Bryce Canyon...

Updates...

Well, it seems I've been neglecting the blog... the big news in my photography workflow is a static spark shot from my leg into my macbook, prompting a hardware upgrade to a Lenovo T520, and a move from OSX to Ubuntu Linux (with a short stop in Windows 7 to remind me how much windows sucks - really, try Ubuntu and watch your computer fly!) As a result, I've switched from Lightroom to Bibble 5. There are good and bad points of bibble vs. lightroom (which I may try to write up at some point) but on the whole, bibble is working very well for me, and it's nice to finally be in linux full time. Now photos... here's one from Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah:

Low Country Drive...

Pollen Doom...

So... I have some lovely big old trees in my backyard (I'm sure one of you will tell me the type when you see the pictures - my dendrology knowledge is lacking), which apparently produce pollen this time of year... I didn't know this before, because normally in winter, we get storms through the area on a regular basis, and between the wind and the rain, the pollen either gets blown away or washed away, and doesn't just hang around getting in my eyes and sinuses. However, since California's drought has decided to come back and the high pressure demons are just camped on top of us, I now know about this pollen nightmare... Touch a branch, and an explosion of yellow pollen comes billowing out... You'll see...

Here's a tendril lurking...

Threaten it with a bat, and it keeps it's cool...

but give the branch a little tap, it retaliates...

And if you throw a stick at the tree, it releases a full dose of it's pollen weapons...

Gah, my eye's are itching just proofreading my post.