I'm moving again

Last time I moved, I hadn't posted in 9 months.  This time it's been 16 months.  Not saying it's going to be any better this time around, but a couple of things have changed in my life and I'm going to try to be more active.

Anyway, please follow me over to Webfoot Wanderings and we'll where that one takes us.

Favorite photo of the week

One of the things I'm thinking about doing, starting with this post is to put up, what I think, is the best photo that I posted to Dogz on Walkz this past week.  There are quite a few that I have really liked, but I just like the look of this beagle called Obi.

I could get used to this

Last month, I posted about Jaxson, who ended up being my third photo at Flickr to make In Explore.  As of this writing, he has over 1,000 views on Flickr and 33 faves.  Not bad numbers in reality, that is until today.

I came home from work and started processing photos for my next two shots on Dogz on Walkz.  Once I was done, I uploaded them to Flickr and discovered that my photo of Colt, the Belgian Malinois that I posted to Flickr last night had in invitation to join In Explore.  Not only that, he has over 3,000 views and 69 faves as of this writing.  Not bad for an iPhone shot I took as I was leaving a burger place down in Irvine.  

I'm still not sure why some of my shots seem to do so well and others don't.  If push came to shove, I'd say I have at least half a dozen shots that I think are technically better than this one.  Still, I could get used to it.  It's fun seeing your photo in that "best liked" gallery.

Changing equipment

For the past 30 years or so, I've been using either Minolta or Sony cameras.  My wife bought me a Minolta Maxxum SLR just about the time we got married and I used that camera for the longest time.  I liked the zoom lens on it and it focused quickly, which was very important to me. So when it started slowing down and showing wear and tear, I felt it was time to move into the digital age and get a DSLR.

I went back and forth between different brands, but what ended up swaying me to Sony at the time was the mounts for the lenses were the same as with Minolta.  It made sense since Sony had bought Minolta.  I figured if I bought a Sony camera, I'd end up being able to use the lenses from my Minolta with that.

I ended up at a camera store in Pasadena where I looked at the Sony Alpha 100 and ended up purchasing that with a nice zoom lens.  The guy who sold it to me said, I'd probably never use the Minolta lens, because the lens that came with my Sony was better and covered more ground, and he was absolutely right.  

I used that camera a lot over the years, but I've noticed, especially recently, that the lens and camera were moving much slower.  Auto focusing was becoming much slower to achieve and with me recently taking a lot more shots of moving subjects (Dogz on Walkz), I felt it was time to start exploring the possibility of getting a new camera.

So this week, I went out and went an entirely different way this way, opting to walk away from the Sony brand and look at other models.  Eventually, I settled on a Canon Eos 80D and I must say, I'm very pleased with it so far.  The auto focus on the camera is incredibly responsive and so far, the only problem I actually had focusing on my subject was the photo of the pyracantha berries I posted to this entry.  With so many berries in the shot, the camera had problems staying sharply in focus on any one particular berry, but eventually I was able to see what it was showing me in the viewfinder and I got the shot I wanted.

I'm hoping to have a long and happy relationship with this camera.  I expect this one will go with me on many travel adventures and family outings.  So far, I've only used the wide angle lens with the camera, so I'm looking forward to getting out to use the telephoto lens.  In the meantime, enjoy these two shots that were taken with the new camera.

Attracting crowds

Sometimes, all it takes is a dog to attract a crowd.

It's not all dogs

Last Sunday I wanted to do a hike up in the foothills, but the city of Claremont decided, due to the wind, to close Claremont Hills Wilderness Park (CHWP) down, because of possible fire danger.  I get it, but when connecting trails, both east and west of the park are open, it kind of defeats the purpose of keeping people out because you think a fire might start. 

So instead, I just decided to walk the Thompson Creek Trail, starting at Higgenbotham Park and walking all the way up to Mills to the parking area for the CHWP and then back down again all the way to Towne and then back to the park where my Jeep was parked.  

It was a good decision, as the dogs were out in force that day and I got many good dog photos that haven't even seen the light of day on my Instagram Dogz on Walkz account yet, but will in the near future.  But I also got a pretty good shot of this acorn woodpecker on a sycamore tree just off the bike path near Mountain Ave.  This one looks to be a juvenile, but the red cap is very obvious in this shot.  

