Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

CapnBob

Armed Forces Day, 2020

Pair of AT6 Aircraft

In the past, we have posted about Armed Forces Day on this blog. Our old home in K’Stan was located in a community that actually had an Armed Forces Day parade annually and we blogged about those back then. Well, today, there probably aren’t any parades out there because of the dreaded COVID-19. That’s a loss for them for sure.

The lack of parades, however, did not deter the intrepid airmen piloting the two North American AT6 Airplanes shown flying in formation above our Wickenburg home today. The resonant sound of the radial engines overhead brought us out of the house this morning and what a sweet sound it was to hear.

I managed to capture the above image of the high-flying planes as they passed over our place with the new 400mm lens. They were quite high, perhaps eight or ten thousand feet AGL. The planes made several passes over the area which was a delight to see these two nostalgic beauties as they transited the area.

We see that there have been several organized fly-overs in various places around the country, including the Phoenix area, but unfortunately not visible here. It is not known by us if this was an organized fly-over or just a couple of vintage AAF Trainers out for fun. Regardless, they were awesome.

We wish our Military Men and Women Godspeed on this Armed Forces Day and pray for their safety in harm’s way. May God bless them and their families on this day.

16 May 2020 by Aviation Classics Everyday Heroes Military Nostalgia Photography

May 07, 2020 Super “Flower” Moon

Super “Flower” Moon

I put the new Canon EF 100-400mm lens on my Canon EOS REbel SL1 camera last evening to attempt to photograph the full moon at perigee. So called a “super” moon, it only appears slightly larger to the naked eye, but is around thirty thousand miles closer than when at apogee.

From EarthSky:

This year’s farthest apogee comes on March 24, 2020 (252,707 miles or 406,692 km), and the closest perigee occurs some 2 weeks later, on April 7 (221,772 miles or 356,907 km). That’s a difference of about 30,000 miles (50,000 km). Meanwhile, the moon’s mean distance (semi-major axis) from Earth is 238,855 miles (384,400 km).

There is good Lunar information at the above link with a nice photo comparison of the difference in apparent size from perigee to apogee. There is also a graphical illustration showing the lunar elliptical orbit compared to a circular orbit about the earth.

I took the above image at 8:28 PM AZ time last evening from the courtyard in front of our little house. The camera was set to Tv (shutter priority) with an exposure of i/4000 sec. The focal length was set to 400mm and the ISO was set to 6400. The lens aperture at this setting is F5.6. I also took this photo of the moon last Tuesday while it was in its waxing gibbous phase.

this photo

The moniker “Flower Moon” is based on the fact that there are flowers in bloom at this time of year. We certainly have a lot of them opening almost daily in April/May.

Update: I found out that it was also possible to resolve the planet Venus as a crescent using the new lens.

20200507-crescent-venus.jpg

08 May 2020 by Astronomy Notions Photography

Canon EF 100-400 mm High Performance Telephoto Lens

Telephoto LensIn the not too distant past, maybe last December or so, Damsel and I watched a documentary on our local PBS station about wildlife photography. It was very interesting to see the birds and other wildlife that we regularly see here near our retirement home, being showcased in a presentation about amateur photographers and the wildlife subjects of their interest. We both enjoyed watching the informative documentary and learned some things as a result. Foremost, I concluded that the stock 100-300 mm zoom lens I use with my Canon SL1 is inadequate for the type of work we saw on the show.

We both enjoy photography and have both made some extraordinary shots from time to time, but when something is out of the capability reach of our equipment, it shows. After watching the documentary mentioned above, the cerebral juices started flowing and had been simmering since until I read a View From The Porch article that mentioned the lens I now have. I was impressed by the results Tam posted and put the lens on my wishlist at Amazon. When I finally had enough money tucked away to cover the cost, I went ahead and ordered the lens.

Today, the Good Truck of Brown® delivered the package. Aside from some imperatives that had to come first, I could hardly wait to try the new toy out! At last, I had the time to unpack and attach the lens to my camera. I went straight outside and took about 35 shots of “stuff” I regularly see around here. The two below are just a couple of things I was able to capture on my maiden outing with the new lens. A Curve Billed Thrasher at the backyard bird feeder and a Mourning Dove in the Mesquite Tree by the RV Drive. Click on either image to enlarge.

