Thursday, February 4, 2016

Visual Potpourri

This is a sampling of photos from a recent outing. There's no particular naritive here, just a random collection of images.


 

I tried out site 41 this trip. It's been on my list of 'best' sites for the campground (Pedernales Falls.) but I hadn't tried it out before. Because of the way the site is laid out it just makes more sense to pull in head first. Since it's on the edge of the campground the view out the windshield is of a small creek winding through the woods.



It might have been the last week of January but I was still able to cut this tomato off the plant the morning I left.  Frankly I like the intense tomatoey flavor of the cherry sized Sweety tomatoes I also have growing but there weren't any ripe ones because I keep eating them right off the vine. Anyway, this single Brandywine was enough for 4 dinner salads.



For some reason I never seem to get around the the magazines I subscribe to when at home, and even if I try I'm so distracted by all the other things I need to be doing I skim more than read them, so one of my afternoon activities when camping is to work through my stack, which in this case included a backup of three months worth.

 

Sometimes life is so hard it ties you up in knots!



I'm not 100% sure, but according to my Sibley Guide as well as my copy of Birds of Texas, this looks suspiciously like an Osprey. I was standing in plain sight on a bluff high above the river and he/she kept its distance so all I could get was a series of long distance shots.






Once the Osprey cleared the airspace a pair of Ravens moved in, but they also kept their distance and were moving way too fast for a good shot at that zoom level.



I think the message here is sit and rest if you must, but don't expect to hang around too long.



I suspect some mountain bikers felt that that coil of old barbed wire there in the upper right was laying a little too close to the trail for comfort and risked punctures in their hands to move it.






The right side of this fence-line has been grazed by cattle. The left, or park side, is a little more natural.

 

 A guy doesn't need a raging inferno to keep warm, even when the frost is starting to settle. Though it would be nice to have two small fires, one in front and one behind, but there's only one fire-ring per campsite and the rangers get kind of excited if you start a fire outside the rings.




2 comments:

  1. Some good photos there. I found the barbed wire story interesting. As far as magazines go ... I was a lot like you. I caught myself glancing more than reading them. Plus their print was getting smaller and harder to read. I know, read them on a reader or online but I like the magazine in my hands for some reason. I did NOT renew any of them this year and so far, since November I have not missed them.

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    Replies
    1. Not the first time I've run across rolls of rusty but otherwise seemingly serviceable fencing out in the middle of nowhere. Makes me wonder why someone would go to the trouble and expense of replacing it.

      I've tried e-zines but just can't seem to get past not having the paper to hold in my hands. One model railroad magazine is only available electronically but, despite being well done, searchable, and free, I'm over a year behind in reading it.

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