Windy Weekend

I wanted to go out and take some early Spring shots of the same old flowers around Augusta but its so windy outside nothing is standing still; even trashcans are rolling down the street. Stella and I almost got blown over when we were out there. Instead we came home and Stella took her usual lazy position in the sunshine near the front windows. So I took a fisheye of her instead.

This one has good focus. It was taken about one inch from her face so you can see how much that lens captures close up. The normal lens would have just had her nose in it. You can even see her breath in the lower right corner. I still have to work at getting the blue aberrations out though.

Trip To Tennessee

I spent the weekend in Gatlinburg for my mom's wedding. I don't care for the city that much. It's access to The Great Smokey Mountains National Park is it's only redeeming quality. That and the acquarium. I had to pick up my sister in Athens on Friday. She didn't get off work until 2:30 so I had some time to eat at The Grill and hang out downtown. We arrived in Gatlinburg before dark. Here are some of the highlights from the trip because I'm too lazy to write a full report:


On Saturday night, we went to the acquarium. It looks very hokey from the outside but it was actually nicer, IMO, than the one in Charleston. Maybe that's not saying much but the one in Charleston was the nicest I had seen before this one.


A starfish.


The all-too-familiar barracuda.


On Sunday, my sister and I went up the "strenuous" (2 miles, one way) Chimney Tops Trail. I'd say it was the lower end of moderate in terms of difficulty, somewhere above a walk in the park but significantly less than Curahee.


It was very windy...


and sometimes steep...


but we made it.