James Brubaker

Blog

  • Jan 26, 2019 – Hey kids – Get out there now – for at least two hours

    Jan 26, 2019 – Hey kids – Get out there now – for at least two hours

    Dave Cesari and his wife spend hours outdoors enjoying nature every day – I know, because I encounter them most days. The photographs he sends to me to post here are beyond description. We are so fortunate to have these photographs by Dave. Be sure to click on the TGO Photo Clubs page and see the beauty of nature that Dave puts before your eyes.

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    Ten or so cell phone photos from my hours outdoors each day

    First, a paragraph on the Tree Swallow from Wikipedia:

    An aerial insectivore, the tree swallow forages both alone and

    Tree Swallow in flight

    in groups of hundreds, eating mostly insects.

    Molluscs, spiders, and fruit are also found in the diet. The nestlings, like the adult, primarily eat insects, fed to it by both the male and the female. This swallow is vulnerable to  to parasites, but, when on nestlings, these do little damage.

    Tree Swallow

    In the US, the Tree Swallow  is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, and in Canada by the Migratory Birds Convention Act. This swallow is negatively affected by human activities, such as the clearing of forests; acidified lakes can force a breeding tree swallow to go long distances to find calcium-rich food items to feed to its chicks.

    END OF TREE SWALLOW STORY………………………………

    OK kids, here is the reason for this page in my blog. I want to encourage you to:  1. Get out there and enjoy nature by hiking or biking the parks around you – at least two hours every day.  2. Take your quality camera (as Dave does) or your cell phone camera (as I do) and use it to record the nature you saw and enjoyed.   3. Send me some photos to post.

    Here are just a few of my cell phone photos that I took while on my daily hours in nature around my home:  

    From my porch – It is not spots on my lens, it is not a swarm of bees, it is a swarm of Tree Swallows – feeding in groups of hundreds.
    I found this Pygmy rattlesnake on our community’s Nature Trail – glad I had my cell phone with me.
    Study the beautiful pattern and color in his head
    You can always study clouds

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    With a little PhotoShop you can always see things in the clouds – you might have to study them for a while. I wonder what these two  are discussing?
    This water hole just right size for this guy – and he claims it as his very own.
    Next day I found him in water hole – See the floating pine cone. It is almost the same size as his head & sort of looks like his head. Fun to find things like this. (I did not put the cone there)
    Turtles are always fun to find – Looks like a cave painting on his side. I wonder how it got there. – maybe an injury?
    Moooooo!
    He almost had to chase these three wild turkeys off with his walking stick – Somebody must be feeding them ’cause they will follow you around as you hike.
    Yesterday, when I returned from a bike ride,  all three wild turkeys were in my front lawn. – Guess what, they followed me up the driveway and one came right into my garage.
    Just looking around – until he saw the roasting pan on the shelf “Yipes”, said he!

     

    Wonder what they are discussing? Maybe the Government shutdown?
    Oh my, as you swing through nature – record some of it on your camera or cell phone and text me a photo every day!

  • Jan 20, 2019 – A story of nature – at Lunch time – plus a little Photoshop in my lake outback and the sky!

    “Sky Gator”

    When it is time to eat, alligators are neither hunters nor gatherers. They are lurke­rs. They wait for something edible to swim or walk nearby and they lunge at it with incredible speed. Using their tails, alligators can push themselves up to 5 feet out of the water to snag small animals in low-hanging tree branches.

    Dave Cesari posted three  Green Heron photos and two photos of a Gator having lunch on the TGO Photo Club’s page – click on it in the left column.  

    Alligators will eat almost anything they can capture — fish, turtles, frogs, birds, small mammals, and sometimes even larger mammals like deer. Alligators capture all of these creatures by lurking in the water.

    When it gets cold in the winter, alligators slow down. Below 70 degrees F or so ­they stop feeding, and when it gets much colder, alligators dig out a den in the bank of a pond or river and go dormant until it warms up again.

    I inserted a turtle near by – just for fun

    Alligators were nearly hunted to extinction in the 1950s and 1960s. Once they were protected from hunting, however, they were able to recover quickly because of their unique breeding behaviors.

    Alligators breed in the spring. The female then builds a nest of mud and vegetation that is about three feet (1 meter) high and 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter. She lays 30 to 50 eggs and buries them in the rotting vegetation. The eggs are white, hard and slightly bigger than a large chicken egg.

    I love to explain to friends what I see in the clouds every time I look to the sky

    The nest provides heat — it is like a big compost pile and heats up naturally because of the decomposing vegetation. The alligator eggs respond to the temperature. If the temperature is in the low 80s F, the hatchlings will be female. If the temperature is in the low 90s F, they are male. For temperatures in between, the resulting hatchlings are mixture of males and females.