Curve Billed Thrasher Mourning Dove in Mesquite Tree

UPDATE: I added photos of a house sparrow and a Gambel’s Quail below.

House Sparrow Male Gambel’s Quail

I shared these and some others on the FecesBook™ thing. I am very happy with the initial performance of this lens as compared to my old zoom lens. The built-in image stabilizer and the quick-to-respond ultrasonic focus drive mechanism were splendid in allowing these and other photos from a hand-held camera/lens combo.

The product page from Canon is here and the Amazon listing is here (the price went up since I ordered mine for a little over 1.8K).

By the way, our CARES Stimulu$ was in the bank yesterday and has now been distributed to charities in our neck of the woods. I did not use those funds for this purchase. Damsel and I believe investing the .gov money back into local charities will get it to work where it’s needed. Charity begins at home.

16 Apr 2020 by Notions Photography Retirement Technobabble

Alleluia! Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

Easter Sunday 2007, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Production by Metzger Music.

Happy Easter, everyone. We hope you enjoy the elaborate and beautiful Easter production embedded above. We especially like the children participating in the bell procession. May God’s blessings be with you on this joyous day commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

11 Apr 2020 by Religion

Meet Our Newest Great Granddaughter

Baby Kenna Big Sister and Baby

This weekend we’re welcoming our newest family member. She was born on Thursday, weighed in at 7lbs, 12oz. “Kenna” was born to our second eldest (of three) granddaughter, Alyssa and her life mate, Terence in Santa Rosa, CA. In the left panel above the baby is pictured sleeping on her first day. Above and right, the big three year old sister, Maci, welcomes the new baby.

I know, too much cuteness going on. Damsel and I are very proud. Click on either image to enlarge.

28 Mar 2020 by Ancestors California Family

Yard Cleanup – Feeding the Chipper

Feeding the Chipper

Over the past months (maybe over a year) we have trimmed mesquite tree branches away from the driveway and in the back and front yard areas. We also recently removed a few branches from the plum tree in the courtyard to encourage it to grow upward. When we don’t have time to break the limbs down and stuff them into the refuse bin, we sometimes drag them across the road to our lot over there to be dealt with at a future time.

Well, the future is here. Yesterday, Damsel and I took the chipper that we bought last spring over there to dispose of the branches and create some mulch for Damsel’s gardening. I took the 3KW Honda Generator in the back of the pickup so we could have power to run the chipper.

We got most of the work done in that single session and created a box full of wood chip mulch that Damsel can spread on her trees and other items she grows. There remains some thicker branches that we will chop into firewood for our neighbors that have fireplaces.

When operating the chipper, the manufacturer recommends protection for eyes and ears (pieces fly and it’s loud). I borrowed the goggles and earmuffs from the range bag for the job. Click on the image to enlarge.

25 Mar 2020 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

Census 2020

Census 2020Well, the Census is behind us now, unless the .gov decides that our submitted inputs were deficient or something. We got our snail mail a couple of days ago inviting us to respond on-line with a twelve-character code that identifies our address. Once signed in, we answered the questions with a minimal amount of personal information disclosure.

Just for the purposes of how this census compares with the past, I examined an old photocopy of the 1910 census taken in Los Angeles. Back then, government workers conducted the census door to door.

Even back in 1910, the questions asked exceeded the original intent of the census which was to get a head count. There were personal information questions not necessarily pertinent to the original census intent. The headings below were on the 1910 census form:

  • Location (House No., etc.)
  • Name
  • Relationship to head of household
  • Personal Description
    1. Sex
    2. Race
    3. Age
    4. Marital Status
  • Place of birth
  • Father’s place of birth
  • Mother’s place of birth
  • Citizenship (immigrants and whether naturalized)
  • Language spoken
  • Occupation
    1. Trade (job title)
    2. Nature of business
    3. Employee or employer status
    4. Tenure
  • Education level
  • Owner or renter at residence

The one glaring item in the 1910 census omitted from the 2020 census was that of citizenship. Does this mean that NON-citizens who answer the census are included in the head count for determination of congressional districts and number of representatives in government? If so, THAT IS A VERY BAD THING, and not what the founders intended!

The following link is to an image of the referenced 1910 census for a portion of a precinct of Los Angeles, CA. I intentionally left it as a very large image which you will need to scroll about to see the various entries. 1910 LA Census

21 Mar 2020 by Beltway Kabuki

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