This parent has just hatched two baby vultures. If you look closely, you can see the remnants of egg shells. As you may have read on my blog before, the Vulture family returns to this spot every year to increase their numbers. It is in a protected cove just outside a conference room with dusty windows. If you are quiet, you can watch and study the vultures behavior without disturbing them. Do you think the babies are cute?
Oh my! This field was so beautiful! I tiptoed around the edges, making sure not to squash any wildflowers. When I found a plant that was photo worthy, I dropped to the ground and put my little camera to work, getting grass stains on my knees. No flowers were harmed during the process. Then the sun began to fall in behind everything as the breezes started to die down. Bluebonnets are groovy, but the Indian Paintbrushes in this field were the best. Not to mention the friendly ladybug. 🙂
A big “thank you” to the person who planted this rose bush in our community garden at work! It was so relaxing to admire the pink roses in action after our morning rains provided them with some water. 🙂
There is everything else at SXSW, why not Tie Fighters and Storm Troopers?
Getting near the Presidential Motorcade is probably the closest I will ever get to President Obama. The Presidential Limo was looking pretty good today. It was reported that he stopped for some Torchy’s Tacos in South Austin on his way to the SXSW event at the Long Center. The crowds were out in force this afternoon, along with a few protesters and tons of security. There were police motorcycles, vehicles, horses, foot patrol, boats, and helicopters. President Obama then took off across an empty 1st Street Bridge on his way to the next event of the day.
In a post from June of last year, I praised Google Photos. I said it was good for backing up, organizing, and storing photos – and it still is! I recently read an article that said the editing process was pretty cool. I thought to myself, why would you use Google Photos to edit your photographs. There are so many other applications available. Oh well, why not give it a try? It is super easy. There are options in my Google Photos iPad App to fine tune, crop, rotate or add filters to your photos. Using the “Back to original” feature, you can easily revert to the original photo in case you don’t fall in love with your edits. What you see above is an edited shot from my walk along the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail in Austin last weekend. Below is the original photo. This will give you an idea of some of the fun you can have with their simple photo editing process. I suggest that you give it a try and see how you like it. 🙂
I just noticed this lighted cross today for the first time. It is a forty foot tall, free standing structure built by the New Hope Community Church. If you climb to the top of the hill, there is a great view of the City of Round Rock. Imagine the sunrises you could catch from here, looking East over the city. I may have to return early some morning.
The Round Rock ArtSpace had an art show this afternoon to celebrate Spring and New Beginnings. The intent was to celebrate “themes related to spring, growth, new beginnings and change”. I liked the art. My favorite piece below with the funky birds was called “Angel Garden” by Kristin Kim. The show inspired me to strike out on a walk around the local neighborhood as the sun was beginning to set. I just caught some new Springtime tree blossoms as the tree limbs were blowing in the wind with a beautiful sunset in the distance. I think this brief moment was on point with the celebration that ArtSpace had meant for us to enjoy.
I was in search of more wild parakeets today, but ran out of daylight before I could discover what I was looking for. Lucky for me, the Electric Garden was nearby. It has been a while since I walked the gravel path beneath these photogenic sculptures of steel. As the sun continued setting, I enjoyed the lighting conditions and used the opportunity to take some photos.
Although beautifully colored, this fish was too fast for photos. I had to take my car to the shop this morning, and this guy was hanging out in the waiting room. His mission was that of destruction. He wasn’t happy with his current environment, so he decided to change things one rock at a time. In the top photo, you can see where he has dug a hole in the aquarium all the way to the bottom and upended some plants along the way. He would swoop in, pick up a rock in his mouth, and then swim over to the side and spit it out. He was a nonstop blur of rock transplantation. :-O
earthrobert 