    The mother protects the nest from predators, such as racoons, while the eggs are incubating.

    There are always animals in the sky

    When the eggs hatch about 40 days later, the hatchlings make a noise and the mother digs them out of the nest. The hatchlings and mother will stay near the nest, and the mother will protect the hatchlings if they get into trouble and cry out. This protective behavior is very rare in modern reptiles, but it is thought to be common in certain dinosaur species.

    Oh my, on the upswing – what fun to look to the sky & see what is there – try it as you you swing through on the next “puffy” cloud day

    I used this site to get most of the above information: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/reptiles/alligator5.htm

  • January 10, 2019 – Good Morning 2019 – Good Morning change!

    January 10, 2019 – Good Morning 2019 – Good Morning change!

    Hey, click on the Photo Club in the left hand column – then come back to see this page.

    Dave Cesari is a wonderful photographer who loves to study nature. Could you get as many great photos of birds doing bird things – like having lunch – as Dave does?  I know I can not.

    These latest photos of his prompted me to go to the web to learn of the Snakehead fish. Some of what I found:  “Over the past decade, the waterways of southern Florida have experienced an invasion of the species known as the bullseye snakehead. Native to Southeast Asia, these fish were brought here by accident through Asian markets that were selling live specimens for food and medicinal purposes.  They breathe air with gills, which allows them to migrate short distances over land. ……….”

    ……………Now my story…………….

    No, I am not going to write about change brought on through a New Year’s resolution.

    Rather, I am motivated to tell you I had a New Year’s iPhone conversation with my sister – for over an hour. I said these two words. “Hello” and Goodbye” Ha, Ha

    So, you know I got a lot of information about many members of my family that I have not seen for years. Wow, how they (and I) have changed over the years – but to me the biggest change that I saw about the family was the change brought on by technology – ease of travel, ease of seeing the world thru TV, mobility to work in different parts of the world and return home to work awhile, and then move again – always staying in touch with family members –  Staying in touch using the iPhone – Not like when I grew up.

    Bottom line is, I love my iPhone – Not just to talk to my sister and other family members while riding my bike in the sunshine of Florida while they are doing such things as spreading salt on their sidewalk to melt the ice, but because the iPhone is really an image communication device”:

    I could tell her of the beautiful sunrise we had – or I could txt her this photo to show her – “image communication”
    I could even show her the morning we had a cold snap – Ha Ha of 50 degrees
    I texted this to my daughter to thank her for the book she sent me for Christmas.
    I was on my motorcycle the other day – heading home from the grocery store – had to stop and snap, with my iPhone, the shot of the dog in the sky – my son loves motorcycles – so guess who got this photo?
    While on a hike, I snapped the photo of this deer.
    Did you see the deer – this my help you find it
    I like to txt family and friends while on my bike – I took this to tell them of the 100’s of birds I was looking at.  Not a quality photo – but I think better than just texting “I see hundreds of birds”
    Glad the fence is between me on my bike and this gator. I texted it to my daughter – better than just saying “I see a gator”
    Oh my, what a great change technology has offered us – as you swing through life, make sure you do your  “human socialization” with your family using iPhone photos –  we must do that ’cause technology changed us from “human socialization” with family living next door.
  • December 28, 2018 – Did you know that cows have a secret life? Well, let me tell how I know they do!

    December 28, 2018 – Did you know that cows have a secret life? Well, let me tell how I know they do!

    Before you read my story click on the TGO Photo Club’s page in the left column.  Dave Cesari presents pictures of a Great-blue Heron and a Great Egret – each caught a bad invasive fish in our Florida waters – He tells us a little about it on the Photo Club’s page.

     MY STORY:  Yea, it is almost Jan 1, 2019.  Do you love the start of a new year? – and of course you can look forward to each new season of the new year – come to think of it, each day you can be looking forward to the start of a new day – but most of all, remember this moment is really good too.

    New year’s resolutions are always fun – add one or two of these to your list of resolutions and, also, you can add them to your list of the life’s principles that you live by:

    1. Have a routine
    2. Have a lot of outside activities
    3. Have commitments
    4. Have friends that laugh

    Part of my routine in the morning is to enjoy practicing how to digitally paint with PhotoShop before heading outside for a long bike ride. But before heading outside for the bike ride I am committed to the TGO Photo Club –  I promised to update their blog with any photos sent to me.  And, as my friends know, I try to laugh with them a lot.

