Water wonders

My grand-niece shows fascination with the water fount at the St. Joseph's Abbey Church in Abita Springs, LA.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Spinning earthward...

Our niece Rebekah is in a quandary.  She is going to exit this limb in a split second.  The trick is to land gracefully, with all limbs in tact.  I glad to report she was successful.  The scene is on the lakefront it Mandeville.  Spring is a great time to enjoy the fresh lake breeze and warm sunny days.

Powered by ScribeFire.

It's mom time now -- egret

Mom egret gets a few minutes for personal grooming while the chick is satisfied and not hungry for the moment.
You can just barely see the chick through the branches to the right of mom.  They get to spend a lot of
time together in these younger days.  This is old shot form a couple years ago in Audubon Park.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Suspense...... well suspended

I will venture a guess that when you go bowling, you are used to the ball moving rapidly if not blindingly fast toward the target -- 10 defenseless pins, 60 feet away.   Then the violent smash, snap, clacking frensy that ensues.   There is the more patient way of playing as my two neices Sarah and Rebeka demonstrate here.   "We will knock down no pin before it's time."  Surely patience is a virtue.

Morning, Mourning Dove

Two years ago this week, we were watching this Mourning Dove cuddle her two new born chicks just outside our bedroom window.  Those were exciting time.  We would wake up each morning to see how much they had grown.
--steve buser

Mourning Dove, New Orleans, Louisiana

Powered by ScribeFire.

Imagination Sparks at Lousiana Children's Museum

Hope this sparks your imagination.  It's the guts of one of those sparking balls and sits in the lobby of the Louisiana Children's Museum on Julia street in New Orleans.  I think its kind of symbolic of the creative spark that goes on as little minds enter each day and expand and expand through their play.
--steve buser

Louisiana Children's Museum, New Orleans

Powered by ScribeFire.

Christmas is a time to learn, too.

I hope your holidays were grand and filled with family, friends and faith.   Our granddaughter, Sophie, had to put the new Christmas baby in the bath immediately, and make sure she was really clean.  Unless my eyes are deceiving me, the position of the feet indicates the baby is face down in the water.   Oh, well, mothering takes some time to get down right.
--Steve Buser

Christmas, holidays, family

Powered by ScribeFire.

Grandkids take down music.

It was too wet outside to play, so they sat there they two.   Nothing to do.   Then, they hit upon an idea.   They would play some music, just like mommy does.  So our two grandkids, Sophie, 2, and Sullivan, 6, pulled out some music books and chose their song well.  (Me?  I was surprised they had them upright. I wasn't even worried about the two different books, two different songs thing.) They had it down -- where to place the books, how to look over the notes, the calmness of preparation.  Then came the music.  Sweetness to a grandpa's ear.  Of course, not so much sweetness to the dogs ears.
--steve buser

kids, Louisiana

Powered by ScribeFire.

Time Warp : Like mother, like daughter

I saw this picture of our granddaughter, Sophie the other day.  The scene is a visit to our house -- she had all her friends huddled around.  Suddenly it struck me I had seen this before.  Or something pretty darn close.  So, I scoured my photo store until I found it.  The picture below is her mother, Vicky -- quite a few years back.  The very bottom picture is of her mother at about the same age as Sophie.   Indeed.  Like mother, like daughter.
--steve buser

Powered by ScribeFire.

Swinging carefree in the heart of St. Tammany

This is our granddaughter, Sophie, enjoying a swing at the trailhead park of the Tammany Trace hike and bike path from Slidell to Covington, LA.   THe trail is old rail line right of way that was abandoned back in the 1980's.   I was trying to capture that carefree feeling of swinging.  I think I got it, even if the focus wouldn't cooperate.
--steve buser

Kids, fun

Powered by ScribeFire.

The hats have it.

My nieces were having fun when I was shooting pictures of them one day.  To add to the picture, they ran out to Linda's car, and grabbed a couple of my hats and one of Linda (center).

From the left are Paige, Sarah, and Rebekah.
--steve buser

Kids, New Orleans

Powered by ScribeFire.

