I recently had the chance to take some photos of my friend Heidi and her beautiful little boy, Ryan, who was on the cusp of his second birthday. It’s fun finding that moment of joy and capturing it on camera, but I love all the expressions that cross a child’s face, including the grumpy ones. I wonder what I was thinking at that age. Probably, “Can I have a cookie?” I added a few photos to that gallery this weekend when I dropped by Ryan’s birthday party.

 

At another party, at a lovely location along the Indian River Lagoon, I shot a few photos of friends and their kids. We have furry children (dogs), so it was fun to see the real kids playing among the rocks, stalking one another with Nerf guns and making s’mores. All of that marshmallow-roasting is enough to make a girl nostalgic.

 

The weather has been gorgeous here in Florida, but I’m waiting for the pattern to change out west so I can hit the road for my annual storm-chasing trip. After last week’s violent tornadoes, the atmosphere seems to be taking a breather.

I could only watch in horror and amazement yesterday (April 27) as tornadoes ripped through the South – particularly Alabama – on TV and on the ABC 33/40 station’s live stream. This is one of the more stunning videos to come out of yesterday, posted by ‘jason835a’ on YouTube. It was shot from the University Mall parking lot in Tuscaloosa – and it is an ample demonstration of the point that if you see a tornado apparently sitting still and getting larger, it is coming right for you. Incredible stuff. I have a feeling I’d be freaking out just as much as the driver here.

I can’t emphasize enough that everyone needs to have a plan for where to go for shelter, and a weather radio. Have the radio on whenever there is a potential for severe weather. There was a fair amount of warning for the killer Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado, but many lives were lost. I’m sure that’s partly because shelter was inadequate in some cases – this is the kind of tornado that will destroy anything above ground – but it’s so essential to get those warnings. They give people time to find shelter. My thoughts are with the victims and their families today.

We just got back from a trip to South Florida, where I made my first visit to Butterfly World. I was interested in both the passion flower collection and, naturally, the butterflies. It exceeded my expectations. The humdrum lobby gave nothing away, but as soon as we entered the first exhibit, we were surrounded by clouds of fluttering butterflies, which weaved among the colorful flowers and around the heads of guests as if – as one visitor put it – they were dreaming. Or I was dreaming, maybe. I took a lot of photos, so I can prove it wasn’t a dream. They are kept in a series of linked, screened houses so they don’t escape. Other, similar houses hold hummingbirds and other feathered creatures. There’s also a creepy bug museum and the amazing passion flowers, though I wish more of them had been blooming. Still, their delicate complexity continues to fascinate me. I recently wrote a story about passion flowers, most of which are native to South America, and learned there are about 600 types.

I am disturbed and amazed at the wave of tornado onslaughts … and now flooding, too … all in the same area. People keep asking me why I’m not there. Many chasers are seeking and finding the storms, but many tornadoes are occurring in what is referred to as “the jungle,” because of the hills and trees. In other words, visibilty is low, making it extra hard to track the storms. And of course, the people who live there can’t see them coming, either. If you are in the danger zone, leave your weather radio on. It will give you the best and fastest warning.

Much wiser storm chasers than I have said, “Live by the models, die by the models.” But one must live a little by the computer models in order to figure out when to make the (ideally) two-day drive out to Tornado Alley. I’d much prefer chasing storms in the lovely, flat, empty expanses of the Alley than in the trees and hills and populated areas where tornadoes have been wreaking havoc for the past few days. When I live as far away as I do, it becomes somewhat of an expedition to get all the gear ready, load up the car, and get the heck outta Dodge. Or to Dodge – I’ve passed through Dodge City, Kansas, almost every year of chasing, it seems. It smells like cows.

That said, I’ve ordered a rental cell modem so I can get data while mobile. It’s a long way from the days when I had to plug into a phone jack at a truck stop and sign on to the Internet that way to get data – and that was awesome. Granted, you can’t get mobile data everywhere, but it’s amazing where you can get it.

Anyway, I’m starting to get everything ready. I’m working my last few days as a full-time newspaper reporter this week, as I begin a freelance career. And I’m trying to find a missing camera battery. You haven’t seen it, have you?

