Avian academy award redux

See the picture story of Mom and Dad Killdeer as they protect their progeny. Click on the picture.

During mid-July in 2013, I had an encounter with a Killdeer couple who were determined to lead me away from their nest which happened to be in a flower bed near a well-traveled sidewalk and driveway.

The ground was close to ideal for a Killdeer nest, I’m not too sure about the environment. After a few days of observation, I began shooting the nest and mother.

Dad did not show up until later, but I do believe I was always in his cross-

Click on the bird to see more Killdeer pix and information.

hairs. As the story unfolded, the birds went into their best “draw-the-bad-guy-away-from-the-eggs routine. They had several strategies in case their favored acts did not work.

I bugged ‘em enough that they could have gone through their entire litany of charades, but I doubt it. Click here to see our original July 2013 post where you’ll see a good collection of their thespian deeds. Be sure to see some up close and personal pix of the mamma bird and her eggs on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com.

Joe Dempsey

Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind.

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

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Purple hulled fun

Click the picture and and go to our original 2013 World Championship Roto Tiller race story

Every year on the last weekend in June, the purple hull pea faithful descend on Emerson, Arkansas to enjoy the Annual Purple Hull Pea Festival.

If you are from the south, chances are the thought of a choice piece of smoked pork seasoning a pot of purple hull peas sends your olfactory sensors into system overload.

If you have not consumed this delicacy, take the necessary steps to obviate this sin of omission at your earliest opportunity.

I have attended two Purple Hull Pea Festivals and have had more fun than a litter of lab pups with a can of tennis balls.  See the 2o13 trip also on our Corndancer Photo of the Week Page. Also see our 2010 Corndancer article and pictures.  Also see our 2010 Weekly Grist article and pix.

The World Champion Rotary Tiller Races are a highlight. What you see there is unique in the world of motor sports. You must see it to believe it, so we are giving you a glimpse We are taking you back to the 2013 festival visit. If care to peruse our observations on our initial visit in 2010, click here. You can also check out these galleries of PHPF pictures:

• 2010 Purple Hull Pea Festival gallery
• 2013  Roto Tiller Races gallery
• 2013 Purple Hull Pea Festival Parade gallery

Thanks for looking at this short history lesson of fun on the ground in LA (lower Arkansas). As the song says: “Let it all hang out!”

Thanks for looking.

Joe Dempsey,
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

Valhalla for Mustangs redux

Click on the Mustang to see our original post with a bunch of pictures of Mustang and the “yard.”

Back in November, 2012, I stumbled across what may well be the best and best-kept collection of wrecked Mustangs on the planet. James Matthews, the proprietor thereof was good enough to grant me the privilege of photographing his yard collection.

Then he took me inside his premises to show me his crown jewel, a pristine restored ’66 Mustang which had also been converted to a pick-up configuration. It’s a big-time head-turner where ever it goes.

He did a lot of the work himself. The John Deere green and yellow trim sets everything off just right. Click here and see or our original 2012 post. Get a look at the engine, the interior, the famous “Bullitt” car chase video, and a vintage ’68 Mustang TV Commercial. Also a link to a panorama shot of the yard.

And absolutely, positively see the Corndancer dot-com Photo of the Week page for pix of the cars in the yard plus some more of the Mustang.

Thanks for looking.

Joe Dempsey,
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

A different kind of snow day

One cannot but help to think of the “yellow snow” joke upon seeing this yellow bug in the snow. The car appears to not have been driven lately and sits on the banks of Atkins Lake near Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

It is a rare time in LA (lower Arkansas) when one has sufficient material to write two snow day stories in a row, but the Almighty saw fit to send us snow storms in domino sequence. My normal approach is to do my snow pix during the storm. Since all of the snow fell while I was in the land of nod, I had to activate plan B. Since the internet is rife with idyllic snow scenes, plan B headed on a different track: to capture the underbelly effects of the weather rather than the artistic gifts.

Click on the “stuck truck” for more snow pictures and stories.

Before we go much further with this epistle, we exhort you to click and go to the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com and see 11 other snow pictures captured on this trip including the “stuck truck” you see in the thumbnail to the left. This is where our story started.

On to the levee

After we left the yellow bug, we climbed the levee in four-wheel drive. We weren’t the first, but from the looks of the tracks we were second. We came across one of the small cattle herds one normally finds around LA levees.

As we approached the herd, this yearling had to check us out since her food normally arrives via truck. She is giving us the eye waiting for the action that did not come.

A few yards away, the balance of the herd was in the final throes of decimating a round bale of hay. When I stopped to shoot, they all stopped their munching to look my way. The red calf was the first to break away from the herd and come to the fence. The rest followed quickly. They were looking for “Daddy.”