So, needless to say, this is not going to always be about dogs.

Side effects

Whenever you take a new medicine, you usually have to worry about possible side effects.  This is also pretty much true when you try something new.  Running?  You're feet and legs are going to ache for awhile until you build up some stamina.  Ice skating?  You're going to fall until you become decent and then you'll still fall.  Yoga?  Yeah, I'm just not flexible enough to even attempt that one, but I'm sure others can tell you about some of the side effects there.

So why am I writing about side effects?  Well, I've encountered my own side effect from going out and deliberately talking to dogs and taking their photos.  Dog slobber.  Who knew that many different kinds of dogs could slobber so much?  I knew some dogs slobber, case in point, this bulldog I captured a couple of years ago.  

Today, I ended up walking along the Thompson Creek Trail, mainly because the foothill trails had been closed down by the city due to the winds and possible fire danger.  So I walked the bike trail and got lots of dog photos. And I also got lots of dog slobber too.  But it's the best kind of slobber, so I guess this is just a inconvenient side effect.

Explore

Every now and then, I'll post an image and not really think anything of it, that is until I get home the next day and I've seen all the faves the photo generates.  I regularly post to Flickr and they have a category called Explore.  Basically, it's the best photos that people post over there and it's by invitation only.  

The invitations are sent out to photographers after a photograph has reached either a certain threshold of faves, or comments or some such, as there seems to be no way of really knowing how many you really need, as I suspect they probably think that you might "stuff" the ballot boxes if you knew.  They also block you from getting back into Explore for a certain period of time afterward so that others can be seen without you becoming a dominant factor.

Up until today, I've two other photos in Explore.  My Death Valley photo, that I took in the spring of 2015 was the first.  I even blogged about that experience here.  That photo has almost 8000 views and 98 faves.  Interestingly, it used to have 99, but I guess someone decided they didn't like it quite as much as they previously thought.  The second photo that made it to Explore was a photo I took this summer in Yellowstone National Park of the Grand Prismatic Spring.

And now I have a third.  Jaxson, the Weimaraner is now in Explore.  If you click this link and hurry, you might see Jaxson near the top, but as new photos get added, he'll move further down and out of site, but even if you don't find him, check out some of the spectacular photos there.  You won't be disappointed.

Dogz and horses on walkz

Every now and then when you're out geocaching, you see some pretty interesting sites.  The nice thing about where I live is it's only a 30 minute drive to get to the desert, or the beach.  For this shot, it was obviously, the desert.  And the nice thing about the desert is the wide open spaces.  Once you get out of any town, you have some pretty scenic vistas.

Several years ago, I was out taking some shots of the mountains with Joshua Trees in the foreground, when I heard these two guys conversing on horseback.  One of their dogs came up to greet me, giving my hand a lick. We exchanged pleasantries and then they rode off and I took some photos of them as they rode away from me.

It literally wasn't until I looked at the shot on my computer screen that I realized the guy on the right was packing.  The way this scene played out, I just felt this one needed a slight sepia treatment to it to give it an "Old West" feel to it.  And the only thing that really gives this away is the guy on the left is wearing sneakers.  Otherwise, it could be something form the 1800s.

Comments would be appreciated.  Thanks for stopping by.

Dogz on Walkz

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't posted much on here.  In fact, I haven't posted anything since late June of last year.  Life has happened, repeatedly in a variety of ways.  But I've had many adventures since June and I could have written a lot, but I just haven't.

And so I'm starting fresh again.  My daughter suggested something to me last week that grabbed ahold of me and sort of kindled a spark in me.  We talked and laughed about it, but then I started thinking and realized that I could really get into this.  And so, Dogz on Walkz was born.

I decided that if I was going to do this up right I wanted to get a good Instagram feed going, so I went through all of my past photos and found as many Dogz on Walkz photos that I could find.  Then I created the Facebook page and the Instagram page and now I'm trying to post a new photo every day of a dog I encounter on my hikes and walks.  After all, the title of this blog is a Photo a day, so why not get back into it.  I even decided to re-join 365 Project as Dogz on Walkz.  And so it goes.

