Virtual-Doug

Weekend at Dougie's

Friday nights in the fall mean shooting high school football games.  I sell the photos online at  www.rgvsportspix.com as well as to a local newspaper.  This week was more fun than usual as I had Trang with me.  After getting her permission to be on the field as my "assistant", we went up to the press box to get team rosters.  It was the perfect opportunity to get a photo of her in an unusual setting.

(Go ahead - click on the photos.  You'll see a larger version.)

The game itself?  Boring!  It ended with a score of 63-7 - - the winning team's quarterback went down on his knee for the last four plays of the game.  But there were a few fun moments - this player was on the winning team, but loosing the fumble obviously didn't make much difference.

Many people are surprised at how many photos I take at a game - its usually somewhere around 700-800.  Out of all those, I will have about 100 that are decent enough to sell.  Why?  Lots of shots are sequenced - the same scene taken with split seconds of each other.  My camera takes 10 photos in one second - the better to catch the action at its peak - and I may have five photos of the running back scoring a touchdown, but only one will be of his actually crossing the goal line.  Many are out of focus (operator error) or just a lousy shot.  It takes a lot of time to dump all those photos into my computer, sort out the keepers, then process them to look nice for printing.  Because high school stadiums are quite dark, I have to lighten up the images, crop them tighter and otherwise improve them.  Of course, then I have to upload them to my web site and send them off to the newspaper's server.  All this means I am up until 2 in the morning, though I often crash and finish the job Saturday morning.  Exciting stuff, huh?

This may be filed under the category of "TMI."  A friend told me not long ago that he thought he was taking far too many pills.  When he told me he took three a day, I called him a beginner!  A rookie!  In the top row are the ones I take regularly - on the left are the "morning pills" and the top right are the "night pills."  But, I've had a nasty nasal infection recently, and the pills on the bottom are the ones the doc has me taking to clear that up.  I wonder if all those pills fight in my stomach.  See what happens when you get old?  I always advise my much younger friends to not get old, but of course, they never listen to me.

Weekends mean worship for me - Sunday mornings will find me enjoying the music and message at Baptist Temple  - sometimes described as the most unBaptist church in south Texas.  It is anything but staid - the music rocks and the multimedia is wonderful.  But what I really like is that its an active place.  They don't want people to just study the Bible - they want people who believe to live the Bible.  I've been going there about a year now - and love it when Trang joins me.

But this is not a typical weekend.  The Mystery Guest Blogger is still in Ohio, preparing to move her mother here to South Texas.  I miss my lady - I guess we've gotten rather attached to each other after 38+ years, eh?

See you soon, Gril.

New Mexico

My soul lives in New Mexico.  I miss living there.  While others may dislike the 54 shades of brown of the high desert, I revel in it.  I love that I can be in a large city one minute, on top of a 10,000 foot mountain 30 minutes later, or sitting on a hill side in the northern mountains listening to the coyotes yip at each other across the valley.  It is a magical place - and we wanted to show it to Trang.

The northern New Mexico mountains are part of the Rocky Mountain chain - and in early October, it just couldn't be prettier.  The nip in the air is just enough to waken the spirit even if the lungs pant for a bit more oxygen. The golf course at Angel Fire won't be open much longer (though you can play in the snow if you know where the greens are located).  The summer crowds are gone - its mostly locals on the course now.

(As always, be sure to click on each photo - you'll see a bigger image.)

Purely by accident, we arrived when the aspen were in the peak of color.  Another week, and the trees would have been bare.  Trang was in awe - and so was I.  Its hard not to be amazed by such beauty. There are many homes built deep into the woods in the mountains of Angel Fire.  Wouldn't it be nice to pour your morning cup of coffee then sit on the deck and look at the colors?

Angel Fire is near Taos, but we found the famous Taos pueblo was closed.  Not to worry - the ladies had shopping to do - and since the Mystery Guest Blogger knew where the good places were,  she had to take Trang.  There are lots of "junk" stores in the area where pottery, Mexican blankets and such are available.  But, of course, there are also some very high end shops, such as Overland Sheepskin Company.   Trang has been into cowboy stuff since I first met her in Hue, and this place was a treat for her.