    Please read on and look at the photos below:

    First, “Happy New Year 2019” – This dove somehow jumped out of my hand, into my PhotoShop digital paint brush, and onto this blog! Maybe it is representing a bright new yea.

    Now the question: Do cows keep secrets? Heather knows I love cows – maybe even better than I love puppies. Any way, she sent me, for Christmas, a framed photo of my (our) Cardigan Corgi Dyna (Dyna passed away 2 years ago at age 17) and a book titled “The Secret Life of Cows” by Rosamund Young.  Yo, that is a nice Daughter.

    I know cows have secret lives. Each cow has secrets hidden in their head that drives them to be different from every other cow. – Those secrets drive them – Goofy followed me around like a puppy,  number 703, only left other cows eat after she took exactly 3 bites of grain, 708 could jump a fence higher than the Texas deer but she only did it when she felt the urge to visit her son or daughter in a neighboring pasture, and my cow stories go on and on. So, I am anxious to read the book and see what Rosamund has to tell me about her cows.  Maybe you will get a copy and read of cows too, as you sit by the fire up north,  or by the air conditioner here in Florida.
    Dyna lived and worked with me on our Texas ranch for about 9 years – after that she lived with Heather and her family in N.J. – That is why Heather gave her son Charlie and me each a copy of this photograph of Dyna laying in field of yellow flowers.
    With the cow book and the dog in the field of yellow flowers, I was prompted to go to PhotoShop and paint this cow in Dyna’s yellow field.  Since, I owned and worked with cows for nearly 35 years of my life, I might have to try it again this summer.
    Oh my, as you swing through life, routinely, go outside, only after you fulfilled your commitments, laughing all the way.  Smile the next time you see a cow.

     

     

     

  • December 23, 2018 – Oh my – Go to the mall, the restaurant, the post-office, go anywhere and you see cell phone love happening.

    December 23, 2018 – Oh my – Go to the mall, the restaurant, the post-office, go anywhere and you see cell phone love happening.

    I so respect the great photographers in our TGO Photo Club – they devote so much time enjoying the outdoors and nature, often getting shots of nature that many folks never even see.  They use very fine quality lenses and cameras and they are experts at using them.   Their  results are remarkable.  Click on the TGO Photo Club Page, in the left column, to see Dave Cesari’s new posting of unique owl photographs.

    Dave prompted me to research the great horned owl.  I found this on the internet:

    “During the years 1933-1936 FREDERICK M. BAUMGARTNER was engaged in a study of the Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) for his doctor’s thesis at Cornell University. The following selections, from the thesis, presents an account of their courtship. 

    On bright moonlight nights the hooting of the horned owls begins.  Then on a clear night several birds can be distinguished, calling back and forth steadily for a few hours after dusk and again toward morning.  the period when the males are hooting vigorously lasts for a month or six weeks. On the other hand the answering calls of the females are heard for only a week or two, toward the end of the six-week period. This period began in late November and lasted until about the first of January.

    The most important function of hooting is to attract a mate. During the mating season the challenging, deep, rich tones of the males are occasionally interspersed with the higher and huskier notes of the females.

    At the time of mating, the nodding and bowing of the birds became quite violent for a period and then they quieted down and went through many repetitions of a billing and cooing performance. Finally the female crouched down on the limb and the male mounted her back in the fashion of a barn-yard fowl.”

    NOW MY STORY:  The love happening is – everyone is in love with their phone – I did a count the other day at the mall and one time I looked up from my phone and saw 100% of the people were walking talking, sitting reading, or they were standing photographing the Christmas tree –  all with their phone!

    Winter Solstice this year was on Dec 21, 2018. Both moonrise and sunset were visible at the same time. Our photo club celebrated by going to a boat ramp nearby:  setting up cameras, playing some primitive musical instruments, and visiting.

    I am not a great photographer, but, I sure enjoy my iPhone shots and of course my PhotoShop fake news:

    Winter Solstice 2018 the moon rises to the east
    Winter Solstice 2018 the sun sets to the west

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Two days later Dec 23, 2018 the sun rises to the east over a cold misty lake behind my house.
    Winter Solstice 2018 – music partners standing in front of the sunset
    Winter Solstice 2018 – the music organizer standing in front of the rising moon

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Dec 23, 2018 – From my driveway the rocket lifts off – things to notice – no winds aloft left straight contrail – see neighbors all standing in their driveways.

    NOW FOR SOME FAKE NEWS AND  PHOTOSHOP FUN:

    Arranged so that I could truly see both moon rise and sunset at the same time
    Or have the musicians with both the moon and sunset in their background
    If they are together, why not have them throw kisses to each other
    Oh my – as you swing thru life enjoy the Great Outdoors and your phone camera, and enjoy your friends by sharing the result
  • December 18, 2018 – It is almost time to say Merry Christmas and a Big Hug to you! – Can I hug you on the internet? Or on my cell phone? Oh my , read on.