I also practiced first.  I decided that on my walk/hike on Saturday of last weekend, I'd just greet every dog that walked by just to get a feel for it.  I didn't bring my camera, although I had my phone with me, so I could have taken shots with that if need be, but I just wanted to practice that day.  Sunday would be different.

On Sunday, I literally picked up my camera for the first time this year.  I can't even remember the last time I used it, maybe this summer when I was on vacation?  It's become so easy just to pull the phone out and take a photo on that, that I'd forgotten how I used to enjoy taking photos.  One of the first things I noticed was how heavy the camera is.  That will take some getting used to again, but it didn't take long for me to get back into photographer mode.

The first dog I met on the trail that day was Annie, pictured her.  She's only 7 months old and according to her people friend, she's a Pit Bull/Boxer mix and was a rescue dog.  Annie was so thrilled for pets from me that when I sat down to take photos, she jumped into my lap and schmooosed the front of my camera, a fact that I didn't even noticed until after I left her and her people friend.  Then I noticed all the dog drool on the front of my lens.  Nothing like dog slobber to really get a lens nice and clean right?

So this is my attempt at really doing a photo a day for this blog.  Sometimes, it might just be the daily dog photo, but I'm going to try this again.  Wish me luck.

As always, any comments, words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated.  Please like our page on Facebook.  Also, please follow us in Instagram.  Tell all of your dog loving friends to follow us in Instagram as well.

Can of Corn Challenge: Best Baseball Movie (June)

There have been a lot of baseball movies made over the years and picking a best baseball movie is subjective, at best, as everyone has their favorite.  Did you like Sandlot or Pride of the Yankees?  Bang the Drum Slowly comes up a lot in discussion.

In my mind, I consider Bull Durham to be the best baseball movie. I really can't put my finger on it, but I think it comes as close as possible to revealing the inner workings of how professional baseball players actually tick.  Pride of the Yankees was too sanitized and Sandlot does a good job at showing baseball from a kids point of view, but for my money, I could watch Bull Durham over and over again, probably because it's more than just about baseball.  And because I played catcher in Little League and the star, Kevin Costner, plays the catcher in the movie didn't hurt its chances as the best baseball movie ever. 

It's one of the few movies where I have multiple scenes etched in my brain, perhaps because I saw it twice in the theaters. Any time I see it playing, which is infrequently unless I'm traveling and staying in a motel that has cable, I'll watch it.  I really just enjoy the movie.  Yes, it's definitely not a kid's movie and if you have an aversion to course language, I would advise not watching it, but I really don't think you can go wrong with seeing this movie, if you are a baseball fan.

"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball,  high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap.  I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.  I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter.  I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep soft, wet kisses that last three days."

"You're gonna have to learn your clichés.  You're going to have to study them, you're gonna have to know them.  They're your friends.  Write this down: 'We gotta play it one day at a time.'"

"This son of a bitch is throwing a two-hit shutout. He's shaking me off.  You believe that shit?  Charlie, here comes the deuce.  And when you speak of me, speak well."

"Man that ball got outta here in a hurry.  I mean anything travels that far ought have a damn stewardess it, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I was in the show.  I was in the show for 21 days once - the 21 greatest days of my life.  You know, you never handle your luggage in the show, somebody else carries your bags.  It was great.  You hit white balls for batting practice, the ballparks are like cathedrals, the hotels all have room service, and the women all have long legs and brains."

And, I'll leave you with this:

The photo is from the recreation yard at Alcatraz Island which I took a couple of weeks ago.

Can of Corn Challenge: Swing and a miss (May)

Well, this month's challenge snuck up on me.  I blame the end of the year for my lack of activity on all fronts.  Let's face it.  It just gets plain busy at the end of the school year and time is at a premium. So this post is a basic Swing and a Miss.  

Here's a shot I took in 2013 when my daughter took me to a baseball game at Anaheim Stadium to see my beloved Angels take on the Seattle Mariners.  If I remember correctly, the Angels won, so I went home a happy camper.