Then on to see the Rio Grande Gorge.  This mini-Grand Canyon isn't so mini when you stand on thebridge and wait for 8 seconds for your spit to hit the canyon floor.  I've been there a number of times, but I'm still awed by the deep cut in the earth so near to towering mountains.

Winter comes early at 8,600 feet above sea level.  Though the days are brilliant and warm, the nights are already cold - and this was Trang's first experience with freezing temperatures.  The thermometer read 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but to her (and most of the world) it was 0 degrees Celsius.  She was surprised that she didn't feel colder, but without the humidity in the air she is used to, the dry cold is less bitter, but she still needed a jacket

One last treat before we headed out to Albuquerque for the balloon fiesta - we stopped and watched real working cowboys beginning the drive to lower winter pastures.  Soon, the high mountain meadows will be covered with snow - and much too cold for the cattle.  We watched and listened as they worked, then they disappeared around a bend in the trail.  The old west - real cowboys - real horses - the real deal.

And I still miss New Mexico.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

I don't know which was more fun - watching the balloons launch in the crisp morning air of New Mexico or watching Trang.

We used to live in Albuquerque and the balloon fiesta is an annual fact of life.  Tens of thousands of visitors overrun the city, snarl traffic, and generally annoy the populace.  But the fiesta is well worth the visit, especially if you've never been around hot air balloons.  Spectators are invited to get right out on the field among the huge balloons as they inflate and take off.  It is a whirlwind of color and noise and movement.

But - it starts very early in the morning.  Dawn has not yet cracked on the field when the crews arrive in their trucks and vans and begin to check the weather.This is the time for a New Mexico breakfast of hot coffee and a green chile breakfast burrito.  A little fire in the tummy helps you to wake up as you wander around the field.

(As always, be sure to click on the photos to see the larger version.)

Sipping coffee and checking the weather, the pilots decide they will fly - and soon somebody fires off their burner.  If you are near one of them and you aren't ready for it, the sound will startle you.  Soon, bursts of fire appear around the field and crews begin to lay the big nylon bags out on the ground.

 Trang wasn't quite sure where all this activity would lead - until she saw the first balloon with fire being breathed into it - and she saw how huge a hot air balloon can be.  An ordinary balloon is about between 75 and 100 feet tall.  By this time a crowd has gathered around the balloon.  As it leaves the ground, people applaud and cheer.  If you are focused on that one balloon, you'll miss the others around you - until another blast from a nearby burner makes you jump.  Now, they're lots of balloons standing up and launching, and Trang was quick to record this new experience.

By now, the balloons are everywhere.  Though it seems there are thousands of them, the balloon fiesta limited the number of balloons allowed to launch in one day to no more than 600.  As soon as one clears the ground, another crew moves into its assigned space and begins the fifteen minute process of setting up another balloon. Each must wait for a fiesta official to give the thumbs up to launch - just to make sure a balloon doesn't go upwards into another balloon overhead - but it seems they are all around you.  The sensation of sight and sound is euphoric.  It didn't take long before Trang filled up the memory card on her camera - that's my point & shoot she is using while her own camera dangles from her wrist.  It seemed like she couldn't take pictures fast enough.

It was a great morning - one of those magic times when God's earth is so full of fun and joy.  I was in the middle of this awesome place with the two most important women in my life surrounded by beautiful machines floating in the air over my head.  It was worth getting up so early in the morning (we had to get up at 1AM to drive to Albuquerque from Angel Fire - more on that in another post).

As the chill wore off and the last of the balloons were off in the distance, the field began to empty.  Chase vehicles went to find their crews and pilots while the spectators began to look for souvenirs and trinkets - and maybe a cinnamon roll or another breakfast burrito.  I was more in the mood for people-watching than shopping, so I let the ladies go off on their own while I drank the last of my coffee and watched the crowds dwindle.

And smiled.

Still Here

Contrary to common belief, I am still here.  I've just been super busy since the return from New Mexico.  I promise to post some photos and stories soon.

Monthly

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