    December 18, 2018 – It is almost time to say Merry Christmas and a Big Hug to you! – Can I hug you on the internet? Or on my cell phone? Oh my , read on.

    A good friend, yesterday, commented to me that my trip to Winter Gardens Florida to have lunch with a cousin of Gloria’s, was like traveling to the Soo for lunch.

    Could be seen as winter’s garden on Drummond

    Just last week she had lunch with her relatives in the Soo.

    Could be seen in Winter Garden Florida

     

     

    The Winter Gardens trip and the Soo trip are each a 120 mile round-trip. (For a UP’er the Soo is Sault St Marie). If you not know it Sault is pronounced “Soo” – If you are not sure about UP’er – that is a person who lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan – And if you do not know where that is, it is on the north side of the Mackinac Bridge – Pronounced “Mackinaw Bridge” – That has almost nothing to do with travel and I do want travel to be the topic of my story because:

    Travel has been my life – I seldom spent a day without going somewhere – from growing up and walking behind  a team of horses while harrowing from one end of the wheat field to the other end; to taking the commuter train to work in New York City; to chasing after cattle on horse back on a small 150 acre ranch in the Texas Hill Country; to bi-weekly overseas flights to work in  Copenhagen, Denmark.  

    Rush hour in our Country Couch RV

    Then when I retired I travelled a lot – became an RV’er plus lived on two different Islands requiring ferry travel for most shopping trips.

    Drummond Island Ferry – Rush hour to the Soo

     Yes, say I to you – travel has been my life when I was young that is. I have never feared it,  and I have enjoyed almost all of it.

    But now that I am old, something has changed – I bet part of the change is me, but not all of it – “No Tess”, traveling Route i4 through Orlando to Winter Garden is not like taking the ferry off Drummond Island and driving 60 miles to the Soo. 

    The rush hour heading for Winter Gardens, Florida
    The rush hour – heading for Soo, Michigan

     

     

     

     

     

    Did you know 54 Million Americans traveled during Thanksgiving this year?  And, this Christmas season, the morning news is full of travel fear – do’s and don’ts about travel – every thing from about how to lock up your house when you leave;  to how to not touch germy things; to how to sit where someone else’s coughed germs will not land on you (they travel 12 feet);

    Germs lurking everywhere and even  flying 12 feet to get you – Yipes

    to where to sit so that the air conditioned air will not carry germs to you:  to how much water to drink so that you skin stays tight and wont let germs in; to being careful about peeing – avoiding germs in the public bathroom – (No, men, you can not just go behind that bush in the center garden in the airport lobby) ….. the list of travel do’s and don’ts is long.  So, I think travel has changed and I know I have changed – put those two together, I been a thinkin’ :                                              

    Rather than travel with millions of Americans this Christmas –

    NATURE TRAIL IN FLORIDA

    I’ll take a walk on the nature trail, won’t worry about any germs when I hug a tree and am confident that the birds and gators do not have germs that jump on me.  Then I will go home, and just to be safe I will douse my hands in Purell, and toss down a stiff drink, to protect my mouth from germs of course – then enjoy Christmas Dinner at home. I will get on the phone (my cell phone that only I touch) and have a long visit with my family – one-on-one, and we may even  turn on the videophone so that we can actually see each other.   My family is not prone to fights but I just heard today that some families actually have fights. With the magic of cell phones I bet there are fewer family fights – the worst that can happen is a “hang up.”

    Now the conclusion –  If my message convinced you and 54,999,999 other people to stay home and enjoy the use of the cell phone,  I will hop on a plane and travel once again to give my family a Big Hug – so far that hugging thing can not be done on the cell phone.

     

    Oh my – as you swing thru life find a way to enjoy your family – letters, phones, or travel – & tell them you are hugging them even if travel has changed too much for you.

     

  • December 10, 2018 – “Good Grief” – Can Grief be good?

    T’is the season to be Jolly.  Think I should write about phrase’s of the season like – “Ho Ho Ho” – “Merry Christmas”,  – “Warmest wishes” – “Peace on Earth.” – But, “Good Grief Charlie Brown” is the season’s phrase that caught my attention. 

    “Good Grief”, triggered some interesting internet research and I decided to tell you what I found.

