More pics from Karens front yard......

Great job getting the eagle as he flew over.

Piggy Back Ride

Click here for a great shot of the shuttle getting a ride.

Tomorrow...sushi made simple.

WatermelonMan makes his video debut, to help you choose the perfect watermelon.......click here.

Lee A. Tregurtha

Caught this Great Lakes Freighter going thru the Straits of Mackinac (between upper and lower Michigan). On the other side of our boat was the Mackinac Bridge. Which, if you have never seen it, is amazing. (I think it is like the second or third largest suspension bridge in the world) These pictures (taken within seconds of each other) last spring, show the cloudy weather in the east (boat) giving way to the clear blue skies in the west (bridge). To see some great pics of this bridge go to this link and click on photo galleries. http://www.mackinacbridge.org/

Personal Watermelon

The sticker on this watermelon identifies it as a "Personal Mini Seedless" watermelon. Never seen or heard of these before. The sticker says Florida on it, so presumably that is where it was grown. Or imported to.

About the size of a cantelope. The fruit was bright red and very firm.

Which is good. However, it was not very sweet. Which is not so good. Just having a watermelon to contemplate, analyze, and consume in January is worth the $3.50 price tag. (which I thought was reasonable)

Had this been an exceptionally sweet watermelon, (like an above average summer melon), I would happily pay $10.00 for one. So I thought $3.50 was a deal. (actually Jim and Jenny got it for me)

But I'm just sayin.....

The Green Room

Return of Winter.........

With winter giving us a quick reminder that it is still January, I took a little hike this morning before it got windy and knocked down the fresh snowfall from last night. It was incredibly silent in the forest except for the sound of the stream.

Eclectus Parrot amongst apple blossoms....

There is absolutely no doubt that the day I found this Parrot a new home that it was a great day for me. (free advice from Watermelon Man...never, ever, under any circumstances accept a parrot) My daughter got this bird "for free". Ummm...yeah....bad idea....somehow we made it 18 months with this shitbird before finding it a new home. To this day I don't know how we did it without my murdering the S.O.B.

(but he was photogenic)

Mayfly....

Commonly reffered to as "fishflies"...in the mid to late spring these things are everywhere. They are a mess. Thank goodness it only happens once a year. They do have an amazingly long tail, though.

A great day for a Road Trip !!

Finally........New Horizons is on it's way. Sit back, make yourself comfortable, maybe read a book. We should reach our destination of Pluto in approximately 10 years. Please enjoy the flight.

Tiny Flower

From last summer. These flowers were so small that you could probably fit several of them onto the face of a dime. But up close they were amazing. (no idea what they are)

Frankfort Lighthouse

On Lake Michigan. (cool little town) (K1...lets go back to the A&W there)

Home Sweet Home

The Stardust space mission ended succesfully early this morning. Here is a shot of it streaking through the atmosphere and the recovery crew right after they found it. (it landed in the salt flats) Note the giant smile on the recovery crewmember. Many of these engineers and scientists have been working on this project since the early 1980's. Well done.

The lightest solid substance on Planet Earth.

Aerogel. 99.8 percent air. Yet extremely strong. Shown here on top of a bottle. This one inch square piece has more insulating value than 20 inches of glass. When holding it in your hand it has the weight of nothing. Yet it is solid. This is the material that was used to catch the interstellar dust by the Stardust space vehicle. It is also the insulating material for the Mars Rovers that keeps them warm during the -150 degree (f) martian nights. It's a bit pricey...the piece shown here was about $40.00 (ebay) but it is a great conversation piece . Here are some more cool pics....http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/photo/aerogel.html from NASA.

12 hours..........

Approximately 12 hours until the space vehicle Stardust delivers it's amazing collection of comet dust to planet Earth. A seven year 2.88 billion mile trip is now just hours away from completion. The little capsule is soon to be ejected fron the mothership (that will continue on to the sun) and enter our atmosphere tonight at about 29,000 mph. The news exposure that this freaking incredible scientific accomplishment will receive , I predict, will amount to less than the demolition of an old Las Vegas hotel. Somehow, that just does not seem right.

Contemplating the end of the day.....

