365

Duck Duck Duck Duck Duck Duck Goose!

December 28, 2015 — 9 Comments

Duck Duck Goose

F/ 6.3, 1/ 640, ISO 2800.

Green-Winged Teal

Canada Goose

Day 362 / 365

Where did the duck go when he was sick?

To the Ducktor

Interesting Fact: The American and Eurasian forms of the Green-winged Teal were formerly considered different species. The Eurasian teal differ from the American by lacking the vertical white shoulder stripe and having a horizontal white stripe along the back instead. Eurasian teal show up casually each year along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green-winged_Teal/lifehistory )

Birds Go Tweet Tweet!

December 27, 2015 — 14 Comments

Northern Cardinal

F/ 8.0, 1/250, ISO 500.

Northern Cardinal

Day 361 / 365

The mail carrier had a registered letter that needed a signature for a party on his route. Receiving no response to his knock on the front door, he went around to the back door which he found open, except for the screen door. He knocked. A high pitch voice from inside said, “Come in.”Upon entering the kitchen, he was confronted by the largest German Shepard he had ever seen. The dog bared his fangs menacingly, forcing the mail man against the wall. The mail man shouted, “Lady, call off you dog before he eats me alive.” The only response he got was that same high pitch voice coming from the next room saying, “Come in.”Pressing his body against the wall, he slowly worked his way to the door way leading to the next room. Looking around, he saw the room was empty, except for a parrot in a cage. After the threat from the huge dog, he was becoming quite irate and said to the parrot.”Darn you, don’t you know any words besides ‘Come in?”Without a moments hesitation the parrot responded, “Sic him!!!”

Interesting Fact: Northern Cardinals hop through low branches and forage on or near the ground. Cardinals commonly sing and preen from a high branch of a shrub. The distinctive crest can be raised and pointed when agitated or lowered and barely visible while resting. You typically see cardinals moving around in pairs during the breeding season, but in fall and winter they can form fairly large flocks of a dozen to several dozen birds. During foraging, young birds give way to adults and females tend to give way to males. Cardinals sometimes forage with other species, including Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, other sparrow species, Tufted Titmice, goldfinches, and Pyrrhuloxias. They fly somewhat reluctantly on their short, round wings, taking short trips between thickets while foraging. Pairs may stay together throughout winter, but up to 20 percent of pairs split up by the next season. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory )

Hello Can You Hear Me

December 26, 2015 — 11 Comments

payphones

F/ 5.6, 1/80, ISO 500.

Day 360 / 365

A young businessman had just started his own firm. He rented a beautiful office and had it furnished with antiques. Sitting there, he saw a man come into the outer office. Wishing to appear the hot shot, the businessman picked up the phone and started to pretend he had a big deal working. He threw huge figures around and made giant commitments. Finally he hung up and asked the visitor, “Can I help you?”
The man said, “Yeah, I’ve come to activate your phone lines.”

Interesting Fact: The first public coin telephone was installed by inventor William Gray at a bank in Hartford, Conn. It was a “postpay” machine (coins were deposited after the call was placed). The first pay phone was invented in 1889 and by 1902, there were over 81,000 pay telephones in the United States. In 1889, the first public coin telephone was installed by inventor William Gray at a bank in Hartford, Conn. It was a “postpay” machine (coins were deposited after the call was placed). Gray’s previous claim to fame was inventingLorem ipsum the inflatable chest protector for baseball. In 1960, the Bell System installed its millionth pay telephone. ( http://pomo.cca.edu/~achou/payphone_code/transition/firstpayphone.html )

On The Christmas Day This Little Tree Will Light Your Way

December 25, 2015 — 9 Comments

Light Your Way

F/ 22.0, 30.0, ISO 100.

Day 359 / 365

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

Frostbite.