    My research turned up lots of invented phrases with invented words in addition to Good Grief  – “Holy cow,  holy mackerel , my gosh, darn, gee wiz, gosh darnit, gee whillikers, the good book,  holy cats, and the list went on”.  Oh my Gosh, where do these words come from – are they really words? – Some of my research says “blame it on the kids”

    Many religions have renounced the Christian’s use of mean and violent words. Parents told kids that “swearing” at a person in anger was unacceptable. 

    Maybe “Good Gosh”

    Some parents said that oath-taking is unnecessary. You must tell the truth without swearing about it. Swearing on the bible to tell the truth was just another way of taking the name of the lord in vain.  That is unacceptable. So, you see, kids had to be careful with their choice of words. Using “dirty words” to express themselves and still live within the parental rules is the reason kids invented  new words.

    For example, Gosh has no literal meaning. It’s a euphemism, which means it’s a word that is used instead of a taboo word.  In this case the taboo word is God when used this way:  Gosh Darnit.

    Found on the internet: Gee Whiz comes from Dia uas (pronounced “jee-a ooas”), Irish for “Great God!”   –  “Holy Mackerel!” This actually comes from the Irish Mac ríúil (royal son, “son royal.”). It’s just a euphemism for “Holy Jesus!” — not a fish!

     More from the internet: Dia is the Irish word for God. Holy Gee literally just means “Holy God” and was probably considered a lighter way to say this, just like “Gosh darnit” or “Dag nabbit” avoids a serious curse which is technically a sin in Christianity.

    Still more from the internet:  Holy Cow  has nothing to do with Hinduism and comes 100% from Irish American slang — like a lot of other “Holy” expressions.

    Holy cow is an anglicized version of Holy “cáthu” (pronounced more or less like “cow” in Irish Gaelic). Cáthu means “sorrow.” It was a slang expression on the streets of Irish Brooklyn, Boston, and Chicago back around 1900…. It has literally nothing to do with cows! 

    When one knows that the word “good” used to also have the meaning of “holy” (this meaning is preserved in expressions such as “the Good Book” or “Good Friday”) , one can plainly see that “Holy cow” readily translates into Charlie Brown’s favorite expression, “Good grief !” ( My note to you: Did you get the meaning of that last sentence? I did not plainly see the relationship of Holy cow and “Good Grief.”)

    Ever onward: Can grief really be good?  Experts say when bad things happen, grief is good for the recovery.  They say you should let yourself grieve in your own way and time.  However,  my research found no tie between grieving over a loss and the phrase “Good Grief”

    I did find that,  Good grief !” is a minced oath – that is, a softened form of another exclamation that might be deemed blasphemous. In this case, the other exclamation is “Good God!”  But “Grief” –   The only relevant feature of the word “grief” that I could find for this phrase is it’s initial G.  Good Grief, I was looking for a much more definitive answer for the source of “Good Grief.”

    Anyway, sure hope you enjoyed some of my findings. With my internet research being completed for now, I can say to you – “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year”

    “Good Happy”,  as you swing through life be happy and kind – and keep inventing kind words – maybe the phrase “Good Happy” will be posted on the internet sometime.

     

  • December 4, 2018 -Oh my, today I have a question – “In death can a great person help you have a better more enjoyable life?”

    December 4, 2018 -Oh my, today I have a question – “In death can a great person help you have a better more enjoyable life?”

    Make sure you click the TGO Photo Club Photos in the left column – Dave Cesari posted some great photos – “Snow and a story of the Northern Shrike.”

    ___________________________________________________________________

    “My story which was prompted by the TV coverage of the celebration of H W’s life.

    The legacy of George H W Bush set me to thinking – What a nice person!!  And in addition,  he seemed so happy and satisfied. Having lived 15 years in Texas after H W was president  I consider him  part of my life – George H W was one of my mentors – of course he did not know that and I am sorry for that – I would have  liked to say “thanks” to him in person.

     How does an ex-President continue with a happy life after the presidency?  No access to Air force one, no demanding schedule, but still not a normal citizen. Security everywhere you go, some media following you, folks wanting to see what you are doing – tough to get privacy.

    When I walk into a cafe’ for a cup of coffee no one notices – when a Bush, Clinton, or Obama walks into that cafe’ everyone takes notice. When I wake up in the morning, I make a cup of coffee, and my daily demands are pretty much as they were for years, but for an ex-president it must appear like a “nothing” day in front of them. Even the demands required to design and build a presidential library must be small compared to meeting with the head of a hostile nation before flying on Air Force One across the country to speak at a political rally before flying back to DC to meet with Senate Leaders on gun control legislation after handling hundreds of other things brought to you by your staff. Now that is not a “nothing” day.

    Anyway, George’s legacy got me going to the internet to search out two subjects – 1. What life style makes for a happy satisfied life?  and 2. What do ex-presidents do all day long?