This awesome sunset taken on Jan. 12 2006. Boyne City, Mich. (Lake Charlevoix) A day of record warmth. Taken from Karen's front yard. (sorry Karen, I know it's a bitch, but someone has to live there) (thanks for the photo)

Spring day in January...

January 12, 2006. Record high temperature recorded of 50F. As an added bonus it was very calm. A perfect day to highlight the amazing water clarity of Torch Lake. The last two photographs are the lake floor taken through approximately one foot of water.

The Sun Sets.....

....over the little village by the lake....and the evening will surely be calm and quiet...

Bohemian Child

Looking for a Bohemian dinner. And then finding it.

Fog

Recent mild weather has melted the snow so I took the opportunity to go see what I could find on the January forest floor. Pictured here are the forest, an unidentified larvae (about an inch long), some type of stink bug, and some fresh fungi growing on a log. I brought the larvae and the stink bug inside (they looked dead outside) to see if they were alive and they both started moving as soon as they got warm. Freak weather. Normally it should be very cold with several feet of snow. (trust me, I'm not complaining)

Score

Today, I met my dealer. He set me up with this. Good shit. Madman, if ya know what I mean. I talkin some quality stuff in the middle of freaking January. I'm guessing it is from Mexico, it might be Columbian, they grow good shit too. The guy hangs out alot around the produce section of the grocery store, if yer lookin' for 'em.

Bohemian Christmas Carolers

I wasn't sure if you are supposed to tip these people or not. I gave them beer and they went away.

Turkeys at Jim & Jenny's....

Next Thanksgiving I'm gonna nail one of these bad boys with a nine iron...maybe a hockey stick....and have a real pilgrims dinner. Kill 'em and grill 'em. ( as Uncle Ted says) Hmm...I guess that would be a Bohemian pilgrims dinner. **disclaimer** I'm not serious about beating the turkeys to death.

Four Seasons

Fall...a gale of November. (somehow caught a bird flying in the middle of this shot) (que the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald")Winter...two ducks swimming where a creek empties into the lake and creates an area of unfrozen water. At sunset. (what I really liked about this picture was that the ducks were face to face with the sunset in the middle of them) ( I froze my ass off waiting for that shot)
Spring......as the ice gets very thin you can see the color of the lake through the ice. Very cool. This photo I like to refer to as a Torch Lake Margarita. Slushy, refreshing, and the snow rings on the ice give it the appearance of salt. (not to mention it is the perfect color of a margarita)....or maybe I just like tequila...I dont know..
Summer...ahhh..summer. No worries. Unless, of course, you happen to be misbehaving and you have a boatload of cops coming after you with twin 125's haulin' ass. Then there are worries. The officers do not like getting wet. They don't come back empty handed. ( I think this photo should qualify as Bohemian) (also of note...this pic taken at exact same spot as margarita pic)

Torch Lake

Watermelon Mans home base. To the North, Lake Michigan, to the left (west) Elk Lake and Grand Traverse Bay. (plus a million little lakes , far too many to mention) Torch Lake got it's name from the Indians that used to use torches at night to spear fish, thus "Torch " lake. Water clarity is cystal freaking clear.Largest inland lake in Michigan (in water volume). Nineteen miles long. Average width 2 miles. Average depth 300 feet. Very cold. Since winter time sees a great reduction in Bohemians and Bugs, the lake will occupy more of my day to day photographic effort.

Ummm....yeah.....

Today I found out I had my comments setting disabled. Stupid. Oh well, it's enabled now. However, Floyd at http://floydslists.blogspot.com awarded me the Watermelon Douchebag Award for my efforts.

Six Seagull Sunset

(actually seven if you look closely)

Bohemian Vehicle

Apologies to all those who have complained about the recent lack of Bohemian postings. Winter around here means a great reduction in Bohemian sightings. I shall just have to work harder. This photo, taken last summer, is of an Air Stream trailer with the front end of an old Grand Torino welded onto it. Talk about a hybrid vehicle.

Cherry Blossoms

Springtime in northwest lower Michigan brings thousands upon thousands of acres of various fruit trees in bloom. Cherry trees are predominant, but there are also apple, peach, plum, pear and others. A true sensory overload when they all bloom.

Honeybee on dandelion.

Frosty Leaves

In the morning sun.

Toad on a toadstool.....

What are the odds of seeing that when you have your camera ?