Wednesday, October 8, 2008

On The Road Again

Leaving Fairport Harbor and the lighthouses behind, we traveled over to Mentor Lagoons planning to take a little electric cart on the numerous trails, but when we got there they told us the cart season was over (of course it is) and we would have to hoof it. Not having any idea of which trail would lead us to the most wildlife we decided instead to head over to a place called Grangers Pond. (Pond is a definite understatement) This place is very close to Betty’s house and she knows every inch of it, so we got back in the car and headed out.

When Betty drives she has a habit of looking out the windows at the scenery. When I ride with her, I have a habit of looking at the road in front (someone has to watch where we’re going). So on the way out of the lagoons, she yells “Look”. “What?”, “There”, “Where?” She stops the car and sure enough on the side of the road not more than 8 feet away from me, was this scene just begging for a picture.

He stood there for quite a while as I fiddled with the camera, patiently waiting for me to get it right.


I could tell the geese were muttering to each other about the lame brain taking forever to get the right shot. Geese do that. When they’re not making snide remarks about your camera capabilities, they’re chasing after you, wings flapping, necks outstretched, and honking as loudly as they can. You can also see in this photo that they’re pretending to be totally uninterested in having their picture taken, but they also didn’t leave until they were sure I had a good one so they're not fooling me.

So on to Grangers. We could hear them quacking as soon as we got out of the car. There are signs posted saying "do not feed the wildlife", but the way these ducks immediately came over looking for a handout you know a lot of people out there must not be able to read.

I just love ducks.

Betty said that the last time she was here she saw the swans and a blue heron so we went looking. Sure enough there they were. Five swans! Four in the water and one on a little island. They were pretty far away and I was trying to get them in the camera lens when all of a sudden my batteries died. Oh no!!. Sometimes if you turn the camera off for a few minutes, then turn it back on you can get enough juice to take one more shot. Not this time. Totally dead.
AARRGGGGGHHHHH. And there’s the heron too!! #$$#%%&##

Betty said she thought she got a pretty good picture of the swan on her camera. I asked her to upload it to her computer and send it to me. Hey Betty, you know I was only kidding when I made that remark about watching the road, right? You’re an excellent driver and I really don’t feel the need to watch where we’re going. I was just making a joke. You’re laughing, right? So send the picture.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know you left out a few words when describing your battery dilema. I know you. You would have also said: #@##$%@# and $%&*#$ and #$@#$%$# (which you taught me and I use often).

Fla Brat

flydragon said...

fla brat,
I might have said #@##$%@*#$ and maybe $%&*#$ but never #$@#$%$#. You learned that one from someone else.

TC said...

Did you forget to carry spare batteries? I've done that many times. But you still managed to get a few good pix. ;~)

Roses and Lilacs said...

The photo of the buck makes up for any others you missed. What a great shot.
Marnie

Anonymous said...

Betty may not be laughing about the driving, but I'm sure she cracked up when you asked her to 'upload the photo and send it' to you!!! Can't wait to see that one!

Love your photo of the deer and geese. All kinds of wildlife out there. You all must draw them in.

And I can't believe you had such a good time without me---again!!!

SisterNan

Anonymous said...

Hey I got you where we wanted to go didn't I? I have a picture of the swan now we have to figure out how to download it. Not the same as the other computer. Next trip make sure you have batteries and we'll take a side trip back to the swans, maybe they'll be closer to the shore. Middle sis

flydragon said...

TC,
I did make a mental note to take the extra batteries but I must have filed it in the wrong part of my brain, because I promptly forgot.

Marnie,
The buck was cute wasn't he, but I really wanted one of the swan.

Nan,
Betty did say something like "oh yeah, I'll download it. Like I really know how"

Betty,
Yes you got us there. And a good job it was, too. Will not forget the batteries again. I might forget the camera but I'll have a pocket full of batteries.

Susie said...

That's a great picture of the deer and geese. I bet those geese were actually telling the deer to leave so they could be photo hogs!!!

Dog_geek said...

Uh, huh... 5 swans and a heron, and the fish that was "this big" that got away... ;o)

Far Side of Fifty said...

WOW what a good catch! I am always a day late and a dollar short when it comes to the Deer. Camera in the case..no place to pull over..But I do carry three sets of batteries:)

beckie said...

Such a great photo! I'm sure it was worth the no batteries. I usually have extra batteries, but have left my memory card in my printer a few times. Really $%&^@ me off.

flydragon said...

Susie,
Those geese didn't move into camera range until I leaned out the window to get a shot. Then they all ran over yelling "me too, me too"


DG,
No pictures, no proof huh. Actually there were 7 swans aswimming, 3 blue herons, and the fish was waaaaay bigger than that.


Farside,
That's why it's good to have a driver. If she can't pull over and stop, you make her drive around the block 3 times while you get your camera out of the case and get set up. She loves to do that.


Beckie,
The only reason I've never left the memory card somewhere is because I never take it out of the camera. But I do have to wear the camera around my neck all morning so I won't forget to take that. :)

Anonymous said...

Oops, sorry about the batteries, but you got a great shot of the deer anyway. Don't you hate that? I am not a morning person, but on my recent vacation I managed to struggle out of bed on the last day to take sunrise photos at the beach. It was a long walk to the beach, but I could see the sunrise was going to be glorious. You guessed it, my batteries were dead! I was heartbroken, but enjoyed just watching. Now the world will never see my Hilton Head sunrise! LOL

flydragon said...

Msrobin,
What a bummer for you. Every camera should be programed to yell out.."Batteries okay"...Batteries dying"... or "Batteries dead"..when you pick it up, even before you turn it on. Save us all a lot of bruises from kicking ourselves. :)

Anonymous said...

I know there must be a way to give you warning (yes, it's happened to me:-) about the batteries, like a beeping. Everything else beeps. And they can't stop talking about your TV or whatever that's going to change a year from now, so that you won't be able to see anything unless you pay attention now. Seems to me a little battery warning is a patent waiting to be discovered! SisterNan

flydragon said...

Nan,
I know the little icon on the camera turns red if you need new batteries but by then it's too late.