This and That RichZ 20 May

Last Wednesday was a day of high fog overcast. Nothing looked good for pictures so I went to Sequoia Park for flowers and critters. I went to the zoo first. I should have noticed the two school buses parked in front. Two kindergarten classes were there. The children were having a ball and it was contagious. They got in my way of shooting the otters so I threw a couple in to entertain the otters, and myself. 🤥

Four is not enough, besides this is fun.

The big one saw me coming for her and ran past me screaming.

This otter was too busy eating lunch to join in.

This otter did join in and lured and distracted the children so I could get them.

Too busy stuffing its face to join in the fun.

Red panda. The children were too short to interfere with this shot.

A cute young Ginger mommy with a gaggle of children and a nice smile for Andrew. I didn't make the picture because she's a doll with a nice smile. I sneaked the picture because I was impressed with her arms, both of them. I bet she could throw a hard punch.

OK, so I lied. It's a tube beneath the water.

This butterfly held still for pictures so I tried a focus stack and it held still long enough for me to reset the camera and get it.

That's all. Rich

Really great trip, Rich .. As you probably know, when at the aquarium I always get as many people in the picture as fish!! probably more ... So I enjoyed those first pictures where you enticed those children into the tanks!! ,,,..

WhyNot

Thanks, WhyNot. The kids didn't have a chance....except the one who was fast on her feet. 🤣 Rich

Very cool Rich. Lots of things I like, happy children, smiling red heads (or any heads), otters, and even a red panda! There is a tube like that at Ripley's aquarium in Toronto as well. Is that a green cabbage white? We get yellowish ones here but I have not seen a green one.

I took another shot of the tulip this afternoon but it is still in the camera. A bit of rain here last night and this morning. I can hear the grass growing! I should likely cut tomorrow. More fun! Still have to open the pool. Not looking forward to that.

Have not heard anything from the GP that had the xrays done. He said he would call but I am not holding my breath. I am no longer in intense pain but still have issues sleeping from pain radiating into the hip and leg. Not sure the Gabapentin is doing anything, but it may be.

I keep getting weird messages from DPR. Emails about old pms, 31 of them so far, notifications about posts from two or more months ago as well. Strange.

Andrew

Thanks, Andrew. I enjoyed making this post, as I had fun making the pictures.
I looked up the butterfly after I caught it. I found the green cabbage white and the hairstreak green. I think it is like egret / heron / stork, it depends on where you are. All I know is that it is the type of butterfly which never holds still and in the last couple of weeks I've found two of them who sat still whilst I went through my geriatric photography process.

Did you get that tulip wide open? The tulip, not the lens. I'd like to see that, though it may be one which doesn't open all the way, as you said.

I wonder if you have a hot tub. That might be good for your back. Though it would be much more expensive than your electro-shock therpy machine.

I have found the right type of support to let me go to sleep, for now. I put a rolled up towel beneath my left calf. It keeps my right hip from hurting enough to wake me, until I roll off the support. I say for now because sooner or later things in my back will change and it won't work anymore. It has happened before.

I am disgusted with DPReview, but Craig has been resurrecting old unfilled threads of yours at DPReview and posting new stuff into them. I have responded to his efforts a few times recently. He says he wishes you would drop by and start a new one. It has been so slow here that I looked there and found Craig still beating a dead horse.

I sent you an email at ajd on Tuesday. Like you, I am still waiting for the result from the doctor, so nothing new on that.

I'm going to get out on the road early tomorrow and drive a couple hundred miles up The Oregon Coast. It's is forecast to be sunny up there and I need some. I also need to visit Azalea Park in Brookings, Oregon. It's one of my favorite places and you never know which visit may be the last. Rich

I did not get any emails Rich. andrew@ajd.ca? I thought about starting a new thread at DPReview. Perhaps I will. On the other hand, Craig has shown up here a few times recently and Dicky too. I really think the way this site works has turned off a lot of our friends and that is very unfortunate. A threaded view would fix things but I don't see it coming any time soon. And where is Charlotte??? She pushed hard for this site but seems to have dropped out. You listening Charlotte? We want images from Sweden! Have a look at the Weekly C&C thread in the Photographic Critiques and see what a pain in the butt it is to try and follow any feedback on a particular image. It is enough to drive people away. That thread could fill five times in a single week on DPR but it is struggling here. The way we are doing it with just posting your own individual threads makes it much easier to follow and respond but it is still difficult without the weekly aspect. I don't see any other way to get around this and there are no other real options so this is it.

