Futuristic Navigational Device?

Compass Rose

Owen Morrel

Aluminum&Stainless Steel Sculpture

Inspired by primitive navigation devices including an astrolabe and a sextant, this 25ft sculpture made a nice fit to the nautical themed Boating District.

Populist Art

Assembled in Sept. 2013, the sculptor created his work for the people and public spaces. The stainless steel mirrors are designed to bring the viewers and surrounding environment into the core of the piece as one navigates the perimeter.

Next post I will attempt to take you into the very Vortex of this multi-dimensional way finder! 

On top or the World

Or is it the moon?

We went to the top of the volcano, Haleakala, to get some sunset photos and we stuck around so I could get some star shots. I say we, everybody else sat in the warm car while I was taking photos. LOL

Coming up for air

 

I went for a little swim this morning with a honu (green sea turtle). She was about four and a half feet long and didn't mind me tagging along watching her feed on the reefs.

 

I had to fight the high tide waves but it was worth it.

Boathouse Views

Home to the Oklahoma City University rowing, canoe and kayak teams.

OKC- Cityscape

Cutting Edge with Reflections

Happy to say there is more planned buildings and water activities for the Boathouse District. Fun to see one's Capital City grow in recreation activities and be a player on the world's stage!

0-Dark Thirty on the Island

I happened to be up before the sun so I took a drive to Lahaina and shot a couple of photos at the temple. I can tell you one thing, there aren't any crowds in Lahaina at 4:00 a.m.!

The last photo I painted with a small flash light while the shutter was open.

Finish Line Tower

The Finish Line Tower

The Oklahoma River is designated as a U. S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site for canoe/kayak and rowing. Several National and International events are hosted during the season. This World Class Tower oversees and keeps up with the competition.

Triangles

Standing at the finish line with the Devon Boathouse in the background I couldn't help but notice all the triangles that were incorporated in the architecture.

Triangular Tower

The building contains a welcome center, floors dedicated to timing, race control and media center. Also included is a VIP viewing center and observation deck.

View to the Top

Located on the North Bank of the Oklahoma River, the Tower has a commanding view of the river as well as the Oklahoma City Skyline.

More to come

Visit to the Boathouse District

Two Honks For Sunshine!

Fair weather with bright Sunshine was the order of the day. Light westerly winds caught my sails and carried me east to Oklahoma City where I took a walk around the Boathouse District.

First Stop!

Located on the north bank of the Oklahoma River the Chesapeake Boathouse was the first building to be built in the the newly formed district.

View of the Prow!

Award winning architecture with a nautical theme is seen throughout the Boathouse District.

The Chesapeake Boathouse seen above offers the public rentals and lessons in rowing, kayaking, canoeing, dragon boating, as well as cycling, running and other fitness activities.

Grounded!

The Oklahoma River claims a seven mile stretch of the North Canadian River. Oklahoma City built a series of locks and dams along this waterway which makes it possible for boats to navigate the entire distance. The day of my visit, repairs and improvements required this particular river lake to be drained and the flow you see is the original river bed. Usually one sees a pristine body of water that reaches from just shy of the boats all the way to the south shore line.

More Next Post!

Finally!

Finally a glimpse of "Old Sol"! So far 2014 is starting out wet and mild over here on the West Coast. No complaints though compared to the harsh weather in other parts of North America.

The Sun was only out for a minute or two when I took this picture but the forecast for the coming week is for sun and mild temperatures. Hoping to get out and take a few pictures of something besides rain, Ha ha!

It's NEVER to cold to take photos!

A while back Ron posted it was too cold to take photos. I have to disagree. These were taking on a balmy 10 degree November morning. I was headed out to do some deer hunting, I always pack my camera gear whenever I head out of the house to do anything in the outdoors. You just never know when something will present itself that you want to take a photo of.

As I headed out to where I was going to hunt the sun began to come up and I could tell it was going to be a beautiful sunrise. I put away my hunting equipment and grab the camera and tripod instead and rushed to the pond across the road to set up on the pond dam. I was rewarded with this amazing sunrise and the opportunity to capture a few ducks on the far end of the pond which still held the fall warmth releasing a fog.

