Midland/Odessa Archives - Page 4 of 16

Back Yard Wildlife

Fox footage. No, not that FOX; this one’s better.

We didn’t exactly get a blizzard in Midland (although parts of West Texas did get just that), but it was nice to wake up to a snow-covered view on our day off. I suspect that the back yard horny toad – who, by the way, is attracting way more coverage lately than he merits –… Continue reading New Year Snow

A Damp Tour Through the Neighborhood

I’m pretty sure we’re setting some kind of rainfall record in Midland, Texas today. While it’s not unusual to have monsoonal downpours in September, it’s been years since we’ve actually experienced one. I’m of the opinion that, except for reasons of bereavement or illness, there’s no such thing as a bad day off, especially in… Continue reading A Damp Tour Through the Neighborhood

Tall City Bluesfest: Doing Midland Proud

Midland’s blues festival is off to a terrific start.

Photographic Perspective

The greatest aspect of digital photography is the way it reintroduced the concept of play in picture-taking. When you don’t have to worry about the cost of film or development, it frees you up to just have fun, and to experiment with different techniques. I don’t do it nearly often enough, but one of the… Continue reading Photographic Perspective

Action at the Hummingbird Feeder

I put the video camera on a tripod and trained it on one of the hummingbird feeders on our back porch, and then edited the two-hour recording into the following “best of” video, slowed to 50% to give a better perspective on bird behavior. Think of it as a soothing screen saver – perhaps not… Continue reading Action at the Hummingbird Feeder

The Stupidity Cycle Pedals Onward

I don’t know why I waste my time reading Facebook comments (other than those left on my own posts; all of my friends are consistently intelligent and full of grace). The level of sheer stupidity and/or cluelessness is enough to make one weep for the future of our society. But, like a moth drawn to… Continue reading The Stupidity Cycle Pedals Onward

Barreling Along

We finally broke down and bought a rain barrel. OK, I broke down; Debbie had been advocating for it for a long time. I didn’t want a big honking ugly contraption sitting in our yard, and what I’d seen seemed awfully expensive. But we ran across one at Home Depot for $99 – about half… Continue reading Barreling Along

Scary Prairie

According to The Weather Channel, the temperature in Midland today will hit 105° In recognition of this dubious achievement, I offer the following. If my lawn is already looking like this, imagine what August is going to bring. OK, just kidding (sort of). This is an overly bleak perspective of the grass the developers planted… Continue reading Scary Prairie