Interesting Fact: The Christian ecclesiastical calendar contains many remnants of pre-Christian festivals. Christmas includes elements of the Roman feast of the Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithra.[51] The Chronography of 354 AD contains early evidence of the celebration on December 25 of a Christian liturgical feast of the birth of Jesus. This was in Rome, while in Eastern Christianity the birth of Jesus was already celebrated in connection with the Epiphany on January 6.[52][53] The December 25 celebration was imported into the East later: in Antioch by John Chrysostom towards the end of the 4th century,[53] probably in 388, and in Alexandria only in the following century.[54] Even in the West, the January 6 celebration of the nativity of Jesus seems to have continued until after 380.[55] In 245, Origen of Alexandria, writing about Leviticus 12:1–8, commented that Scripture mentions only sinners as celebrating their birthdays, namely Pharaoh, who then had his chief baker hanged (Genesis 40:20–22), and Herod, who then had John the Baptist beheaded (Mark 6:21–27), and mentions saints as cursing the day of their birth, namely Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:14–15) and Job (Job 3:1–16).[56] In 303, Arnobius ridiculed the idea of celebrating the birthdays of gods, a passage cited as evidence that Arnobius was unaware of any nativity celebration.[57] Since Christmas does not celebrate Christ’s birth “as God” but “as man”, this is not evidence against Christmas being a feast at this time.[8] The fact the Donatists of North Africa celebrated Christmas may indicate that the feast was established by the time that church was created in 311. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#History )

Going to Christmas Eve Party!

December 24, 2015 — 23 Comments

christmas eve

F/ 7.1, 1/200, ISO 640, Photoshop CS6.

Northern Shoveler Ducks

Day 358 / 365

Twenty ways to confuse Santa Claus

1. Instead of milk and cookies, leave him a salad, and a note explaining that you think he could stand to lose a few pounds.

2. While he’s in the house, go find his sleigh and write him a speeding ticket.

3. Leave him a note, explaining that you’ve gone away for the holidays. Ask if he would mind watering your plants.

4. While he’s in the house, replace all his reindeer with exact replicas. Then wait and see what happens when he tries to get them to fly.

5. Keep an angry bull in your living room. If you think a bull goes crazy when he sees a little red cape, wait until he sees that big, red Santa suit!

6. Build an army of mean-looking snowmen on the roof, holding signs that say “We hate Christmas,” and “Go away Santa.”

7. Leave a note by the telephone, telling Santa that Mrs. Claus called and wanted to remind him to pick up some milk and a loaf of bread on his way home.

8. Throw a surprise party for Santa when he comes down the chimney. Refuse to let him leave until the strippers arrive.

9. While he’s in the house, find the sleigh and sit in it. As soon as he comes back and sees you, tell him that he shouldn’t have missed that last payment, and take off.

10. Leave a plate filled with cookies and a glass of milk out, with a note that says, “For The Tooth Fairy. :)” Leave another plate out with half a stale cookie and a few drops of skim milk in a dirty glass with a note that says, “For Santa. :(”

11. Take everything out of your house as if it’s just been robbed. When Santa arrives, show up dressed like a policeman and say, “Well, well. They always return to the scene of the crime.”

12. Leave out a copy of your Christmas list with last-minute changes and corrections.

13. While he’s in the house, cover the top of the chimney with barbed wire.

14. Leave lots of hunting trophies and guns out where Santa’s sure to see them. Go outside, yell, “Ooh! Look! A deer! And he’s got a red nose!” and fire a gun.

15. Leave Santa a note, explaining that you’ve moved. Include a map with unclear and hard-to-read directions to your new house.

16. Set a bear trap at the bottom of the chimney. Wait for Santa to get caught in it, and then explain that you’re sorry, but from a distance, he looked like a bear.

17. Leave out a Santa suit, with an attached dry-cleaning bill.

18. Paint “hoof-prints” all over your face and clothes. While he’s in the house, go out on the roof. When he comes back up, act like you’ve been “trampled.” Threaten to sue for personal injury.

19. Instead of ornaments, decorate your tree with Easter eggs.

20. Dress up like the Easter Bunny. Wait for Santa to come and then say, “This neighborhood ain’t big enough for the both of us.

Interesting Fact: Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.[4] Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Eve#Historical_events )

I Don’t Want A Lot For Christmas, All I Want For Christmas Is You!

