Male House Sparrow

Photo Information

Taken:	9 March 2013 16:06 in The Meadows of Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon EOS Rebel T2i / Sigma DG 50-500mm
Exposure:	ISO 3200
	500mm, 0 EV
	f/9.1
	1/500

Backstory

This male house sparrow is a regular visitor at our bird feeders. Some mornings dozens of his playmates from several species join me for coffee (and birdseed).

Squirrel Food

Photo Information

Taken:	24 May 2012 08:15 Brushy Creek Texas
Camera:	Canon EOS Rebel XTi / Canon EF-8 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 160
	18mm, 0 EV
	f/4
	1/30

Backstory

I’ve been wanting to get a better picture of this little seed thief. It wasn’t hard to get him to pose, since he’s completely unabashed. So here he is—caught in the act!

–24 May 2012

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Photo Information

This one is included more for the subject matter than the quality of the photo.

Taken:	19 May 2012 17:04 near Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	iPhone 4
Exposure:	ISO 80
	3.99mm, 0 EV
	f/2.8
	1/155

Backstory

This guy and his relatives have been raiding our bird feeder for years. They can eat up to a third of the seed in the feeder in a day. But they’re so cute, I can’t get too mad at them.

This little guy is so tame he doesn’t even hide from me any more. One of the contractors working on the house said the critter almost ate some birdseed out of his hand before having second thoughts about it.

–20 May 2012

Yum! Cilantro.

Photo Information

Taken:	12 April 2012 08:00, Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Cannon Rebel XT / 18-55mm lens
Exposure:	ISO 400
	55mm, 0 EV
	f5.6
	1/60 flash

Backstory

After walking Suna to her car to go to work, I decided to check on the plants. I found this guy happily munching on the volunteer cilantro that grows by the front crepe myrtle tree. We don’t eat enough cilantro to feel the competition, so I let him have at it.

Unfortunately, I’m not very good at figuring out what kind of bugs, worms, and crawlies I’m dealing with. So this guy will remain unidentified, at least for a while.

Suggestions:

• Atalantis fritillary

Attitude Dancing

Photo Information

Taken:	2 August 2008 19:30 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

Dec sure has that rock ’n’ roll attitude. Except for the small detail of his left hand, he looks like he just picked up his brother’s starter mando and is wailing away.

But that’s OK. Attitude has always been a big part of rock music. After all, it carried Dec to the point where he’s now a much better guitarist and all-around musician than I ever had the patience (practice ethic) to become. Now if he could just land some gigs…

–10 October 2012

Madam Butterfly

Photo Information

Taken:	30 June 2008 13:06 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/500

Backstory

I haven’t posted a picture of Suna in a long time. Coming across this one gave me the excuse. Isn’t she (and her hand knitted shawl) lovely?

–9 October 2012

Cicada Killer

Photo Information

Taken:	30 June 2008 13:08 in The Meadows at Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 100
	23.2mm, 0 EV
	f/5.5
	1/160

Backstory

Suna and I originally though this beastie was a hornet and we were afraid to get close enough to it to get a good close-up with the trusty point-and-shoot Cannon. Turns out that it is a cicada killer wasp, which is somewhat aggressive but unlikely to sting large animals like humans. The males are unable to sting at all.

Cicada killers only come out when local cicadas are active. They live in the ground, like cicada, and have been known to decapitate the chirpier insects. It seems a lot of things find cicadas annoying.

From accounts on the Web, I’m guessing they lay their eggs in the cicada’s body.

Looking at this picture, I wish I had one of my more powerful cameras and lenses then. Since one person said cicada killers are active about every four years, I may have missed my opportunity for a reshoot, but I’ll keep my eyes open.

–4 October 2012

New Guinea Impatiens

Photo Information

Taken:	26 June 2008 12:07 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/100

Backstory

OK. This isn’t a really great picture. I just wanted to talk about the subject matter.

I’ve always loved New Guinea impatiens. Their foliage is almost as pretty as their flower, and they stand up to Central Texas summer a little better than other varieties. Then there is the bonus (especially to the vendors) that they are not invasive since they do not reproduce here and must be repurchased every year. Must be lacking a crucial pollinator or something.

When I first expanded the bed in our front garden, they were one of the anchor annuals. You can see old barrier just behind the NGI. Today added soil and annual automatic leaf mulch has raised the soil level behind the stone wall and completely buried the steel barrier that never kept anything in or out of the area it supposedly defined. Because I added soil slowly, it did no damage to the other perennials, including the big oak tree, that also live in that part of the garden.

–8 October 2012

Old Wood and Flowers

Photo Information

Taken:	25 May 2008 13:20 at Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	18.4mm, 0 EV
	f/5
	1/60

Backstory

I can’t believe our back yard used to look like this before the drought and me not having enough time to keep the front and back yard done for a couple of years. I love the textures of the wood of various ages and the potted plants. 

• We picked up a set of the chairs at an estate sale.
• The whiskey barrel came from a home center, as did the plants.
• A friend made the glider in the background.
• The BBQ photobombing on the left just adds a touch of urbanity.

The drawback to wooden patio furniture (even though I love it): it composts.

—3 October 2012

Diamonds and Embers

Photo Information

Taken:	25 May 2008 10:53 near Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	13.7mm, 0 EV
	f/4
	1/125

Backstory

You’ll need to view the full-sized version to make out the “string of diamonds” around the bloom. The dark red of the flower reminds me of the embers in a camp fire. All of this is set against the green of the lawn that will soon turn to brown, even with watering and water rationing.

