Through the Eyes of the Beholder

7:53:41 PM MDT

The weather man said it was spring.  The school teachers smile because its almost summer.  But it snowed last week.  I didn't know what to believe, until I saw a splash of white floating gracefully on Carp Lake yesterday, marking the return of the birds of summer. Today, by mid afternoon there were over 35 American White Pelicans on the pond.  This is the last pit stop before they make nest on Big Johnson Reservoir just a few miles away.  Today they rested, fished and washed down their dusty feathers.

A couple of Canada geese took exception to the overnight invasion and paddled over to reclaim the pond but the much larger pelicans barely paid them any notice.  After a few indignant honks, the geese flew away.  They will return when the flock of pelicans leave for their final destination in a day or two. 

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7:22:00 PM MDT

A male peacock basks in the early afternoon sun at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.  Although not native to the area, the exotic birds have adapted to the climate and roam the mountain zoo grounds year round.

Its hard not to be mesmerized by the rich iridescent colors of the male peacock's plumage.

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9:02:43 AM MST

I was able to talk my husband into letting me borrow the camera for the day so I went to Memorial Park.  I went in hopes of getting a few shots of the Military memorials but was distracted by a large hawk who landed in a near by tree to pluck a pigeon.  Once he got used to my presence and the persistent clicking of the camera, the hawk continued his meal.  While he showed agitation at the approach of other visitors, he seemed to have accepted me and allowed me to get right up under him.  In this picture he watches as I pulled a branch out of the way for a better shot. In fact he seemed so comfortable in my presence that I almost expected him to share his meal by tossing me a pidgeon wing.

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8:45:13 AM MST

For those of you who were wondering, I composed my video slide show using the Windows Photo Story 3 which came preloaded on my computer.  The program allows you to control the motion and transition of individual pictures as well as adding music.  Once I got the slide show finished I uploaded it to my Youtube account.  When I made my entry I clicked the little movie camera icon in the [Add Entry] toolbar, cut and pasted the embed link from my video's Youtube entry, saved my post and presto-whamo!  A video slide show on my journal.

There are many other programs that are compatible with AOL journals.  Different programs offer different features so you may want to check out a few to see if they offer what you need.  I like the simplicity of Photo Story 3, and I already have a Youtube account so I just stick with them, but some of the other programs can compose your entire slide show right online... pretty cool! 

To find a list of supported web sites, click here: Blogs Whitelist - AOL People Connection, or click on the [allowed list of selected Web sites] link in the [Add Entry] page.

I'm already looking forward to seeing a bunch of slide shows in your journals now.

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11:11:09 PM MST

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5:30:40 PM MDT

Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
We could float among the stars together, you and I
For we can fly we can fly
Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon

Colorado Springs plays host to the Balloon Classic each Labor Day Weekend.  We have always made a point of watching the balloons as they float over head but this year we got up extra early and took a trip to Memorial Park where the balloons participate in a mass ascent.  Upon arriving at the park I was immediately thrown into sensory over load.  There were dozens and dozens of brightly colored balloons of every shape and size.  To our delight, each hot air balloon skimmed over Prospect Lake and lightly skimmed the surface before taking off into the air in what is known as a 'Splash 'N Dash'. 

Never been to a hot air balloon ascent?  Make a point of going to one.  It is definitely worth the trip, and you may find that you will rekindle your relationship with the child in you.

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3:54:24 PM MDT

Sadly, no, the D80 is not my camera.  It belongs to my husband who was just as lost as I was with the demise of my D70 last month.  My camera is in the shop, hopefully being repaired, but in the mean time Dickidoo couldn't bring himself to use a smaller point and shoot camera so he made an investment.

Unfortunately he doesn't share very well. I have only been able to take the camera out twice so far.  I can see we will have to come up with a custody agreement like we had with the D70.  Grrrr!

A little about this bright eyed grasshopper.  I couldn't have asked for a better subject as I fiddled with the controls of the new camera.  He sat quite patiently while I clicked and adjusted and clicked again.  I think I may have bored him half to death, but the pictures came out so clear.

I miss my camera and really hope it can be fixed, but man, that D80 is sweet!

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7:13:38 PM MDT

My youngest son Art stands maybe just a little too close for comfort during our recent 4th of July celebration.  This year was extra special, my oldest son Gabe was home on leave.  He is scheduled to deploy to Iraq at the end of summer so this was a very special time for us.

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5:39:28 PM MDT

Summer just doesn't begin for me until I see the pelicans.  They seem to prefer to breed at Big Johnson Reservoir a few miles away, but always stop by at Carp Lake (aka The Pelican Pond) for the first couple of days. 

I got some pictures late yesterday afternoon, and was delighted to see them still at the pond this morning, floating lazily over the misty waters.  They were gone by this afternoon.  During mating season the pelicans bills turn bright orange and the males will develop a plate on the top of their beak.

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9:26:17 PM MDT These are the pictures I used for my musical slideshows that were posted on Youtube.  Once again I recommend that you view this as a slideshow by clicking 'View Larger' and selecting the slideshow option from the top toolbar.

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