The flood of 2013 is winding down now. The work load at the Red Cross is starting to lighten up some, so I hope to be back out with my camera enjoying the beauty of nature soon. I didn't shoot many shots of the flood this year as I spent a lot of time in the office doing paper work.

I'm going to be off for a bit doing Red Cross work here at home. So I'll be in and out on DA when I can

Pretty much our forcast for the last week or so with no end in site, and it's starting to get really old!  The rivers are rising to the point I may be getting out the Red Cross vest and working right here in my home chapter on flood relief.

Had a wonderful weeks vacation in Punta Cana, with the love of my life. Didn't really take all that many photos, just kicked back and relaxed

Happy St Patricks Day

My wife and I are off for a Vacation today see every one in a week

I flew home from the Mississippi Tornado Relief Operation today. It's going to be nice to sleep in my own bed after three weeks away from home tonight.

The National Response by the Red Cross is winding down. We Are getting ready to turn over the remainder of the work to the local Red Cross chapters here in Mississippi. Like all disasters it's goig to be an on-going project, but we have met most if not all of the immediate needs and it's time to hand it back to the people of Mississippi. I should be home by the middle of the week

Arrived in Hattiesburg, MS Feb. 14th and went right to work doing Bulk Distribution of supplies, going well so far.  Am having internet connection problems on the old lap top here though, so we'll see if I can keep it on-line or not

Hattiesburg Mississippi was struck by an F-4 Tornando Sunday. I am making arrangements now to travel there with the Red Cross to help in the disaster relief, see you all when I get back.

New Lens for a New Year well new for me anyhow. I ordered a used Sigma 150 to 500mm lens from B&H Camera this morning.  Seems as the last shot for 2012 my up till now faithful Sigma 170 to 500mm lens has died, she just wont auto focus anymore. I wish I was fast enough to catch eagles and such in flight on manual focus but like my lens age has caught up with my eyesight and that's not going to happening anymore.  

         Happy New Years to all! May 2013 be filled with Peace and Love for all!

It's that magical time of year again. As fall starts to give way to winter and the holiday season comes into full swing, family and friends gather and celebrate in their own way. Santa checks his list over and over making sure no one naughty has snuck onto the good list. Once again I'm sure I'll be getting another big old lump of coal (I never did master behaving myself )

I missed our annual holiday parade this year as I was off trying to erase some of my naughty marks by doing some last minute good deads, by volunteering with the Red Cross doing hurricane Sandy relief. (Hope Santa reads this part) But enough about me and maybe getting a new camera body (Giant hint there!)  

It's my hope that as we get busy with family and friends we all remember those who are less fortunate then we are. The Marine Corps annaul Toy's for Tot's drive is in full swing and the Salvation Army Red Kettle bell ringers are out doing their best to ensure that all children have something from Santa again this year. There are many reasons why some children are looking once again at a bleak Christmas. Hurricane Sandy will be a big one this year on the east coast, so please open your heart and give. Every little bit will help to bring a smile to a child, who through no fault of their own may be looking at Christmas as just another day of disappointment and sadness!

                                                                     Happy Holidays and a Very Merry Christmas to ALL!

I got home around noon today from New Jersey. There is a lot of work still to be done, hurricane Sandy caused a lot of damage up and down the Jersey Shore. Wish I had been able to contact a few people from DA that I know are out there, but I was driving much needed supplies up and down the shore. Working 12 to 14 hour days left me little time to socialize. If I was to highlight any one thing, I guess it would be driving in a convoy of four trucks who drove urgently needed supplies to Oceanport the night of the Nor-Easter. We delivered blankets, coats, and food to the shelter there as the population swelled by 600 people that night. Many thanks to Lauren Twohig our bulk distribution manager for having the faith and trust in our ability to be able to drive 26 foot trucks through the rain and snow. Had anything gone wrong the responsibilty would have fallen completely on her shoulders. Safety and security whose job it is to see to us Red Cross volunteers are safe and secure, were against us driving once the snow had started. Thanks to her we were allowed to spare those already suffering the affects of Sandy anymore undo misery from the cold and snow that night and at least provide them with hot meals and warm clothing. I should not forget to mention the officers of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, who escorted us down the Garden State Parkway (The size of trucks we were driving are to big to be on the parkway) and guided us around the many power lines that had been dropped once again by the heavy snow that was falling.

