Farewell Flip-Flops

I am wearing my shorts and flip-flops on this fine Monday, as the weather is quite beautiful today.  I actually put away my flip-flops a few weeks ago for the most part, but as I am staying home for most of the day, so I am celebrating this gorgeous day in my own little way.  I’m sure that everyone is already aware that a big cold front is headed across the country this week, and it should hit our area overnight in a very noticeable way.  We will no doubt receive our first freeze, which is actually overdue by about ten days this year.  So, I’m enjoying this lovely day with temperatures in the high seventies, as it will come to an abrupt end in just a few hours.

It’s farewell to my favorite pair of Clark’s flip-flops for the year.

I actually enjoy the season changes, and while I’ve truly enjoyed our fine fall weather this year and our much-needed rain storms, I am ready for cold weather once again.  Please remember I said this in a couple of months when we are once again engulfed in a deep freeze, and I am begging for spring to come!  😉

Hubby and I also enjoyed a fun weekend away at our favorite state park nearby – Caprock Canyons State Park.  If we have a “home” park to visit, this is it.  Caprock Canyons is an easy drive that is just under two hours away, and it is such a great place to visit just about anytime of the year, depending on your personal weather preference.  This weekend was a very special one for us in the park, and I will share that neat experience here soon.  It was a “first” of sorts in our visits there, and it will no doubt be one of those special visits that I will always remember and treasure.  Here’s a little hint.

Last week, I also upgraded my phone to a Samsung Galaxy S5.  The photos in this post were both taken with the camera on my new phone, and I may have an adjustment period in getting used to the new aspect ratio of .5625 to 1.  How exactly does one use the rule of thirds with such a panoramic ratio anyway?  Anyway, I’m going to continue to experiment with this new ratio to see how I like it, as I can always come back later and hopefully crop images in a more familiar ratio if I would rather do that.  The phone camera takes 16mb images, so I have plenty of photo to work with.  So far, I am quite impressed with the camera on the phone, too.  I thought ever so briefly about changing to an iPhone for the first time, as I could have saved $10 per month on my plan by doing so, but it would have felt like a downgrade to me in several respects.  I also detest iTunes because of the many issues I’ve had with it for my music library over the years.  So, I stayed with my trusty Galaxy phone option that I have truly enjoyed since my last upgrade two years ago to the Galaxy S3.  It is yet again larger in size than my previous phone, and I hope that Samsung is ready to call it good with this size.  I’m not sure that I can handle larger phones going forward time after time.

I am still having fun this month over at Animal Wonder, too!  While I know many people may not be big on birding, it is a fun hobby that I want to learn more about.  Blogging about birding each day this month is truly helping me to grow in my knowledge of birding and gain even more insights on blogging, too.  Daily blogging is proving to be a good challenge in writing for me, and I hope you will stop by there at times for a visit to see what’s happening there.  I’m now 1/3 of the way into the challenge and have met each day’s goal so far.  I’ve also had a nice reception by others and a good number of follows in the first week, and that is always an encouragement for a new project.  Most of all, I am just enjoying the opportunity to finally share some of my favorite bird photos and stories this month.  I am already working on the final birding post for November, too.  It is a gut-wrenching post for me, and I will try to do it justice to convey the feeling I had at the time.  It is more than just a photo of a bird, for sure.

Finally, I added one more link to my previous post, Texas Travel Links.  There is a fun app for your phone that shares information on Texas Historical Markers as you drive past them.  I have used the app for my Android phone on several occasions, but I believe there is a similar app available for iPhones, too.  If you don’t have time to stop and read all the historical markers on the highways, this is the next best thing and a great way to learn some interesting Texas history in the process.

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