A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

rain

Anything can make for a good photo if looked at the right way

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words.

I’m not sure about that as I can write many more words about a cool photo. But there are times when photos kind of capture me. It might not always be the best photo in the world, but it will get me sometimes.

For those who may not know, I’m attempting the 365 project again. I’ve done it once before (2010), but have failed one or two other times. This year, I decided to lasso a couple of friends to attempt to do it through Instagram. Therefore, it’s much easier.

The other day was a crappy day for weather. It was rainy and not-so-nice out. I didn’t know what I’d get, so I started thinking of standby shots I could snap. As I sat in my car, however, I started to stare at the fence in front of me. This fence surrounds tennis courts and there was something about the seemingly dull colors of the court do go with this dreary day.

I think one of the best parts of this image is the fact that anything, if looked at right, can make for a wonderful photo. Even a wet fence and an empty tennis court.

This image has quickly become one of my favorites.

So, without further ado, I’d like to share this image.

A rainy day.

As much as I love my main camera — I can’t lie — I truly do love what the iPhone can produce. I just need to get back into Hipstamatic more as I think I could have had some really cool combinations with that app.

Have a great week!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Being near the beach can help relax the mind and body

A baby snow leopard and the mother chill.

Despite less-than-perfect weather, a trip away to the Jersey Shore was a good thing for my mind and body.

My aunt/uncle own a house in Avalon, New Jersey. It’s a quaint little town and, from what I understand, is an absolute zoo during the summer months. I can understand why, too. It’s a gorgeous spot on the Jersey Shore and it’s a cool little area.

Bad weather couldn’t screw a mini-vacation. It did allow for some great photo chances.

So who wouldn’t want to be there.

Well, during the “on” months, me.

See, I’m all about visiting places like that when it’s not so overrun by people. A couple of years ago, I went down by myself. The reason being was I wanted to just kind of veg and not have to worry about anything.

This time, there was some family. And that’s all good, too. But I still got the chance to get out and explore a little.

One issue, though? Mother Nature. She sure can be ornery at times, can’t she? Getting down there on a Thursday night was supposed to set up a weekend of nice times. Heck, it was Avalon’s Seafood Festival!

Yum!

Alas, the old broad Mother Nature had different ideas. Wind. Rain. High tide, it seemed, was all the time. The one bridge from Avalon to Sea Isle City was actually closed because waves were crashing over the walls to the road.

Still, it’s not like it was non-stop rain.

This zebra needed to scratch his back.

Sometimes weather like that makes you think outside the box a little. Like two trips to the zoo. Some geocaching. Some walking on a windy beach. It wasn’t all that bad.

And the best part?

It helped clear my mind and body, which is something I needed.

Now, could it have been even better if it had been sunny and 60-65 out? For sure. For one, the Seafood Festival wouldn’t have been postponed! You just have to make a good out of a bad, right?

I really enjoyed getting away and not having anything to worry about. I took a ton of photos, which eventually I’ll get up on my Flickr account — along with the rest of the images I’ve taken over the past six or so months.

Practicing the crane.

Anyhoo…

There’s something to be said about watching monster waves crash up against rock walls or the shore. Or seeing a high tide and the waves rolling in. It would have been cool to see some lightning so I could have tried to have taken a few shots, but no luck.

In the end, I had the chance to do a bunch of fun things, including finding a bunch of geocaches (one of which was a first to find!), take some photos and recharge the batteries a little bit.

The zoo was especially cool. I had the chance to see several baby animals, including a set of snow leopards, a giraffe (only about a month old), a bison and I think one or two others.

Here’s a quick video I shot of the baby giraffe walking.

I won’t lie that I think I should visit this fine area one time during the summer, just to see what it’s like. But I truly do enjoy going in the fall. I just hope next time, Mother Nature cooperates!

A few more photos:

Splashing water.

An egret takes off at the Wetlands Institute.

Taking off at the beach.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Rain leads to spring?

We can hope so.

Thursday and Friday (morning) saw some serious rain in the area. So much that there were a few road closures and some minor flooding.

As per normal, when it floods, the one back-river road in this area gets closed as it becomes quite dangerous.

High waters

Water over the road

Thankfully, it didn’t seem to do widespread major flooding. Heavy rains and a lot of snow melt can do that.

Look how high it got near Fitchs Bridge:

Water coming close

But, as much as the rain and flooding isn’t wanted, it gives some home — that spring is here.

The weather has been better and the temps are on the rise. This upcoming week, according to weather.com, will start out in the high 30s (Monday), creep into the mid-to-upper 40s Tuesday and Wednesday and get into the 50s Thursday. It will come back down into the 40s for the weekend.

But…

The kicker to all of this is, outside of a few showers (30 percent chance) Wednesday, the rest of the week looks sunny.

Awesome.

I’m ready for it. I want to get out and ride my bike (though I need to get it to Oneonta and to the local bike shop to have it tuned up and such) and really start pushing ahead with the Couch-to-5K program (which I slacked a bit on this past week).

Hopefully this weather forecast won’t change (though I am writing this early as I’ll be gone at 5 a.m. Sunday to head to New Jersey for a one-day disc golf tournament) and spring will be here. Hopefully with that in the air, my job hunt will warm up and maybe I can land a few interviews and get back into the work force.

Have a great week!

More later!