Fawns And Stuff

Spotted in a neighbor's front yard recently:

Judging by size I guess they were born in the most recent batch.
Taller than cats, but not by a whole lot.

While daytime deer sightings are common, unguarded babies are another story.


If they are munching people's gardening they're obviously weaned and mama must have decided it was time to boot them out of the nest:
Too bad mama didn't school them on the dangers of the 'hood.
I was doing yard stuff, then creeping close for pictures, and the expected fear response never kicked-in.
Kinda worried about these little guys...



While navigating Blogger to make this post I noticed something odd on top of my dashboard:
I cropped it tight, but this is actual size.
WTF does it say?


Let's crank up the browser's magnification to 300% and see if it's legible:
Crap...
I hate the new Blogger interface.
It reminds me of the time I tried using Wordpress--not a good experience and I never could get either one to work in a logical or error-free manner.

Hopefully the bugs have been killed by now.

Snake In The Grass

And not just any grass--this is Raliegh St. Augustine, the finest grass known to man.

This is the second checkered garter snake I have caught this Spring. Compared their markings, and it's clearly a different individual of the same size, so they are possible litter-mates.

Getting back to the grass...dude...I finally understand why Hank Hill got all emotional over his Raliegh St. Augustine lawn.
I have around 25 square feet ($1.59/12x18" sod) next to the front porch and it blows our regular St. Augustine all to hell.
THICK carpets of grass with wider blades that lean towards the blue end of the green spectrum rather than the yellow--just beautiful stuff!
Even the saddest 2 pieces of sod that I bought a week later, from the bottom of the pallet at Home Depot, have come back to life nicely and are already impressive.

If we ever win the Lottery, you can bet your ass a crew would be here within days to re-do the whole lawn with Raliegh.
Grass so good, it's endorsed by Luann Platter®

Blood Sweat And Tears

Proceed At Your Own Risk


The very essence of any rodeo is danger.
If some cowboy wasn't inches or seconds away from getting seriously damaged, why would anyone bother to watch?
Man vs Beast, in all it's primal glory.
(Not to slight the girls--I've seen several get knocked off their mounts at the charreada and it was only luck that let them get back up instead of going to the hospital).

The main point is that it's a dangerous sport for all concerned.
And there is a rich cultural heritage that deserves to be maintained.
If we ban rodeos, what's next? Not being able to smoke in bars?


In this series of photos we start AFTER a horse was so uncooperative that it took almost ten minutes to get to a point where the ride could start.
(I would have said "Screw him" by then and gotten the show moving along, but this is the Charreada).

Someone opened the gate an inch to "help" and the horse used his big muscled butt to knock it wide open, much like Tim Duncan in the low post.
Keeping with the Spurs references, Mayhem (Ginobili) ensued:
Remember the color of the rider's shirt.

How much of the charro can you find?


I was glad to see him still in one piece, trying to stay alive:



What happened next was around 15 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to get this crazy-ass horse down the chute out of the ring:
Seeing the poor thing bleeding like this was sad and pretty much bummed everyone out at the time, but as I recall the events while looking at ALL of my photos, that horse was an asshole who nobody should have tried to ride and he nearly killed a man.
It was a fair fight, and despite a little blood the horse won.



Just so we don't end on a sour note...

This is my favorite shot of the day:
I had already taken a bunch of pictures of this miniature horse "backstage" but when the little boy rode him out during the opening ceremony I felt there was something extra special that needed capturing.
All of my other takes are cool and tell part of the story, but this one is the best by far because of his smile.

Boys And Girls And Lassos

More from the Charreada:


The SA Stock Show & Rodeo is a huge well-oiled machine.
Everything happens according to schedule, and it's very impressive.
The Charreada is anything but.
Things happen when they happen and nobody gets their panties in a bunch over delays.
Kind of charming and certainly true to it's roots, since everyone is there to have fun instead of trying to win big money.


The young girls are the true daredevils--the intermingling patterns they ride are more dangerous than trying to stay on a bucking horse or steer (most of the time).
All the more amazing when you finally notice that they ride side-saddle!


I got the impression after 2 visits that only teenage girls ride--no children or adults.
But males of all ages, from 6 to sixty-six it seemed, are on horses and throwing loops of rope.







More to come...



Technical Detour:
At the very beginning of the day I took off my favorite 50mm lens and used the 55-200mm zoom throughout.
When you're stuck ringside during the action, a zoom is the only way to go.
What surprised me a little upon seeing the photos is how much I still really like this lens, after not using it hardly at all over the last year. There's a smoothness to it's pictures that is very pleasing to my eye, yet when things get gritty it manages to hang in there and capture that contrast.
For an inexpensive zoom lens, it performs well enough for my needs and the results remind me so much of the 50mm's that they sometimes seem to be a matched pair.
(Sony's curved aperture blades are surely a big part of this).

