Metal detecting, first time in a long time!

I got out to metal detect today for the first time in a long time.  I didn't find much, it was cold, but it was nice to get out.  I found 39 cents, a top of a silver plated spoon, and some pieces of a broken up metal figurine.  I don't know what kind of metal it is, but a magnet won't stick to it.  I think it's either pot metal or lead.  It's very heavy, so I think it might be lead.  The larger piece, you can see an ear and flowing hair.  At least, that's what it looks like to me. No idea what it used to be when it was whole.  Could have been part of a lamp, door stop, fireplace cover.  Who knows.  I think there were more pieces in the area, but once I found the large one and several small pieces I figured that was enough to tell me it wasn't worth digging more.
I detected in the field in front of the Zoo.  Actually, beside the Zoo parking lot between Illinois Ave.  I saw some older kids throwing a football around there the other day and figured that it was an open area used by people, and might have something worth finding in the ground.  I figured if the Zoo didn't want me to detect there they'd come out and tell me.  Nobody bothered me.  The biggest problem is that there is no place to park.  There's no parking along the Zoo side, so I parked on the street in front of some one's house.  The lanes aren't very wide, so to get around my car you would have to drive in the other lane.  But, it wasn't a very busy street.  I think I'll try there again.

Flaget H. S. Football State Champs 1961

50 YEARS!  It's hard to believe it's been that long.  I just got a phone call that they're honoring the 1961 Flaget H. S. State Champs at the State Championship football game in Bowling Green, Ky., this Saturday.  I declined to attend, but it would have been nice.  I wish it was being held at Papa John's Stadium in Louisville. 
I was only a sophomore at the time and not a starter, but it was my second 'Letter' year.  I lettered as a Freshman and was a 4 year Letterman in Football.  I did contribute to the season.  I kept one of our Shutouts alive.  While I only played 'mop-up' minutes', I intercepted a pass in the Trinity game on the 10 yard line late in the game when they were driving for a score.  So I feel I had a major part in the number of 'shut-outs' that team had.  That year I won the "Most Improved" JV player trophy.
My Flaget football career had a major setback the following year.  When our starting Fullback was still recovering from a broken ankle, I stepped in to the starting roll pre-season.  While playing a pre-season game at Seneca Park I broke my ribs on a play up the middle.  Several plays after I left the game, the Sophomore Fullback who took my place broke loose for a 60 yard touchdown!.  By the time I recovered from my injury, the starting Senior Fullback had returned and the Sophomore 'Phenom" had jumped ahead of me to be the back-up.  That left me out in the cold.  I talked with Coach Miller and we decided it would be best that I move to the End position.  That's how my Junior and Senior year resulted with me being an end, and why I was wearing #46 in the picture, but as a Junior and Senior I was #83.  Offensive End was a tough position for a guy playing without glasses and was as blind as a bat.  I played much better at Defensive End than I did on Offense.
So, knowing my number now, can you find me?  OK, 2nd row from the bottom, 2nd from the right.

Practicing with our new Camera

I took our new camera to the Zoo today to both
practice using the camera and to get better acquainted with all the exhibits.  I tried a few close ups and zoomed pictures to see if they were sharp or blurred.  I think this snake came out pretty good.  I don't remember for sure what he was, but was some type of Tree Boa.  I put the lens against the glass and snapped this one.

This was brought up a little closer than he really was.  Looks pretty good, doesn't it?  This is Walker, the male Giraffe who is the father of the new baby, Amani.  The older baby was just shipped off to another Zoo a couple of weeks ago.

I took about 30 pictures.  A lot of them were of the placards in front of the exhibits.  This is the type of stuff I need to know.  So I figured I could just brows through my pictures and read the placards to study up.  This one is the Mhorr Gazelle.  There are no more of these in the wild.  And, they're not breeding well in captivity.  These beautiful animals are expected to be extinct in our lifetime.  I think the plaque is sharp enough to read.



The new camera has 14.1 megapixels.  Our old one had 3.2 megapixels.  I guess this has a lot to do with the clarity of the pictures, because it takes about 10 times longer to download these to my blog.  I would have put up a few more of them, but it just takes too long. So, in the future blogs, they may have fewer pictures, but the quality will be there!

Playing my last round at Long Run GC

My experiences at Long Run GC has been much like my experiences at Steak and Shake.  I've never had a good experience at either place.  So, I'll state right now, I'll never play Long Run GC again, no matter what comes up.

I played with Brian, Kevin, and J. R.  Even playing bad and hating this course that's always in terrible shape, I still had a nice time playing golf with them.  I shot a 48 -47 = 95 for my 61st round of the year.  I had 71 rounds last year, so I have 10 more this year to catch up.  Don't think I'll make it.  It has been 2 weeks since I've played.  That may have had something to do with how bad I played.  But mostly, I believe the fact that I hate this course played on my mind more than anything, and the whole time I'm playing thinking " Why the hell did I agree to play here?"  The fairways were bad, the greens were shaggy and rutted.  And to top that off, our cart barely made it in to the clubhouse.  The battery was almost played out. 

Oh well, enough complaining.  By playing terrible, that made me hate the course just that much more.  So, I'll let it be.  But, I'll never play there again!

Thanksgiving for Grampy!

The family came over, to visit and eat.

Everyone came, it was quite a treat!

Nana was late, but it was not her fault,

The East End Tabler's arrived before they thought.

Oops!  Go and get Nana, it just slipped my mind.
Mark made the trip, and put them behind.

The big dinner was eaten, with gusto and zest!

Erin and Jillian got their pie before all the rest.

When the big feast was over, all sat back and moaned,
but poor old Grampy in the kitchen to scrub all alone.

