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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Our Little Corner of the World...


While the police department was working hard in town...


The fire department...


...aided by the Forestry Fire Department...


held canoe races all day on Saturday!!!
There were hamburgers, hot dogs, sno cones, and a fair amount of beer...


And wet dogs...one of whom snagged a burger...


"Awwww P-O-P!!!!  But that burger REALLY smelled good...and it was right there...
Annnnnnd....can't I P-L-E-A-S-E run around with the other dogs off leash???"


Then, of course, there were the canoe races....


...with a fair amount of pushing and shoving and capsizing...


The leaders of the pack...


And the winner is....!!!

The Firemen's canoe races is a fundraiser for the all volunteer
fire department of Mammoth Lakes...


Click here for more participants in Our World Tuesday...





Monday, July 30, 2012

A Wet Dog...


 ...is a Happy Dog!



"The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog."
Ambrose Bierce


For more participants in Macro Monday...click here for Lisa's Chaos!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Salt of the Earth...




"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

It sounded like the folks swimming were from the Netherlands...
all I know is their skin is probably still soaking up the lotion!!!

Mono Lake is more than 2  1/2 times saltier than the ocean!!!


Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Edge of Dreams...





"What orbit of the planets has put you and me in this place, 
at this moment?
Where time takes a breath, 
and we dance on the edge of our dreams?"
unkown


Friday, July 27, 2012

Howling at the Moon...



"Generally speaking, a howling wilderness does not howl:
it is the imagination of the traveler that does the howling."
Henry David Thoreau

(Do you see the wolf howling at the moon?
But then again, I still say the tufa look like the moon or a sci fi planet!!!)




Thursday, July 26, 2012

Travelers...



Over all, while working Mono Lake, I've met more folks travelling from 
Germany than anywhere else...
Of course, I had to tell them that my mom's parents immigrated
from Switzerland in the early 1900's...
I'm not sure that they were all that impressed, but it did spark some
conversation!!!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Ever Been to Bodie Mike's???




Bodie Mike's is a great little barbecue spot on Highway 395
in Lee Vining, overlooking Mono Lake...

Try the tri-tip sandwich...and don't forget the jalapeno rings!!!



Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Our Little Corner of the World...





"Life is full of beauty.  Notice it.  
Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces.
Smell the rain, and feel the wind.
Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams."
Ashley Smith

Just another day driving home..."chasing the light"!!!









Monday, July 23, 2012

Need to Break a Few Chains???




"Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken."
Warren Buffett


If you're in the LA area and want to break through a few chains in 
your photography...
Check out one of Ibarionex Perello's
Photography Workshops!!!

Yep...another shameless plug!!!

This photo is one I shot during his workshop on Saturday...


For more participants in Lisa's Chaos Macro Monday...click here!


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Chasing the Light...





I've been down south these past few days...
getting caught up on a few things like hair and doctor appointments...
I also got to visit with my cousin and his daughter (though she wasn't feeling too well). 
But the main reason I scheduled everything for this past week
was because I had the opportunity to go to
Chasing the Light...
a photography workshop by

Held in downtown LA...it was a hands on seminar...
with opportunities to shoot, show, and critique...
exploring the concepts we were learning throughout the day!

If you're in the LA area...and thinking about expanding your photography skills...
check it out!!!

And if you're not in the area...
check out his book and dvd!!!



Saturday, July 21, 2012


The Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite National Park, California

Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the Ahwahnee Hotel opened in 1927...
and has been flourishing ever since!

Quite a number of famous guests have had the pleasure of staying
in this fabulous hotel including:
Queen Elizabeth II, Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, Lucille Ball, Will Rogers,
Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan
and of course...Ansel Adams!!!

A lesser known fact about the hotel is that in 1943, the US Navy converted
the hotel into a convalescent hospital for war veterans.

In addition, Stanley Kubrick modeled the hotel in his movie The Shining.
Footage of the hotel was also included in The Caine Mutiny
and Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day.

For more participants in The Weekend in Black and White, click here...



Friday, July 20, 2012

A Tree Against the Sky...




"A tree against the sky possesses the same interest, the same character,
the same expression as the figure of a human."
Georges Rouault




(I'm taking a bit of a break and will be commenting sporadically for the next few days...)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

For everything there is a season...




"And when the day arrives I'll become the sky and 
I'll become the sea and the sea will come to kiss me
for I am going home.  
Nothing can stop me now.
Trent Reznor

This past week, the town of Mammoth Lakes lost two of it's 
long time and beloved residents...

