Tag Archives: ebby

The Dog Days of Summer, Version 2010

17 Aug

The only thing that seems to like the fact that the heat index has been over 100* (much of the time over 110*) this summer is our dog, and the Lantana.  I couldn’t think of a better shot for “dog days of summer” than Ebby sitting on her heated bed.  The dog days of summer are certainly here in south Alabama, the grass is all brown from lack of rain, the pond is all dried up, and you can’t go outside without getting swarmed by deer flies.  Some people like this time of year (I am guessing those who live in Montana, or Wisconsin, or Colorado, where the temps are in the mid-60′s right now), but down here, all I can think about is being able to walk without feeling like I am going to die, and being able to sit outside with a fire going in my fire pit.

I know those days are coming, because football season is the only thing being talked about down here now.  Only about 2 1/2 more weeks before Auburn kicks off the 2010-2011 football season, but at the moment, I am just thrilled the first game is at night.  With the temps at night still in the 70′s and 80′s, they should kick off this game at midnigh, but at least Auburn now runs some of the games like Talladega (they use to run that late season race during the day, and it was miserable too).

Fall is coming, probably 2 days in mid January, but the sun and the calendar says cooler weather is coming, but I think Ebby likes it just the way it is right now.  I still feel like she looks, and I am ready for something more like –> Samford Hall and Auburn University in the Snow.

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Memorial Day Flag Flying from Auburn Alabama

31 May

I am glad we still celebrate Memorial Day in this country.  Somehow it seems that as the political correctness of our culture takes over everything we end up loosing an understanding of what made this country great in the first place.  It sickens me to see stories like the one of the Iraq veteran who displayed the American flag in his apartment window and was told to take it down or face eviction due to the fact that the flag is offensive to some of their residents.

Charlie Price of Wisconsin served 8 years for his country in Iraq and Kosovo to find that he isn’t even allowed to fly the flag he fought for in his own window. The couple is now fighting to amend the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 to include renters, and I hope they are successful.  Sometimes it seems that you are no longer aloud to hold an opinion in this country because it might offend someone.  Who are these idiots who have now decided that we need to be a country of brown plain-jane, average, robots, who all believe in the same thing and can never disagree with anyone else?

There is no greatness in average, no conviction of ideals or principles in living a life of medium gray, and these types always seem to get the headlines. It gets tiring to hear the moaners, whiners, and complainers beat the drums of complacency and strive towards moving the country to be average, but sometimes they seems to be yelling the loudest.  Now, instead of being the innovators and inventors, we are having to rely on Russia and Russian built rockets to take us into space, who would have thought that 20 years ago.

It is still the greatest country in the world, I just wish some of it’s residents would take a history lesson and see that America was not built on being average.  The History Channel just finished an interesting series called America The Story of Us.  Though some of it was a little subjective, it showed the overwhelming story of how much innovation, determination, and sacrifice people made because they believed in themselves and what this country stood for.

My family has had people who fought in the Civil War, WWI, both of my grandfathers served in WWI (see Son of a Son of a Photographer), one flew a B-24 Bomber in WWII in Europe, my dad served in the Air Force, and my cousin decided to go into the Navy after 9-11 and is currently serving in the Navy on a nuclear submarine.  I am thankful for their service to this country.  Because they served, my wife and I are able to enjoy living in this great country.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day.  It has been quite a stormy weekend with some crazy weather but I managed to get outside and take a few photos (and some of the dog of course).  The heat is definitely on its way, the pasture, trees, and everything around has taken on the brilliant green of summer.

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On Our Way to the Outer Banks // Friday Feet

14 Aug

DSC_4726-ebby-feet

I haven’t posted a Friday Feet shot in a while so I thought I would get a few shots of Ebby before we left tomorrow.  After a long semester we are finally leaving tomorrow for Anderson SC (to worship at NewSpring on Sunday), then to Virginia to visit LU, and then over to the Outer Banks.  One of our favorite spots on the east coast, the Outer Banks, is also one of those gems we have in the U.S. that is very empty once school starts and has some of the greatest locals around.

I am looking forward to spending at least one full day on the quiet beach reading a book.  Till then, meet Ebby.  I did just cut the grass but she is still a little shorter than the grass is tall.

DSC_4729-edit

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On the Beach Again with the Whole Family :: Friday Feet

3 Apr

Scott, Deborah, and Ebby on the Beach

Last weekend Deb and I went back down to Gulf Shores for a quick camping trip.  Of course, being that we were camping we had no Internet access (at least non-cellular) which was weird, so I have some catching up to do on my blog.  I haven’t missed a Friday Feet post since I started it last year so this post-dated version was from last Friday.

