An evening swim

Boy has it been busy start to the holiday weekend! (It's Memorial Weekend in the States) The weather is cool but sunny, just the kind of day that makes you want to be outside. I have been doing everything from cleaning windows and scrubbing down the grill to getting a start on my gardening. And if you noticed all of the pollen these two ducks are swimming in... you are probably wondering how the Allergy Queen could possibly be outside in all of that. Well, I found a miracle (at least that's what it is for me) Allegra. I had tried all of the other major brands of allergy medicine and had absolutely no relief. My eyes were starting to look like I had been in a fight... Swollen, red and watery. Then I tried Allegra and (cue angels singing) I am cured!!! Such freedom! I feel like I have a new lease on life and can't seem to find enough things to do outdoors. :))

I took several more orioles-on-the-oranges shots today... per usual, they were mostly through the glass door. Then later in the day I was out on the deck relaxing in a chair and the female came to feed. She was more brave than any of the others and for the first time I was able to get images of her without a dirty window between us. Oh the difference! The clarity was so fun to witness on the computer tonight. But, alas, she did not get blip fame today... the ducks just won me over. (And I've blipped Mrs. Oriole so many times recently.) I'll admit the ducks were no where near as clear and crisp as the oriole, but I really liked this image of these two. They are swimming on our lake with the reflection of the new green leaves glowing in the evening sun. And even the pollen looks pretty dancing on the water catching the light. Looks nice large.

I had to perform a bit of an acrobatic routine to get this image. Our lake is incredibly high this year, higher than we've seen in more than 20 years. And the platform at the land end of our dock is underwater... the water is actually about 8 feet further on land than we've ever seen it. So, I had to leap over the submerged section to get onto the dock for my prime photographing position. (I'm so glad I didn't slip and end up swimming with the ducks...) Fortunately, our dock is still above the water. Our neighbor's is a few inches lower than ours and is fully submerged. I hope it doesn't get much higher, or we will be in the same boat. (There's a joke in there somewhere... but I'm just to tired to figure it out...) ;)

Happy weekend everyone!