Ellie Randol      Skip Harvey

 They will be missed...


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Psychedelic Evolution???




"It's time to move on to the next step in the psychedelic revolution.
We've reached a certain point, but we're not moving any more."
Ken Kesey

Somehow, I don't think whoever owns this has moved on to the next step...



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Our Little Corner of the World...


Ok...sooo do you REALLY 
want to see the highlight of our 
Little Corner of the World???


Addison Bailey was proud to grace with her presence,  the 
Campbell Cup for the Western Division Championship
of National Hockey...
but then...


She made herself quite comfortable in the one and only...Stanley Cup!!!
Yep...the one and only, numero uno, honor of the year for the greatest hockey team...
The LA Kings!!!
(and of course, daddy, who just happens to be an integral part of the 
LA Kings organization)


She's a rather happy fan!!!


But, then again, she's a pretty happy kid...


And certainly a heartbreaker in the making!!!

All photos were taken by her mama...
Melissa Watson Smith!!!





Monday, July 16, 2012

#1 Blogging Assistant...



Sadie is my number one blogging assistant...
Sometimes sitting on the desk tracking what I've posted...
More frequently draped across my lap like a blanket...

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Thunderclouds....



Thunder clouds over Bishop California

"We can never have enough of nature.  We must be refreshed by the sight of 
inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-coast with it's wrecks,
 the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, 
the thunder-cloud and the rain."
Henry David Thoreau


Oops!  This is my first Sunday Stills post...and I didn't realize the plan was
to post two of the past challenges...

My first was clouds...
and now my next is from my archives...for blue...



Friday, July 13, 2012

A Universe on Fire...



"Even if there is only one possible unified theory,
it is just a set of rules and equations.
What is it that breathes fire into equations
and makes a universe for them to describe?"
Stephen Hawking





Thursday, July 12, 2012

Let There Be Light...




"It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion
to a person who has never experienced it
than we can explain light to the blind."
T.S. Elliot

What is your passion???




Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Golden Hour...




"But what minutes!  Count them by sensation, and not by calendars,
and each moment is a day."
Benjamin Disraeli


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Our Little Corner of the World...



"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown,
for going out, I found, was really going in."
John Muir


One of the things that I love the most about the Eastern Sierras
is the ruggedness of the mountains...
We're a combination of high desert and an absolutely
sublime mountain range...


For more participants in Our World Tuesday...



Monday, July 9, 2012

A Little Nip and Tuck...




"People from a planet without flowers would think we must be
mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us."
Iris Murdoch





Just a few nips and tucks on one of my earliest "practice photos"
from my first digital slr...


For more participants in Macro Monday...click on over to Lisa's Chaos....

And click here for Macro Monochrome...click here!!!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Feeling a bit hot???


Need to cool off???


Just thought I'd post the photo I donated today to the
Mammoth Schools NOW Education Foundation for the  
Mammoth Food and Wine Festival!!!

Hope you have a cool weekend!!!





Friday, July 6, 2012

Full Moon Rising...



full moon over Mono Lake, Califonia


"For most people we often marvel at the beauty of a sunrise
 or the magnificence of a full moon,
but it is impossible to fathom the magnitude of the universe that surrounds us."
Richard H. Baker







Thursday, July 5, 2012

It's a Parade!!!




Diego...hands down...the star of the parade...


Kelly...proud surrogate mom of Diego...


Getting into position...


Definitely a hot entry!!!


We were part of the Corvette brigade...
nope, this isn't the one we were in!


Kelly sat in the well in front of me...Diego on driver Joanne's lap...
and Olympian  Robyn Morning on the bac...


A parade's eye view!!!


Yep...you guessed it...the Trojan Horse comes to Mammoth!!!


After some of the budget cuts, the fire department had to downsize...


Everyone who's anyone was in the parade...if not...they were
watching!!!


What's better after a parade than a free concert in the park???


Everybody got into the spirit of the day...


Even Kelly!!!


Kelly really stepped into her surrogate mom role today...
after the concert in the park, Kelly and Diego approached a couple
of GoldenDoodles...they became aggressive and charged Kelly and Diego...
Diego scooted back to Kelly and positioned himself under her belly...
Kelly simply stood there and said "Really???  You're going 
to go after my kid here???"
The Golden Doodles backed off and all was well.  
Sorry to say there were no pics...it all happened too fast!!!