I'm hoping that the 35mm F1.8 that I plan on buying next will exhibit the same qualities so I can extend my range into tighter spaces and maintain a consistent "look".

The Charreada

It's been four years since our last (and first) charreada. I want to go every year at this time, but it never seems to work out.
Today I got up early despite working last night, and also DVR'd the Spurs' first playoff game just so we could go.
Last time I got some decent photos so I wanted to see if I would get inspired again.












And just like last time I ended up behind the scenes, down in the dirt with the horses and the flies.
Instead of being invited into their world I just acted like I belonged there and boldly went wherever I wanted.






...to be continued

Horses, Bulls, And Cowboys

More from the 2011 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo

Thanks to Holly we got some decent seats--much better than any previous year.

Team roping is one of my favorites.


I've never figured out how the 2nd guy gets a rope around the calf's legs.
To be honest, some of them don't.

Here's my favorite sequence:
The rider's raised hand signifies that he's ready, after a rather long time spent getting to this point.

But I would imagine he wasn't quite ready for this:


Followed by this:


He managed to hang on to that wild beast, but was also awarded a re-ride a little later.


All 4 hooves are off the ground:


The bulls were all crazy this year:


Only one rider managed to hang on for the full 8 seconds and win some money on this night, and I don't think this was him:

Memorial Day 2010

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The Easter Lizard

We were at Syl's parent's house (near Security Hill) for a wonderful Easter dinner of burgers, dogs, 'tater salad and whatnot.
While out on the patio listening to the Spurs whup the Lakers and discussing the state of our lawns after the drought, I spotted a green anole hiding behind the chiltepin plant by the AC unit.
"Must really be Spring" I thought, then went in search of more.
There's usually one on the side of the house by the boat, and sure enough there was.
And hey!--here's a tiny one on the back wall hiding behind that plant.
3 is about average, but I was hoping to spot a big one.

During the next time-out I walked the back fence and spotted a Prairie Racerunner, which is a first for me in this part of town.
They are in the whiptail family which are the fastest lizards in the USA at 18mph, which is astonishing considering how short their legs are and how much drag those long tails must cause.

Anyway, during the next commercial break I went back to where the smallest Anole was, and found King Daddy Alpha Male himself instead.
He was on the wall, head pointing down, ambush hunting--waiting for a bug to wander by so he could swoop down from above and score some Easter Dinner.

I went inside for my camera, and changed lenses to my 55-200mm.
When I returned, Mr. Lizard had moved to a perch on top of a concrete mushroom (as seen above) which suited me just fine! Much more interesting pose than on the wall.
At this time I noticed not only the tiny one from before, but a fifth anole of medium size not too far away.
And so did my subject!

As I started shooting pictures and slowly creeping forward, the signs of agitated territorialism started to show themselves--first he turned broadside to the smaller lizard, then puffed-up his body to look bigger and more dangerous.
Then the push-ups started and I took a chance on getting just the last bit closer hoping he would be so busy with his ritual as to ignore me, because I knew what was next.
After 5+ years I finally got a photo of a male green anole with his throat-fan in full extension, and with backlight from the sun giving it some glow for bonus points!
What a treat!

I mean, family and good food are more than enough to make it a great day.
Add the Easter Sunday aspect, and it just gets so much better.
The Spurs CRUSHING the mighty Lakers was almost too much for me to handle in such a short time.
But throw in a photo I've been trying to get for years and I was in a state of grace that lasted far longer than the stomach ache I got from eating too much.

An incredible day.


When he turned around like this I knew the show was almost over--the other lizard had run away.

This was a complete surprise I found after uploading the CF card to my computer.
It only works as part of a series of photos with text, but I love it.

Hang On!

Where will this guy end up?

In the laps of these people!

Let's take a moment to admire the horses.

Back to the action.

Our seats weren't as good as these views make them seem.
The Rodeo is one of the only events at the ATT Center where anyone can bring in professional cameras, so I take advantage of it.

Let's Rodeo San Antonio?

I don't remember lasers last time I went to the rodeo.


Or pyrotechnics.


I can't remember the name of this event--Mutton Mayhem or some such...
4-7 year old kids hanging onto the back of some pissed-off sheep.
Truly awesome.


The Calf Scramble is also a favorite.
30+ kids trying to rope one of the baby cows released en masse.
I like how this girl had her calf by the neck and wasn't letting go despite being in danger of getting stepped on. She held that sucker down for several minutes while all her loser friends failed mightily.

San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo 2010

First, the stock show:

These kids work really hard on raising some of the most beautiful animals you'll ever see.

We were lucky to go on the day of final calf judging.

The top animals sell for $100,000+, which is meant for college scholarships.

This is the reserve champion, who got away from his little girl for some amusing moments during the rodeo.


Rodeo is next

Toys For Musical Boys

Just posted over at 'thew's Reviews.
Check it out if you need a dose of my bad writing.