Letterboxing with Pumpkin Girl

Back in 2019 my grandkids and daughter-in-law introduced me to letterboxing. Letterboxing is a sort of treasure hunt, and if you want to understand it better, you can check out that 2019 post here. 

I got serious about letterboxing and came up with my own trail name (Bear Claw 67), carved my own rubber stamp, and found my first box in the little village of Zabcikville. I was definitely a rookie, so when, in 2020, a long-time letterboxer (trail name Pumpkin Girl) contacted me to see if I'd like to meet up one day and search for a box or two, I agreed. 

I enjoyed meeting Pumpkin Girl that day. We had a great time together, but I wasn't really sure that letterboxing was for me. 

So ... time passed, and in 2022 we began worshipping with the Northside Church of Christ. A few months after that a lady named Pam placed membership as well. It took us both a while, but we eventually realized that we had spent a day together almost three years earlier ... Pam was Pumpkin Girl!

My letterboxing paraphernalia has stayed in a tote bag in a spare closet all this time. But today Pam came by the house and took me out to search for boxes. We found five of them, which was a great addition to my log book.

I'm still not sure that I'm cut out for letterboxing. It's a little "fiddly" for me - pulling out weeds, wiping the mud off of boxes, stamping the notebooks, writing the data in them, all the while trying to keep the wind from blowing everything away. Actually, I was much more interested in taking pictures of the places we went. Yes ... sorry, Pam. I think I'll stick to photography.

On our first location, Pam had to pull out her garden gloves and clippers to clear away the weeds that had taken over the base of the tree, where the letterbox was hidden

And here are some of the things that were in the box. 

Next we found two letterboxes near this historic log cabin near Baylor Scott & White Hospital. The cabin was used from the 1920s to the 1940s by Dr. Scott, co-founder of the hospital, as a private study and retreat. It was moved here in 1972.

We ended our hunt at a small, private cemetery near Pam's residence, where we located two letterboxes. 

This small stone was at the base of the large monument shown above. We got a chuckle out of it.

I'm thinking of giving up on letterboxing, but not on spending time with Pumpkin Girl! Maybe I could convince her to become a photo-buddy!

Total Eclipse 2024

The Eclipse Party! (Photo edited by Doug)

April 8, 2024 … it was a day we looked forward to for months! The moon would completely hide the sun, and our town of Temple, Texas, would be in the direct path of totality for the eclipse. The next total eclipse visible in the U.S. wouldn’t happen until 2044. (Dan would be 97 and I would be 95.)

Dan and I hoped to get amazing photos through our telescope. We bought a solar filter for the scope. We bought approved solar glasses for our eyes. We did a successful practice run on October 14, when there was a partial eclipse visible to us. We updated the telescope software, which affirmed it would be possible to capture an image of the corona. And we coordinated with our friends, Doug and Ami, who owned a suitable piece of property, to hold an eclipse party. Doug's mother, Jonnie Sue, actually lives on this piece of paradise. Doug complied with the city requirements for hosting a party of over 50 people on this day. Everyone from our church congregation was invited to come.

We started watching the long-range weather forecasts from ten days out. They didn’t look great, but we had hope. The day before the eclipse, Dan and I worked down his checklist, to make sure all equipment and miscellaneous items for the photoshoot were loaded into the car.

The eclipse would begin at 12:19 PM, but we left our house for the 20-minute drive to Doug’s property at 8:30AM, so we could have plenty of time for proper set-up. Totality would begin at 1:37 PM and last for 3 minutes and 43.6 seconds.

When we arrived, we started getting all of the electronics hooked up, so that the telescope's captured images would show up on the big screen TV on the wall of the covered patio. We ran into a few problems, but finally got that working. By then a few more people had shown up, and Doug was cooking breakfast for everyone. 

The lawn area where we set up the telescopes.

Bluebonnets - I can't help but take pictures when I see them. This was on the edge of Doug and Ami's property.

Enjoying lunch before the start of the eclipse.

The youngest one at the party.

Jonnie Sue's 7-month old silver lab, Angus.