Further down the levee we spotted this old “roofin’ arn” building, probably an old feed bin or corn crib. If you look at the picture closely you’ll see that the galvanized roofing tacks are holding their gleam while the “roofin’ arn” is yielding to ferrous oxide (rust). Further examination reveals a previous firearm attack on the building.

Close examination of the gun shot damage to the building leads us to the conclusion that someone was “aggervated” with whomsoever owned the structure. The holes belie a point-blank series of shotgun blasts. The large hole was punched by the wadding and most of the shot, while the small holes were punched by the peripheral pellets of the main charge. The shots IMHO, indicate malevolent intent well implemented.

We descended from the levee and drove through the remnants of a 2014 vintage cornfield. The harvesting combine cuts the stalks, strips the leaves, and separates the detritus from the corn kernels. It spits the stalk, leaves, and cobs out the back and stores the kernels for later unloading. The bottom foot or so of the stalk is left standing. Soon, farmers will turn this field into a giant seed bed ready for 2015 spring planting.

We made tracks for US Highway 65 south of Pine Bluff. Along the way, we drove through the “Goatshed” community, an unincorporated hamlet of a few homes, barns, and tractor sheds. As its main aesthetic points, Goatshed can brag on this neat tree tunnel and a nice body of water. I say body of water because I am torn between lake and pond. Seems to me it’s too small to be a lake and too big to be a pond. I’m not losing any sleep over it. Legend has it that back in the day, bootleggers did a healthy business from Goatshed. There’s one way in and one way out. In those days, when a stranger approached, one would mysteriously hear a bell begin to toll.

We weren’t long on US Highway 65 when, from the southbound lane, I spotted a small herd of cattle munching on hay. Going across four lanes, I switched to the long lens and caught this calf who momentarily abandoned the lunch his mom provides to check me out.

We went south, past Tamo, Arkansas for a mile or so and turned back. I stopped on the south side of town to shoot this picture of Highway 65. The southbound lane, I’m guessing, was 95% covered with snow and ice. Not much better off, the northbound lane was at least 75% covered.

Help was on the way. Just north of Grady, Arkansas, an Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department crew was scraping the ice and snow at a rapid clip.

There you have it, the underbelly of a snow day shoot. Now you can go back to the idyllic scenes.

Thanks for looking.

Joe Dempsey,
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

It’s snowing in L.A.

Lower Arkansas gets big snow job

Two of these donkeys paid attention. The others mooned me.

While others prefer a recliner in front of a big screen TV with the crackling comfort of a nearby fireplace during a snow storm, I take the opposite tack. For me, it is time to get off one’s duff, grab the “kodak” and head out since L.A. (lower Arkansas) does not often get a snow like the one we had the last week of February 2015. There was about a six to seven inch accumulation. While I realize this is puny compared to what has been experienced in northern climes, around here, “it’s a biggun.” As a result, most folks hunker down after they have participated in the desperate run that empties most store shelves of bread and milk.

Click on the fence posts for more snow pix and stories.

That leaves the streets and most photographic snow covered target areas more or less abandoned, a desirable set of conditions for my purposes. It appeared that the storm would last around four hours or so which afforded plenty of time to run the best visual traps.

Our pictures are in two on-line locations. You can see the other pictures from this trip on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com. Take a look and we’ll still be here when you return.

These Texas Longnorn cattle live in the same pasture as the donkeys. I shot this later after the snow stopped.

Here’s big-daddy Longhorn giving us his opinion of this invasion of privacy.

Not far from the donkeys and longhorns, these Pine trees hang slightly over the road. The snow was falling hard when I shot this.

These snow covered trees on the road to the donkeys are shall we say “bleak beauty?”

This locomotive pulls its load through the city during the snow. It takes more than a few snowflakes to stop a train.

Preferred squirrel

In the next five pictures a fox squirrel with whom we share residential space descends from his tree, retrieves an acorn and munches out. He repeated the munch-out procedure on a number of acorns.  My spousal unit provides our squirrels and birds with seed on a regular basis and this particular squirrel has become friendly in the process. He has achieved “preferred squirrel” status.

OK, the coast is clear

He’s on the trail of an acorn.

The boy finds his acorn.

“Dear Lord please let me find another acorn.”

“My prayers are answered.”

There you have it. You have ventured forth into the bowels of a snowstorm without leaving the comfort of your home or office. It’s a cold, wet job that I will gladly do for you again when afforded the opportunity.

See all 30 pictures from our Snow Day in LA shoot in our Snow in LA Gallery.

Thanks for looking.

Joe Dempsey,
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html