The owl family

Lucy and I have another family who lives with us, a family of Barred Owls. The owls introduced themselves the first day we moved in our new home as one of them took a dive at me as I unloaded the trunk of my car. Since that day, I see (or hear) them almost every day or night. I was worried about my three dogs becoming owl food, but after seeing the number of squirrels and birds (and witnessing the owls have dinner several times), our dogs are safe (I think).

Last week, I got to witness one of their young leaving the nest. I knew something was different by the owl's behavior leading up to the day. Both adult owls were visible at the same time (rare) and staying near their nest. The morning the baby emerged, all three sat on limbs most of the day until the youngster had the courage to take the plunge. And plunge it did! Baby owls cannot fly (read that online) and this one was no different. While it was on the ground, I snapped several pictures and for the rest of the evening, the parents watched closely over their baby as it learned how to use it's wings. The next day the baby was gone, but both parents took up their usual spots high up in the trees of my backyard.

After initially being concerned (mostly about the dogs), there's something comforting about having the owls watching over my yard. Every time I walk the dogs, I look up to see if my friends are looking back down and most of the time, their large black eyes are staring back.

snow pics

Once in a blue moon, the south will get snow. I can think of maybe five times where I saw snow growing up in middle GA....and that's almost 30 years worth of memories.

I've experienced snow a little more the past few years living in Kansas City and now Greenville, SC. This past weekend was one of those times which saw us getting about 4-5 inches starting Sunday afternoon.

Two of my three dogs, Otis and Dudley, loved playing in the snow while Roscoe didn't want to leave the comfort (and dryness) of the back porch. Dudley continued to play with his tennis ball rolling it around the yard turning it into a mini snow ball.

I enjoy snow! Now I don't want a huge storm with multiple feet of snow and the inevitable broken branches and lost power (luckily that didn't happen to us this time, but friends lost their power for 3-5 days), but once a year, a nice snowfall with sticking for a day or two is fun.

Dogs!!!

Just some recent pics of the most spoiled dogs in the world including a few of them trick or treatin' at the local coffee shop.

Baton Rouge beatdown

Although UGA's season took it's annual nosedive around Halloween (damn you Gators!), it's season looked much brighter the week before. UGA's offense finally showed up for a complete game and took LSU to the woodshed to the tune of a 52-38 beatdown - only the 2nd time EVER an opponent has score more than 50 points at Death Valley (and the other time involved multiple overtime periods).

I had been planning the trip to Death Valley for over a year since UGA only makes the trip west once every five years. In the last few seasons, I've had more fun with road trips than at Sanford Stadium. Sure, every UGA fan likes to 'go home', but I also enjoy experiencing gameday and seeing the opponent's campus and traditions. BTW, I love college football.

I've heard numerous stories about how terrible LSU fans can be. Apparently they didn't show up October 25th because I had the best road experience I've EVER. TONS of free food and drink (and even cuban cigars) were given to me throughout the day (Thanks Dr. Phil!). The tailgate I hung out at was even written up for a story in the NOLA Sothern Cuisine Magazine. I can't say enough about their hospitality! Of course there were a few 'Tiger Bait' chants thrown our way, but most were in good fun and quickly followed by a chuckle. I can't say UGA fans would have been as gracious after a defeat like that. THANKS LSU FANS for a great experience!

I can't say Baton Rouge is a fun place to hang out though, and compared to the Athens nightlife, it was down right BORING! There is no central place to go or hangout after games. There was ONE bar closeby, but it was overcrowded and full of 21-year olds. Compared to other college towns, this was a huge letdown.

Overall, it was a great trip! I'm slowly knocking off each SEC campus. I can't wait for the trip to Fayetteville (sarcasm alert!!!!)

Recent pics

I'm just going to put a few pics up from the past few months.....I guess 'cause I'm lazy and don't feel like doing a post for each set.

In September, Lucy and I had two trips, the first to the UGA/SC game and the second to Blue Ridge, GA, for a weekend getaway.

The trip to Columbia will be one of only two games (Baton Rouge in Oct) I'll get to go to. Originally, a large group of us were planning to tailgate together, but one-by-one, everybody dropped out leaving only Lucy and I. Lucy and I haven't missed a game in Columbia since '02 and it's kinda become our by-yearly football trip. Even before we moved to Greenville, we made two trips to Columbia and mentioned we along we friend should make the easy road trip. It may have been the hottest game I've ever attended (am I getting old?), but we found tickets at face value and got to see another nailbiting UGA/SC game ending with a win by the good guys.

