Who Was That Man???

Dreams are the amazing ability the mind has to take you on an adventure, sometimes good, sometimes scary. Some are about the past while others give you a glimpse of what the future may hold. Some even involve people you know or have met along life’s journey. There are some you can’t wait to tell everyone about, some you can’t remember and some you wouldn’t dare talk about.

Now I’m sure most everyone has had an encounter where you couldn’t remember a name but carried on a conversation and then wondered who the heck was that. Julie and I were in Wal Mart the other evening and bumped into someone that we both should have known, neither could think of his name though. I tend to forget about encounters like that pretty quickly and move on, Julie will keep looking until the cell with the stored information is found, sometimes hours or days later.

We finished up the shopping list, checked out and headed home.

After several hours of surfing and posting on the internet, my eyes and fingers were worn out so we took a late night walk. Nothing came up about the Wal Mart trip during the hour we were gone or after we returned. I grabbed a quick shower and off to bed we went.

It was a quiet night, not a sound other than the air conditioner humming in the window. I had been lying there for at least half an hour thinking about what was on the calendar for the next day when all of a sudden Julie shouted out this man’s name.

In that instant, a couple of old dreams flashed through my mind and my only response was……”I hope you are awake.”

Lightning Is Fast…. But A Scared Fat Woman Is Faster

Late afternoon thunderstorms rolling into the area are like a breath of fresh air as they cool the blistering summer heat. They also spawn traffic accidents and the chatter on the scanner sitting to my left really picks up anytime the skies darken and the thunder rolls.  

Tuesday evening the sky turned a peachy color, the wind picked up and a warning was broadcast about the danger of frequent cloud to ground lightning from the approaching storm. Moments later the dispatcher notified a deputy that someone had reported an overturned car.

I grabbed the camera bag and a note pad on the way out the door. After backing halfway down the drive, I thought that my raincoat and hat would be a good idea too. This certainly wasn't the first wreck I've ever rushed to through the years and it seems that somewhere along the way, I’d figure out that flip flops are not ideally suited for running around in the rain… this was not to be the moment that I would come to that realization though.

The accident was only seven or eight minutes away and most sensible drivers had decided to stay off the road during the storm so traffic was much lighter than normal and I was able to park about forty yards from the scene. The intersection was near the crest of a long steep hill that climbed up from the creek.

I made the quick switch to a lens better suited for low light conditions and started shooting as soon as I got out of the truck.

The car was lying on it’s side in the ditch and the tire tracks were still visible showing how it had traveled across the road before taking out the road sign honoring a local politician, then overturning. The darkness wrapped around us much quicker under the threatening sky and my flash was only good for about ten feet. I was getting the best shots possible under the conditions and had taken eight or ten close-ups of the underneath side of the SUV when I decided that I needed one that showed more than mufflers, shocks and wheels.

The embankment on the other side of the ditch would provide the perfect vantage point, all I had to do was get there. Trying to negotiate a ditch with running water still flowing through it and climb up on a slippery Georgia red clay bank is tough enough, throw in a pair of flip flops and it can get down right entertaining.
Both feet were wet by the time I found a better route back to the pavement and it was impossible to get all the sticky red mud off the flops. I had all the shots that I wanted with the camera so one more with the cell phone would wrap things up.

Just as I raised the phone up to eye level, a huge bolt of lightning struck to my right.

I jumped pretty high and before I hit the ground, I heard her coming.

Now I understand the need to be politically correct in today’s world but there are times when it’s impossible to describe what happened and do it justice. This lady was huge and she was moving faster than the sound of thunder. I didn't wait to see what had caused this stampede, I headed downhill and prayed I could stay in front of her.

Within ten steps, I was looking at her backside…..she came by me like I was running in the other direction.
About this time, I heard the thunder and saw her find a gear that I’m sure only she knew she possessed. Adrenalin is a powerful substance and at this moment I was still thinking that maybe I’d  have a shot at catching up when we crossed the creek and started up the opposite hill. My rain coat was flapping in the tailwind and the camera around my neck stretched out behind me.

Halfway to the creek, I was out of air. I’ll probably never know where she turned around, or if she did.
It took several minutes for me to walk back up the hill to where I had parked the truck and as I opened the door, Julie looked up and without cracking a smile asked, “Where did you go?”

I just wasn’t man enough to tell her that the fat lady had scared the living hell out of me and that I couldn’t outrun her in flip flops.

The moment of realization had arrived.

Late For G-Day Game

Traveling to Athens for the annual spring game usually gives me a chance to soak in the fact that winter is over, the dogwoods and azaleas are blooming and I know that I’m about to get my first sunburn of the season watching the game.

This trip started out just like most others, then I caught a glimpse of something blue in a field.

I hit the brakes and backed up just as a big tom went into a full strut, then his opponent up on the hill displayed his fan. These two put on a show for over half an hour as they strutted and drummed before a handful of hens having breakfast between them. They were pretty evenly matched but the tom up on the hill had the advantage and surely appeared larger than he really was to the one down below. Having the high ground is important in any kind of battle.

I didn’t have a call with me but managed to yelp a few times and each of them answered. It was obvious that one was also trying to out gobble the other.

The hens showed no interest in what the boys were up to and seemed to be more concerned about a couple of Canadian geese flying over than the dance they have probably seen many times.

Here’s a few more shots of about the only thing that can make me late to a football game. Click on the picture to see the full size shot.