May today be the best day yet.

Better than yesterday

Not as good as tomorrow

Always until forever.
DAy 136, originally uploaded by Zeus Ocean Storm.

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://maineforestcafe.com/2012/05/19/day-136/feed/ 0 RMSJr http://maineforestcafe.com/2012/05/07/new-reclaim-driveway/ http://maineforestcafe.com/2012/05/07/new-reclaim-driveway/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 18:55:18 +0000 RMSJr https://maineforestcafe.wordpress.com/?p=1046 ]]>

So why do I feel funny about this?

Loss of green space perhaps.

Work was under quoted, but a point of collaboration was achieved.

Time to head downeast.

This is not a real picture. In fact, this is an offensive picture. There are only two Red Lobsters in New England. The closest Red Lobster is in New York State. To imply that this picture is co-located at the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, Maine is seriously mendacious.

But wait, there is more. RL is branding their newest restaurants off of an implied Bar Harbor motif that has no basis in reality.

You can buy Maine Lobsters, but have no right to the truth of the Maine Brand.

What is a phone person anymore?

Well in a traditional sense, it means a person who reaches to talk with others on a just because basis. This is what I mean. So I called my father and listened to him. Then called my mother and she didn’t answer. Perhaps I will call my brother & sister later on.

In this modern era. Right now, my phone is channeling some Eagles Live music, just now switching over to Enter The Haggis. Earlier today I used the phone to take some pictures of the GDO repair. Most importantly, the configuration of certain power supply wires. For fun, a picture of the worn out gears was posted on Twitter & Instamatic. When the work was done, I used my phone to take a self-serving video showing the door opening then closing and sent to my wife & son embedded in a text message.

Perhaps I already am a phone person. What do you think?

Some days take longer to warm up into.

Immature herring gull dropping crab for lunch.

On Saturday, February 4, 2012, I went on my first hosted birdwalk. This birdwalk was led by Derrick of the Freeport Wild Bird Suppy – http://www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/default.asp .

Birdwatching is distinctly different than bird photography. There are obvious overlaps. Birdwatching is all about the count, number of species, then number of birds. Lists are kept – life, day, month, location, year, and every other distinction that can be created.

There was only one true photo opportunity, a shore side flock of Dunlin sandpipers – Caldris alpina – with favorable side lighting. The first sighting of this flock was on an offshore ledge with backlighting.

Bird sighting and souundings may be brief and require rapid identification. Derrick was spot on and led the group with an ongoing descriptive dialogue.

There is much more to birding. The equipment is all binoculars and/or spotting scopes on tripods. No cameras. A notebook to create the day list, (which later is added to the week, month, year, site, life, et al, lists) Habitat knowledge. Tree identifictation – “beyond the popular, higher in the oak tree…” Weather factors and effects. Tide status – high/low, coming/going.

Then there is the bird itself. Markings, size, shape, location, behavior patterns, et al, lead to affirmative identification. I have much to learn and experience to gain.

Bird watchers are friendly without being chatting or gregarious during the birdwalk. Listening for birds leads to seeing birds. Listening is the practiced deliberate art of not talking.

Spotting highlights for me included the Eagle nest on a nearby island, the immature Eagle soaring, and the mature Eagle perched. And the Dunlin sandpipers. To see Derrick’s trip list, see http://www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/bird_news.asp?id=1556#1556

After the walk, we returned to store for chatting, coffee, and the warmth of comraderie. Some took the opportunity to buy needed bird seed and other supplies. Conveniently incidental and not an expectation.

After the walk, I went down to Freeport harbor with my D300 & 150/500mm zoom attached. First to the yacht club to look for the Barrows Goldeneye that had been spotted from afar. They were gone. I did snap off some shots of a small group of Common Eiders before going over to the Town Landing for other opportunities. There I scored picture and lesson of the day.

An immature herring gull was in hopping flight with a small crab. It would hop fly up about ten feed and drop the crab onto the dock with hopes of cracking the shell open for lunch. At the top of the hop, I snapped and was rewarded with the photo above.

Lesson of the day, when taking photos of motion, take the camera off of manual and use the shutter priority mode to freeze the frame,

I will be back next week, hopefully a wee bit better prepared to learn more from a birding master.

Derrick, Thank you.

Via Flickr:
Seagull lunch.

Much of our modern life is battery operated. This iPad, the iPhone used to take this picture, digital photography, et al. Remember when batteries were for flashlights, emergency radios, and vehicles?

But candles? Really? Sure, a case can be made for the cool safety of this nonflammable entity. But, in my reality, the loss of ambience is perturbing. Candles flicker, casting shadows, creating gleaming, sparkling moments and memories. Battery operated candles flicker by subtly flashing. This is not the same warm glow of shared romance.

The business model, as applied through the bean counters, as endorsed by the insurance underwriters, make the practical and logical case for battery operated candles. All while the spirit of romance is sterilized, neutered, made less than before.

Candlelit. Batteries not included.

But that’s just me. I also haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books, but have seen several of the movies.

The parts include business cards, photo inventory, mats, frames and courage.

Through the assembly of the parts, specifically the matting of the pictures, courage is transitioning to confidence.