A New Feature — Flickr Gallery
I installed a new WordPress Plugin called Flickr Gallery. It creates a very nice looking photo gallery embedded right into my WordPress blog. As an example, I’ve added in a gallery that will display the photos that Flickr deems most “interesting” from my photostream. Give it a try and give me feedback as to what you think.
[flickr-gallery mode=”interesting”]
Crosslake 2010: Me on the Personal Watercraft
For whatever reason, I rarely get photographed by others. In this case, I handed my camera to my brother before I took off on the family’s personal watercraft up at Beacon Shores Resort in Crosslake, MN. I didn’t plan ahead very well for getting wet. I’m wearing jean shorts, which I rolled up so they wouldn’t get wet when I was climbing onto the boat. Of course, that didn’t help when I made a very tight corner and had water wash over the bow and into my lap. I got smarter the next day. I wore my swimsuit!
Photo of the Week: Crosslake 2010 Trip – My brother on the Personal Watercraft
Every year my family rents a cabin at Beacon Shores Resort in Crosslake, MN. This year, for the first time in a long time, my twin brother Matt joined us with his two girls. Matt had not yet ridden on the personal watercraft my dad bought a few years back. It is pretty obvious he enjoyed it. Notice in this shot that the bottom of the boat is not even touching the water. I took it while sitting in our family’s other boat.
The watercraft is a Polaris Virage. It is extremely stable, very quick, very easy to drive, and very forgiving. It is too bad Polaris stopped making these….
Photo of the Week: Riff Raff at AirExpo 2010
You might not know it, but I’m an airplane nerd too. I actually have my private pilot’s license, although I haven’t used it for over 10 years now. As much as I liked flying, it is a very expensive hobby and I had other priorities for my money. I still enjoy going to air shows and wishing I was a millionaire so I could afford an airplane like this stunning Hawker Sea Fury named Riff Raff. It was on display on the 2010 AirExpo at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie. In fact, why don’t you check out my whole set of photos from this show. I have posted many of them now, but there are still more to go. You can see the set by clicking here.
links for 2010-07-13
-
Mike O'Malley is the actor that plays Burt Hummel in the hit FOX TV show Glee. He wrote a nice little article that reminds us all to "Keep our eye on the ball".
Photo of the Week: Baby Loons
Over the Independence Day holiday, I visited my friends Jenny and Pete at their cabin on Wilson Lake. Wilson Lake is a beautiful little piece of paradise located about 30 miles north of Finland, MN and it is right at the edge of the Superior National Forest. The lake is gorgeous and the whole area is teaming with wildlife. While I was there, I personally saw loons, seagulls, yellow perch, mergansers, turkey vultures, bald eagles, deer, muskrat, and moose.
I was absolutely fascinated by the loons. In my trips around the lake, I counted six adult loons. Two of them did not appear to be mates. The other four were mating pairs and each pair had two babies. I had never seen a baby loon until this trip. They are beautiful and it was extraordinary to watch the parents teach their young how to dive and fish. It was also extraordinary to watch the parents feed their young and carry them on their backs. Absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to go back and photograph more of this beautiful place.
Goodbye Libby. We Will Miss You.
I posted this to Flickr and to Facebook on June 28, 2010, the day Libby the Labrador died. I figured I should post this here too. She has been gone almost two weeks now and life is not the same without her.
Many folks on Facebook and Flickr sent me their condolences. Thanks for your kind words and your understanding. My animals are family to me and losing one of them is as hard as it gets.
————————–
Today we said goodbye to our dear sweet Libby. Libby was our 12 year-old Labrador Retriever. We adopted her from another family when she was six, but we’ve known her since she was a puppy.
In April she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a form of cancer, that had formed in one of the toes of her hind left foot. This is an agressive type of cancer and given her age and her other underlying health issues, it was decided it was best to just let nature take its course.
Over the last week, it became apparent that we were no longer able to manage Libby’s pain. If we gave her more medications she would be a zombie and the amount we were able to give her wasn’t enough to keep her even close to pain free. We celebrated her life with one last weekend with her. Over the course of the weekend she got all the treats she wanted, including two McDonald’s happy meals and two ice cream cones. At 1PM today, Dr. Amy, one of the vets from the Delano Veternary Clinic, came over and euthanized Libby for us at our home, where Libby could be surrounded by the people, animals, and things that she loved. She slipped away peacfully and is no longer in any pain. I already miss her terribly.
Although Libby was not a Helping Paws service dog, she was related to many of them, including Daisy Mae, another dog that lived with us in her twilight years. Daisy and Libby were half sisters. I would be honored if you considered donating to Helping Paws in Libby’s honor. To do so, you can visit www.helpingpaws.org.
Snuggling with Libby, originally uploaded by pmarkham.