Tuesday, June 19, 2012

An Experiment and He Posed For Me

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You all have heard how dusty and dirty it can be  here in the oilfields of Texas, well I am trying a little experiment.  Does it make a difference where I park my truck?  Before I left Saturday, I had to rinse it off in order to even see out of the windshield.  Maybe if I park it facing away from the road and let the 5ver block the wind, it won’t be so bad.  We’ll see.

It has been a little bit busier today with 8 count ‘em, 8 oil tankers (correction, make that 9 and he may be back too) and 1 water tanker so far and he says he’ll be back. 

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This morning it was overcast and stayed cooler a lot longer, so I stayed outside and fixed this planter.  That planter doesn’t weigh much and gets blown over in the wind, so I anchored it with a stake and rocks, I hope that works.  I brought the camera out and took pictures of my favorite subject, Angel. 

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There’s that Roadrunner again (on the far left side).  I got up and tried to see where he went, but he disappeared into the brush.  That’s as close as it gets.  That road is where the tankers go.  It doesn’t look like it’s very far until you see the perspective of how small that tanker looks, and in the 2nd picture, it’s not even at the top of the hill.  You can also see how much dust and dirt gets stirred up and then the wind brings it down the road.

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Another part of the job is to fill out a log with drivers’ names, their truck license #’s and times in and out.  I would wait until I went back inside to get the time, but while in SA, I found this clock on a chain, which I clipped to my clipboard and then taped it so it doesn’t move around.  It works for me.  That grey thing on the bottom is the gate clicker.  I am sooooo lucky to have this gate.  When the trucks leave, most of the time, I don’t even get out of the coach.

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                                             View from my door.

The wind picked up a little bit and this fellow decided to rest awhile.  He must have been

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                                  this was zoomed in all the way

tired, because he was still there for nearly a half hour.  He let me get quite close.  I took several pictures, each one closer and closer.  This was the closest, and he was still there for another ten minutes after I took it.

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                                this one zoomed in only a little

           Isn’t he a handsome fellow?  I think this may become a painting!

Hope that everyone’s Tuesday was great, mine was.

Thanks for visiting

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Susan and Angel

5 comments:

  1. Love that bird and I have absolutely no idea what it is. wind and dust - sounds like desert.

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  2. Your bird friend is a pyrrhuloxia, according to my Audubon book. We have them at our site too.

    Audubon book says they should be known as Gray Cardinals, but they're not.

    Their beak and crest are different from female cardinals. Pyrrhuloxia have more of a parrot beak which is orangish and their crest is red.

    Good job getting a pic of it.

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  3. Glad to hear that you are doing well and have a whole lot more free time at this gate. Angel does a great job of modeling for you.

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  4. I love the shot of that bird. I looked him up in my bird books, and he is a male Pyrrhuloxia. Cardinalis sinuatus (in italics under the name).

    I can't pronounce his name, but he sure is pretty. :)

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  5. Sue,
    I am a newish follower of your blog, and generally, I do not comment, but I wanted to ask you and perhaps warn you about that stool that you have Angel sitting upon. My Consumer Reports mag has a recall section that shows a folding step stool "imported by Kennedy International and sold at HomeGoods, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and other retailers from Jan. 2010 through Jan 2012. The stools can break or collapse unexpectedly, posing a hazard to consumers. Kennedy International is aware of at least 15 reports of incidents involving step stools cracking or braking. If you own one, Call Kennedy Int'l at 855-270-8301 for info about receiving a full refund."

    Apologies for sounding like a nut case, so if this stool is not the one in my magazine, that's good news.

    Emjay

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