Female Bluejay

I went to the park for a little while after work yesterday. I veered away from the path, wandered down by the edge of the creek and was rewarded by the sight of a female bluejay (I believe) bathing in the creek. This is the best photo I got of her.

Another Jazz Festival

Joshua, Dave and I all got up around 6 AM today (yes, on a Saturday!) to drive to James Madison University for another Jazz Festival. The group played really well, and I was thrilled that they were playing in a room with lots of light. Dave and I shot lots of photos. We'll probably post more of them in the coming days. This is Joshua playing his trombone solo in a piece called Cajun Cookin'.

March Photo Challenge #3

This is my final entry for this month's challenge. I've seen many geese, ducks and birds in the past few weeks. But I know spring has arrived when I see the turtles sunbathing and swimming in the pond. I've seen a couple of dozen turtles, several in family units, hanging out by the pond this week.

March Photo Challenge #2

The photo below is my second entry for this month's Signs of Spring photo challenge. Don't let the kids see it, as the fellow was not wearing a helmet!

Duck Hunting Season is Near!

I got to the park for 15 minutes this morning and came across four ducks, two males and two females, snoozing in the pond. They quickly woke up when they heard me crunching through the snow toward them. I had to shoot quickly (I got 40 photos) as they swam to the other end of the pond. These are some of the better shots I got. I'm a pretty avid hunter, but at least I don't hurt any of the critters I shoot.

Juke Box Dance Night

Last night, the jazz bands at Joshua's school did a fund-raising concert with a name something along the line of Juke Box Dance Night, or Juke Box Saturday, or Juke Box Saturday Night Dance.... As you can see in the collage, Joshua was there, playing, laughing, having an all around good time. The groups dressed informally, but still looked pretty nice. Nothing looks as good as their white tuxedos, however. Those are so sharp!

After the two jazz bands performed, an a capella group from William and Mary College performed. Dave and I stayed for their first few numbers and thought they sounded pretty good. We left early, however, since I had promised Joshua I wouldn't embarrass him by trying to dance in public.

Busy Times - Again

This is a photo, from backstage, of Joshua's Symphonic Band concert, which was held this past Thursday evening. Joshua is in the trombone section, but only the side of his head is visible. He is the fifth trombone player from the end.

Last night, Joshua, Dave and I traveled to Harrisonburg, VA so that Joshua could audition for the Virginia All State Band or Orchestra. This evening we'll find out whether he made it. Anyway, we all just got home awhile ago, and we will be out again shortly for Joshua's jazz band performance this evening.

There's always something or other going on in our family. This is just one of those weekends!

Spring is Coming!

I found this guy and a bunch of his friends digging for worms in the park this afternoon. The ice is melting off the pond, the birds are coming out - spring must be on the way!

Another February Photo

Yeah, I know - the rose on the piano is such a cliche. Well, I hadn't done it yet, so here's mine. I took this one yesterday at work, shortly after my boss gave me a belated Valentine's Day rose. It was belated because we had a snow day on Wednesday (Valentine's Day).

There's a new photo lab in the shopping center near our house, the one where our guests spend all their time when they come to visit us (you know who you are). Anyway, this lab has reasonable prices and better business hours than my old lab. So, that's where I've been taking my films for the past month or so.

The rest of you had better get some photos up fast.

By the way, if you haven't stopped by my photo blog recently, check it out. I post pictures just about every day. And leave comments so I know you've been there.

February Photo Challenge Entry

Since I selected the subject for this month's photo challenge, I figure I'd better kick it off with an entry. Just in case you've forgotten, this month's theme is RED.

Since I'm a chocaholic (I haven't gotten up the courage to enter CA yet), this one is a no-brainer. I'm playing around with some other ideas, so I may enter something else later in the month.

Another Family Photo

Since people have been sharing family photos recently, I thought I should add one to the mix. This is Dave in a familiar pose. He was probably watching a John Wayne movie. Apparently, John Wayne has the same effect on Dave that he has on me.

Exam Cheaters

I was browsing through some old computer files and came across some funny photos I've seen on the Internet. This one is from a site called oddchick.com.

Weekend at Virginia Tech University

This past Thursday evening, Dave, Joshua and I drove to Blacksburg, Virginia so that Joshua could participate in the Virginia Tech University Honor Band program. It's about a 4-hour drive each way.

Virginia Tech's Honor Band program is an opportunity for middle school and high school students to participate in an intensive clinic. This year, 550 students from 5 states participated. Their weekend began early on Friday morning with auditions. The students were then placed in one of five bands: two middle school groups and three high school groups. Joshua made it into the top band. On Friday afternoon, the bands met for their first rehearsals. The evening concluded with a concert presented by Virginia Tech's wind ensemble.