Can of Corn Challenge: An early baseball memory (April)

P.J. has convinced me, or probably like tricked me into another writing challenge.  He's done a good job, noting several times in the past that I seem to write more frequently when I have these challenges in front of me, so here goes.  This is a monthly challenge, to write about baseball.  Today's topic is an early baseball memory.

I grew up in Orange County, a suburb of Los Angeles.  Disneyland was only 6 years old when we moved to California.  The Lakers hadn't hit their stride yet and baseball was all about the Dodgers.  I listened to Vin Scully on the radio for Dodger baseball, but whenever we went to a game, it was always to Anaheim, to see the Angels play.  The stadium was close to home and we'd always see either Cleveland Indians or the Chicago White Sox.  

Anyway, we'd go to the game, pay a buck fifty to sit up in the upper deck by the left field foul pole and watch an Angel game.  Always the Chicago White Sox or the Cleveland Indians.  I hadn't really thought why, but I was fairly young, so as far as I knew, the only teams in the American League were the Angels, the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox.  I didn't know any different.

My first game that I can remember seeing, I saw catcher Tom Egan hit a two run homer for the Angels, then saw Andy Messersmith hit a solo shot.  Both homers cleared the left field fence and two lucky baseball fans went home with souvenirs that day.  I was shocked really.  In the past, listening to the games on the radio, I always assumed that the ball had to be thrown back on to the field so the players could keep playing.  Who knew?

From then on, I always brought a glove to the game.  We were always in the upper deck, so they never came up there, but I could still be an optimist.

Stalking Geocachers

Yesterday, I went on a hike and found 3 geocaches.  Here's a YouTube video I created for one of the caches I found yesterday.  Enjoy.

The right way to apologize

Too many times, I hear about, or see famous people step up to a microphone and "apologize" for some action that they've done recently.  Usually, it's because they engaged their mouths before their brains and said something incredibly stupid or insensitive.  Almost always, the apology ends with "I apologize if I have offended anyone."

What?  Doe that mean you don't apologize if you didn't offend someone?  That's just BS in my opinion.  A good apology has four steps:

Step 1: Express remorse.  Every apology needs to start with two magic words: "I'm sorry," or "I apologize."

Step 2: Admit responsibility.  Next, admit responsibility for your actions or behavior, and acknowledge what you did.

Step 3: Make amends.

Step 4: Promise that it won't happen again.

PricewaterhouseCoopers did a whopper of a mistake at last night's Oscars award ceremony when the wrong envelope was handed to Warren Beatty and the wrong winner was announced for Best Picture.  This is what PricewaterhouseCoopers did almost immediately after they discovered the mistake.  They issued an apology.

"We sincerely apologize to 'Moonlight,' 'La La Land,' Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture," read PwC's apology.

"The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected.  We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.  We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation," added the statement.

About the only thing this didn't address was the promise that it won't happen again.  But since they've been doing this for 83 years and this is really the first time this has happened due to an error on their part, I'm pretty sure that the "Promise it won't happen again" part is implied.

I wish more people, especially famous people who say stupid or insensitive things, would look at this real apology and actually apologize and mean it the next time they screw up.  Either that, or I'm going to have to stay offended all the time to make the apology real.  But, I really shouldn't have to do that.  If you screw up, apologize for it, admit responsibility, make amends for it and promise not to do it again.  PricewaterhouseCoopers knows how to apologize.  Others should follow their lead.

Goals for the year

This post, as are most things in my life it seems, is just a little bit late.  I got caught up in the 20 days of Chill challenge and really didn't think about posting something along this line for the month of January and here's now almost halfway through February.  But as one of my students said last year, "Better late than never."

Goals that I have for myself are as follows and they fall into two main categories:  Hobbies and Personal.  Interestingly, the main personal goal is tied up with my hobbies.  If I work on that one, the others will fall into place.

First off, let me talk about hobbies.  I went out geocaching today.  Big deal most of you will say, but what you don't realize is I've only  gone out geocaching four days in the entire month of February.  In other words, I've taken a step back, slightly.  Many of you might not know is I just completed a 601 consecutive day streak where I either found a cache or attended an event.  It stretched from June 1st, 2015 until January 21st of this year.  Sunday, the 22nd felt weird not to go caching, but it rained hard all day and I was able to use the rain as justification for me not going out and finding a cache that day.

