First I Am Dad

Ha!

2009-09-15T00:06:00.004-06:00

I have no idea what this is or where it came from. It was in my folder of cell phone pictures.

Update: When viewed in my photo organizing software this was an animated gif. Something was lost in the update. Much bigger Ha when it was animated.

All Smiles

2009-09-14T01:16:00.002-06:00

I know it's washed out but I've always like this picture of Jacob from September 2006.

Pwn

2009-08-02T14:25:00.004-06:00

A picture of me kicking the BBQ grill's ass last night. The veggies were superb, the carne asada was awesome, and the tri-tip roast was possibly the single best thing I have ever prepared on a BBQ. AWESOME.

Update: Technically I guess this is a picture of the BBQ getting it's ass kicked by me. My wording above makes it sound like I should be in the photo.

Teaser

2009-07-24T01:21:00.000-06:00

A photo from my Yellowstone trip this past weekend. Alas, this picture was not taken in Yellowstone. This shot is from Beaver Dick park near Rexburg, Idaho.

Canal Series

2009-07-03T00:26:00.000-06:00

I love taking pictures of canals.

Pond Side

2009-06-30T00:26:00.004-06:00

Caught this scene at sunset about six weeks ago when I was on my way home from work. Stopped for about half an hour to listen to the bullfrogs croak while thunder boomed in the distance. Left feeling a lot better than I did when I got there.

Looks better larger.

Eastern Idaho

2009-06-28T12:18:00.005-06:00

We have made a trip east the past few summers for Josh's baseball games in the Rexburg and Idaho Falls area. Last summer was no exception.

We started our trip by taking in a minor league baseball game. Melaleuca Field, home of the Idaho Falls Chukars, is great and the mid-summer weather is almost always perfect for baseball.

On this particular trip we did not intend to camp. I did not have a hotel reservation but I didn't think it would be a problem in Idaho Falls in the middle of the summer. I was wrong. After the game, and some time spent trying to find a room, I had to make a midnight run to Wal-Mart for a tent and sleeping bags for four.

In the morning we drove on up to St. Anthony for Josh's double header. Afterwards we visited the St. Anthony Sand Dunes. The dunes are amazing and I would recommend checking them out to anyone visiting eastern Idaho.

Of course no visit to the east side of the state is complete without a stop at Beaver Dick Park. It's a short drive from the Dunes and always worth the visit.

Mostly because it is a beautiful place. Not long after I took the shot below a moose crossed the river from the left. She was a bit far away and it was too dark for a picture with the cell phone.

And, of course, Jake loves it.

Corn Update

2009-05-31T11:29:00.002-06:00

Corn on the home place as of May 28th. By August this will be twelve feet tall or more. You know the old saying about knee-high on the fourth of July? If all goes well I expect this field to be chest-high by the fourth of July. I'll keep you updated.

Idaho

2009-05-30T18:41:00.003-06:00

Idaho. We are known for nothing if not Potatoes. Both pics are of the same potato field. The one above taken May 28, 2009 and the one below on April 16, 2009, the day after a spring snow.

Canal Series

2009-05-27T23:16:00.005-06:00

I love taking pictures of canals. Living and farming in the desert, canals are our life-blood. Without water this place is nothing but sagebrush and jack rabbits. Our annual precipitation is less than 12" and most of that comes in the winter months. In the summer we average far below 1" per month. Not enough to grow any crop or even support livestock.

The first picture was taken May 5, 2009. The second was taken May 9, 2007. Same canal, same check, four days short of two years apart. Different ball.

Grilling Tragedy

2009-05-27T01:09:00.006-06:00

Last night while grilling, a hummingbird moth swooped down on the BBQ, fell right into the flame, and burned to nothing. The whole thing took less than a second. I'm a fan of the hummingbird moth so I hated to see it happen. They like to hang out around my columbine and I like to watch them. Below I have moved a post from my old Yahoo! 360 blog from a few years back. Enjoy.

*Update: The old link to the picture from Yahoo! 360 wasn't working for all so I reposted it. Should work now. Also just realized that this original blog post was from three years ago today. Here is a link to the orginal blog entry.

Entry for May 27, 2006

The other day I was doing some yard work in the evening and just when I was about to go in the house for the night I spotted what I thought were twohummingbird moths cavorting in my columbine. It turns out they were more likely White-Lined Sphinx Moths or Hyles Lineata. I took about 15 pictures of them. This is one of the best.

LeDoux

2009-05-26T01:17:00.000-06:00

Spotted this on the back of a Jeep Cherokee parked in a Golden Corral parking lot. I loves me some Chris LeDoux so I had to share.
If you are wondering what I was doing in a Golden Corral parking lot, Jake was in charge of dinner that night. It's not often the eleven year old in the family gets to call the shots.

Don't Mix Indeed

2009-05-11T00:42:00.002-06:00

Don't know what it is. In fact, I've never heard of the L K Corral. Went down a road I don't regularly drive and there was the sign. I'm sure it wasn't there the last time I was on that road, which had to be within the past year. However, seemed like good advice, so here's the pic.

Dairyland Fun

2009-05-01T00:14:00.004-06:00

Composting manure. We have lots of that around here. Lots and lots and lots.

Tractoring at Sunset

2009-04-24T13:16:00.001-06:00

Tractoring at Sunset, originally uploaded by thejesse.

I took this pic two days ago shortly before sunset. A thunderstorm had just passed and the sun came out for a bit before setting. The lighting was amazing and I was wishing I could be out taking pictures instead of working ground. Settled for this instead.

The temperature that day was in the low 80s. It snowed this morning and the expected high is about 55 degrees. April.