    Here is a list of 10 things to do for a good life style – After watching on TV the celebration of George’s life, I think the Bush’s must have read this list:

    1. Have a daily routine

    2.  Do hours of learning for the joy of learning

    Exercise, nature, challenge for sure

    3.  Do hours of outside activities that offer exercise, nature, challenge 

    4.  Fulfill daily commitments -To friends, family, community

    5.  Be tranquil by seeing the full half, telling the truth, speaking precisely

    6.  Select media for enjoyment, dance to music – If only in your mind

    7.  Eat well – Vegetables, fruit, protein, cheese, wine

    8.  Drink water often

    9.  Make people laugh. Choose people who laugh with you.

    10  Be kind, accept others for you know not of their reasons

    Now what do ex-Presidents do after the daily demands of that office. I found this list on the internet:

    Presidents’ Occupations

    President Major Jobs Before the Presidency Jobs After the Presidency
    George Washington surveyor, planter, general of the Army of the United Colonies planter, lieutenant-general of all the U.S. armies
    John Adams schoolteacher, lawyer, diplomat, vice president under Washington writer
    Thomas Jefferson writer, inventor, lawyer, architect, governor of Virginia, secretary of state under Washington, vice president under Adams writer, gentleman farmer, rector at the University of Virginia
    James Madison lawyer, political theorist, U.S. congressman, secretary of state under Jefferson rector at the University of Virginia
    James Monroe soldier, lawyer, U.S. senator, governor of Virginia writer, regent at the University of Virginia
    John Quincy Adams lawyer, diplomat, professor, U.S. senator, secretary of state under Monroe U.S. representative from Massachusetts
    Andrew Jackson soldier, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, governor of Florida gentleman farmer
    Martin Van Buren lawyer, U.S. senator, governor of New York, vice president under Jackson activist for Free Soil Party
    William Henry Harrison soldier, diplomat, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator from Ohio died in office
    John Tyler lawyer, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, vice president under Harrison lawyer, chancellor of the College of William and Mary, member of the Confederate House of Representatives
    James Knox Polk lawyer, U.S. congressman, governor of Tennessee died 103 days after leaving office
    Zachary Taylor soldier died in office
    Millard Fillmore lawyer, U.S. congressman, vice president under Taylor rogue political activist, chancellor of the University of Buffalo
    Franklin Pierce lawyer, soldier, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator from New Hampshire gentleman farmer
    James Buchanan lawyer, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, U.S. secretary of state writer
    Abraham Lincoln postmaster, lawyer, U.S. congressman from Illinois died in office
    Andrew Johnson tailor, U.S. congressman, governor of Tennessee, U.S. senator from Tennessee, vice president under Lincoln U.S. senator from Tennessee
    Ulysses Simpson Grant U.S. Army general political activist, writer
    Rutherford Birchard Hayes lawyer, soldier, U.S. congressman, governor of Ohio education activist, president of the National Prison Reform Association
    James Abram Garfield schoolteacher, soldier, U.S. representative from Ohio died in office
    Chester Alan Arthur schoolteacher, lawyer, tariff collector, vice president under Garfield lawyer
    Grover Cleveland sheriff, lawyer, mayor, governor of New York reelected president
    Benjamin Harrison lawyer, soldier, journalist, U.S. senator from Indiana lawyer, lecturer
    William McKinley soldier, lawyer, U.S. congressman, governor of Ohio died in office
    Theodore Roosevelt rancher, soldier, governor of New York, vice president under McKinley hunter, writer
    William Howard Taft lawyer, judge, dean of the University of Cincinnati Law School, U.S. secretary of war professor, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
    Woodrow Wilson lawyer, professor, president of Princeton University, governor of New Jersey retired in poor health
    Warren Gamaliel Harding newspaper editor, U.S. senator from Ohio died in office
    Calvin Coolidge lawyer, governor of Massachusetts, vice president under Harding writer, president of the American Antiquarian Society
    Herbert Clark Hoover engineer, U.S. secretary of commerce chair of the Hoover Commission on administrative reform
    Franklin Delano Roosevelt lawyer, governor of New York died in office
    Harry S. Truman farmer, soldier, haberdasher, judge, U.S. senator, vice president under Roosevelt writer
    Dwight David Eisenhower supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe, U.S. Army chief of staff writer
    John Fitzgerald Kennedy journalist, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator from Massachusetts died in office
    Lyndon Baines Johnson schoolteacher, soldier, congressman, U.S. senator from Texas, vice president under Kennedy rancher, writer
    Richard Milhous Nixon lawyer, U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, vice president under Eisenhower writer
    Gerald Rudolph Ford lawyer, U.S. congressman, vice president under Nixon writer
    James Earl Carter, Jr. peanut farmer, governor of Georgia writer, humanitarian, Nobel-prize winning statesman
    Ronald Wilson Reagan movie actor, corporate spokesman, governor of California writer
    George Herbert Walker Bush oil executive, U.S. congressman, U.S. ambassador to the UN, Director of CIA, vice president under Reagan private citizen; teamed with President Clinton to form tsunami and Hurricane Katrina aid funds
    William Jefferson Clinton lawyer, governor of Arkansas writer, independent ambassador; teamed with President G.H.W. Bush to form tsunami and Hurricane Katrina aid funds
    George Walker Bush oil executive, sport team owner, governor of Texas public speaker; written a book about his life entitled Decision Points
    Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. community organizer, civil rights lawyer, constitutional law professor, Illinois state senator, U.S. senator —