The original plan was for the kids to rehearse all day Saturday, have a free evening, then present a concert on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, a weather event (aka: snowstorm) prompted a change in plans. Since the storm was expected to hit Blacksburg late Sunday morning, the kids had a long rehearsal on Saturday morning, a late lunch and then a late afternoon concert. Some families left on Saturday evening. We elected to stay overnight and leave early Sunday morning.

When Dave woke up about 6 AM this morning, the snow was just starting. He quickly roused Joshua and me and we got out of town just as the snow was beginning to stick to the road. We got home about 10:30 this morning. The snow has been coming down in Fairfax for about 2 hours now. No big deal, we're only going to get 1-2 inches.

Virginia Tech has a beautiful campus nestled in the mountains of western Virginia. Most of the buildings are beautiful stone structures. The first one below is a classroom building.



This is a view of Burrus Hall, where the concerts were held. This building houses a quaint old concert hall.



This photo shows some of the details by the entrance to Burrus Hall. I wish contemporary architecture had nice details like these.



The student concert ended at about 5 PM on Saturday evening, just as the sun was setting. Since we were parked near the duck pond, I took some shots down there.




All in all, it was an enjoyable weekend. Joshua is looking forward to going back next year. Dave and I will be glad to go with him.

Jonathan and National Capital Band

Jonathan just left to go to the weekly rehearsal of The Salvation Army's National Capital band, which is based in Washington, DC. He has no idea that I've just finished raiding the band's web site and downloading photos of him. I'm sure he'll be pleasantly(?) surprised the next time he visits my blog!

I've assembled some photos into the three panoramic images shown below. I've taken the liberty of highlighting where Jonathan is in each one since he is obviously the most important person in the group. If you want to see larger photos, click on each one.



This one has a repeat, but I'll leave it.

I'm Really Late With These. . .

I know Christmas is long past, but I finally finished the roll of film that was in my camera and got these back yesterday. That's one of the drawbacks of using film. I usually post my digital pics on the same day that I take them, or the next day.

Anyway, I caught the guys lounging around in the living room and had to try out my brand new flash diffuser.



The final photo is one I took of the Christmas tree using my brand new cross-screen (sometimes called star) filter. I think I'm going to enjoy this toy.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Jonathan turned 23 today. I am pleased to say that he has grown into a wonderful young man. He's even-tempered, tender-hearted and generous, and when he commits to doing something he throws all of his energy into doing it well.

Jonathan is a great son who is always willing to do whatever he can to help our household run smoothly. He stops for groceries on his way home from work, drives Joshua to and from activities and runs various other errands for Dave, Joshua and me. And he asks for very little in return.

He's also been a great big brother to Joshua. He's taken his role as mentor and role model seriously and has always tried to be a good example.

In addition to be a very good cornetist/trumpet player, Jonathan loves working with people, especially children. When he's had opportunities to combine his musical talents with his people skills, he's gotten great results.

Jonathan is now preparing to enter The Salvation Army College for Officer's Training in Atlanta in either 2007 or 2008. I'm looking forward to that day because I know he has what it takes to be an outstanding officer. The Salvation Army will be privileged to have him in its officer ranks. And I'm privileged to have him for a son.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Photo Challenge #3: Christmas Lights

My entries for this challenge are shown below. Can you spot the airplane in #1?

These folks have a rather traditional take on Christmas.

Our Christmas tree.

Hard to Believe It's Almost Winter!

Temperatures got into the high 60s here today.
It was glorious! My camera and I got out for a bit.

First photo: Suburban Bird

I found it humorous to see this rather pretty bird
perching on a rather ugly lightpost.
The stark, utilitarian design of the lightpost
contrasts strongly with the bird.

I caught some nice backlighting on these pine needles.

I couldn't resist the sunbeams coming through the woods.

Photo Challenge #2 - Self-Portrait

Below is my entry for this month's challenge: Self-Portrait #2

This photo focuses on the major passions of my life: my family, music, books, photography.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Since it's shortly after midnight, it is now officially Thanksgiving. I've been looking forward to this day for awhile.

For one thing, I've been incredibly busy, especially in the past week. I'm really looking forward to having a long weekend.

For another thing, I'm glad that I will be able to spend the day with the family. Sometimes the four of us are pulled in so many different directions that it's difficult to connect. It will be good to have some relaxing family time together. I'm even looking forward to cooking a nice dinner (if I can remember how to do that).

Finally, I've been looking forward to this day because I have an awful lot to be thankful for. (I initially wrote the previous sentence in the grammatically correct way - an awful lot for which to be thankful - but it seems sort of stuffy. Just this once, I'll forego propriety!) Even though I try to be thankful every day, it's still good to set aside a special time to really think deeply about the many ways God has blessed me.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to all (even if you're not American).

P.S. - I'm also thankful that I found these critters in the pond yesterday.