Our trip to Blue Ridge coincided with Lucy's B-Day (September 26th). Instead of giving each other birthday gifts we probably don't need (more shirts?), we do a weekend trip near the big day. She took Thur/Friday off work so I booked the cabin for a long weekend. The weather was perfect, I managed to fit in a long trail run, and my parents and sister were able to come for a day. My Dad had just finished his radiation treatments so luckily he had the strength to put up with all of us!

And finally....a pic of the luckiest dog in the world - Roscoe.

ICON 5 and New York

I've been so busy over the past few weeks that I haven't been able to post pictures from Lucy and my New York trip over the 4th of July holiday.

The purpose of the trip was ICON 5, the national illustration conference held every few years. The last conference was in '05 in SanFran which I was unable to attend due to moving so I was eagerly anticipating this one.

The conference itself was alright - I got to meet several illustrators I knew by name only, I met a few art directors at the ICON Roadshow, but the most fun was had exploring New York. I've been to the city 3 times now spending usually a week there each trip. By this past trip, I had hit most of the 'touristy' spots (you won't see many shot so the Statue of Liberty, museums, etc) so I spent the week finding 'hole in the wall' restaurants and bars. We spent the 4th sitting in a bar called the 'Burp Castle', sipping high gravity Belgium beers while the fireworks exploded blocks away. FUN TIMES!

My sis came into the city and joined us for most of the week.

I've been 'TAGGED'

I've been 'TAGGED' by Ben Holmes, of the KC Trail Nerds. Gotta answer these questions about running now.

1- How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

This would have been was during my college years and my running consisted of a mile sprint to/from the gym. I never ran for fun during highschool or while playing sports - it was just for getting in shape. At this point, running was just that - WORK. I'd do the mile as fast as I could (5-6 minutes), hit the weights for an hour, then sprint the mile back to my dorm.

I didn't get into trail running until 1999/2000 when I discovered several trails around Athens, GA. In the past 8 years, only a small fraction of my running mileage has been on pavement. It's DIRT ONLY for me!


2-What is your best and worst run/race experience?

My worst running experiences all involve some nagging injury that flares up during a run - bad feet, sore ankles, chaffing, etc. There really isn't ONE bad experience though.

All my great experiences involve me running in new places, finding a random trail, getting lost then finding my way back.

When Lucy had an interview in Salt Lake City in February '06, I was running around the campus of Univ. of Utah and and saw a path that started up the mountain. Two hours later, I was at the top of the mountain sitting on a stone bench in a foot of snow watching the sun go down! A deer skipped in front of me and glanced my way...probably wondering what the heck I was doing wearing only tennis shoes and thin running shorts sitting on a frozen rock in winter when the sun was about to go down!!! Once I realized I was about to be stuck at the top of a mountain in dark during the winter, I ran (fell) down the mountain and made it back just after dark. It was MUCH HARDER going down the mountain due to the path being covered in snow/ice. I could only run so fast going up which limited the number of times I tripped or fell, but I rolled in the snow several times going down due to hidden rocks.

FUN TIMES!


3- Why do you run?

To clear my mind. To experience something more than work, computers, emails, etc. To push my body to its limits while I'm able. To feel my muslces burn and air rush in/out of my lungs. To finish long races....just because.

4- What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?

Best - leave your watch behind. Worst - stop while your young and injury free.

5- Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

I was the shortstop on a traveling softball team for 5 years. The season usually lasted 8 months and we'd play every-other-weekend around the state of GA. It was fun until my eye site deteriorated. I can't wear contacts due to my funked-up eyes (shaped funny) and glasses tend to fog up when the weather is 90 degrees w/ 100% humidity. Needless to say, it's not fun when a 6'5", 250lb guy is up to bat and my glasses fog up. When it became dangerous, I quit!!! A softball up site the head isn't good for ones' health.

Also I collect/roll change for several years at a time to take on vacations!!! I paid for my trip to Santa Fe for the Illustration Conf in '01 w/ change. Ditto for the '03 Conf in Philly and now I'm doing the same thing for the Conf. in New York in a few weeks. I've saved about $900 in five years.