Always an interesting weather time weather wise down here where thunderstorms usually start to roll in and winter still tries to hang on.  One day it is freezing and the next is it hot.  Thursday we arrived to a blustering tornaic frontal system and Friday it was sunny and hot.  It was still a great time to relax away from the computer and start thinking about Holy Week coming up.

I have several posts coming up on photos from that weekend, a few book reviews, and many more, stay tuned.  Have a great Holy Week this week.

Scott, Deborah, and Ebby on the Beach

Scott, Deborah, and Ebby on the Beach

Scott, Deborah, and Ebby on the Beach

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Bike Ride Through Chewacla State Park :: Friday Feet

23 Jan

Scott on the swing

This was an extremely busy week again but today is finally Friday and time for Friday Feet.  Today we drove out to Chewacla State Park to ride our bikes on the trails (paved that is).  Is you live near Auburn this is a great gem right out of town, has a nice river, waterfall, and fishing lake.  Along with a very nice route around the river, there is a bike trail just at the entrance of the park which is a popular running and biking spot.  It was nice to get some exercise outside now that we are deep into winter, but it ended up being about 70* today and made for a nice bike ride.

We stopped at the lake to sit on the swing, which made for my Friday feet post today.  I was able to work a little panning technique into the shoot today with Deb on the swing.  I love the effect of motion but it isn’t all that easy to pull off and make it look half way decent.  You can do this in a number of different situations, I just forget to give it a try sometimes.

No body else has jumped on the Friday Feet bandwagon yet, but I have found that it has forced me to look at different ways to do this weekly (short) shoot.  It isn’t that each Friday has to be something spectacular, it just keeps me thinking about how to keep creating original ideas.  It helps to have a nice mild day in winter.

Scott and Deb Biking

Scott and Deb Biking

Scott and Deb Biking

Scott and Deb Biking

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Gulf Shores Bike Trail to Beautiful Sunset Beach

8 Jan

Gulf Shores Sunset

I would like to say that every day is filled with a bike ride and a walk on the beach, but at least, today, it was.  We use to spend quite a bit of time in Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Perdido Key, but haven’t made it down here in the last 6 months.  This is our absolutely favorite time of year to be down here.  The beaches and parks are usually empty, the temperature is still pretty nice.

After getting some work done at home we drove down to a bike trail in Orange Beach that is easy to find but not on many maps or searches.  The Hugh S Branyon Backcountry Trail, which starts and runs through Gulf State Park, is a paved trail that have several different 1-2 mile sections that runs through the sand dunes and some beautiful nature areas.  We have driven by several times in the past but never stopped to ride the tail.

Of course no day would be complete down here without a walk on the beach.  We made it over to the sand just in time to see the sun set.  I walked a few miles down the beach and then we had dinner at a restraunt there on the beach, The Hangout.

I am always amazed at the beauty of the beach and the ocean.  I have seen it so many times, in many different states and countries and it still has some magical, almost mystic quality.  A place that for one reason or another allows you to remove the routine of life and the busy world around you and leaves you with sand and water… but a lot of sand, and an unreal amount of water.

I think people are attracted to the beach because it represents life.  Water that is living, breathing, and a constantly changing yet every time you go to the same beach, it looks relatively the same.  Taking a walk a few miles down a nice white sand beach (especially in January) is a spiritual thing, and I will take a walk any chance I get.  Here are some photos from the day.

Branyon Backcountry Trail

Bike ride

Bike ride

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A Texas Roadhouse Dinner and a Movie :: Friday Feet

19 Dec

Texas Roadhouse

This week was one of the more crazy weeks in the past few months, but today Deb and I went over to Georgia and had dinner and that is my friday feet this week.  The movie in case anyone was interested is With Honors (because my friend hasn’t let me borrow Dead Poets Society yet).  One thing I have been trying to get to this week was to shoot a new profile photo (you can see the finished pic here) for various avatars and networking sites.  The second shot here was when I got interrupted and Ebby joined me for the photo shoot.  She certainly did not help at all, but makes for a cute photo I guess.  Time to enjoy a few hours of Friday night and some work outside tomorrow.  Being that it is two days from official winter, it will be over 70* tomorrow, time to cut some fire wood.

Ebby and Scott

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How is Your Simple Christmas Going :: Friday Feet

12 Dec

Our church has been going through a series called Simple Christmas and it was going well until this week.  This week has been so incredibly crazy for me I haven’t even had time to do a blog post.  Part of it is the photo in my Friday Feet post today.  You can see a better description of this new entry into our house here.

I have a huge list of blog entries and all kinds of new posts to do here, hopefully I can get to them over the weekend.  Have a nice weekend everyone.

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