The dishes were piled to the ceiling with care,
for they knew that Grampy was scrubbing out there.

So I washed and I cleaned, til the dishes again shone,

Then they all said goodbye, and headed for home.

So that's how it is, Mimi fixes the meal,
I get stuck with the dishes, that's the whole deal!


Naw, that's not exactly how it went.  We all had fun, great to be with the family.  Erin and Jillian got their piece of pie first because I promised them they could have as big a piece of pumpkin pie as they wanted, and could put their own whipped cream on it.  So we had to get it first just in case the wanted a really big piece.
Other than Derby Day, I have to believe this is my favorite day of the year.  Only having fun with the family and eating.  Doesn't get much better than that!

"A Taste of Kentucky" at Chance School

Mary Lynn and I went to Chance School today to visit Erin's Classroom and to go to the Fun Room to see Jillian's project.

We first went to Erin's Classroom for their "Taste of Kentucky".  Erin made a big pot of "Kentucky Burgoo".  Each student made something of Kentucky Flavor for sampling.  Ky Fried Chicken, Country Ham on Biscuits, Hot Browns, Derby Pie, and a host of other items.  I couldn't quiet sample everything, but I tried.  It was all very tasty!

As you can see, there was a lot of food.  I'm pretty sure this wasn't Erin's first time through the line.  I think the dessert table was hit several times by her.

Then we went to the Fun Room to see Jillian's project.  Her Class is studying the Earth and how it was formed.  Her project was a Cave.  She made this cave and told everyone about the Stalactites and Stalagmites, Columns, Bats, and how those  things are formed.  The yellow paper on the right front is a flashlight shining into the cave.

She stood by her cave as people came by and explained  the cave system to them.  I was very impressed by how well she spoke up and wasn't a bit shy about it.

Docent Exam is Looming

Yesterday when Mary Lynn went to the Chance School Boutique, I took the opportunity to attend an extra class at the Zoo.  The Fall Docent Class is held on 2 days each week, Wednesday and Saturday, covering the same materials but allowing people to attend either one,  allowing for each person's schedule.  Saturday Class has been behind Wednesdays Class all year until yesterday.  I don't exactly how they caught up, but I'm sure some of the classes were combined, therefore shortened. 
Yesterday, the class had their 3 minute talk, which we had 2 weeks ago, but then had their 'Review' Class, which we won't have until this coming Wednesday. With the exam coming up I thought it would be a good idea to attend the 'Review' Class twice.  Also, it's going to give me more time to study up on the things he mentions 'might' be important to remember. 

Our teacher, Doug McCoy, said the test will consist of about 50 questions.  He sat out 26 pictures of animals across the front of the room, unidentified, and said that '10' of those animals will be on the test.  10 of the questions will be to identify the animal and write at least 2 things about it.  It's 'cute', or it's 'yuckie', will not be accepted.  Those 26 animals were:

1. Cottontop Tamarin               10.  Amur/Siberian Tiger *               19.  Ring Tailed Lemur
2. Snow Leopard                     11.  Woolly Monkey                        20.  Orangutan*
3. Hissing Cockroach*             12.  Rose Haired Tarantula              21.  Guam Rail
4. Eastern Screech Owl            13.  Giant African Millipede             22.  Masai Giraffe
5. Siamang                               14.  E. African Crowned Crane*      23.  Warthog
6. Southern White Rhino           15.  Western Lowland Gorilla*        24.  Addax
7. Black Footed Ferret *          16.  Polar Bear *                             25.  Mhorr Gazelle*
8. Maned Wolf*                       17.  Nene (Hawaiian Goose)*          26.  Bongo
9. Cuban Crocodile                  18.  Rodrigues Fruit Bat
                   Bongo Antelope

The animals I marked with  * is my 'guess' as to the 10 that will be on the test.  I feel very sure of several of them, Black Footed Ferret, Polar Bear, Mhorr Gazelle, Maned Wolf, Nene, but the others are just a wild guess.  Of course, this will be just 10 of the 50 questions.  He gave us no idea what might be contained in the other 40 questions!  Some help.  We'll see how close I came to the actual 10 used.  Do you know these animals? Can you come up with 2 interesting facts about each?  Oh yeah, he won't let us use "They stink" either.

We have our final Review this Wednesday, a longer class than yesterday's class, so maybe he'll cover more of what to expect.  I've discovered over the course of these last 3 months, too, that, as far as I can tell, I'm the least 'educated' of anyone in the class.  My limited 'High School' education, a High School without a 'Biology' Lab, and only a Freshman Biology Class, I've run into many words I've either never heard of or have not heard for many years.

I went on my first 'Night Safari' Friday night.  That was fun and interesting.  I didn't spend the night, but left at 11:00 pm, as the others were going to bed.  The Group that came were Cub Scouts from Richmond, KY, and a lot of parents and siblings.  I would guess about 24 children and 15 adults.  They bring sleeping bags, air mattresses, and sleep all around on the floor of the MetaZoo.  In the evenings we have a class on the groups chosen subject ( this time Nocturnal Animals and their adaptations), group activities involving in some way, animals.  Then about 10:00 pm go for a night walk.  In the morning they are awakened at 6:00am for breakfast of Krispy Kreme Donuts, or anything they may have brought, juice, milk and Coffee.  Then they go for a morning walk through the Zoo.  Of course the evening walk and morning walk are with the Docents talking about the animals we are seeing.  Then about 9:00 am they're walked to the front gate and they leave.  I think all the Cub Scouts had a good time.  At least they sure acted like it.  And, the Night Safari completed the last 2 of my required tasks for my Docent Training.  So, the only hurdle now will be my Exam!