The 2012 Countdown - Part 2

The 2012 Countdown - Part 2

As 2012 winds down, I hope it’s been a happy, healthy, and enlightening trip around the sun! This year has been personally rewarding for me as I saw my daughter married this past month as well as having my son get engaged at the wedding reception.

Photographically, the second half of the year was slow as wedding plans and my teaching demanded more of my time. I was not planning to post my annual countdown, as I did not feel I had shot enough to warrant a year-end retrospective. However, after sitting down and looking over my 2012 images, I have to say I am pleased with the results and have changed my mind.

The rankings of the Top 25 of 2012 came from a formula I created that takes into account the feedback received from Facebook, Twitter, and 550px.com as well as the traffic the image generated on my Blue Lion website. I hope you enjoy seeing a few familiar shots mixed in with some you might have missed in the past year.

Part 2 of the 2012 Countdown ( # 18- #21)

#21 - Gazania

#20 - Reload!

#19 - Panther Chameleon

#18 - Swamp Stalker

Thanks for visiting and spending a few minutes here --- Tomorrow I'll post images 14 - 17 here! Hope to see you back! Feel free to share the 2012 countdown with you friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+! 

Please comment below & let me know your favorite of the images above! 

A Fun Campout!

As spring has sprung here in North Texas I've been a busy bee with lots of things that are not related to posting on the blog and as a result postings here have been few and far between.  As such, today 's post deals with a fun two days I spent with my sixth grade students on our annual sixth grade campout at a ranch in the piney woods of east Texas.

Our campout involved taking these "city kids" out to expose them to camping skills they will build on in later trips in the seventh & eighth grades in preparation for a 10 day backpacking trip they are required to take in the August before their freshman year. Aside from learning campfire skills such as fire building and cooking over the fire, we have fun with activities such as orienteering, nature hikes, a short "solo" / journaling  session, and of course fun games in a meadow. On this years trip, we benefited from the VERY early spring by getting to see a range of wildlife that we had not seen at this place in previous years.

Wolf Spider with Egg Case

Luna Moth recently emerged from its chrysalis

Ground Skink

At 9:30 PM as we headed back to our tents from my campfire reading of a short & spooky Stephen King story, we encountered this Copperhead snake just off the trail 15 feet from my tent. While clearly on alert and aware of us, the snake was not at all agressive ( and I was impressed that my young campers did not freakout in its presence. The ranch owners relocated it away from our camping area. These images ( taken with a flash) do not show how amazingly well camouflaged this snake was among the leaf litter. Even with flashlights shining on it, many people had trouble seeing it at first.

Overall we had a great trip and I am already looking forward to returning with next year's students to see what new critters we encounter!