Sky Watch Friday

Just a little offering for Sky Watch. Sky Watch is a meme to join and share your photos of the sky....believe me, I see some awesome shots every time I start visiting.
These top three photos are more from when we went up north last week to Willow Slough and Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife areas.
It was sure awesome to see the sky changing the way it did. And I loved the silhouette effect it gave everything.
Now this bottom photo was taken just last night on the way to Terre Haute...it was definitely on the way to being dark when we decided to run down there. I told Roger I was taking my camera cause I always regretted it when I didn't.
I only took about a dozen shots and this was my pick of them. I was shooting out my side window and when you going 55 mph down a highway, with telephone poles, it is hard to take pictures between them. Or at least it is for me...some of the time. I honestly think that sometimes they are a bit farther apart...but maybe it is that we just aren't going quite the speed limit.

Anyway, if you want to join, or just check out the views from around the world, click on the badge at the top of the page. Also, these photos should all enlarge and I think the bigger they are, the better.

Should I do like these deer--turn and run?

I always wonder about my experience with blogging compared to my fellow bloggers. At least to the ones I 'talk' to a regular basis. I wonder do you occasionally get the comments that are basically only links to lottery? Do you get them and delete them before anyone else sees them. It has been a while since I have gotten any, but it seems to go in spurts. And I had one comment back when I very first began that I had a strong suspision linked to a porn sight...I can't even remember now why I felt that way but I deleted it too quick to talk about.

Then I have gotten two or three emails from Justin, supposedly he works for 123 Greetings. Here is the main part of his letter:

123Greetings Studio is a unique 'platform' for anyone with a creative flair, who want to participate and expose their creativity to millions of people worldwide. This is a platform that lets you to showcase your creativity and promote yourself and your site amidst our 120 million unique users and mark your name in the world of creativity. Everything is absolutely free. You can be doodling with an amazing shot one day and have it sent out as an ecard to millions of users the next day. There’s no feeling like the joy and excitement to see your work take off and be exposed to so many people. 123Greetings Studio allows you to upload and share ecards and then link your card to your blog, other websites and on email.

As you are the creator of the work, you don't need any licensing and you will own the copyrights and get every credit for your work. You can market your work and your site through 123Greetings Studio. Please do let me know if you are interested to take a part and I would be glad to send you an invitation along with a Sign Up link. Once you Sign Up with the Studio, you will get to know a lot more about it

That was the second letter I got from him, and he even mentioned the previous one in the first paragraph. I didn't respond to either one of them. They were two months apart. I guess I am not a very trusting person.

Then either yesterday or the day before I received this email from Tal Yarkoni:

This is an invitation to participate in an online research study being conducted by Mr. Tal Yarkoni under the supervision of Dr. Simine Vazire at Washington University in St. Louis. The study investigates the relation between people's personality and the content and style of their writing, and has been approved by the Washington University Human Research Protection Office.

The study consists of a single personality questionnaire assessing your personality and background, as well as information about your blog (if you have one). You can choose to participate in either a short or a long version of the study, so your participation can take as little as 10 minutes or as long as 30-40 minutes.

Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you may withdraw from the study at any point after you begin. We will not ask you to reveal any information that could potentially be used to identify you, with the optional exception of the address of your blog if you maintain one. While there are no material benefits to participation, you do have the option of receiving information about your personality scores at the end of the experiment.

This is a one-time solicitation, and you will NOT receive any further e-mail from us. We obtained your e-mail address from your blog strictly for one-time use, and we will not maintain any further record of your contact information.

If you'd like to participate, our study can be accessed at:

And it goes on to give a link to a website...now this is something that is tempting to do...the link goes to one page that is an agreement of sorts and it does seem straight forward. And the part that makes me want to do it is it says:

There are no known risks associated with participating in this experiment except for the potential for boredom or fatigue. However, upon completion of the study, you will be given the option of seeing your personality scores. Should you choose to view your scores, please note that there is a small risk that some of the feedback you receive will be unpleasant. There are no known benefits except for the knowledge that your participation is contributing to science.

The part in red is the really tempting part....I have looked the guy up and he seems legitimate. I love doing on-line personality quiz type things and would love to do one that was really a bit more in depth. I wondered does anyone else get these kinds of things and what is your response?

Where do I go when I have a few minutes???

Yes, I go to the strip pits. It isn't far so I don't waste much gas, there is usually something interesting to see, and I don't see many people. And besides, it promised to be a beautiful sunset.

Please enlarge for best viewing.

Tonight when I first got there I seen a Northern Harrier, actually in a tree. I tried to ease up to it, but it flew to the next tree, and then away. It is so unusual to see one in a tree...especially for more than a few seconds. Most times, I see them land in the grass, and that is where they have their nests. If there is an abundant food supply, one male may have 4 or 5 mates. The females stay on the nests and he supplies their food. I think the reason he was staying in the tree had something to do with it being almost dark.
I seen so many of these fellas--the short-eared owls. I saw three or four of these in the air at one time. I cannot remember how many different birds these actually are, but it is for sure more than one bird.
Look at that face!!!! But doesn't the overall appearance make you think of a plane coming in for a landing.
These owls fly close to the ground, just like the Northern Harrier. (Note to myself: I need to check and see what their breeding habits are.)
Though I probably took at least a dozen and a half pictures of three or four owls perching on post, and one in a tree, but the one below is the best picture so far.
Tomorrow I get to go see Lorelei. I wonder if I will be able to tell she is growing...it has been a week and a day since I have seen her...the longest I have went without seeing her.. We were planning on going over the weekend, but Roger had the flu bug hit him so we stayed home.

BTW, I hope I haven't confused you with my music...after giving the award to John at John's Photoblog, talking about why I first kept going to his blog was the music I had on earlier...I just had to listen to it a few times and I put it on here.

Then I thought of Brooke White....does anyone besides me watch American Idol? I actually have only watched it the past couple of years...last year was the first time I seen it from beginning to end. Right away I fell in love with Brooke White. She didn't win...in fact I cannot remember quite how far she got. I had thought to google her a while back and seen she had an album. And while I liked them, I didn't just LOVE any of them.

Imagine my surprise when she appeared on Idol last week and sang the song that I have playing on here. It is a single that is on Itunes...and I just love it! So listen and enjoy--don't you just love her!