I have other geocaching goals in mind, many of them most of you will probably find quite silly, but those particular goals keep me interested in the game.  My current goal is to get every date on the calendar filled in with 11 finds each.  Since I've been geocaching since 2001, you would think that I'd found at least 11 caches on every day of the year.  Not so.  There are certain time periods, notably the months of September and December, where I am busy doing other things and geocaching takes a back seat.  Since the consecutive day streak has ended however, I can now concentrate on filling in those dates.  This won't happen by the end of the year, since I already have a couple of dates in January and February that still need to be filled in 2018.  But, at least I can put a dent in that particular goal.

Since taking a step back, I've decided that I want to find more quality caches.  If I have to walk or hike to a cache, then I rate that higher quality-wise than if I just walk up to something and find it there.  That doesn't mean I'll change my entire caching habit, but I would like to work on that aspect.  Today was a perfect example of both aspects.  I went over to Whittier today to cache along a trail in the Arroyo Pescadero.  No such luck since the trails were closed due to the weather we've been having.  So I found some nearby caches in parks and along some streets and ended up over near another large park where the trails were open and I was able to find some good quality hiking caches.  It was like the best of both worlds.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I'd had a caching partner, but that doesn't always work out and I'd rather do a solo hike then sit at home because I don't have someone to go caching with.

Today also made me realize why I need to step back slightly from geocaching.  On the trail today, I saw two swallowtail butterflies flitting around each other, most likely in some kind of mating or territorial ritual.  And I didn't have my camera with me.  Two years ago, I always took my camera with me.  Now, it very rarely comes out of the camera bag.  I take photos with my iPhone, but those don't compare to the ones I post here.  That's also probably one of the reasons that I don't post as often here on my blog.  The blog's title is "A Photo a Day."  I really need to get out more and take photos again.  I discovered today, that I have missed taking photos. I think the consecutive day streak had something to do with that as well.  I was pretty much consumed with making sure I found at least one geocache, that I wasn't concerned about other things that I enjoyed doing and so photography fell by the wayside.  That's going to change this year.  I just need to strike a better balance between the two.  And a better balance between the two means, more photos and thus more posts here as well.  It's a win/win all the way around.

And lastly, but probably most importantly, is my personal goal:  Lose another 15 pounds by the end of the year.  I have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic.  This is not a good thing and I don't want to slide down that slippery slope and so losing weight is a very good option for me to help me avoid becoming diabetic.  In the past two years, I've lost 30 pounds.  Another 15 to 20 pounds will put me back at my college weight, which will be much healthier for me in the long run.  Hiking, and thus geocaching will help with this.  But if I can't find a geocache, then I can always walk the Thompson Creek Trail or the Claremont Wilderness loop.  A five mile hike is always good for the body and good for the soul.

Thanks for reading this. As always, I look forward to your comments.  

Dear Mr. Grossman

I met you in the summer of 1986, when my girlfriend took me to meet you and your wife.  Over the course of the last 31 years, I've known you by a variety of different names.  You were Mr. Grossman for about a day, possibly two, before you became Sherwin to me.  Less than a year later, you were Dad.  I had become part of your family by marrying your youngest daughter.  Within two years you had been renamed once again, the name that you kept for the rest of your life, Grandpa.

When we first met, you were a heavy smoker.  When your daughter became pregnant with your first grandchild, you started to cut back.  We had already outlawed you from smoking inside our house, so after a dinner you'd go outside to have your smoke.  Eventually, you decided that you wanted to live longer to enjoy your grandchildren down the road, so you quit.  I'm very glad you made that decision, because you were able to enjoy your granddaughter for 27 years, and your two grandsons for 25 and 21 years.

I chose this photo of you because it's an awesome photo of you with your grandchildren.  You were one of the hardest individuals in the world to get a good smile out of.  My very last roll of film I ever took, I ended up shooting an entire roll of trying to get a good shot of you and Grandma together.  The first shot on the roll was the best and only one where you were really smiling.  This shot of you with the kids is the best I've got, but it's a good one and that's what counts.

