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Borrego Springs, CA

Saturday, August 28, 2010

It’s a given…

…that when you wash your rig and all the windows, it has to rain the next day!  :) (even if you're in the desert in summer)  So it was one of those overcast, dreary days where I don’t feel bad at all about doing absolutely nothing productive. 
_MG_4017It’s been a good day for ducks!  The pictures tonight are from my trip on the auto tour route on Thursday.  These young mallards with mom in the back (with the darker beak) were leisurely dabbling around for goodies in one of the ponds. 
_MG_4040As I made my way down the gravel road, I was surprised to come upon this cowpoke moving the doggies along.  I had to stop and watch for a few moments.  Funny thing was, they never moved!  Turns out they were life size silhouettes placed in a field across one of the marshy lakes.  All of those black dots in the water are ducks.  I had a little fun working with this photo in Picasa 3 using the retouch button.  There was an electric pole on the left that went right through the first cow’s head.  Thanks to RICK, I was able to give this a try.  I still need a little practice, but I’m getting there.  :)
_MG_3973To me, this looked like snow covered fir trees on a mountain.  What it really is, though, is the early morning light reflecting off the water onto 8” high marsh vegetation.
_MG_3972If you look closely, you can see a juvenile common moorhen skulking through the marsh.  I’m thinking I’m going to find a lot of little treasures like this on this refuge.  :)

Tom and Sue are the other volunteers that are here right now, and they work the weekends.  When they returned, in the rain, this afternoon, they had a surprise for me.  How nice of them to deliver my mail.  No, it was not the long awaited license plates from South Dakota.  It was something better than that.  A new friend of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous, had hand made me a cover for my Blue Ox toad hitch arms.  Some of you might not understand why I would be so excited about that.  :)  Well, let me tell you all about it.  Since I’ve had a toad for the last three years, every time I arrive somewhere, I have to take off the tow hitch and store it somewhere (trunk of the car) to keep it out of the weather.  That sucker is not light, and I have occasionally wrenched my back removing it and moving it.  Now, with this lovely weatherproof “sock”, I don’t have to remove the hitch and arms!  Hallelujah!  It sure did seem to get heavier as the years have rolled by.  :)  Thanks, friend, you really perked up a dreary day!!

Thanks for stopping by ….talk to you later,  Judy

11 comments:

  1. That is a funny about the fake cowboy and cows, but the editing looks good. I feel a bit guilty now for not using my blue ox cover all the time. Since I just had it serviced and had the receiver and ball replaced, I guess I will have to take better care of it.

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  2. I think you should have been a Vet Judy because you did a real fine job on removing that pole from the cows head. And the cow is still on her feet even after pre-op surgery. Ya did good Doc:))

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  3. What a great friend to make you a cover for you Blue Ox. You got a great shot of the moorhen he is hidden in there pretty good.

    Hope they give you some other duties besides filing that would be pretty boring if that's all you did.

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  4. Loved those pictures. I really had to look hard for that moorhen, it blended in so well and you are right, it looks like snow on fir trees.

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  5. We have seen so many of those metal silhouettes in the western states. They always make me take a second look.

    Nice pic of the duck in the marsh.

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  6. Good job on the retouch Judy, it does take a bit of practice alright. It's sometimes easier to retouch if you use the slider at the bottom right to enlarge the photo a bit.

    Nice pics again!

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  7. I love the closeups of the marsh vegetation/moor hen. :) Great little "optical illusion" there.

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  8. Excellent job on the photo retouch!! You are becoming a pro. I, however, need to refine my brush size....I tend to paint with too big a brush and take out the entire countryside in one swoop!

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  9. I love the plant pictures. They are so other-worldly. The duck hiding is a beautiful touch. Can't wait till you start your new job and some of the pictures you will be taking.

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  10. I need a job before I lose my mind, and I wouldn't even mind filing for a while, lol. I agree that you are becoming quite the photographer. And the new camera seems to be perfect for you.

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  11. Can I come and file? I wouldn't be bored.

    Well, maybe someday.

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