I took all four of these photos today in the patio garden. These beautiful flowers all have the fall color scheme. I guess as the temperatures outside get colder, the colors get warmer. Whatever the reason, I like it!

Damsel usually gets these shots, but, occasionally, I get lucky with my little Canon A710-IS. While we were at the Botanic Garden last weekend, I was standing next to a lantana bush when this little guy landed and I snapped this shot. Notice the coiled proboscis (feeding tube) protruding from it’s head. Click the image for a close-up.

It is with near-religious fervor, when Damsel cleans her guns after our weekly shoot. She has a low tolerance for any gunk or dirt on the firearms. In the picture below, the three top insets are the ‘before’ from Sunday. In the bottom panel is an ‘after’ tight shot of the Warthog’s slide and adjacent areas.

You had better believe that that gun is as clean inside as it is outside!

I was just messing around with some of Damsel’s photographs she took last Saturday at the Botanical Garden. One sequence of images seemed to me to look like frames from a movie, so I arranged them and made this Flash&trade: pseudo-movie.

We didn’t do anything much different at the range today, except we didn’t take Damsel’s 20 Gauge shotgun. We’re going to send it to the gunsmith for some ‘tune up’ so, hopefully, it will be easer to reassemble the bolt, slide and fore-end into the receiver after cleaning.

Here is the pictorial version of the report:

The handguns we took, Damsel shooting the Warthog (good report - 100 rounds no problems), Damsel carrying the guns to the truck after shooting (I usually help, but I was hauling a load of ammo that we just bought) and the pieces of Glocks and Rem 870 spread out for cleanup.

A war correspondent in a position to know about both the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts, passes on these important concerns about electing an inexperienced ‘dove’ to the White House. In addition to Senator Obama’s liberal positions on the Second Amendment and his connections to terrorists and race-baiting activists, we must not forget how disastrous the international situation can become.

Greetings,

The outcome of the upcoming U.S. elections will have a profound impact on the war. Meanwhile, the day to day fighting continues. If Senator Obama is elected, I expect to spend a great deal of time covering the fighting. Judging by his words, Senator Obama must be watched closely or we might see some terrible decisions. I expect 2009 to be the worst year so far in the Af-Pak war, which has serious potential to eventually become far worse than Iraq ever was. If Senator McCain is elected, I’ll breathe easier in regard to the war.

For a short dispatch, please click, “Are you Connected.”

Very Respectfully,

Michael Yon

We looked forward all week to go to the South Coast Botanic Garden where they were hosting a Model Railroad Show. The model railroaders set up a miniature railroad throughout one of our favorite areas in the cactus garden. This one shot of a little model doesn’t do the scene justice, since there were little trains all over the place.

Click image for larger view.

UPDATE: Cactus Rail Video

Damsel and I have been discussing taking a winter vacation to Northern Arizona - partly for the vacation and some wintertime photo ops and partly to see just how intolerable the winter climate would be for a Southern California couple who are considering relocating to the area.

Instead of our usual travel mode where we drive between hotels where we spend the night (and lots of money), we’re thinking about renting a compact RV for the trip. I did some research and found that there are some nice off-season value incentives. That, and the falling gas prices, make the cruise an attractive option.

While I was shopping RVs, I found this widget that shows a couple dozen photos taken by customers of the Cruise America RV rental company. Looks like they’re all having fun.

Find more photos like this on The Cruise America RV Community

In a couple of months, We’re going to be out and about doing some research for a potential relocation of our residence. Most places we’re going will be CCW positive territory, so I am planning to take along the Glock 30 parked in this Bianchi holster under the winter garb we will need (It’s going to be a lot cooler than we’re used to).

It seems a shame to hide something this purdy under the coat. (Clickable Image)

The whacko PETA-types and misguided vegans in California have placed an initiative on the November ballot to wit: Standards for confining farm animals. The initiative portends to set standards to allow animals to be ‘comfortable’ for the majority of the day.

What it actually does is drive the livestock business out of the state. It will result in a loss of revenue and allow for Mexican imports to bring more of their diseased livestock into the markets in California. I look at it as an analogy to the whacko ammunition stamping laws whose actual intent is not to solve crimes but to drive firearms from the state.

I paraphrased a popular bumper sticker with Proposition 2 in mind . . .

I took so many pictures at the seashore over the past couple of beautiful weekends here in SoCal. I keep finding many that I want to share at the peril of looking like “The Seaside Channel.” Anyhow, this one of yet another California Brown Pelican in flight along the cliffs caught the details of the underside of these beautiful birds. Click on the image for the large version.