Mississippi Wildlife Federation

A couple of weeks ago I submitted six photos to the Mississippi Wildlife Federation hoping to have at least one of them considered for publication in the Mississippi Outdoors Magazine. To my surprise they have selected four of them and may use them either in the magazine or one of their brochures. I am very pleased. Just knowing that my photography is good enough for publication is exciting and I can't wait to find out if they will be using them. It's nice to know that Mississippi will be looking at my work.

These are the four photos they are reviewing.

Keesler Air Show 2009

Well, we finally did go somewhere. Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi hosted an airshow, the first one since 2004. It was held on April 4th and 5th. We got there early on Saturday morning to ensure a good spot close to the fence since they ecpected up to 50,000 people. There was lots of security and the Air Force bused us in from the parking area to the flight line. Our sitting area was near Base Ops and right at the main show area. The weather was great. The show very exciting. I think the Thunder Birds put on a nice show but the Hornet was hot. WOW !! That has got to be one of the most awesome birds out there. There was also a red and white biplane that did some pretty nifty aerobatics. I can't remember the pilots name but the announcer said he'd been flying since he was 13 years old. I love the way a biplane looks when it's going straight up and stalls.

There were also a few show cars including a rail. Very Sharp and some pretty big blowers. I gotta go to a good car show this summer.

Anyway, I figured getting outta there would be horrible but as it turned out the worst part was getting on a bus to go back to the car. The croud was huge and everyone wanted to get on buses. So you can imagine the mess. It was so tight in there I could bearly breath and then it was our turn. Once we got back to the car it was smooth sailing all the way home.

It was a nice day.

Didn't Go

The weather was so bad we decided to stay at home for the weekend. I am glad we did because it really got bad. Wind and rain and lightening are kind of scarey and there was lots of it. So, we stayed home and had a lazy weekend. Hopefully next weekend will be better.
I had to work today...you know we gotta pay those bills but I got to drive home with the top down. Rain is forecasted for tomorrow. I am so ready for hot weather.

It's Time

Spring is finally here and it's time to get out of the house and enjoy the great outdoors. The weather has been pleasant and even with the rain predicted for the next couple of days I am planning a weekend trip. The ol' camper is gonna rust if we don't get it on the road.
A weekend is too short to go very far so we are returning to Turkey Fork, near Sand Hill, Mississippi.. We had a great time the last time we went and it is a different season so may be something different to see. I remember there were a lot of animals and it was very "off the beaten path" so not crowded. I am looking forward to it.
If the rain is really really bad I guess we'll go to the casino.
Hope everyone has a great weekend....and get out and do something fun.

A California Experience

It's cold outside and I've been having to go to work so there hasn't been much time for travling so I'm gonna tell you about my trip to California in 2004. There for a few years I spent a lot of time in various parts of California: Redding, Clearlake, Monterey and LA. In the summer of 2004 I had to go to LA for 3 months. On my days off I would get in the car and drive out of the city and go exploring. I went to all sorts of places but some stick in my head better than others. Yosemite is the best one. I actually didn't start out going to Yosemite..I just happened up on it. I headed north out of LA toward Death Valley on an early June morning. When I am at home in Mississippi I just get in the car and drive so that's what I did. Southern California is mostly desert and roads are limited and somewhere along the way I missed my turn and ended up in Independence, Ca. It is a small town lying between desert and mountains. I stopped for gas and a diet Coke. It is here that you get a glimpse of the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. Its elevation is 14,505 feet.

I continued north, mostly because the view was so spectacular. Suddenly there was a road sign for Yosemite. How could I pass it up? I couldn't. The place is beyond words, a jaw dropping experience.

Yosemite covers 1,189 square miles in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with sheer granite cliffs, waterfalls, Giant Sequoia Trees, lakes and wilderness. More than 3.5 million people visit each year. I was lucky, it was a weekday and the park was not busy.

John Muir was a naturalist and active in the preservation of Yosemite. In 1903, he convinced President Theodore Roosevelt the area needed federal protection and then in 1916 Yosemite was transferred to the National Park Service.

"No Temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite", "The grandest of all special temples of nature". John Muir

Mobile, Alabama January21, 2009

We left early this morning in hopes of getting to Mobile before it got too late. My sister, Duanne and I, had originally planned to go to the Ruins of Windsor in Southwestern Mississippi but changed our minds because of travel time. Since this was a short day trip and we needed to be back to Petal, Mississippi by 4 or 4:30 PM. I picked her up at 6:15 and we hit highway 98 East just as the sun was coming over the tops of the trees. It was 23 degrees according to the thermometer in the car. After a stop for breakfast we arrived at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 2 South Claiborne Street. It is a large Catholic church downtown near the Exploreum. It was open and no one was there so we were free to look around and snap photos without disturbing anyone. A very stately place with huge columns on the front of the brick building. The church is 164 ft. long and 90 ft. wide. It has large 60 ft. arched ceilings with some sort of paintings and 12stained glass windows on the left and right walls plus on the walls of the 2 towers which are 103 feet tall, a large alter and a large statue of Christ. It also has a spiral staircase near the front that descends into an area that had a locked gate on it. Behind the gate was another alter and what appeared to be burial chamber...probably for priests and nuns. There was a large balcony with a gigantic organ.
The cathedral was completed for worship in 1850. The portico was added in 1870 and the towers were added in 1884.
The main stained glass windows on the left and right walls as you walk in are 23 feet tall and 8 feet wide and there are 6 on each side, each depicting an event involving Mary, Mother of Jesus. Two other windows are located under the towers flanking the portico.
We had to backtrack for our 2ND stop: The Visitation Monastery. I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't a convent. As soon as we pulled in I started having flashbacks of my catholic school days at St. Jerome's in Baltimore and Mother Superior. I wouldn't even get out of the car. It was a pretty place but I just did not want to stay. We sat there for a few minutes and discussed it an finally to my relief went to our last destination...a graveyard. Much better.

The Historic Magnolia Cemetery is at 1202 Virginia Street and nicely kept. It is the third oldest cemetery on Mobile and covers 125 acres. It was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1986 and has literally hundreds and hundreds of architecturally artistic memorials covering 1700's to the present. Some pieces are damaged related to Hurricanes but from vandalism as well.

Just across the street is the National Cemetery where the veterans and those killed in action are buried and next to that is the Spring Hill Street Temple Cemetery.

January 13, 2009 Working On The House

We have been doing some remodeling so these pics are works in progress. This room is the old living room. It is not very large and since we have a large 20x20 room we added on several years ago, we are changing this into a foyer/ sitting area. We painted the ceiling white and the walls have a new textured surface with new paint. The hardwood floors still need some work.

We put this door in between the old room and the new one and will close the old door up. I really thought we would screw up this job but it really turned out . Making a hole in a wall were there wasn't one is a little scary but we did it in 2 days.

These 2 supervised the whole project. The white cat is Tweety and she was very tired after 2 long days of construction. The tabby is Tiger and she supervises the supervisor.

Today I am working on the new room. I have to get the junk out that has been collecting there and clean and arrange the room. My work is cut out for me today.