Scorpion King!!

I guess if your blog is based mainly on all of God's creation, sooner or later you are going to have an encounter with some of those unpleasant critters that share this planet with us. Well, say hello to one such critter.

They say there is a first time for everything and I guess that includes an up close and personal encounter with a scorpion! Yikes! I have never met one before this opportunity and my perceptions were right on in that "I don't like the little buggers." I believe this is the Southern Unstriped Scorpion or also called the Southern Devil Scorpion (Vejovis carolinianus). I read that it is not poisonous but may cause pain and swelling around the bite area and can cause allergic reactions in persons susceptible to stings and bites. This one made itself known while visiting some relatives in East Tennessee. I didn't hang around for the execution, but I am confident it was carried out!

"Above all things, never be afraid. The enemy who forces you to retreat is himself afraid of you at that very moment."
 Andre Maurois (1885-1967) : French Author

A Wise Ole Buck!

(Photo taken in Oct of 2010 in the mountains of east Tennessee)

If you are going to photograph nature and wildlife, you better be quick to get the shot because often times, you don't get a second chance. I snapped this shot of a nice mature whitetail buck before he went behind a slope and out of site! As bucks get older they get wise to the ways of man and usally become more nocturnal, choosing to move and feed in the relative safety of darkness.   

"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) : 16th American President

Mobile Bay Sunset

Looking out to the Gulf of Mexico from Fort Gaines at the mouth of Mobile Bay.

"Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of heaven."

        John Lubbock (1834-1913 ): Banker, Politician, Author

Great Egret!

Great Egret looking for lunch on the Tenn-Tom River in North Mississippi.
Do you ever wish you had a bigger lens? One that can just reach out and touch everything! Well more and better equipement doesn't always make for better pictures, but it sure seems to help sometimes!

"Maybe because it's entirely an artist's eye, patience and skill that makes an image and not his tools."
        Ken Rockwell from-(Your Camera Does Not Matter)--2005

Opportunity!

                                                                        [ Shot Last Fall ]

This Red Squirrel, aka, Chickaree, Spruce Squirrel, Mountain Squirrel, Pine Squirrel, Boomer and Fairly-Diddle came running through the woods from nowhere and jumped up on this tree trunk giving me an instant opportunity. Just as I got my camera up and snapped this shot it tore off in another direction. Thankfully I was prepared and had this one in focus.

"It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared".

Whitney M. Young, Jr. (1921-1971): American Civil Rights Leader

Rich or Poor!

I snapped this shot of the male catkins on an Eastern Hophornbeam a few weeks ago as spring was getting into full swing. This small tree is also called American Hophornbeam or Ironwood.

"No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has."

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887): Clergyman, Social Reformer

At Ease!

It appears this turtle has encountered a little hardship somewhere in it's past as the left rear of it's shell and leg look to be damaged.

 "Try to be like the turtle-at ease in your own shell."

       Bill Copeland(1929-      )

After the Storm!

The day of the outbreak of storms across the southern U.S. was perhaps one of the most physically and emotionally trying days for many people's lives from Oklahoma to Virginia. It seemed we couldn't get over one storm passing before we were having to hunker down for the next round to come. 12 hours of this and it made for a very long day. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the ones that suffered loss of family, friends, neighbors and property during this catastrophic event.
I snapped this shot of the sunset just after the last storms blew through north Mississippi.

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."
      Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941): Poet, Playwright, Essayist