    I noticed a good many ex-presidents were writers and had outdoor activities. We know George W took up art.

    You see, I wrote all that just so I could show you some of my digital art in process. I try to learn to do digital art as I learn to write.  Then I must learn to put it all together into this blog. Oh my, sure hope you can put up with me during my learning.

    First I create a story in my mind, then I compose a picture to support the story, then I paint that picture. After scanning the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog, I got several story ideas in my mind. Here are two compositions I created – I still have to throw these compositions away and learn to digitally paint them from memory. The story comes later.

    Directly from Neiman Marcus catalog
    Never shop alone – I know one gets quality products at Neiman Marcus – but I also know it takes dollars – so I thought of this – I will study it later and then attempt to paint it with a PhotoShop digital paintbrush
    I had to make this one – I love cows and working with them – every fairground where I showed my cows had a cow plop board – you lead your cow up and down the path while spectators bet on which number the cow would plop on – so I saw the iPhone in her hand and I wondered if young farm boys today may be leading their cows while the spectators were betting with their iPhone?
    Oh my, as you swing through life be happy and kind – you can see on TV how other great people did it but in the end you must do it your way! That is my answer to my lead-off question.
  • November 27, 2018 – Are your friends “Theory-of-Mind” individuals? Read on, I will explain.

    November 27, 2018 – Are your friends “Theory-of-Mind” individuals? Read on, I will explain.

    Before reading my story on friends and theory-of- mind, click on the TGO Photo Club page in the left column, Dave Cesari has a story on the Sharp-shinned Hawk.

    My Story : Animals are my friends.

    Yep, that is what I said – Do not take from that statement that I prefer animal friends to human friends – It is far from that.  Without my human friends there would be no life for me.

    But, having animal friends is like traveling to the ski slopes.  It is an activity enjoyed. Owning, feeding, cleaning, petting, and training my animal friends is an activity that has been central to my whole life. Due to brittle bones of old age, I have given up skiing, but I have not given up on animals. I will continue to own and train animals.

    See the difference between human and animal friends.  I do not own and will not train  my human friends – Rather, my human friends and I have a mutual sharing of mind and soul which defines our lives together.

    Maybe animals are a little like our human babies which fully depend on us for care and learning.

    Babies, like animals, have not yet picked up the “theory of mind” – which is the theory that “Not all knowledge is universal”,

    If you hide a toy from a 2-year-old and they see you hide it, they assume everyone knows where the toy is and they assume it will always be there – they do not think about you removing it when they are not looking.  By three years of age, our babies realize that just because they know something it does not mean everyone else knows it.  From that realization, they begin to form judgements and opinions. At that stage my children began to become my human friends, sharing mind and soul.

    My animal friends, on the other hand,  never reached that state.  We do not share mind and soul. We enjoy a lopsided relationship where I own them,  keep them safe and happy, and train them to do as I say.  I have enjoyed that relationship with chickens, rabbits, cats, dogs, cows, horses, ponies, sheep, emus  llamas, parakeets, gerbils, turtles, snakes, lizards, or others I can not remember.

    Three of my dogs friends – each with its native DNA excelled at and loved being trained to work. -Newfy, Sooka, and Dynamite.

    I was thinking back over the years, instead of taking a skiing trip to the Rocky’s or what other activity that I did not do – I spent hours each day training animals.

    Perla, my horse friend for example, learned that a finger pointed at her chest told her she must back up, or a wave of two arms told her to get up on the box in the field, and the list goes on. 

    At six, I was training chickens to enter the coop when I walked into their yard at dusk so that they would be protected from raccoons and weasels that would be out seeking dinner that night.

