That's my favorite too. We always know what to get him for Christmas. Camera equipment

Aww, you all are making me miss the Midwest so much! Small towns, snow and cardinals make me homesick.

@legalily

Well, I had a comment that ended up in cyberspace! Love your little town! Isn't Pella famous for a big tulip festival? Your SIL did a fantastic job capturing the magic of the moment! Love the carriage!

My Christmas Cactus has bloomed. Ho-Ho-HO!

cwhitt said:My Christmas Cactus has bloomed. Ho-Ho-HO!

You think YOUR Christmas Cactus has bloomed? Did you see these?
https://garden.org/thread/view...

If you ranked all counties in the US by the record number of White Tailed Deer (someone has, I have the map) you'd see that I live in #3. I have 10 acres, mostly woods, surrounded by square miles of wetlands. Great place for a wildlife photographer. I see deer every single day. Here's two unedited grab shots taken through my front window from my desk. Gene

And if you ranked all US counties by the number of Sandhill Cranes that reside there during the summer, I'm in #1. Here's an unedited shot from my back porch. Gene

Wonderful photos, Gene!

In fact, lots of wonderful photos - I've been a bit busy so not checking in as often as usual... I'll go over them all more slowly when I have time. Thanks to everyone for posting them - I get real pleasure in seeing pics from all over the world!

Rose1656 said:@legalily

Well, I had a comment that ended up in cyberspace! Love your little town! Isn't Pella famous for a big tulip festival? Your SIL did a fantastic job capturing the magic of the moment! Love the carriage!

Yes! What Rose said...

Goodness you're a lucky duck Gene...you're number one and number 2 in my book.

Gene I love the sandhill cranes. Used to go to Nebraska when they passed through. Pretty awesome.

My first attempt at using camouflage for wildlife pix was when I first moved here. Involved going down to the marsh next to my house. Setting on a stool and wrapping myself and camera in cameo material and waiting for all the birds to appear. After about 30 min. of nothing I gave up. Tried to stand up and found that the stool had sunk into the peat marsh. Got the stool out but never did recover my shoes and socks. Gene

2nd attempt at camo wildlife photography was to buy a camo blind. Set it up on the edge of the marsh. Sat inside with my longest lens not realizing that the whole idea of a camo blind was that the wildlife would get close. Got bored, fell asleep. Woke up and got one shot of the eye ball of a deer. Gene

My 3rd attempt was even a bigger waste of my time. During the winter (think plan ahead) I got a wide brimmed hat. Glued camo material to the hat with a slit in the front. Just long enough to cover me but to allow walking around. Spent many hours in the house practicing my technique. Spring arrived. All excited, I got it on and walked very slowly towards the marsh. Thinking I am so subtle. I got to the edge of the marsh and looked down. There are 4 of my cats who followed me there. Gene

I love your spirit, Gene! Keep trying!

Gene You made my morning brighter

joannakat said:

You think YOUR Christmas Cactus has bloomed? Did you see these?
https://garden.org/thread/view...

OH MY!!!!!

Whitetail buck in velvet

@gasrocks, that was hilarious, I'm grateful I didn't have a full mouth of coffee at the time I read it (it sounds too much like me).

Snowing in Ohio