Category Archives: Skywatch
Skywatch Friday – Denver Airport Storm Spinning Up
Well, I have been not blogging for a week. Things have been unsettled. I had two thing going on last week. I had a customer event to attend in Denver at Coors Field. I was going to fly into Denver on Thursday morning. Watch a baseball game and then fly back to Tulsa. And then Friday I was going to fly to South Dakota to attend a family reunion over the weekend.
Well the first part worked out great! I flew to Denver and attended the Rockies game and rubbed elbows with customers and met some new people (well some of them were not that new, they were older than me, but they were new to me, but I think you know that is what I meant) and visit the the folks I already knew and drink a Fat Tire beer and eat something. Nice, right!? Yeah, well it beats a sharp stick in the eye is what I say.
So it was great!! Being paid to drink beer and watch baseball? Sign me up! Oops, I’m already signed up I guess.
Well anyway I took a cab back to the airport and found out that, despite there not being a cloud in the sky, United Airlines cancelled the flight back to Tulsa because of weather. The only thing that I can figure is that the weather was too nice to fly in. Better to kick back with some cold ones the crew said. Well, okay, I can get into that even though the flight that was cancelled was the last one to Tulsa that night! Oh well.
So I got me a hotel room that night and then used Uber to get me a ride to the nearest Walmart and got me some clothes and a duffle bag. Cuz you see, after talking to Heather I decided to just fly to South Dakota from Denver but I didn’t have any clothes. I have to tell you shopping at Wally World is a little different. The colors are strange, the styles are strange, it’s all strange. Don’t get me wrong I don’t buy fancy clothes, I’m into Kohl’s myself but Walmart was just disorienting. The prices are right though!
So I finally got through with Wally World and went outside and called up another Uber car. I felt really techno and with it. Uber is this car ride service where you get an app on your phone and can get rides from private individuals. It is wonderful. I’m never using a dirty old greasy cab again. In total, I had two regular cab rides this trip in Denver and two Uber rides. The cab rides were both very expensive the drivers refused to turn the air conditioning on. The cabs were filthy and the drivers borderline rude. The Uber cars were brand new and spotless and the drivers very courteous. I’ll be using Uber again.
So I gathered up my stuff and flew to Sioux Falls and met up with my Sister, Brother in Law and my Father so we could go to the Family Reunion not far away. However on our way to our destination my brother in law, Irv got a message that his father, who had been seriously ill, passed.
So, that kind of through me off my feed. Irv is a really nice guy and so was his father. His father was one of those guys was so full of life and very engaging with everyone he meets that it is hard to imagine life without him. Nobody can really know what other people are going through but I know that Irv loved his father and the loss is devastating.
So if you could keep Ellen, and Irv in your thoughts I’d appreciate it. This has been a hard week for them.
Skywatch Friday – Dogwalk in the Greenbelt Edition
I don’t live out in the country or spend much time on a beach or anywhere else where I have unimpeded views of the sky. I live in the burb’s of south Tulsa so my views of the sky are pretty messed up I guess. I’ve got powerlines and telephone lines and light poles and cell phone towers, ugly ass bradford pear trees, and my neighbors houses, and all sorts of other stuff occluding my view. I don’t worry about it though, that is where I live for good or bad. I’ll pick my shots to avoid the as much as the noise that I can and go with it .
I don’t worship unfiltered SOOC images either. I use all sorts of filters, effects, and treatments. Sorry about that but often the image doesn’t match what I see. I don’t even know what SOOC means any more with all the in camera processing available now.
Anyhow we were on a family dog walk in the greenbelt the other night and the sun was going down but I had all these powerlines in the way but what the heck!!
How about you? Do you go for the pure shot or settle for less?
Skywatch Friday – Looking the Other Way
You know sometimes the most colorful skies during sunset are away from the sun. If you look just to the right of the pavillion you can see the top third or so of the Citiplex Towers in south Tulsa reflecting the evening sun.
Skywatch Friday – Back to the Beach
This week for Skywatch Friday I’m going back to the beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama. I didn’t get too many sunrise pics because I was too dang lazy to get out of bed in time and I didn’t get very many sunset pics because it clouded up too heavily in the evening. Don’t you worry though, I had lots to do.
Skywatch Friday – West Side Sky
I’ve spent hours running, biking, hiking, walking, geocaching, and picture taking along Tulsa’s River Parks. There are miles of trails along both sides of the Arkansas River. I have never got tired of it.
Skywatch Friday – Beach House
Workmen were busy framing this house that was right next to our condo during out stay in southern Alabama during our recent vacation. Something about it really attracted me. I love watching construction and so I could kind of see what the guys were doing while we were doing my beach thing. All day long we could hear saws, hammers, nailguns and such. I loved it. I’m just wondering who is going to be able to afford such a house. It may look small in the photograph but it really is huge.
Skywatch Friday – Sunrise Secret
I went running earlier this week at Lafortune Park here in Tulsa. It is a huge complex with playgrounds, picnic grounds, batting cages, an American Legion ballpark, two golf courses, a library, fancy croquet courts, tennis courts, and a high school complete with a football stadium and yet another baseball stadium, and some nice ponds and fountains, all linked together by a popular three mile running/walking/strolling/waddling trail that I use frequently.
It was a sticky morning and when I finished I needed a little extra cool down walking time and so I walked over to the ponds behind the library and saw the “same old thing” in a new way so I pulled out my trusty old free, Pantech generic no-name phone and used its HDR camera to take a pic.
Have you seen something old in a new way before.
Skywatch Friday
Skywatch Friday – Back to Basics
(I finally figured out how to make a half way decent moon shot. With the camera I’ve had for a year and half. Manuals can be a wonderful thing if you read them. I’m a guy though.)
Skywatch Friday – Thanksgiving
I hope that Thanksgiving finds you home or with loved ones.
Thanksgiving day is also Hanukkah for the first time since the late 19th Century. A twofer for our Jewish neighbors and friends. Gobbletov I’m told.
I hope that you got your turkey by now.
If you don’t you can try catching one of these dudes. Good luck with that by the way.
Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Skywatch Friday from my family to yours.