2 March, 2010 -- Caching with Granny Orchid

After visiting in Birch Tree with Juanita's cousin this afternoon, we hustled on west to Winona to the Mark Twain National Forest on a treasure hunt. There's an old Model T under a shady cover in this park, it's a neat place! When we got back to the Grove and she found a couple of my caches, dropped in some travel bugs from Arkansas. She's really got a nose for these things, sometimes she doesn't even use the gps. These are Granny O's photos!

25 Feb., 2010 -- I wanna go, too!

Two C172 camera ships refueled, I can't reveal who they work for or where they're going every day, just that Matt and Andy are shooting aerial photos. They have some "expensiver-than-mine" big name medium format digital cameras and a boatload of computer gear.

Cushy job, the pilots just fly a grid, throw a switch, and it all turns on and shoots automatically.
They are on a mission that could last about eight months to complete. It's similar to the contracts that I used to fly for the state with George H., except we used 35mm cameras and film rolls of 250 shots of slides.

23 Feb., 2010 -- Travelers everywhere

She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes...
Springfield's new 60-65 interchange.

There must be a gazillion snow geese pausing near Schell City.
Heading north?


Yesterday, INCOMING!


And Fonda made it to Michigan. So did her baggage, finally.

21 Feb., 2010 -- Spring coming?

Crocus and daffodils are sprouting in this park near the Art Gallery
on National Avenue in Springfield.

I don't know what this one will be. Is spring on its way?


Found this beaded scorpion travel bug in a geocache
in Seymour on the way to Springfield yesterday.
It was made by Huichol Indians who are native to
the central Mexican state of Zacatecas. I'll put it
in one of my caches in town, then another cacher will
pick it up. Its goal is to return home someday.
I posed it with some of my old Mexican pottery.

19 Feb., 2010 -- Does it matter? They are lonely.

The mates have holes. If I can wear a "red hat", I guess I can
wear lonely socks. I did this once by mistake in high school, and the older
guys in band never let me live it down. "What a dufus!" I was
a freshman, and they were seniors. I was mortified.


This is why I'm not in Kansas again today. Here we go again!

19 Feb., 2010 -- Orchids in bloom

Eye candy for a dreary winter!

Been working, that's why no posting on the blog.
I'll catch up soon, after I get about 500 pictures of OK and KS sorted out.

14 Feb., 2010 -- Magic trick!

You've got to see this movie.

Magic trick!

12 Feb., 2010 -- In the fog and snow...

These guys are practicing, they land and sit on the runway for a few minutes.
Sometimes they make a few go-rounds in the pattern.
Today, just one landing, and then they disappeared into the snow and mist.

10 Feb., 2010 -- Flying things... some do, some don't

The doves belly up to the banquet table.

I can fly! Really, in this 36 mph wind, I can fly!

Yeah, me too... I can fly! Look, a runway (almost) without snow!

Well, that didn't work so well.


I'll try a drift, launch over the revetment, never mind the tailwind.


Well, that didn't work so well, either.

Maybe I'll just go ice dancing. Olympics material?

8 Feb., 2010 -- Fighting the elements

Snoopy checks the gps coordinates and zooms out to survey for a likely spot to hide a geocache. We hid our first two caches today, in the snowing and blowing. I did the online registration this evening. They have to be okayed by the reviewer, then they will be published and treasurer hunters can start looking, and trading the goodies.