I drove slightly out of my way this evening to get about 10 raindrops on my windshield as a front pushed through the area. I was hoping for a little more excitement, especially after I saw some, you know, clouds. I talked with my friend Steve Sponsler, who writes a great forecasting blog that focuses on Florida. He feels his forecast verified, because, after all, there was rain.

This time of year, it’s easy for storm chasers to obsess about the weather. I haven’t been, because I’ve been busy trying to finish up things at my job so I can start working for myself. But the obsession is about to begin, since storm chasing is just a few weeks away. I have a lot to do in terms of getting gear in order, and just getting in the mode of daily forecasting, too.

Well, tonight’s “chase” was rewarded at home, when this ambitious little turkey tower, complete with a few mammatus, pushed east overhead at sunset. It wasn’t powerful, but it was pretty.

This is why I love taking photos of animals: They are constantly moving, so a great photo feels like a rare event (not unlike taking photos of children). They are full of life and personality. If they look you in the lens, it’s always a moment. And they and their people are fun!  A couple of months ago I went to a herding trial at Judith Kelly’s Asher-Dell Farm in Malabar, Florida, and I had the opportunity to shoot the trainers putting the dogs (and the sheep) through their paces. The dog in the photo was taking no nonsense from these sheep.

Hubby just made a Puhi Split. This sounds more gymnastic than it is. It’s a wonderful cocktail with macadamia nut liqueur, dark rum, Kahlua and cream. Oh, and fresh banana, blended with ice. Amazing. He found the recipe on Tiki Central. That Trader Vic’s Macadamia Nut Liqueur is serious girl-drink goodness, but the guys like it, too.

It’s been a busy week for cocktail press releases in the mail. I know, these recipes are just designed to push certain kinds of liquor, but don’t they look good? Of course, I am somewhat suspicious of “elixir”-colored drinks, as the recipes designate, and I don’t generally consider Easter a big drinking holiday, but some would argue that every holiday is, especially those spent with large, dysfunctional families. I found at least one of these recipes, the Blue Egg, elsewhere online under a different name. The Blue Egg features vodka; Green Egg, absinthe; and Pink Egg, rum. What do you think of strangely colored drinks?  I love Beachbum Berry’s take on the Mai Tai: “A Mai Tai should not be red. A Mai Tai should not be blue.” But judge for yourself; here’s the Green Egg: Combine 2 ounces Lucid Absinthe; 0.5 ounce lime juice; 1 ounce Coco Lopez; and Teal Elixir #5 in a shaker with ice. Strain into a tall rocks glass with ice and top with Lucid Absinthe. Garnish with a lemon, lime, and maraschino cherry.

Also this week, I got a press release congratulating me, because at last, in Florida, Bakon Vodka is available. It tastes like – yeah, you guessed it. They recommend it for Bloody Marys.

Another press release offered the Bringing Home the Bacon: Rim a shot glass with maple syrup and cover rim with bacon bits. Fill the shot glass with Hornitos Anejo (or the tequila you prefer). Simple enough. Bacon. Not just for breakfast anymore. Or maybe tequila is for breakfast? You decide.

I’m in the process of doing our taxes, which means reviewing a year’s worth of expenses, and they can be kind of disturbing when grouped into categories. Especially “Restaurants.” One of our credit cards had enough restaurant expenses that they could be traded for a small used car. Granted, many of these were accrued as I reviewed restaurants for Florida Today, but given I had a limit even on those expenses, it still means we dine out a lot. I think as I become self-employed we will still enjoy dining out, but I hope we’ll also have time for more gourmet prep at home. And I still love shooting pictures of food and drink. This photo was from a holiday/champagne cocktail shoot in FT’s television studio.

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald said, in a real dark night of the soul, it is always 3 o’clock in the morning. The same might be said of website building. I’m designing this site to showcase my new business, as I plan to leave Florida Today newspaper after 11 years of reporting and shooting in just a few weeks. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and covering events like Tales of the Cocktail this summer in New Orleans, as well as shooting and editing some great video stories and photos. And, of course, chasing storms in Tornado Alley, which I will get to do in May without worrying about rushing back to Florida to meet a newspaper deadline.

I still have a lot more I want to do with the site, but a girl has to sleep sometime. Stay tuned, and you will see the design evolve, particularly on the gallery pages.