Street Car Sightseeing in New Orleans

This is our son, Shawn, and his wife, Sarah, on a visit to New Orleans last year.  A ride on the St. Charles Avenue street car is always part of the tour.
--steve buser

New Orleans, Street Car

Powered by ScribeFire.

The proper Mardi Gras is about having the accoutrement

Since we are on a Mardi Gras theme of sorts for today, I thought I would get a little on the technical side and go through some of the required paraphernalia for the perfect family celebration of the carnival.

You will notice the float is passing by a large antebellum home, giving away the fact that this is a shot on St. Charles Avenue -- with its wide neutral ground (median, if you are not from New Orleans). Everyone on the ground in this picture is on the neutral ground. 

We will start with the folding table in the middle with the food to munch on all day long. To the far right is the large trash can -- they can never put enough of these on.  To the right of the trash can , the black hump is a barbecue pit -- you're going to be out Mardi Gras day from very early in the morning to late in the afternoon  -- come prepared.

If you follow with your eyes on the same level to the right, you will see two white humps -- of course, the baby swing. Move your eyes up a little and you will notice another black barbecue pit.  Did I mention that you eat all day?

If you are extra observant you will notice the baby stroller, a couple of chairs, a child's seat, a blue tarp on the ground (on the right -- it claims your territory and anything that falls on it.  On the middle bottom you may be able to pick out a yellow square -- below the barbecue.  That is a big sack for holding you goodies.  You will need several of these to haul off your loot.
--steve buser

Mardi Gras, New Orleans, St. Charles Avenue

Powered by ScribeFire.

Style rules for catching Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans

There is a certain style to catching Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans. 1) keep you eye on the catch. 2) extend your arms 3) close in on the target.  4) Let your excitement run away with you. 5) There is no such thing as a bad catch.  6). There are no rules on how to catch beads at Mardi Gras.   Everything goes.   Don't believe me?  Stay tuned.

By the way,  our guide for the day is Nino,  How does that work, a second nephew?  A nephew once removed?  Let's just say a relative.
--steve buser

Sharing dreams

This is what happens when you visit Papa and Nanny's house. They have a grown a little since I shot this picture, but the results are still the same -- a kid has a limited amount of energy (I know this is hard to believe but it is true.) Even New Orleans can't keep a kid awake for ever.
--steve buser

kids, sleep, New Orleans, Louisiana

Powered by ScribeFire.

Finally, I get a break

Are the babies finally asleep? Thank goodness!

This lady Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis ) peeks over the edge of the house done at her nest in the bushes. If they really are sleeping, she may get a rest from the duty of finding and transporting food back to the little ones.
--steve buser

Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Lousiana

Powered by ScribeFire.

Sparking the imagination

Excuse the pun, please. But, the Louisiana Children's Museum on Julia Street in New Orleans is really a place to spark the imagination of kids of all ages. Our kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and any other kids we could borrow, have all, over the years, spent hours there letting their imaginations roam. So this electrostatic ball near the entrance is an excellent metaphor to greet you.
--steve buser

Childrens Museum, Arts District, New Orleans, Louisiana

Powered by ScribeFire.

Cardinal question -- you looking at me?

Who are you looking at?

This Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) tries to figure out what that funny-looking big ol' glass eye is looking at him for. My son, Aaron took this shot a couple weekends ago. He was testing out my camera while I was in playing with the grandkids. Seems to me he has a pretty good eye.
--steve buser

Cardinal,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Standing watch with bated beak

A lady Purple Martin and her man stand guard out side their multi-unit apartment dwelling. There was a lot of traffic in and out of the place this weekend. The lady (the light colored one) has a tempting morsel in her mouth for her young one, but she is either waiting her turn or standing guard as required in the lease agreement.
--steve buser

Purple Martin, New Orleans, Louisiana
Powered by ScribeFire.

Face up to it

Our nieces, Sarah and Rebekah, and their dad Jason, celebrated their birthdays yesterday in Mandeville. This water slide was one of the big hits. Here, our grandson, Sullivan, demonstrates what awaits the daring slider at the bottom of the water course.

We were fortunate the weather held off. Despite a few clouds rumbling that this was "their day," no shower spoiled the fun.

--steve buser

Water slide, Mandeville, Louisiana, birthday
Powered by ScribeFire.