As most of you may know. I am a Red Cross volunteer, I will be leaving tomorrow afternoon 10/31/2012  for New Jersey to help with the hurricane relief effort. So I will most likely be off line for long periods over the next three weeks. See you all when I return!

While you're out just wandering around pages


Stop by these Ladies pages. They are very good and you wont regret checking out thier work


Check out this young lady ~BebbaCannibal from Egypt, she does some really good photography work


     



While you're out there looking around. Stop by this Ladies page too, she does some really excellent work! *Glede


          


Another beauty to take a look at a model and photographer ~digitalmonalisa

      

Swing by and give Bob  *MarquisDeAhhs  a vote on his design for the Monster Tshirt. Bob's an all round good guy, always willing to help a fellow DA photographer with any adivce he can on getting better images. He's part of what makes this a great community.


While you're out just wandering around pages


Stop by these Ladies pages. They are very good and you wont regret checking out thier work


Check out this young lady ~BebbaCannibal from Egypt, she does some really good photography work


     



While you're out there looking around. Stop by this Ladies page too, she does some really excellent work! *Glede


          


Another beauty to take a look at a model and photographer ~digitalmonalisa

      

Leafs have been cleaned from the gutters, boats are stored and garage has been rearranged so the cars will fit in. I'd say we are about as ready for winter as we can get. Now that all of that is done maybe I'll find a little more time to get out and play myself

One boat down one to go. Spent the day winterizing the Cuddy Cabin so I can haul it down to the boat yard Monday for winter storage. Still debating on whether or not tomorrow I should take the flat bottom down for the season also.  Here's how this usually plays out, I put both boats up and we'll have a really nice weekend. Then Joan will complain, I put the boats away to early. Or I leave one of the boats out and ready to go and it will get really cold or snow and Joan will complain beacuse she had to scrape ice or snow off her car windows. Not to mention I then get to winterize the outboard motor in the cold, so it always ends up being a no win situation for me!

This fall has found me busier then I want to be.  I haven't been able to get out and capture the changing colors the way I had hoped to, then add to that the leaves seem to be dropping much faster then they normally do. I'm not sure if that is caused by the fact we have been very dry here since late July or not.  It's been an odd fall, first it seemed to be coming on strong and cool now our weather has been very warm with little frost. As far as being busy, most of that I have brought on myself. Volunteering with the Red Cross and helping tend to our newest grandson.  He's six and a half months old now already and growing like a weed, it's so much fun to watch him starting to interact with things around him.  He never seems to grow tired of watching the birds at the feeder out the front window, or just watching the ceiling fans go around (LOL).  On the days I am home when our oldest grandson gets home from school, to watch both of their faces light up is really pretty heart warming. None of the shots I have of the two of them here on my page are staged they are just candid shots I've grabbed of them interacting and forming a bond I doubt will ever be broken. So even though I'm busier then I want to be right now, I wouldn't change a thing.

Even though it's only mid September, it feels as though fall is full on us the nights have been chilly with a light frost now and then. I just haven't been getting out with my camera, I've had good intentions to. But life being what life is somthing or another keeps coming up and I am either working or tending to another matter. Sometimes we let life's interuptions upset and affect or mood and ruin our day. I looked back over the past year today trying to figure out why I didn't get the things I wanted to do done. In late April and early June I was in Tuscalosa Alabama for three weeks helping with the Red Cross tornado recovery for three weeks over three hundred lives had been lost to the tornados that ripped through Alabama and Mississippi and countless families lost every thing they owned. In July I spent three weeks in the Minot North Dakota area for the flooding on the mouse and soris river. While I was there I worked Damage Assesment and took part in determining that nearly five thousand homes in an arera of only sixty thousand people had been destroyed or recieved major damage. Once again causing countless families to lose everything they owned, thankfully this time there was no loss of life. Along with responding to those two disasters, in the past twelve months I have spoke to nearly a thousand National Guard, Army, Navy and Marine reservist and their families who are being deployed overseas for up to a year of active duty, talk about interuptions in your life. So I guess if there were some photos I had hoped to get taken and I didn't no big deal. My family is here we are all well, safe and sound in our little corner of the world and All and All Life is Good!