–2 October 2012

Pink Hotness

Photo Information

Taken:	25 May 2008 10:49 near Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 160
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

I can’t believe I didn’t post a picture of this lovely “annual” when I first potted it. Here it is in all its splendor after overwintering on the back porch. As of this posting, it is still doing well, but now it lives by the front door.

I love the soft delicacy of its feathery pink blooms and the toughness of its leaves. I had lost the name tag, but found an old blog entry that identifies this lovely as a variety of Jacobi.

–1 October 2012

It’s a Dog’s Life

Photo Information

Taken:	25 March 2008 18:39 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/50

Backstory

Rose isn’t allowed on the indoor furniture without explicit invitation. Even then she can be a little shy about it—but not out here. She’s giving me a look like, “I ordered a margarita. That looks more like a daiquiri.” Or I guess, “Whaat?!” would be more age appropriate.

—30 July 2012

Dragon’s Flame

Photo Information

Taken:	25 March 2008 18:59 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 100
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

I love the way the color of this flower pops against the siding and brick of the house. I no longer remember the name of it. I want to call it “dragon’s flame” or something equally Asiatic, but who knows. If you know, please comment.

I thought I had blogged about it at The Hermitage, but no. At least, I couldn’t find anything.

This was just me wandering around with Suna’s camera taking pictures around the house. The siding is a little washed out in the direct sunlight, but that’s a tradeoff for the way the sunlight reflects from the water drops on the leaves.

—5 August 2012

Retaining Wall

Photo Information

Taken:	22 March 2008 19:05 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO <#ISO#>
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/160

Backstory

This was the first retaining wall project I built around the house. I guess I got a little carried away, but I sure wish I had time for projects like this again. It’s just not as satisfying to pay someone else to do the work.

Suna took the picture.

—9 August 2012

Orange Pixie

Photo Information

Taken:	20 March 2008 15:23 in The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/7.1
	1/100

Backstory

I love this lilly. I even used a seriously cropped version of this picture to illustrate a “Friday’s Feast” on The Hermitage.

It’s an asiatic lilly of some variety identified only as “Orange Pixie,” although I see more red than orange. Suna and Declan can probably see the color distinction, but….

Here it is adding a pop of brightness in the front flowerbed when nothing else is really awake yet. The sun plays with its foliage and its flower.

Epilog

This beauty was another victim of last year’s drought. For three years it brought new happiness in Spring as it and its children arrived and bloomed while the rest of the flower bed was wiping the sleep out of its eyes.

The drought of 2011 devastated it. By Spring of 2011, there were a half dozen orange pixies greeting visitors coming up the walk. This spring, only one spindly lilly poked its head above the soil. It withered and died back within weeks, not having been able to store enough energy to survive its initial growth spurt.

I’ll miss these guys.

—27 July 2012

Photobombed: The Pug from Space

Photo Information

Taken:	11 March 2008 19:12 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 250
	18.4mm, 0 EV
	f/5
	1/60 with flash

Backstory

Sometimes photobombing makes the picture better. Like I have no idea why I wanted a still life of the backyard showing the BBQ grill I was about to clean as it rests in the shaky wooden chair. Then the Android Pug with Laser Eyes materialized in the picture as I snapped. (Why, yes! He is standing on a platform. It’s the remnants of the kids’ old tree house that the HOA made us take down. I installed it by the back door so the old dogs could make it through the dog door.)

On a side note, Urban Dictionary defines “photobomb” as “One of innocent thing you should never say at an airport.” I’d like to know the backstory to that definition.

—8 August 2012

Happy Birthday to Me

Photo Information

Taken:	11 March 2008 19:01 at The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

This is one of my favorite portraits of Suna and me. Just us in the back yard being happy on my birthday taken by Prince.

—25 July 2012

Prince and Me

Photo Information

Taken:	11 March 2008 18:55 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

Spending time with my dad this week makes me appreciate the time I got to spend with Suna’s dad—like sharing a beer while we bar-b-qued on my birthday in 2008. I think Suna took this one. I’m pretty sure I didn’t.

—4 August 2012

Boys Being Brothers

Photo Information

Taken:	9 March 2008 19:53 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60 with flash

Backstory

Here are Kynan and Declan being brothers. Notice how even the artist’s model is getting into the attitudinal mix.

I’ve always admired their healthy “attitude” [in the vernacular meaning] and the way they look out for each other. They seldom miss an opportunity for play.

—24 July 2012

Father and Daughter

Photo Information

Taken:	8 March 2008 20:33 in The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 250
	11.8mm, 0 EV
	f/3.5
	1/60 with flash

Backstory

This is one of my favorite portraits of Suna and Prince, even with the flash reflecting off Prince’s glasses. They are both so happy to be in each other’s company, just hangin’ in the back yard.

—23 July 2012

Redbuds and Steel

Photo Information

Taken:	2 March 2008 14:03 in The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Unidentified
Exposure:	Not encoded

Backstory

One of the things I’ve learned going back through time and putting this blog together is that most of the pictures that have special meaning to me are not very interesting to others, at least in the context of a photo blog. I mean, who cares if I installed new landscaping just before I snapped this picture? Well, someone might if I posted it on my regular blog, but it doesn’t really belong here.

Another thing I’ve discovered is that I’m really fond of the chaotic pattern of tree branches against sky. I find it comforting, soothing even. And still, part of my brain wants to find meaning in them. Are humans nothing more than machines for creating metaphor?

But back to the picture… I’m posting this picture on a very hot day in July. It helps to remember the coolness of early March, when the red buds were the first promise of returning foliage. They look warm against the cold gray sky. A cheerful thought when it’s 100°F.

—21 July 2012