rodeos,singing contests, dances and a big parade down Main Street on the Fourth of July with a big BBQ. Like many small town celebrations it includes a carnival with rides and a midway. Last night I went to the carnival to photograph the rides. I came prepared with a wide angle lens and some extra batteries for my camera. Mid way through the evening my batteries died. I immediately popped in a new set only to find them dead as well. So much for my preparedness! I headed home only to find that my cable release had fallen off of my camera.I texted my son Jay about it and to my amazement he found it trampled into the dirt at the last place I had been photographing. Thank you Jay! It was a fun evening and I got to talk to a number of friends and acquaintances through out the evening. God's light and love to all, chris

Relatively Speaking

Recently I was given an old handbill form San Francisco that was from 1892. The bill was in pretty bad shape so I thought it would be best to digitize it before it's completely lost. So I did clean it up quite a bit.It's an ad for the United States Watch Company that has a little boy on it.The little boy on it was my Great Uncle Henry Schwerin who was just shy of three years old when he modeled for the handbill. He went on to live a pretty colorful life. He market hunted for ducks on San Francisco Bay and fished for sharks during WWII as a commercial fisherman.Family rumor has it that he won his common in law wife in a poker game. I'm sure that has got to be stretching the truth a bit! He eventually did marry her when they got him drunk and flew the couple up to Reno in my Uncle Bob's plane. Another wild story. It is also said that on family dinners when he was present the wine always got spilled.He was quite the character. God's love to all, chris