The Sky...Remnants of Irene

Last night and into the early morning, the wind and rain pelted against the house.  Every now and then I would wake up for a few seconds and then fall back asleep.  We were fortunate that Hurricane Irene gave us a good dousing of the much needed rain.

This morning, I looked up into the sky and saw some beautiful cloud formations.  They were low clouds that were still swirling in a counter-clockwise rotation.  Remnants of Irene.  It was 9am when I took these pictures and the wind was still blowing a nice cool breeze around me.

32mm, f16, 1/640, ISO 100

29mm, f18, 1/800, ISO 100

27mm, f18, 1/800, ISO 100

The sun is out and warming up a new day.

Hurricane Irene

A non-picture posting day today.  I did take the camera out to take some pictures of the sky.  The rain showers started around 11am and steadily rained until Irene's fury started around 7pm.  The whole sky was just gray.  Hubby and I left the house around 3pm to make a quick run to our local grocers for some comfort food.  There was hardly anyone on the roads.  Everyone was hunkered down in their homes.

The local news said the main part of Irene would be hovering over us from 7pm until 3am.  We got pounded with heavy winds and rain.  It didn't feel or sound as bad as what we experienced with Hurricane Isabel in 2003.  Isabel released a fury that shock the inside of our house.  Back then, a neighbor's old oak tree fell and missed our house by a few inches.

I think we're going to be fine.

Bees a Buzzin'

I was looking for an opportunity to take some pictures and I stumbled upon these bees out in our garden.  Though not as hard as taking pictures of hummingbirds, bees still are a challenge.  They like to move around and fast.  Just when I think I've got the perfect picture, they move on to another flower.  A challenging task is trying to take picture while they are in flight.

200mm, f5.6, 1/1000 ISO 100

200mm, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 100

200mm, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 100

200mm, f5.6, 1/800, ISO 100

200mm, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 100

200, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 100

The phlox and daylilies are the last reminders that summer is coming to a close and the next season is right around the corner.

A Quick Trip Back Home

Darling Hubby and I were heading out to the beach this afternoon.  After getting through traffic on the beltway in Maryland, I received a call from the hotel we were planning on staying at the beach.  There was a mandatory evacuation in place and they would refund our deposit plus a night's stay.  We were both happy to get back our money.  At the same time, we were both sad not to be able to get away to the beach for even a day just to enjoy a sunny day and a reminder of God's beautiful creations.  

We were approaching Annapolis and decided to stop and take a breather and figure out what to do next.  My hubby could see my mind was going a mile a minute wondering where should we go for the weekend.  We dined on some halibut and tilapia and had a flour-less chocolate cake for dessert.  After feeling a bit more relaxed, we decided to just head back home.  As were heading back to our car we both looked up at the sky and saw this magnificent beauty:  

They sky over Annapolis
(18mm, f3.5, 1/125, ISO 560)

What a way to end the evening.  A reminder to stop and enjoy your surroundings.  

What Was That? An Earthquake?

Many of us had an interesting afternoon...about 1:52pm to be exact.  I wasn't too sure what was happening other than my office building started to shake.  It was a weird feeling and experience.  I could sense the floor was moving and then I heard the noise...like a train running through the building.  The noise was actually coming from the building structure moving its parts.  I can't remember how long this lasted...20 seconds?  30 seconds?  We were told to leave the building which I assume was a precautionary measure incase another one came.  Several of my co-workers looked at each other in surprise.  Do we have earthquake procedures?

It was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Virginia.  The epicenter was located close to Mineral, VA...about 87 miles from DC.  It was the largest to hit since VA since 1897.  Apparently, there were two aftershocks reported  (2.8 and 2.2) that occurred almost an hour later that I didn't notice.  I guess I was still in shock after feeling the 5.8.

You think I would have taken at least one picture of this event.  I was too busy trying to call home (cell phone service overload) and trying to get news with my iPhone.  What an interesting afternoon.

Another Low Light Picture

My hubby loves tomatoes.  I went to the our local farmer's market and came back with these...beef steak tomatoes.  It's only natural I take a quick picture of these beauties:

50mm, f/8.0, 1/80, exp -0.67, ISO 6400

New Gadget...A Kindle

I've been looking at ebook readers for a few months.  I spent an hour at my local B&N store checking out the Nook.  I went to Staples and got a chance to play with the Kindle.  Interesting that the Kindle is popping up all over the place.  I believe I saw an AT&T ad where they will be carrying Kindles as well.

As you can see, I recently purchased a Kindle.  I bought the 3G/WiFi version with special offers or what I call advertisements.  The ads show up at the bottom of the screen and to me it hasn't been a nuisance at all.  If WiFi is not available, I can still download books via 3G.  The 3G service is free.  FREE.  There are some limitations to the free 3G service, but if all I'm doing is downloading books...it's a free service.

The WiFi was easy to setup.  I do have the capability to turn on and turn off the 3G/WiFi service when not in use.

While I still enjoy holding a paperback book and feeling the real paper in my hand, I have to admit that an ebook reader has some advantages.  For me, I downloaded David Busch's Nikon D7000 Guide.  It's well over 500+ pages.  I can't imagine carrying a book with that many pages with me.

I purchased M-Edge GO! ebook cover along with an M-Edge e-Luminator Kindle booklight.  The booklight slides right into the cover and I can swing it up and down along the side.  A light source is definitely need during the evening and late night hours.  

The booklight has three settings:  low, medium, and high.  As you can see I've setup the light, but forgot to turn it on when I was taking a picture.  

My personal categories that I've configured on my Kindle.  It's readable during the day, inside my house.  Notice the "special offers" at the bottom of the screen

Yes, the Kindle works brilliantly outside in bright sunshine and also inside with normal daylight.  Once I encounter limited light source, I do have to turn on my booklight.

From the previous picture you can see that I have a few PDF that I transferred over to my Kindle.  I can open and read my PDF files, but the Kindle is not a PDF-native reader.  Meaning, I can't adjust my fonts like I can with a Kindle-native book.  The Kindle does have the ability to zoom in and I end up using the navigator button to move around within the PDF file.

When I first played with the Kindle at my local Staples store, I kept swiping the screen.  Duh!  It's not an Apple gadget!  After a few minutes, I was able to manipulate and maneuver my way around the Kindle using the buttons without any problems.  That's pretty much an intuitive gadget for me.

So, why didn't I purchase a Nook?  When I was at my local B&N store, the units they had on display weren't working for me.  Their e-ink technology still needs some work.  I noticed there was a problem with the screen not being able to keep up with where I wanted to go or switching between books.

I didn't need a color ebook reader as I already have an iPad which does an amazing job with the color and graphics.  I needed an ebook reader that I could use during the day without any glare.

I'm happy with my new gadget.  I can take it with me wherever I go.  It fits in my purse, backpack, or in my camera bag.

(Note:  pictures taken with 50mm lens)