photography – Page 36

A mess o’martins.

I checked out a Purple Martin Party tonight – a spectator event coordinated by the Travis Audubon Society. Every Friday and Saturday night in July, from 8-9:30pm, people gather on the lawn outside the Texas Land & Cattle restaurant to watch tens of thousands of purple martins roost at sunset. These guys are done nesting and breeding and are on their way south to complete the annual migration cycle of life. They tell me that by the end of the month there may be hundreds of thousands of them.

How can one possibly photograph this event? Here is one shot I took, a small portion of the overall scene. Can you count them?

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Her third Fourth.

Our niece, Laura, has been visiting us for the last few days. Yesterday afternoon we headed out to the lake to spend the night at our marina with a group of friends. Today we enjoyed a great sail up and down the lake. We figured that this is the third 4th of July that Laura has spent with us on Lake Travis. I’m looking forward to the next one.

Fungus amungus.

We spent last week driving to Florida and back to attend the best-reunion-evah. 🙂 I have so many pictures, my eyes are glazing over. I kind of like this one. The old gives life to the new. Bloom where you are planted, my friends.

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Low country brrrrl.

Yum. Thanks Louie!

Family time in the garden.

We are spending the weekend at a family reunion this weekend. Our hostess, Susanne’s, garden is the perfect setting. Everywhere you look there’s a lovely surprise. We are missing those that can’t be here.

Cornholio.

We made a set of cornhole boards for Julie for her birthday. She chose Seahawks’ colors. They turned out nice. GO HAWKS!!

FYI, Glidden paint sells NFL colors at Home Depot. Check it out for your next project.

Bird on a wire.

We spent a fun weekend on the lake. Sunday morning, I was greeted by 7 or 8 little barn swallows grooming themselves on the lifelines and jib sheets of the boat next to us. I stole this shot of one in the morning sun. It’s hard to get a good photo of these little ones because they usually dart around and never light on anything close by. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The birds and the bees.

The hummingbird feeders are getting quite a lot of traffic these days. Between the bees, the hummers and the finches, they’ll empty one of these in a day. I had just refilled this feeder and by the time I got back into the house, these two had already stopped for a drink.

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Hummingbird Nectar
1 part sugar : 4 parts H2O
Bring to a boil for several minutes.
Let cool completely. You can refrigerate any extra for a week or so.
Probably shouldn’t leave in the feeder for more than a day or two.

Jacob’s Well.

I joined Doray for a trip to the Wimberly area. We stopped by their new home site to check out progress. Then we visited Jacob’s Well Natural Area. Jacob’s Well is a narrow (10-20′ in diameter), but deep (up to 100′) hole in the limestone of the springfed Trinity Aquifer. Young and old jump from the rocks into the waters of the well to cool off. We were only hiking but I enjoyed watching the divers.

Watch your step! That first one can be a doozy.

(Image manipulated using iPhone app brushstroke)

Cool, clear water.

I went for a hike yesterday that took me down by Bull Creek.

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Sunday brewery touring, resumed.

We took a break there for a while from our taproom exploration. But we’re back. First stop, 4th Tap Brewery Cooperative; have a nice flight!

Next: Oskar Blues Brewery; good tunes, too. I learned a new word here: zymurgy. See, it’s an educational tour.

We stopped for dinner along the way, but finished at Austin Beerworks:

We are in training for Fran’s visit…. 🙂

Ladies’ sail.

Yesterday I took Julie and six of her girlfriends out for a day on the lake for her birthday. We sailed to the cove and then anchored. Sunbathing, floating, grilling, music, dancing and laughter ensued. I enjoyed a beautiful day with a lovely group of young women.

(photo manipulated with iPhone app Brushstroke)

Artcycles.

Today Monte and I took a trip downtown to see the recently installed visiting art exhibit Forever Bicycles, by Ai Weiwei. It is sponsored by The Contemporary Austin and the Waller Creek Conservancy. Their material doesn’t cite an end date for the exhibit – it just says “ongoing.” But get yourself down there to see it. It is located at the “Waller Creek Delta,” which happens to be about where Trinity St runs into Lady Bird Lake. The Waller Creek Boathouse and its cafe are nearby, so you can catch a bite as well. And it is located right along the hike and bike trail.

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I found the exhibit of hundreds of stainless steel bicycles to be teeming with motion, from every angle. Very cool indeed.

An overdue visit.

I made it to Laguna Gloria today. It’s remarkable that it is only my first visit, after living here over 20 years. It is the home of The Contemporary Austin, an art consortium. The grounds are beautiful, full of trees, and trails that will take you down by the (glorious) lagoon, as well as Lake Austin. A sculpture garden is spread throughout the grounds and trails. It made for a lovely afternoon of hiking, birding and art appreciation.