The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
-Psalm 19:1

Do you know that God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?
-Job 37:15



Monday, May 12, 2008

Nesting... and the races... and other severe stuff...

Another Monday, another "Odd Shots Monday" shot. This time, my shot would most likely fall under the rare part of odd... not really just odd. This bird's nest is located in bf's car port. We actually watched as the mommy and daddy birds worked feverishly to build the nest, and then, bf actually noted the eggs in there and wanted me to photograph that. Well, by the time we finally made it there for the shot, I saw feathers in the picture. I had to hold the camera over my head, so we climbed to get closer. About 4 baby birds filled that little nest. Bf made mommy bird sounds to get the birds to crane their necks... teasing those poor little babies. It was SO sweet though!!! In order to participate in "Odd Shots", visit Katney's blog. I will post about the very active and deadly weather weekend shortly. (Sadly, I was able to keep that sentence from last week's post... what a horrific year of destructive weather...)

First let me share a little of my weekend with you... as I mentioned, bf and I were headed to the drag races. Turns out it was a pretty big drag racing event, a televised NDRL drag race... for what it's worth. It was a first for both of us, but we were actually both quite surprised how much we actually enjoyed it. It was amazing how fast these vehicle were going! 191.02mph in 3.947 seconds! Amazing. We did witness one wreck, as the driver lost control while manually shifting since he had no 3rd gear. He fish tailed a ways and then slammed into the wall. The driver was ok. All the race fans around us were picking on me for taking more pictures of the sky than the races. lol. Who me? Here are some of my favorite shots from the races.We had a great time, and if anyone reading ever has the opportunity, I HIGHLY recommend it.

As for the weather... this weekend was a ferocious weather weekend. Ma Nature went on a rampage all through the plains on Saturday and all over Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio on Sunday. For many, it turned out to be a nightmarish Mother's Day. I have heard that there were 22 deaths attributed to the tornadoes. In addition to that, the images of destruction being shown on TWC today presented an unimaginable glimpse into the horror that lies ahead for these folks. Buildings obliterated. Vehicles crushed. Homes and livelihoods destroyed. This year's tornadoes are historic. Saturday's storms included a horribly destructive and deadly EF-4 tornado in Missouri. Reports on the Missouri portion of the storm are located here. Unlike previous storms, I will not offer a list of all the storm reports... With 52 tornado reports on Saturday and 20 on Sunday, it would be much easier just to direct you over to the NWS main page. From there, you can select the area of the country that interests you the most and get the local survey results for those areas. The Springfield, MO NWS office did do a great synopsis of the storm on May 10, which is located here. For a summary of the storm reports, feel free to click on the two graphics below.
For Saturday:For Sunday:God be with those who have been impacted by this catastrophic outbreak.

Just to revisit the trend analysis graphic that just amazes me. This puts us almost at the total number of tornado reports from the ENTIRE year last year, and we are currently only 1/4 of the way through the peak tornado season! This year is definitely making history.

Bf and I did go out and "storm chased" a little thunderhead that blazed on through the area... didn't catch anything (at all) except a little dust storm from the ferocious winds we were experiencing all day. We really didn't expect to catch anything, but having just been issued the second tornado watch of the day, we figured why not... we were headed out anyhow. The next local weather event is projected to arrive... THURSDAY and Friday. Sheesh.Have a blessed Monday,
~Dewdrop

16 comments:

  1. D4 & D5, nice! Hope your calendar is clear.

    Winds are howling up here right now, just got back from the North facing beach and gusts are easily over 45mph right now.

    SCM

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  2. I wish it was... it is far from clear, and with everything I have coming up this month, I can't even take time off. Grr... Maybe it'll just time itself right.

    At the beach, during work... I need a job like that!

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  3. Nice odd shot post, odd indeed!
    Great shots from the drag race, I love drag race too!

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  4. Thanks, John. It was first time witnessing something so precious.

    Drag racing was wonderfully fun!

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  5. Such cute and sweet birdies! Ahhh... drag racing. My hubby does that as his extra expensive hobby. He raced up in our neck of the woods on Friday and Saturday for a Pinks All Out racing event. (Pinks is a drag racing TV show on Speedvision. A tv channel I do not care for, but apparently guys like it.)

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  6. Love the bird shots. Enjoy your week.

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  7. The baby birds are a grat treat.

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  8. Love the baby birds, and being a race fan loved your photos from the track.

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  9. Great capture, and cute little birdies.

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  10. Have you been watching the fires in FL? J's son's grandparents live in Daytona. I'm worried about our St Augustine. I guess that it's not a good time for a visit to the beach! Last year we had birds nesting in the lawn chairs in the back yard. So neat! Wow! Jimmy Buffet! Your music is developing into real class! Love it! I've got to go to another concert!!!!
    T

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  11. Awesome odd shots there! :D Those are some cute little birds... I just noticed that their nest is positioned in a place where like it was going to fall... :)

    Thanks for the update by the way! :D

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  12. Great Odd Shots pictures and the rest of the post was awesome as usual.. ;o0

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  13. Courtney, They are so sweet, and they just love to eat. I didn't know your hubby was a drag racer. It was so cool to watch live, but I know I wouldn't want to watch it on tv. Such a shame that I don't get Speedvision... lol.

    Person with puppies, Thanks. You too!

    Katney, Glad you liked them.

    Jonna, Thanks, and glad you enjoyed them.

    Kim, thanks. They are so cute, and they are really starting to get noisy now.

    Teresa, I saw a blip about the FL fires. It's just part of the season, unfortunately. It was last year around this time, we were dealing with the Waycross fires. I would recommend against a beach trip just yet. Glad you enjoy my music!

    Ice, The birds' nest survived the ferocious winds we had the other day. I think they will do just fine. The picture with the mommy bird is from the develelopment stage of the nest, so it looked a little shaky at that time, but it is very secure in that spot, and no one messes with it. Yesterday, we got to see the daddy bringing food to the babies. I didn't have my camera in my hand and moving to go get it scared him away. It was very cool. You're welcome for the update.

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  14. Thanks, Tom. You're so kind!

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  15. Aww...cute baby birds... :)

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  16. Beth, Aren't they adorable. Bf took a pic on his phone to send to his daughter and got them all to lift their heads by blowing on them. So cute. :O)

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Dew comment, please...