Dave wrote: Hi Jim,  Here are some pictures for the blog.  I went up to an area on Lake Ontario called Point Peninsula. This area has many  abandoned farms with open land that has a high population of mice and voles. It is an area that attracts hawks and owls. There are a large number of Rough-legged Hawks there this year. Rough-legs breed in the high Arctic. Some winters they invade the northern states. They are a large but relatively weak footed hawk. They come in two color morphs a light and a dark morph. Here are some shots of both color morphs. I have been trying for a number of years  to get a good shot of a dark morph. I think I succeeded this year.  Dave

01 26 2021 Dave Cesari

01 26 2021 Dave Cesari

01 26 2021 Dave Cesari

01 26 2021 Dave Cesari

01 26 2021 Dave Cesari

Oh my – Dave sent to me,  personally,  a photograph showing his beautiful morning in up-state NY.  He wanted me to compare it to a photo I took of my back yard as I prepared to take my Florida morning bike ride.  Hope Dave is OK with me showing you the personal photo he sent to me.

An iphone snapshot, from my back porch as I stood there, wearing shorts, searching for my sunglasses, and doing stretches just before hopping on my bike.

Now, my turn to play around.   Read on please.

Someone grabbed my phone and took this photo of me – Say I “What do you do with a photo like that?”  My answer is “You, of course, play around with it.”

But first I had to quit playing around and get serious.  You see, I did not know the definition of “playing around.”  I did not want to tell you the wrong thing.  So, I did some serious research on the internet and found that play around has 5 characteristics:

  1. it is an activity you choose and direct.
  2. you do it for it’s own sake and not some outside reward
  3. you have some mental rules but there is lots of room for your own creativity
  4. play is imaginative – it takes you away from the immediate real world
  5.  you are alert and physically or mentally active but not in a stressed frame of mind

Yep, I told you the right thing.   Now I know I was “playing around” with this photograph.

 I was doing all five characteristics of play when I played around with it.  Scroll down, have a look-see:

Up in the sky I am found releasing a hand full of Monarchs.

Up in the sky I am found trying to catch a rocket released from the Cape here in Florida.

Up in the sky I am found trying to catch a butterfly rocket

As you swing thru life – help your family and friends play or ask them to help you play – or better yet – you all help each other play together.