3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

Project 365

Day 102/365: Leprechaun Chase

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To put everyone in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit I thought this week called for a little green and a few leprechauns. Last weekend a thousand people took part in the Leprechaun Chase 10K run held at Mahoney State Park in near Ashland, Nebraska. The race started and ended at the Strategic Air and Space museum, located next to the state park, and it was quite the site to see. They were not little green men, but fun just the same. I wonder if they found a pot of gold at the end of the race?

Leprechaun Chase in Nebraska
Leprechaun Chase in Nebraska

I did not run, nor did I walk, I was a volunteer and helped my daughters Spirit Squad (cheerleading) from Elmwood-Murdock high school with their first official fundraiser. The premise of this race is the women get a 5 1/2 minute head start, then the men (leprechauns) chase them. If a women wins they get free drinks, green beer, and if the men catch the women and win, the men get green beer.

Never have I seen so much green in one location. Obviously there was a costume contest and it was difficult to chose between the kilted red bearded Irishmen, or the mass of green above. So, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day I give you the bearded leprechaun below as a bonus.

Lucky Leprechaun

If you have participated in a Leprechaun Chase race I’d love to see your costume or hear about your experience.

Day 101/365: Cabin on The Nebraska Prairie

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Day 101: Cabin on the Lake
Day 101: Cabin on the Lake

I love this little cabin on the farm pond. I could sit out here, fish, soak in the sun, relax, and just escape.  This past week was encompassed several days of chasing geese  hoping for the perfect nature shot of Canada and Snow geese circling and gathering in mass.  I didn’t get my perfect wildlife shot, but I think this picture is worth the effort.

If you look in the sky you can part of the large gathering of geese, they landed on the other side of the hill, away from any accessible road. I like landscape photography, unlike animals and small children they don’t move.

Some of my best shots have been landscape images, including my recent Framed Cornfields image and the Great Goose Chase. If you want to view some video make sure to read my Day 100 entry. I have a special treat for you there.

Day 100/365: The Great Goose Chase

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Canadians and Snow Geese in Nebraska
Canada and Snow Geese in Nebraska

You know spring is close when the Canada and Snow geese start heading back north.  Nebraska is in a migratory flight path for many species of birds, including geese, who use the corn and wheat fields as feeding and resting grounds. So on my 100th day I bring you the great Nebraska goose migration.

This year, because of my 365 project, I had a purpose for driving around chasing after thousands of geese and getting a photo of this spectacular site.  Thousands of geese fly over and then start to gather and spiral as they descend in what actually looks like an organized landing pattern. They are very skittish and typically chose sections of land that are difficult to gain access from the gravel roads.

Trying to walk out and sneak up on them is not easy. Goose hunters normally set decoys and sit in blinds waiting for hours. I don’t have that much patience, and you never know where they are going to land. So you watch the skies and chase the clouds of birds in the air. Many of my photographs the past couple of days were part of my goose chase.

The geese  don’t stay long in one spot, some flocks will stop and rest and others will be taking off and continue heading north. In less than a week hundreds of thousands, if not millions of geese will fly over.

Below is a video a friend across the road from her house at a neighboring pond.  Turn up the volume to enjoy the sounds of nature.

Day 99/365: Cornfield in Nebraska

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I went chasing migrating geese today and snapped this framed view of the cornfield. Played with various affects in Photoshop. Enjoy!

Photoshop CS2 Shadows and Highlights
Photoshop Shadows and Highlights (fewer shadows)
Plug in Action from Prairie Woman "Sunshine"
Prairie Woman Action "Black and White Beauty" w/opacity to background
SOOC Original

Day 98/365: McDonalds Shamrock Shake

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Day 98: The Shamrock Shake Has Returned
Day 98: The Shamrock Shake Has Returned

This year my Connecticut friends on Facebook have been talking about the Shamrock Shake, I bet few knew it was invented in 1966, in a Connecticut McDonalds.  I didn’t. But it didn’t get it’s nationwide acclaim until 1975. I love milkshakes and the thicker the better, give me a different flavor and I’m right there. (Eggnog shakes at McDonalds are also one of my favorites)

The  Shamrock Shake bring back memories of childhood, when there wasn’t a McDonalds in every town and going to eat at the Golden Arches was a treat. Once a year, for a very short time, the traditional chocolate, vanilla and strawberry shake flavors would give way to minty green wonders that made your teeth hurt and give you a brain freeze if you drank it too fast.

There is quite the cult following on social media circles this year the humble shake has over 35 Fan Pages (I stopped counting) on  Facebook  and even it’s own website, Find the Shake, as people track it’s appearance at various franchises.  It appears that not every McDonalds carries this much loved shake and in 2010 there was the Great Shamrock Shake Crisis, as well as the great shake hunt.

The appearance has been enhanced over the years, and I’m sure to some traditionalists that is pure sacrilege. But, I really like the added Redi-Whip and the cherry on top.

What people will do to go back to their childhood. Since we’re going down memory lane, enjoy a video from the early 1980’s

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