Scenics Archives

July 31, 2011September 18, 2011

Time Change Is Killing Me

I grew up in Cape, which is in the Central Time Zone. In 1967, and from there on, I’ve lived in the Eastern Time Zone. That’s an hour of sleep I’ll never get back.

This week, Wife Lila and I have been in the Pacific Time zone. We get up at Pacific Daily Savings Time, which is four hours behind Eastern Time (7 am in Seattle is like Florida’s 10 am). That’s the good news.

It feels like 3 in the morning

The bad news is that we just got in from touring Mt. Rainier National Park at 12:30 am, which feels like like 3:30 am. That’s why you’re getting one picture tonight.

I hope it displays OK. It looks good on the camera’s LCD screen, but editing photos on my laptop is a little iffy. I’ll have more shots if we get home at a decent hour tomorrow (today).

Photo tip stuff

I was shooting standard wideangle shots of the mountain when I noticed this snag of a tree. I zoomed in on it and exposed for the bark of the tree, which caused the mountain to “blow out” a little bit. By focusing on the tree, the mountain went slightly out of focus. There was a bit of haze, so it wouldn’t have been sharp even if I wanted it to be. There’s enough contrast between the rock and the snow to let you know that it’s a mountain. The setting sun is just catching the tops of some of the trees, which adds a bit of color and is more interesting than if the bottom half of the photo had gone pure black.

July 29, 2011September 18, 2011

KFVS Radio Tower Had Twin

I wrote about the KFVS Radio tower that you see on the side of Highway 61 near North County Park over a year ago, but people are still commenting on it. (Note: when you go to the link, press Ctrl-F5 to make sure the latest comments are there.)

Reader William Pollack added a new dimension to the story with his comment: The tower featured on this page is one of the two original KFVS radio towers when located on Highway 61 North. They were used until 1947 when KFVS switched from 1400AM to 960AM with towers and transmitters located in East Cape. The original TV tower (’54-’60) was located directly north and across the street from the radio tower pictured. There was also a twin tower to the radio which was later moved and still stands behind the TV studio station location at 310-325 Broadway.

Tower DID have a twin

I vaguely remembered seeing a mast behind the TV station, but never paid any attention. William is right. It’s still there.

The tall concrete structrure in the background is the KFVS office building. Here’s what the view from the 11th floor looks like.

Google Earth view of TV tower

Reader Tim Brown noted “Just noticed that Google Earth has updated the photo of the tower. Much clearer. Do I see an observation deck of sorts up there? Looks like a platform with railing…” It’s quite an impressive shot. Zoom in tighter to see what he’s talking about.

I wonder who owns the old KFVS radio tower at the top of the page? It would be nice if it could be preserved as an example of the region’s history.

July 24, 2011January 21, 2012

Glad I’m Still in Cape

I’m not happy to be looking at car payments again, but I’m glad I’m not somewhere down around the Georgia – Florida line. I’ve had a productive Friday and Saturday, although not in the way I had planned.

Friday afternoon, just about the time I was supposed to be heading over to Kentucky Lake for the first leg of my trip back home, I got a call from a fellow who thought he might have been a kid in some photos I shot back in 1966 or ’67. I’ve been chasing wild geese all week trying to get some leads on this. We made arrangements to meet at 5 p.m. After we decided he was going to help me track down a bunch of other folks on my next visit, I had some time to kill.

I headed down to see how much water had been pumped out of the cement plant quarry, but decided instead to cut down Old Hwy 61, which is east of I-55 and deadends at a boat ramp at the Diversion Channel. Yesterday was the first day I noticed that it wasn’t under water. It’s amazing what a few days will do. These fields had three or four feet of water on them when I hit town a month ago. (Click on any photo to make it larger.)

Ed and Melinda Roberts

Right after shooting this, I met Ed and Melinda Roberts of Jackson catching bait for their trotlines. We talked for a bit, then they invited me to go out the Diversion Channel and up the Mississippi River to set out the lines. I’ll be posting two days of photos from that excursion: one on them fishing and the other on the the beauty of the waterway.

CT lands in Cairo

Then, to top it all off, I got a Facebook message from CT, a reporter I worked with at The Ohio University Post, saying she was visiting her brother in Paducah, had become interested in Cairo after seeing my photos and was planning on a day trip there. I quickly made arrangments to meet her and her four brothers in town. It was the first time we had seen each other since the late 70s. I’ll have more on that reunion in the next few days.

(I call her CT because her real name is Carol Towarnicky, a name I could never remember how to pronounce when I was introducing her to a subject. It usually came out some variation of TwarkNarky or something equally awkward.) Her brother shot this with my camera. I may have half the hair I had when she last saw me, but I am, otherwise, twice the man (in girth and weight). She was kind enough not to point that out. I knew there was a reason I liked her.

All in all, it was a better time to be in Cape than on the road. Tuesday morning, though, I have to be at the Cape airport to catch a Cape Air flight to St. Louis at 5:15. It’s not like the old Ozark days when you’d call to ask when the next flight to St. Louis was and they’d answer, “What time can you make it?”

July 23, 2011March 28, 2016

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Visits

I was putting some stuff in my semi-defunct van (I’m going to drive it around town until it drops since I filled the tank just before I was told it needed an immediate transmissionectomy) when Mother called me to come over. She was transfixed (my van could be transfixed, Honda says, for about five grand) by a black and yellow butterfly.

I grabbed my camera and sauntered over, not thinking it would still be there. To my surprise, it fluttered by a few times, then started slurping nectar right in front of me. (You can make the picture bigger by clicking on it.)

It’s an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

It’s an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, a common species in the area. If I’m reading correctly, it may be a female because of the blue markings on its wings. Males are typically all black. It doesn’t make much difference to me, although I guess another Eastern Tiger Swallowtail might care. I’m kinda “don’t ask, don’t tell” when it comes to the insect world.

I posted a photo of a conglomeration of butterflies at Trail of Tears State Park earlier this year.

I’m told that “conglomeration” isn’t the correct term for a bunch of butterflies getting together. Such a gathering is a rabble, swarm, kaleidoscope, flutter or rainbow, depending on whether the namer had access to a thesaurus. A group of moths is called an “eclipse,” in case you were wondering. Their press agent isn’t as good as the one used by the butterflies.

We’re headed to Seattle

If you notice new postings being light or non-existent for the next couple of weeks, it’s because Wife Lila and I are headed up to the Seattle area where temps are in the mid-40s. The temperature doesn’t have anything to do with the dearth of postings; I just like to say mid-40s after baking in Cape for a month. Because of the van troubles, I’m leaving my bike and all my computer gear except my laptop in Cape. As soon as we get back from our vacation, I’m going to have to hop in her van and come back to pick up all my stuff.

I’m trying to get a few days ahead, but I’m not going to be able to get three weeks of content in the bag in the next two days. You may get to see a bunch of West Coast pictures while we’re out there. If they aren’t your cup of tea, come back in a couple of weeks. I won’t take attendance and there will be no tests given covering material posted while we’re on the road.