By Ted Grussing
I was going to caption this email “Heads to Tails”, but thought that might be a little corny (when was the last time you heard that phrase?) so just left it with “… tails”. On an outing with One over the weekend, we were both sitting in the shade marveling at the incredible display this crow put on as he ate this lizard. He picked it up on one of the golf course sprinkler heads (good source of water for critters) and repeatedly threw it up in the air and then when for it and each time he landed with it a little less lizard was left to be flung up in the air again. In this image we were down to the last of the tail and it disappeared when this duo hit the ground again … well, not quite a duo anymore.
My Coopers Hawks are gone, my songbirds are gone, only a few doves dare dart through the area and the Quail keep pretty well hidden as the neighborhood has been taken over by the Mob … about a dozen Crows have moved in and taken over the territory. When One and I venture outdoors we are dive bombed by several Crows. Initially we witnessed a lot of aerial combat between hawks and Crows with the later winning out … like what self-respecting critter would want to put up with continual attacks. So a few sparrows, finches and an occasional tweety bird. On the bright side I am getting a fantastic opportunity to photograph these beautiful albeit noxious creatures. Black along with white subjects are the most difficult subjects to shoot because of the lack of contrast and detail; lighting has to be just right, so this is fun.
I replaced the oil pressure sensor on Mariah’s Rotax engine this afternoon, test ran the engine and am delighted that everything is now green. Flying in the morning so this is going out early. Not sure where I will be going and probably won’t make my mind up until I takeoff in the morning … north somewhere for sure.
Many evenings I wish I could send out several photos including tonight, but when I do that a lot of emails are bounced so this coming weekend I am going to add a page to the personal website to add photos with brief captions. Check the sites out: www.tedandcorky.com and also www.tedgrussing.com . Traffic is increasing and averaging over 20,000 hits per month now.
Time to wrap the day … hope your celebration of the day included a few moments remembering those who died keeping us safe and free. When you make the decision to serve this country in the military you accept among other things that you may be engaged in battle to protect this most exceptional country and part of the contract is that you may pay with your life … in our history more than a million of our finest have paid the ultimate price. It seems that the fights were more clearly defined in past conflicts than now, but the loss of life to serve our country is no less real. Take a look at this site: http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/10/travel/american-cemeteries-overseas/index.html thank the Vets you know and those you can never know because they died so you can enjoy the hotdogs and beans like I did today … in a free country.
Enjoy this day … smile and relish life … keep breathing
Ted
I bring but this one common thought, my life has wrought;
That from the dregs of drear despair, still everywhere
There is a joy I yet may sip – Tis comradeship
With all mankind, the high and low
I know.
— Max Ehrmann
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
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