  As the sun rose the ducks realized they were no longer alone and decide they didn't want to stay on the water with the intruder. They took to the air and I captured their silhouette against the blaze orange sky.

Hasta La Vista Baby!

Here today...

It's Island time! I thought it would never get here.

Mai Tai please.

We'll be heading to the airport in the morning and I should start posting some Hawaii photos in just a few days.

Aloha!!

Something for you to feel warm during the Arctic freeze!

A Coyote Tale

"The Father of Song Making"

"cries of the coyotes seems to express remembrance of something lost before time"

J. Frank Dobie

Pictures of a sunrise were on my mind when I pulled up to the gate that entered Antelope Flats. It was still dark as I set my tripod and camera up to record the anticipated and most colorful sunup ever seen! Day broke and there was not a cloud in the sky! Not to say it wasn't wonderous, it was just ordinary! I thought all was lost until I noticed movement a ways back in the flats. Coyotes!

The Trickster

There were two of them. Under the cover of darkness I had somehow managed to have a ringside seat to their morning hunt as the sun came up. I felt as if I was the trickster instead of them!

Prairie Tenor

Just last evening after sundown I heard two different packs calling to each other. One down by Quanah Parker Lake and the other from a westerly direction that might have included these two hunters. J. Frank Dobie observed that English speakers living with the coyote seldom refer to their voice as "singing"; to them it is barking, howling, or yelping; but to the Vaquero people of the Brush Country it is nearly always "cantando".  Although I'm not a vaquero, I was raised hearing the songs of the coyote sounding across these Oklahoma Plains. Their voices assure me everything is right for the moment. Sweet singing it is! 

End Of The Hunt

I had the privilege of a full fifteen minutes of observing the antics of these coyotes while they were hunting and catching what appeared to be grasshoppers. Good source of protein I hear!

No sunrise photos; But a better than ever moment spent with the coyotes!

Book of Many Coyote Stories!

A good resource if one is interested in the Coyote. Dobie began gathering his stories and making notes in 1921. A priceless collection of information and tales! I purchased this book back in the early sixties and still enjoy the tales. Check out that $3.95 price on the cover!

"To many who have heard the ecstatic

little prairie wolf greet their camp fire

from out of the dusk, or have arisen at

the break of dawn and heard his frenzied

hymn to the sun, a west without the

coyote seems colorless and flat."

H.E. Anthony

American Museum of Natural History

-pics from October 2012 archives-

Just because I needed something warm

We are headed for an actual temperature of minus ten tonight with wind chills of 30 BELOW so I am looking through the "warm" pictures today. I sure ain't going outside!

Warm Waters

It's warm somewhere right? I think I like it better when the wind chill is 70 degrees instead of -3 degrees!

Just under the surface looking at one of the many reefs around Black Rock on Maui.

Hawaiian Honu (see turtle) diving in the waters near Black Rock.

The island of Moloka'i in the distance surrounded by clouds. This was taken in the waters off Honokowai when I came up for some air.

This is a shot of our condo building on Maui. If you start at the divide in the building and count three to the right on the first floor you'll come to our condo.

Visit from a Red Bird !

Northern Cardinal

The Cardinals are always a welcome sight!

Eating Sunflower Seeds

Winter birds can be pretty drab, but the bright red of the cardinal seems to lift one's spirit! Especially on a cold December day when snow flurries are in the air.

Red and Wary!

On these winter days I prefer to observe and take photos through the windows of the sun room. The only problem is, its hard to be sneaky! At the slightest movement from me or anyone else in the room, these red birds are gone! The females seem to be more aware and on guard than the males. I've yet to get a decent pic of one at the feeder.

Cracking Seeds

These cardinals must have powerful jaws. Wrenching a black sun flower seed from the bell, they give it a quick bite which pops the seed from the hull and into their mouth. The hulls fall to the side and they are onto the next seed. Fast and efficient feeders! Suppose it comes with being aware and skittish of it's surroundings!