The Real Ice Man

Polly Want a Cracker?

Whenever I visit my sister in Lakewood, CA, I can count on being woken up every morning by a large flock of "feral" Red-Crowned parrots that are making their way from their roosting area to their feeding area. Sometimes in the early afternoon, a few will roost in the large Sycamore trees that line my sister's street. I've snapped a few pictures of them, but without having a good telephoto lens, they look like green blobs with a splash of red.
Here are a few photos taken near my sister's neighborhood by someone with a decent camera (http://californiaparrots.us/RCPgallery/gallery_RCP.html).

These birds are so beautiful, social, and raucous!

You definitely know when they're in the neighborhood. :)

In a Sycamore tree notch 

 Taking flight from a Liquid Amber tree

A little toe nibble.

The Wild, Wild West

I work about a half  mile from where this happened. Yee-haw!!

Phelps vs. Lochte

Okay, this is a little old, but somehow I missed seeing this video that was put together by Speedo last year. Pretty cute! Ryan really gets it in the end. ;)

Swim Fast!

My swim club hosted the annual Ron Johnson Invitational this weekend. I swam yesterday even though it was barely 60 degrees, cloudy, and windy (yes, we're talking swimming outside). I swear, at certain times there were white caps in the pool. ;) Thank goodness for swim parkas!
I haven't really been training for competition lately, so I only entered a couple of 50's (Breaststroke and Freestyle), but upon arriving at the meet, I learned my coach had other plans for me -- yes, I was swimming in a relay. Not just one, but four, with two of them back-to-back 400 Freestyle relays (women's and mixed)! At first, I protested a little (yes, you could call it whining -- I've earned the right since I'm over 50 years old), but then I accepted my fate and stepped up to the block and swam for the team. I'm glad I did, because I learned I'm in better competition shape than I thought I was. I enjoyed one of my best meets in quite a while. Oh, and before I forget, a big thank you to Shirley for bailing me out in the last relay. You're a peach!

Here's the t-shirt given out at the meet. A good mantra for the coming year. :)

The "Party Relay" crew -- Katy James, Chandler Papas, Hank Hoffman, and yours truly. :)

It's beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Early Fall snowstorm in Yosemite produced some beautiful Webcam shots this morning. I haven't been in the snow at Yosemite in far too long.

 Ahwahnee Meadow. I remember pulling my oldest daughter around on a snow saucer here one winter. You can see the Fall color on the trees to the right. And, a rare visitor in the center of the meadow.

 El Capitan. I wonder if anyone is climbing right now.

 Half-dome view from Sentinel Dome. Gorgeous!!

Yosemite Falls. Still no water, but wow, what an image -- from a webcam!!

Happy 3rd Swim Anniversary

Well, it's hard to believe that it has been three years since I made the decision to get back into the pool. 2012 has been a great swim year, and it's not over yet. The highlights of this year include:

• Attending my good friend Elaine's 50th birthday party in California and swimming at the Belmont Plaza
• Swimming in the annual Sun Devil Masters Sprint Invitational
• Attending club socials, including two trips to Saguaro Lake, where I finally learned to water ski
• Visited Elaine and her husband Bruce in Georgia, and attended a long-course meet (I also got to meet the legendary Masters swimmer Anne Dunavin)
• Swimming the La Jolla Rough Water Swim for the very first time (totally awesome)

I have another swim meet coming up this weekend (Ron Johnson Invitational), which will be followed up by another great social. I tell you, Masters swimming means everything to me. I can't imagine my life now without it.

Here's a collage highlighting the past year. Starting at the top left are Anne and Elaine post-meet at the University of Georgia pool (and yes, 96 year old Anne swam in the meet), below them, I'm pointing out the Arizona flag on my cap. I had come a long way from AZ to GA to attend a swim meet. The two hug shots are me and Elaine. The top photo is at the Georgia meet in June, the bottom photo was taken the day after her 50th birthday (can you believe she is 50?!) at the Martin Luther King pool in Long Beach. The group photo at the bottom left was taken the night before the La Jolla Rough Water Swim, with most of the folks in the picture swimming the event. Directly to the right of the group photo is a snippet of me at the LJRWS finish. Next to that in the middle is me "hangin' loose" with my finisher's medal. The photo above shows me on the back of one of the boats we made use of during one of our lake trips, and finally, the photo at the bottom right shows me with a few of my swim club friends after a swim meet. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!! I can't wait to see what the next year brings my way.

 

Little Jumper!

I recently watched a super-cool documentary on spiders titled "Super Spiders". You can always count on shows like this around Halloween. For the most part, I keep my distance from spiders, with one exception -- jumping spiders. They are the coolest little things, and when I say little, the majority of them are minuscule, but can jump so far for their size. And having more than two functioning eyes, four pairs to be exact -- how cool is that? I found a rather cute video of a little furry jumper that is simply fascinating to watch. I wonder what goes on in those tiny brains of theirs?
To give you an idea of just how small this particular spider is, look at the image after the video. I've added a life-size image of a paper cup with a small 'X' representing the size of the spider. Tiny!!!

Are you in the 3%?

It is estimated that 37% of Americans either cannot swim or are terrified of the water. Of the remaining who do know how to swim, it is estimated that as few as 3% can swim more than 500 meters non-stop.
Sadly, a recent ferry accident in October resulted in 39 deaths when more than 100 passengers fell overboard. 
So, if you (or your child) cannot tread water for an hour or swim 500 meters non-stop, please, for the sake of your loved ones, learn how to swim, and wear those life jackets on board if swimming is a life skill whose class you missed.