Today, your daughter and I began the painful task of cleaning up a house after a loved one has left.  This was not a one day job, but just the first step.  However, you should know that I know, now more than ever, why your daughter is the way that she is.  You taught her very well and I hope you're very proud of that.  You have left a good legacy behind.  You were a very good father-in-law and if I can be half the father-in-law that you were, I will have to say that I have succeeded in that part of my life.

You leave behind two very loving daughters, three loving grandchildren, and one loving son-in-law.  You will be missed Grandpa.

Sherwin Grossman

March 7, 1930 - February 3, 2017

Sydney, Australia (Day 20) - 20 Days of Chill

"Go to the Uetibergbahn and get a ticket at Seinau station for the upper station.  From there, walk to the summit of Uetilberg.  You will know what to do once you get there."  That had been the last text message I received while on the plane after it had landed in Zurich.  I still had to find Herman, so I made my way to the Uetibergbahn and bought my ticket.

All the while, I kept thinking, why had Herman gotten me into this?  How had someone gotten into my house?  How had someone dognapped Herman from my back yard.  We had gotten Herman while we were on holiday in Sydney, Australia.  He was just a puppy, but we found him on a street corner along with several of his littermate as we had been walking around on the waterfront at Sydney Harbor.  The boy was trying to get rid of the dogs before he had to take them to a shelter.  My wife fell in love with Herman almost immediately, but then again, she fell in love with Jack the same way.  She saw Herman, he bounded over and put his paws on her pant legs and it was all over.  We had to have Herman.  And man, was that an adventure getting him home.  All the paperwork, just to bring a dog stateside.  

Now, however, Herman was a 130 pound German Shepherd that no one wanted to mess with if he was in his own territory.  On a walk, Herman was another story, the friendliest dog known to mankind.  But in the back yard, he'd rip an arm right off of someone who tried to come into the back yard without me giving an approving command to him.

I was startled out of my thoughts by the station conductor announcing the upper station.  I got off at the end of the line and started to make the walk to the summit.  You know, Herman would really like it here, I thought.  And that's when I saw him.  Herman was heading to me like a friend train.  BAM.  He hit me and knocked me over.  Now I was on the ground with him licking my face.  What the heck is going on here?  "Herman!  Good boy.  How did you get here?"

"Those questions will be answered in short order."

I looked over to my right and saw where the voice had come from.  Quickly, I was on my feet and running, with Herman beside me.  Then, Herman turned around, growled and charged the man, who had pulled a gun out of his pocket.

"Herman!  No!"

It was too late, the man shot and I saw Herman fall on his side.  Then the man looked at me, aimed and fired.

The next thing I heard was, "Did you hear what I said?  That's a really big tree."

Yep, is sure is," I said.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that there is a tree in California that had a branch that was larger than this entire tree.  It was at that point in time, that I realized that I needed to stop daydreaming so much and actually enjoy some of the adventures I'd been thinking about while standing on that rooftop in Philadelphia.

For the completion to others who took part in the 20 Days of Chill, please click here.

Popularity (Day 19) - 20 Days of Chill

I got nothing here, so just take a look at this.

For other stories of Popularity, click here.

White (Day 18) - 20 Days of Chill

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas.  No, I'm really not.  Although I was born in northern Indiana, I have only one recollection of snow back from those days, of building a snowman and then watching from inside the house as my dad knocked it down later.  My dad tells me of one time when I walked off the back porch and fell head first into a snow bank.  He reached down and pulled me out by the ankles.

So snow is white, but then again, a lot of things are, but how many of them are as cool as a beluga whale?  Polar Bears maybe, but I don't have a photograph of a polar bear, so a white whale will have to do for today.  But we won't call him Moby.  No.  Besides he has too nice of a smile to be Moby, although I can understand why Moby wasn't a happy camper.  I think you'd be unhappy too if someone was always trying to spear and kill you for no reason outside of wanting some of the oil in my nose.  Heck, just mine your own teenagers nose.  There's enough oil there to fuel an entire house for a year.

For more stories about White, click here.