Music to my eyes, ears, nose and throat, my little Trey Boo Shays. Well maybe not my throat, unless you count the allergies.

An important facet of The Magic Commute is lunch hour, when I rely on my resources, ingenuity and a healthy dose of dumb luck for a place to go, nap, play guitar or take in the countryside. One of my favorite places is Ray County Lake, and not just because it has two public restrooms, a must considering my age and immoderate intake of beverages, all caffeinated. By the time I could get my camera out and get situated, I got just a few shots of that funny looking goose (see large photo below) -- actually a blue heron -- chillin' with his peers before looking for a better fishing spot out of camera range. The heron's got such a wide wingspan that it reminds me of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose plane or Jimmy Doolittle's B-25s taking off from an aircraft carrier in WW II (lumbering is the word that comes to mind). I haven't quite figured out how to take consistent nature closeups, but I did come back with photos of some blooms at the edge of the lake and berries on a tree a couple hundred feet from shore. Anyone know what the flowers or tree are? I love nature, but the science and names escape me.