We had a hot tub for about ten years. It was great for about five years then things started breaking, again and again and again. We gave up on it. On top of that you stunk of bromine or chlorine after you got out. Back then it cost about $60/month for electricity to run it. While I did enjoy using it it was expensive to keep running. The covers were about $600 and lasted two years. Chemical costs were not bad. The other thing was it took over 300 gal to fill and you needed to change the water every once in a while. We have water supply issues with a low flow well and the refilling the tub was a bit of a concern.

I have tried pillows under the knees and other things but nothing really seems to help. The leg/hip pain is a recent development and seems to have let up a lot in the past week so that is at least something.

Driving does not bother my back or legs. A good thing. The issues is when I get there and can not walk for any length of time. I hope you have an enjoyable day trip. Even riding the lawn mower does not seem to bother me but I have been going about half speed since this started.

I should check my junk mail folder to see if your email ended up there. It is so long since I looked in it I don't think I recall how to do so!

Andrew

Looks like a lot of fun for the kids. Wasn't there a shark feeding pool? I have seen a few sharks when swimming on the reefs, a couple of them big enough to make me muddy the waters.

Its the granddaughter's second birthday and we will be taking her to Underwater World in Mooloolaba next week. School kids get the opportunity to spend the night there in a glass tunnel similar to the one you photographed.

Some great detail in the cabbage white too.

Dicky.

Nice job Rich. I've heard of throwing people to the wolves but never children to the otters. Is that some mad North American thing ? The panda and the redhead seem related

Enjoy your trip to Oregon. Waitng for the pics already. Was planning that as our next US trip but the way flights are this year we are not risking it. maybe next year

Kids in an aquarium, that's a first! Very cool. But the otters are way cuter.

I'm here. I've been busy with other things and will be so a little while longer. But I'll be back.

Yes, I pushed for this site because IMO it was the only viable option, and I still think so. The "other" site is horrible. And I thought it was important that we gathered somewhere ASAP so we wouldn't lose contact as DPR was supposed to close down very soon. And I do believe that Bob and the others will do their best to implement threaded view that Bob has said from the start that he thinks is a must. They have done a whole lot of improvements already in, what is it, a little more than a month? We can't expect everything to happen in a blink.

I am well aware of all of that Charlotte. The question that remains is how many contributors have we lost already, how many more will we lose before things get sorted? If we lose too many the ‘community’ becomes irreparably damaged. A half dozen, how long will they remain interested? This Week Through Your Eyes is the thread I meant to mention but instead got the wrong one and said The Weekly C&C. It has done better here but it is a major pain. I think the way we are running this forum works better but it is not as good as what we had. Bob and company have done very well and I appreciate their efforts.

I am spending much less time here than I ever did at DPR. I have zero interest in the noise threads and the other two weekly threads I followed are too much like work.

I hope you get sorted out at your end and it is not too stressful.

Andrew

What's the alternative then?

This is it Charlotte. Live or die. If a threaded view arrives then perhaps those lost can be enticed to return. The longer it remains like this, the less likely that is.

I hope it works out!

Andrew

I did send to that address, Andrew. I'll send another later today. I did too much yesterday and am shot and sore today. Under the knees doesn't work for me, It has to be under the calf and on the leg opposite the worst pain. For me, that's the left calf.

The otters are smart enough to protect themselves, Dicky. Sharks wouldn't be smart enough to protect themselves from the kids. 😀
I will try photographing the otters from inside that tunnel if I ever am there when there are no kids, but that's unlikely.
Two years old ! Time has flown. Rich

Lovely Rich seemed like a nice day out with lots of photos love the otters haven’t managed to photograph one in the wild yet but they are there the other half seen one a few weeks ago so I’m on the lookout 🙂

Thanks Rich. I will look for it. Turns out I can not access where ever my 'junk mail' folder is now. I will have to contact my son and ask where it is for that account. It could be it was blocked by the provider. I can not find any access to a local 'junk mail' folder.

Hope you recover well! I think I could drive all day without much of an issue, it is what I do when I get out of the car that is the problem!!

Andrew

Thanks, Rich. We are very good to our otters. I imagine the panda would be much easier to keep than the redhead. Rich

The kids and otters together make too much cute, Charlotte. I was overloaded with it, but had enough sense left over to enjoy the redhead. 😜 Rich

Thanks, Rich. The otters throw them back when they're finished with them. Rich

Thanks, Paul. I hope you find some otters to photograph. Rich