Amish Drive-Bys

Doug and I spent Sunday afternoon in our backyard, reading and enjoying the sunshine. I positioned myself with my camera, where I had a small window of photo opportunity between the house and the trees, where I was able to take photos of the Amish traffic passing by, hopefully unnoticed by them.
 

The backdrop wasn't the best. I need to get the neighbor across the road to take down that beautiful blue spruce tree so that my subjects can be more clearly seen. And, while I'm at it, I should see if they couldn't reposition that utility pole, too.

 

So much for remaining unnoticed.

I love this horse's coloring and gait.

Little boys holding their hats always make me want to reach for a camera.

I have the utmost respect for the Amish and never want to offend them, but I confess to trying for photographs whenever I think I can do it without offense.

I love horses, and living among Amish is the next best thing to having my own. I can enjoy the beauty of their animals...without any of the work involved with their care. And the Amish in our county have some of the most beautiful horses you'll find anywhere. Many of them could compete successfully in the show ring.

I hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse of Amish life.



A Walk at the Reservoir

On Friday, I went for a walk at the reservoir and decided not to carry my camera. Of course, you all know how that goes. I saw a green heron. I'd never seen one before and wouldn't have even known what it was if I hadn't seen pictures that other bloggers had posted. This one gave me ample opportunities for photographs, but it wasn't willing to wait for me to go to the car for my camera.

 

So, when my friend, Pat, suggested that we walk together at the reservoir on Saturday, I made sure to carry the camera with me. Of course, there was no green heron. But I did find other things to photograph.

A lovely chicory blossom

Unfortunately, this picture doesn't show the red on the wings of the Red-Winged Blackbird.

Two Mute Swans flew over, and I snapped a quick shot.

The path around the reservoir looks down on Amish farms. This little guy, leading his pony in from the pasture, was too cute to resist.

There was a workday going on at this Amish farm. Some of the buggies are visible here.

Several men were busily at work erecting a new building on the property.

This buggy and wagon was headed for the work site.

Even with this closer look, I'm not sure what that cargo is.

Bird Watching at Ouabache State Park

Sometimes, Doug and I enjoy going to a nearby state park and just spending the afternoon reading under a shade tree next to the lake. Of course, the camera always goes along, too. This series of photos is from last week's visit to Ouabache State Park.

 

(The official pronunciation of "Ouabache" is "Wabash," but the locals almost always refer to it as "Kwa-botch-ee." So you just go ahead and pronounce it any way you want to.)
 

A female Eastern Bluebird

A fairly large nest, but I don't know what made it.

A baby Eastern Bluebird. There was an adult sitting lower on the same branch.

Male Eastern Bluebird

Doug thought this might be a flycatcher of some sort. (Eastern Phoebe, perhaps?)

Cedar Waxwing

Female Eastern Bluebird

I don't know what this one is...possibly another flycatcher? (Eastern Pewee, perhaps?)

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

After the Dance Recital Comes the Piano Recital

Carson is a busy boy. Six days after his two dance recital performances, he played two pieces in a piano recital. I considered editing the following video to include just one of his numbers, but I couldn't decide on one to cut. So I've included the entire performance.

I appreciate all of you who faithfully follow this blog, and I don't want to bore you. But, in the end, well...this kid's my great-nephew, after all!

Carson's Dance Recital

My great-nephew Carson, age 11, participated in a dance recital on June 1st. Doug agreed to man the camcorder for the event, so that we'd be sure to capture Carson's two performances on video. Meanwhile, I wanted the practice with my new camera.

 

The recital was held in a large Performing Arts Center, and Doug and I were seated in the balcony, five or six rows up from the railing. Of course, the lights were low; and flash photography was forbidden. So it was a challenge to get decent pictures. I practiced on some of the dance groups who appeared before Carson came on stage.

I'll never understand how ballerinas do that standing-on-your-toes thing.

I just loved the Monarch Butterfly costumes in this dance.

The lighting gave this shot sort of an artsy feel.

Then it was Carson's turn in the spotlight. His first dance was called "Jedi, We Are."

In the above photo, Carson is second from left.

His second dance was a tap dance called "Up and Away." I was doing better with the camera by that time so was able to get some better pictures than I had gotten of the Jedi dance.

Carson is the boy on the left.

If you look closely, you can see that Carson and the girl behind him are airborne.

 

Here's a video clip of the tap dance:

A Day Out with Friends (And A New Camera)

I bought the new camera last Thursday night and took it with me the next day on an outing with our friends, Terry and Diane, totally without having time to get more than minimally familiar with the camera.

Our first stop was the Marion National Cemetery. Terry and Doug are both veterans, so both couples are eligible for burial in a National Cemetery. Doug and I had visited the Fort Custer National Cemetery on Memorial Day, just to see what it was like. Now we were visiting this one, a little closer to where we now live.

A Monument in the Marion National Cemetery

 

These are some of the markers in what appeared to be an older section of the cemetery.

After visiting the cemetery, we went to Kokomo, Indiana, where Terry needed to pick up an item he had ordered from the Menard's store there. None of us had more than a passing acquaintance with Kokomo, but we found it to be an interesting place.

Doug spotted this dog in the driver's seat at one of the intersections.

A plaque identified this gigantic Praying Mantis as "Kokomantis."

Not far from Kokomantis was this spider in a web. That must be Little Miss Muffett's bench.

The Sieberling Mansion in Kokomo is the home of the Howard County Historical Museum.

After touring Kokomo and having supper there at the Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill, we drove to Upland, Indiana for ice cream treats at Ivanhoe's.

Ice Cream at Ivanhoe's

This is the Chocoholics Anonymous sundae, my favorite. It has chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookie pieces, chocolate candy bar pieces; and then it's all covered with a layer of hot fudge. 

And I ate the whole thing!

Doug got this out for me when we returned home. (But I didn't need it.)

How to Convince Your Husband That an Expensive New Camera is a Good Buy

First, you try to convince him that a new Pleasure-Way Class B+ Motorhome would be the ideal addition to the family.

The little beauty pictured above lives not far from us, and we pass it on our way to visit Doug's brother. As we drove by there on Memorial Day, I snapped the above picture. From that, I could see the brand name; so I went to their Web site and looked at all the great features included in it. Doug even seemed mildly interested when I showed it to him. But he was a little taken aback when I told him the price was in excess of a hundred thousand dollars.

He knew that my Canon PowerShot SX20 had begun having problems when we were in the Smokies last month. Last week, when we were shopping at Sam's Club, we walked by a display of Canon digital SLR camera bundles that were on sale. He asked me why I didn't buy one of those. Trying to cover my astonishment, I told him I hadn't researched those particular cameras yet.

But I remedied that when I got home. I went on the internet and checked user reviews and expert reviews and prices being asked by other sellers. Over the next few days, Doug saw me looking at cameras every time he passed through the computer room, so I'm sure he wasn't surprised when I asked if he was really willing to let me spend that much money on a camera.

I believe that the reason he readily said "yes" was that he figured the new camera would distract me from the motorhome. After all, by comparison with the price of the RV, the camera was a bargain. Whatever the reason, I wasted no time getting out to Sam's Club to bring home my new toy.

Canon EOS Rebel T3i

The little darling came bundled with a gadget bag, a second lens (55mm-250mm), and a memory card.

 

You'll soon be seeing my first experimental shots here on the blog. I confess that, right now, I'm having doubts as to whether I've made the right choice. My first images are less than stunning. The learning curve is going to be much greater than I had anticipated. And I'm not sure I have the talent to warrant this kind of expenditure. But I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet.