The Cupboard Pantry Held A Secret

A Crow. Or is it a Raven? Or, a Magpie? 

Just popped a McDonald's bag of whole kernel popcorn that I found in my cupboard. One-third cup of bulk corn is 172 calories. It also meets the daily recommended consumption of grains. I salt lightly and do not use butter or oil. I like the corn dry and fluffy when popped.

The McDonald's bag is an old trick that I learned years ago. It's perfect and cost nothing. Use once and toss it out. When I get a cup of coffee at McDonald's ( I love their senior citizens price) I save the bags.. In the past, I might have run into Kroger's bakery and got a donut or two, then pull into the McDonald's that sits on the corner of my Kroger's parking lot and get my coffee.

So, this weather has been just perfect. I had forgotten my checkbook and ran out to get it from the car. I had gone to the bank after lunch and when I got the camera bag out of the trunk, I put the check book in the trunk. My thinking was that I would remember it when I got home and before I went into the house, I would get it out of the trunk. Well, that didn't work and when I went out to get it  just as the blue hour was setting in, the air had chilled and me in a T-shirt and cargo shorts got chilled in just that little time. So, much to my dislike, I turned on the heat just to take the added chill out of the house. I haven't had the heat on, even at night, for better than a week and I have slept as snug as a bug in a comforter.

The lake was rather sad today. Only a few of the aged pelicans remain and don't usually make the trip north any longer. A little larger population of cormorants hang on all year, too. Plus, the lake is full of sand bars with all the wind we have had and Sunset Bay is a mess. I talked to one of the Civil Engineers today and get ready---the trail is about to get ripped out and totally redone. from Lake Highland to Poppy and south. That will ruffle the feathers of a few bikers.

Red Winged Black Bird

Little Sparrow-like Songbird.

It's True. You Talk to the Animals and they Talk to You!

Last week in one of my post it was mentioned that the work load had been heavier of late, but that the enjoyment of being busy has always motivated me to do even more. To top that off, this is the time of the year that for me personally is a somber one that begins on June first and last until July 10th. In that period, my work load will drop to near nothing and it will be a time for me to just be a wanderlust. But, it's not June one yet!

Two big events are coming up this weekend. The DFW Dragon Boat Races and Kite Festival kicks off in Las Colinas

The song bird is on a #3 Rebar arch. The bug in his beak is as big as the rebar he sits on.

This is my buddy. He walked with me on the sidewalk. I"d stop and turn around and he would catch up, then we would go another lap.  It was so funny. He listened as I talked to him, tilting his head to the side and looking up at me.

This great blue heron was a high stepper. He had a gate  that never changed as he walked the edge of the canal. This is the second bird of the crane family that I have seen do this in the past few days. The other one was a great egret that walked the edge of a fountain like this guy and actually was fishing. This guy was just out for a walk. He tired me out !

on Lake Carolyn and the last year for the Byron Nelson Golf Classic plays at the Four Seasons Resort at Cottonwood in Las Colinas before moving to the new Trinity Forest Golf Course in South Dallas. The past two years I have watched this course take shape and the #5 pin was in the cup this time last year as a show of progress. But, this year, the Byron will still be at Four Seasons and will be a time for all the old familiar faces that have worked at the Four Seasons the past 35  years to say good-bye with the class that tournament generated year after year after year. With luck, getting shots from the Byron and the Dragon Boat Races should not be to much of a problem with the proximity of both venues almost overlapping each other. Next year, will be a bit more challenging to say the least.

This afternoon, brought me to Farmers Branch for a quick check on a little project that has been wilting on the vine for the past year. But, before it's leaves turn brown and fall completely off the vine, it was an honest attempt to check on it one last time. In fact, the Gardner was working on it when I got there and the darn thing looked pretty well. It just might survive.The roses were not as nice as  they have been in years past and the calla lilies, while pretty, were a bit down this year as well.

But, it was an interesting bit to sit on the bench swing and watch the birds. There was one big beautiful great blue heron,  busy little song bird who actually caught a big bug in flight and a blue jay that wanted to walk with me on the sidewalk.  I do talk to the animals and over the years, I have learned that they will talk to you if you listen and pay attention to there jesters.

Today Was Think Day While Testing Settings

Some of you know that up until about eighteen months ago, I had been a loyal Nikon man. Between my Nikon and the Olympus, it was the Nikon that I grabbed as I ran out the door. But, because Nikon wants to push me to upgrade, it seems that they have no other solutions to my software problem and I have not run across a Nikon body that has been reconditioned.

After being forced to use my smaller Olympus with less glass than the Nikon, much to my surprise, I have "fallen in love with my Olympus" and will probably put my glass on the market and the body. Any revenue I will plow back into additional equipment for the Olympus. In fact, they are telling me that they will be coming out with a ring that will allow my glass from the Nikon, to work on my Olympus. The current problem is--of course-- the motor drives are not synced or compatible from one maker to another. (You really don't think that either maker engineered it to be that way on purpose?). I defer that answer to a later date--like the year 2250.

So, with T-shirt and shorts (again) I wondered the lake a couple of times looking for the big birds but not any of their favorite haunts revealed the birds whereabouts. So, thinking about some up-coming projects and the increasing hot weather already, it's going to be an interesting spring and summer and that is not good for me as the meds warnings clearly tell me that I should avoid extreme heat and the things that go with being dehydrated and heat exhausted. Like yesterdays post, my favorite temperate is that 65-70F range.

A couple of song birds eating berries were the sum of the afternoon pictures outside of a pair of mallards that floated out from underneath a dock walkway. (Don't forget to click on an image to enlarge)

Song Birds Eating Berries

Pair of Mallards most likely will build their nest in the reeds, but these flood rather qickly.