I'm back! Sort of. In December of 2010 my old computer decided to turn it's proverbial toes up and die. I replaced my pc with a Mac, and began the process of transferring my data over and learning how to use the new machine. Around November of 2011 my new Mac began giving me messages that the memory on my hard drive was almost full; then, having been ignored, flat-out declared that the memory on my hard drive was full and that my computer was unable to continue functioning unless I did something about it. Since then, I've purchased a number of external hard drives and worked diligently on resolving this problem. After transferring all of 2010 to an external hard drive, I was still left with well over 10,000 photographs. According to my computer, the photographs were the problem. My fault. Totally. I accept full responsibility for shooting myself in the foot. And everywhere else for that matter. I often take four or five photographs (sometimes more) of every subject in an attempt to get the best photograph I can for the blog. But, after I upload the photographs to my computer and create my blog, I fail to go back into my computer and delete the junk photographs. If I take five photos of a single object, it's only common sense for me to select the best photo of the five and delete the other four, but common sense is something that I'm sorely lacking. After having made an intense effort to climb out of the hole I dug for myself, I've managed to go through all 10,000 plus photographs, one at a time, culling and deleting the trash. I'm happy to say that, before I came home from the park today and uploaded new photographs, I'd culled my unwieldy mass of mayhem down to 536 photographs. I did that by going through every photograph in every event individually and evaluating it's merit. That was phase one. Phase two will consist of comparing all of the photos of a single object, such as a robin or a towhee, selecting the best of the bunch or those that have some defining characteristic that I need to illustrate a blog, and trashing all of the rest. That will be a slow process though. Right now, I've winnowed enough chaff in order to produce my first blog of the new year. So, away we go!
The month of December 2011, ended up being one day short of breaking the standing record as the driest December ever. Then January 2012 slipped in like a lamb. This is supposed to be winter, folks! January and February have a reputation to uphold. Where are the ice, snow, and freezing temperatures? According to my outdoor thermometer at home the high temperature was 51 degs F today. Fifty-one degrees! In January!
It was so warm that people were roaming around the park in light jackets. Some wore even less. The parking lot was full to bursting, with cars coming and going on a regular basis, playing musical chairs with the available slots. The park was full of people. Had I chortled a pleasant hello at every visitor I passed it would have sounded like I was yodeling.
The Vargas family was having a good time walking the boardwalk trail. Luis Vargas is holding his son, Jayden. The older girls are Jenny and Nichole Vargas, while the younger one is their cousin Nalini Jeffords. Luis said that it was a very beautiful January day, which is what I think we were all thinking. You can't go wrong with a day like today. Even if you tried! The only caveat was the fact that the boardwalk was quite slippery in places. I slipped several times and saw others slipping as well. Quite a few visitors cautioned me to be careful because of the slick conditions. Time to get a group of volunteers together with some push-brooms and water to sweep off the slime.
It's hard to complain about a little slipperiness when Marlake looks like this!
Someone has put duck decoys on Marlake. I suspect the Buck Family were the culprits. Their ploy seems to be working.
I saw an American wigeon.
A couple of buffleheads.
And several ring-necked ducks. Of course, there was also the usual assortment of resident mallards on both lakes.
Someone has chopped down two beautiful trees near the Brooklake viewing platform. This tree used to stand right behind the bench nearest the entrance to the platform. It's been covered with beautiful frilly maroon-colored fungus this year and has always been a favorite spot for black-capped chickadees, song sparrows, and cedar waxwings to rest. I've even seen a downey woodpecker and a brown creeper on this tree, although not at the same time. Now the tree is gone. Why?
The other tree was to the right of the boardwalk just before you reach the viewing platform. Look at how beautiful this wood looks. I can't understand why somebody would chop it down.
Near Brooklake I saw skunk cabbage just starting to poke up through the surface of the water. This one is taking a little test run. Is it time yet? Ummmm, could still snow. Might be a good idea to wait a little longer. I could hear frogs croaking, but couldn't spot any. Last year, I started spotting amphibian eggs in February. Didn't see any today. I'll keep my eyes open. They could show up at any time.
The pussywillows are nice and fuzzy in between the old cabins and the meadow.
When I got back to the parking lot, I tried to take a photo of the pigeons sitting on top of that tall green tower. City pigeons moved into the park this summer and it looks like they've decided to stay. That green tower seems to be their favorite look-out perch and there are generally about as many pigeons up there as can fit at one time. Unfortunately, my camera started blinking at me, telling me that my battery was low. As I lowered the camera, I pushed what I thought was the OFF button and wound up taking this photo of my shadow instead. Look at how tall I've gotten since Christmas! Must be all of that good food I ate. Maybe I'll run into you at the park on my next visit. If you see me, don't forget to stop and say hello!
Teri I. Lenfest
What a nice scenery.
Places like that brings peace of mind.
Posted by: tyre equipment | January 13, 2012 at 08:23 PM