Sometimes it Snows in April

2009-04-20T01:15:00.006-06:00

I took both of these pictures on Wednesday April 15, 2009. The first on my way to work in the morning. The second later in the day when I went to change a flat tire, from the previous day, on the disk in the picture.

Snow storms are not completely out of the ordinary for April (see here and here) but they always seem odd. Especially when it is seventy degrees within a few days. And it is supposed to be in the eighties by Tuesday, less

that a week after this storm. Crazy. That is April weather in Idaho.

Update: The song that inspired the title of this post.

Sometimes It Snows In April - ...

The Lions

2009-04-09T23:32:00.003-06:00

Took this last spring. We are not quite to this point yet but the dandelions will be coming out soon. This is on an irrigation road through the middle of a hay field.

Keep Telling Yourself That

2009-04-05T13:26:00.004-06:00

I keep telling myself I'm going to become a regular blogger again. For the first couple years after I started photo blogging I was pretty good at regular posting, managing to average one about every two days. The decline started not too long after I moved my blog here to Blogger. And it's not just blogging either. I also used to publish lots of pictures to flickr.com too but I don't do much of that anymore either.

It seems the seems to be that I now consume more content than I create whereas the opposite used to be true. I keep trying to reverse the trend but without success. The ironic thing is, I think I am really happier when creating rather than consuming. I guess consuming is just easier and, of course, there is the whole compulsive component to consumption too.

Meanwhile my pictures just keep piling up waiting to be shared with someone. When I started out my goal was to post on my blog at least every other day and I was mostly successful at it for quite some time. Lately, after more than a year falling way, way short, I have lowered my target to once a week. Still not reaching that goal. Perhaps publicly stating that goal will help me achieve it. Once a week. Shooting for Thursdays but any day will do.

Go.

The picture is me tractoring at sunset.

My Little Rainman

2009-03-19T21:37:00.005-06:00

This picture is from May last year. Jake was ten. When I look at this picture I see my little boy becoming a tween. And I guess that makes me more than a little sad. Life is difficult for an autistic, even someone high functioning like Jake. He has always face life's difficulties with that smile but I don't see it as much these days and fear I will see it less in years to come. I suspect that his teen years will be especially difficult as he struggles to adjust to the changing social rules of his peers. The truth is, a large part of me wishes he would stay a little boy forever. That way I could always look over and protect him. I guess a lot of parents go through this but I didn't really feel this way with the older boys so it's new to me.

Keep smiling, Bubber. You are still my hero.

I Believe

2009-03-14T12:03:00.003-06:00

In 2006 I blogged about things I believe. Lately I have really been enjoying "I Believe in You" by Don Williams. I have always liked the song but recently have been struck by how the song is just as true today as it was 30 years ago. I could have easily written a blog post of things I believe that did not stray from the song If I hadn't been beaten to the punch by a few decades.

For your listening pleasure Don Williams - I Believe in You. Enjoy it and believe it.

I Believe In You - Don William...

And Lyrics:

I don't believe in superstars,
Organic food and foreign cars.
I don't believe the price of gold;
The certainty of growing old.
That right is right and left is wrong,
That north and south can't get along.
That east is east and west is west.
And being first is always best.

But I believe in love.
I believe in babies.
I believe in Mom and Dad.
And I believe in you.

Well, I don't believe that heaven waits,
For only those who congregate.
I like to think of God as love:
He's down below, He's up above.
He's watching people everywhere.
He knows who does and doesn't care.
And I'm an ordinary man,
Sometimes I wonder who I am.

But I believe in love.
I believe in music.
I believe in magic.
And I believe in you.

Well, I know with all my certainty,
What's going on with you and me,
Is a good thing.
It's true, I believe in you.

I don't believe virginity,
Is as common as it used to be.
In working days and sleeping nights,
That black is black and white is white.
That Superman and Robin Hood,
Are still alive in Hollywood.
That gasoline's in short supply,
The rising cost of getting by.

But I believe in love.
I believe in old folks.
I believe in children.
I believe in you.

But I believe in love.
I believe in babies.
I believe in Mom and Dad.
And I believe in you.

Some Easy Cow Blogging

2009-03-10T09:17:00.001-06:00

Some Easy Cow Blogging, originally uploaded by thejesse.

Breakfast time on dreary March morning.

Mystery Post

2009-03-01T23:12:00.002-07:00

I took this picture in June of 2007 and just stumbled across the file tonight. I know I took it for a reason. The problem is I can't for the life of me remember what that reason was. So, I'm turning it over to the Internet to tell me why I took it. Go.

Hey, where did my phone... whoops.

2009-02-15T12:11:00.004-07:00

Found this Motorola LCD in a load of rolled grain we had delivered recently. I'm guessing someone is a bit disappointed.

Hey, Goat!

2009-02-14T12:12:00.002-07:00

Oh wow, it's been a long time since I've had anything to add to the Roadside Animal collection. Jake and I discovered this group last weekend when we went out to do some bird watching. It would have been a successful day if all we saw were these goats but we also saw bald eagles, geese, ducks (several different varieties) , swans, a red-tail hawk, a small unidentified hawk, woodpeckers, and some very cool looking draft horses. It was a great afternoon.

Bird on a Wire

2009-01-21T15:04:00.001-07:00

Bird on a Wire, originally uploaded by thejesse.

Err, frost on a wire. This is an otherwise smooth wire from a temporary fence. Today is, I think, the 8th day of a local temperature inversion. We have had fog every day with an hour or two of sunshine on a few days. It has resulted in a lot of frost-covered objects.