December 23, 2015 — 20 Comments
Christmas gift

F/4.5, 8.0, ISO 64.

Day 357 / 365

It was Christmas and the judge was in a merry mood as he asked the prisoner, ” What are you charged with? ”

“Doing my Christmas shopping early”, replied the defendant.

“That’s no offense”, said the judge. “How early were you doing this shopping?”

“Before the store opened.”

Interesting Fact: The custom of giving gifts to relatives and friends on a special day in winter probably began in ancient Rome and northern Europe. In these regions, people gave each other small presents as part of their year-end celebrations. In the United States and England, children hang stockings on their bedpost or near a fireplace on Christmas Eve, hoping that it will be filled with treats while they sleep. In Scandinavia, similar-minded children leave their shoes on the hearth. This tradition can be traced to legends about Saint Nicholas. One legend tells of three poor sisters who could not marry because they had no money for a dowry. To save them from being sold by their father, St. Nick left each of the three sisters gifts of gold coins. One went down the chimney and landed in a pair of shoes that had been left on the hearth. Another went into a window and into a pair of stockings left hanging by the fire to dry.  No one was really in the habit of exchanging elaborate gifts until late in the 1800s. The Santa Claus stories of giving gifts to good children, combined with an amazing retailing phenomenon that has grown since the turn of the century, has made gift giving a central focus of the Christmas tradition. ( http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/trivia/gifts.htm )

Hot Chocolate Is Like A Hug From The Inside

December 22, 2015 — 23 Comments

Hot chocolate

F/ 4.8, 8.0, ISO 64.

Day 356 / 365

A man found a bottle on the beach. He opened it and out popped a genie, who gave the man three wishes. The man wished for a million dollars, and poof! There was a million dollars. Then he wished for a convertible, and poof! There was a convertible. And then, he wished he could be irresistible to all women… Poof! He turned into a box of chocolates.

Interesting Fact: What the Spaniards then called “chocolatl” was said to be a beverage consisting of a chocolate base flavored with vanilla and other spices that was served cold.[6][7] Because sugar was yet to come to the Americas,[4] xocolatl was said to be an acquired taste. The drink tasted spicy and bitter as opposed to sweetened modern hot chocolate.[4] As to when xocolatl was first served hot, sources conflict on when and by whom.[4][7] However, Jose de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, described xocolatl as: Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that “chili”; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_chocolate )

Ideas Just Come To Me

December 21, 2015 — 3 Comments

idea

F/ 10.0, 4.0, ISO 320.

Day 355 / 365

When the inventor of the drawing board messed things up, what did he go back to?

Interesting Fact: In addressing the question of who invented the incandescent lamp, historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel[9] list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison. They conclude that Edison’s version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve (by use of the Sprengel pump) and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb#Early_pre-commercial_research )

Staring Contest!

December 20, 2015 — 26 Comments

Northern Pintail Ducks

F/ 9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.

Northern Pintail Ducks

Day 354 / 365

What’s another name for a clever duck?

A wise quacker!

Interesting Fact: Like the Mallard, the Northern Pintail breeds in a variety of habitats all across northern North America and Eurasia. Also like the Mallard, island populations have splintered off and evolved into separate species. Two closely related forms can be found on Crozet and Kerguelen islands in the very southern Indian Ocean, known as Eaton’s Pintail (Anas eatoni) ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pintail/lifehistory )

Eat So You Will Be Big And Strong!

December 19, 2015 — 18 Comments

White-throated Sparrow

F/ 6.3, 1/60, ISO 320.

White-throated Sparrow

Day 353 / 365

A couple of birds made a date to meet on the ledge outside the tenth floor of a skyscraper. The female was there on time, but the male arrived an hour late. “Where were you? I was worried sick.” “It was such nice day, I decided to walk.”
Interesting Fact: Although they look nothing alike and aren’t particularly closely related, the White-throated Sparrow and the Dark-eyed Junco occasionally mate and produce hybrids. The resulting offspring look like grayish, dully marked White-throated Sparrows with white outer tail feathers. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-throated_Sparrow/lifehistory )