    House, Barns, and Chicken Coop, where at 6 years old ,I was given responsibilities caring for and training chickens.

    Mostly I like working with dogs – I think they almost approach “theory of mind”. I had great working dogs that learned to compete in the Show-Ring and won top awards, they knew how to control cattle in the field, they knew how to pull wagons loaded with my children and their friends, and they could pick out a nut that I rubbed my hand scent on and then threw it into thousands of nuts under the Live Oak tree on my ranch in Texas. The instruction to Laverne, the  Papillon, was “Get the nut you nut.” She would return with it and I would laugh, clap hands. jump up and down – she was glad she could make me so happy and would beg to do it again.

    All of this training sure gave me a sense of success – made me happy. The biggest success I had was to have happy animals. Even without the theory-of-mind, I am convinced that animals have emotions. I am sure  my cows, horses, and dogs truly enjoyed our training sessions – they laughed with me and they loved to know “Yea, I got it”.  As they returned to their pasture, entered the barn, or sat on the front porch they were happier for their “Yea, I got it” sessions.

    Here the training is not showing the horse how to enter the trailer – it knows how to do that – it is training the horse to trust you – trust you that there is not a bear in there ready to eat her..
    Here I think the horse is happy to see me laugh – I think animals truly love to hear their “owner” laugh and set a happy tone.
    Oh my, I got it. He wants me to get on this box. If that makes him happy – I will do it.
    Sure hope two feet are enough for him.
    For herd members, touching is comfort.
    In training a horse – First is trust, second is happiness, and third is the act of herd member touching.

    Here are some benefits of a well trained animal:

    Do not hurt the turtle. Dyna knows that is what I want and the turtle is safe from hassle.
    Wait there while I open the gate.
    Give the young girl a ride.
    No one gets hurt during a hoof trimming session.
    Riding in a parade gives spectators joy

    Now, I practice digital art with PhotoShop. I train PhotoShop to do what I want – I think training animals is easier – but I will show you some PhotoShop art I made:

    Texas ranch armadillo
    “To Greener Pastures” – Not sure where this idea came from.
    Pretty Kitty – Owned by Heather, one of my human friends.
    Oh my, as you swing through life – think of all your friends – human and animal – and say thanks for them all!

     

  • November 19, 2018 – (Note – Pat Mahon added to the Photo Club page.) At my age, finding something new to learn is so easy. Yes, I know, I knew it before – but I forgot – so now I learned it again as if it was a brand new experience.

    November 19, 2018 – (Note – Pat Mahon added to the Photo Club page.) At my age, finding something new to learn is so easy. Yes, I know, I knew it before – but I forgot – so now I learned it again as if it was a brand new experience.

    Before I talk about learning – click TGO Photo Club pages in the left column and see a beautiful Georgia mountain color scene by Pat Mahon,

    THEN READ MY LEARNING STORY:

    Think about learning.  Send me your quote – If you do not have one, search the internet to find some, then make up you own.

    Here are a few I found. The one I made up is the title to this page – ” At my age, finding something new to learn is so easy. – Jim Brubaker

    “Learn as if you were to live forever.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

    “The day we stop learning is the day we die.” ― Michael Scott

    “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned.” – Albert Einstein

    “Improve quality of life and make those around us a bit more happy by leading a vigorous life, keep on learning every day you live,  ………” –  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 

    At the last Photo Club meeting I suggested that one way to become a better photographer was to study photos in the many Christmas catalogs we receive this time of year – study their use of composition, color, and tone – these photos were taken by experienced (high paid) photographers – someone to learn from.

    I try to study (learn something new) each morning  – I study photographs and test what I see when I change them with Photoshop. I see the effect of taking away an element of composition, color, or tone and I learn to use some of the extreme complexities of PhotoShop.

    My last blog talked of my experience with the Neiman Marcus catalog – page 208. Here are some more results of my playing around (learning around) with PhotoShop each morning with my own computerized classroom. I study the elements of the photos of “expert photographers”,  then using what I learn, I create my own photo-based images of my experiences and my familie’s activities.

     

    Cow #207203 from my Texas ranch. i did not name my cows – I Gave  them a number – month and year of birth  plus month and year of birth of their Mom & sequence number if needed.
    Icelandic Northern Lights – with Perla, the Icelandic horse, watching
    Let’s rodeo in Stonewall, Texas
    From my son and daughter-in-law – with Harley (or whatever brand) and antique motorcycle (a horse)
    Cartoon of man laughing
    Man laughing –  turned into cat laughing via PhotoShop
    Oh my, as you swing through life maybe you can set aside a little learning time each day – then smile at how many new things you can find to learn about.