Duck! a Lafreniere Park scene

There must have been some good eats down below for these three ducks to "duck" in unison  --  A Lafreniere park in Metairie, La.

Mardi Grab

I know it has a been a couple weeks since Mardi Gras, but I'm just getting around to processing the pictures.  At any rate, I hope this photo lets you capture the excitement of the shindig. You go mad yelling for beads and climbing on ladders to capture attention to get a bunch of stuff you really would rather not have.  But, ah,there is the occasional treasure that makes you glow with warmth thinking, "can it get any better than this? -- cares gone, party on, wild behaviour accepted, cut loose.  O yeah, the good times are rolling, for sure."

In the front is my niece Savarra with my sister (her aunt) Karen behind her.  My sister Sue is in the orange hair on the ladder on the right. I am faced with my back to the parade and, as luck would have it, about to get smacked in the back of my head with a bunch of beads.  Cue B.B. King's song: Let the Good Times Roll.

Glowing close together -- Hot Air Balloons

Another shot from the Moon Glow of hot air balloons at the festival this weekend in Gonzales, LA

White alligator

The famous white gator from the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans where Canal Street meets the Mississippi River.  I took this a few years ago, but I never had the chance to post it.  I guess this dude is bigger these days.

Trees gather to life in glimmer of morn

Daylight mists down on Lake Bigeaux along side the I-10 bridge over the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana early one morning last week.  The first revenants materialized into tree shapes from the foggy breaths of the lake waters.  Maybe a little too much coffee on the drive?

Reddish Egret watches for night

A reddish egret does a one-legged, wait-for-the-night-to-come, stance near Lacissine, LA. The highway night gathering spot for egrets and their friends is one of my favorite places.  Lucky that it happens to be just where I am often passing by as the dark eats up the sky. The assembling includes hundreds (maybe thousands) of Cattle Egrets, Ibis, Snowy Egrets, shore gulls, Blue Herons, Cormorants, an occasional Roseate Spoonbill and more.

It looks as though our solitary sentinel may have snagged a spiders web on his glide to his post.

Pigeon wants to know what I am photographing

While I was shooting pictures of  the New Orleans Central Business district from atop the Tulane Medical Center parking lot, this pigeon lighted a few feet away and glanced around, as if to ask "What are you looking at, anyway?"

I felt I didn't really owe this bird and explanation, so we parted company without a word spoken.

New Orleans's tall icons draw "close"

I was struck by the seeming juxtaposition of St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans and a Carnival Cruise Line ship heading out of port and down the Mississippi River.  Of course, the two are far apart, but the long lens needed to capture this shot compresses the space and makes them appear as next door neighbors.

Notice all the waving people (if you can make them out) on the upper decks of the cruise ship.  The photo looks east across the French Quarter.  The ship is making its turn off of the short section of the Mississippi River from the Greater New Orleans Bridge to Canal Street where the river actually flows due north.

New Orleans from a different point of view

This is the view of the New Orleans Central Business District from the top of the Tulane Medical Center Parking garage -- eight stories above the street I think.  The shot is looking west.  I was enjoying this different view of the city.

Did a ball go by here?

It's the first year of t-ball for our granddaughter Sophie. Standing in the outfield waiting for action to happen within five feet of her is not her style.  So anything for a distraction.  In this case, it appears to be contagious.

Egret shows mating signs

This is a photo from a few years ago.  Notice the green around the egret's eyes-- it appears when they are in mating.  Also notice the showy feathers -- another mating sign.  The photo is from the lagoon island in Audubon Park, New Orleans, LA

Wildlife is a wild time at Global Wildlife

We were at Global Wildlife in Robert, LA, with the grandkids and nieces and nephews this weekend.  This is always one of the greatest hits for things to do.  The kids love feeding the wild animals, who come right up to the caravan.

Swinging gently in the breeze

  Hammock.  That's it.  Says it all

Right?

"Leprechaun" sits watching

Sitting on a decaying log, he was lost in his reverie.  I almost didn't see him because of his hat.  But when I took a picture of the mushroom next to him, I thought I saw him wink.  I think the mushroom man has a little Irish in his "blood."  Perhaps even a little leprechaun. 

A spiders wet web

Oh what a wet web a spider spins, when a spider spins before the morning fog.  This was the scene in the woods of Mandeville early Sunday morning when a foggy morning misted the spider webs throughout the woods.  Little droplets lined the sinewy threads of the web.

I can't tell you what captured my fancy about this.... this... well, this weed.  It had found a shaft of sunlight in a dark corner of a cool bayou bend and was soaking it up. It had a bit of loneliness to it, as well a bit of pioneering spirit.  But, mostly it just seemed content to be out of the dark, gathering strength from the light.

We all stand on the shoulders of others...

When you're at a parade (especially the dog parade in Mandeville, La.) you'll do whatever it takes to see that cute canine that is passing by.  Hey, look at me!  Look at me!

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Five years since Katrina

It was 5 years ago yesterday, that we went back to see the neighborhood where we used to live in Slidell, Louisiana.
Five years after Hurricane Katrina, that stench still lingers in my mind

Hurricane Katrina, Slidell, Louisiana

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Water park wonderment...

We were at the water park in Sulphur a couple of weeks ago with the grandkids. I had a new waterproof camera, which of course means I am going to try stupid things. Like standing under the big bucket to see what it looks like when it dumps.

Being under a ton of water crashing to the ground is more of a feeling thing than a seeing thing.
--steve buser

Hush-hued wall

Ivied, dappled wall at Nuvolari's along Monroe Street in Mandeville.  Bister, sienna, henna, sorrel, russet colors mixed in. It has a look of serenity and repose to me.
--steve buser