Ami's bee hives. She observed them closely during the eclipse. Right before totality they were swarming furiously. When totality and darkness came, they all disappeared (apparently into the hives). As soon as the light came back, they started appearing again, but with normal activity level.

The sky was full of broken clouds. We struggled and struggled to get our telescope to track the sun properly, but the intermittent clouds kept causing problems. Lunchtime rolled around, so Doug cooked up hamburgers and we feasted on them, along with all the sides. It was about then that Dan finally gave up his efforts to get successful photos from our scope, and joined the rest of us out on the lawn, watching the start of the eclipse through our solar glasses. The clouds would hide the sun periodically, but then clear away. We all agreed the seeing conditions could have been better, but they also could have been a lot worse.

A little past 1:30 darkness fell. The clouds parted. We heard a rooster crow on the property across the fence. Someone was setting off fireworks on the horizon. The temperature fell. And then we were absolutely stunned by the corona that appeared. It lasted 3 or 4 minutes, and was really beyond description. The sky was dark enough that we could see Venus shining in the sky. This photo from my iPhone doesn't do it justice, but it proves I was there!

These pictures (above and below) were taken before the eclipse and then during totality. The darkness in the middle of the day was eerie.

A couple of other guests brought telescopes and, thankfully, one of them was very successful at getting great images. He shared them with us, and gave me permission to post some of them here. So, CREDIT FOR THE FOLLOWING IMAGES GOES TO PATRICK IVERSEN. Thank you Patrick!

Springtime Photo Shoot with Kay

The bluebonnets are in full bloom - a sure sign that winter is over and spring has arrived in Central Texas. Last Thursday my friend, Kay, and I drove to the Muleshoe Bend Recreation Area, located in Spicewood, Texas, in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. This park sits along the shore of Lake Travis and, at this time of year, is carpeted with bluebonnets. It was a perfect site and a lovely day for a photoshoot.

As we drove out of the recreation area, after a successful day of photography, we saw one last scene that we wanted to photograph. We pulled the car over, trudged through some weeds and grasses to get the best shot, and then headed back to the car. As I was buckling my seatbelt, I started to feel fierce stinging and burning on both of my ankles. I hitched up the legs of my jeans and, with horror, found a party of fire ants dancing over both of my ankles. I opened the car door and poured a bottle of water over my ankles, which washed the ants off. I put up with the stinging for the rest of the day, because no fire ants were going to spoil our plans for lunch at the Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls.

I understand that some days the wait-line stretches clear across the Blue Bonnet Cafe's large parking lot, and the wait can be an hour or more. But we were lucky. I think we only waited in line for about 20 minutes. This cafe has been serving up lunches and, most notably, delicious pies since 1929. We both enjoyed lunch, and made sure to save room for pie. I had banana cream, and it was great. I ordered a take-out piece of pecan pie to bring home to Dan.

Although we took almost all of our pictures at Muleshoe Bend Rec Area, we also oohed and ahhed at all of the wildflowers growing alongside the road as we traveled to and from the park. It was nearly impossible to find a place to safely pull the car over to take pictures. Kay did snap this one out of the passenger side window, and I think it's really cute.

This might have to be an annual trip for the two of us. I recently sold my DSLR, finding that I seldom used it any more, due to its weight and bulkiness. So these pictures were taken with my iPhone camera. However, I have my eye on a super little compact point and shoot with a great zoom lens. Maybe I'll have it in time for the 2025 bluebonnet season.

--------------------------

In case some of you have never had experience with fire ants (lucky you!), here's a photo of one of my ankles the day after the attack. It's day #6 today. The stings still look ugly, but the stinging and itching have stopped.

Our New Astrophotography Blog

In an effort to keep track of our astrophotography images, I wanted to keep a journal. The more I thought about it, the more I felt drawn to documenting it all on a blog site, instead. So I have started that project ... still a work in progress. 

Please check it out at https://astrojudds.blogspot.com. 

It is titled "Lift Up Your Eyes and Look to the Heavens (Isaiah 40:26)". I hope you will come often to see what's new. Our most recent image is of the Rosette Nebula, and is featured at the top of the first page.