--- graywolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I was standing out on the veranda in front of my > apartment and noticed a red and > white airplane tied down in the corner of the > airstrip across the streat with > the mountains in the background. What a neat shot, I > thought. I decided to try > for it. I got out the MX, dropped the 24mm and 100mm > in the pockets of my vest, > and walked across the street. The 50mm was too long > and the 24mm too short to > get the exact shot I wanted. However, I noticed the > blue experimental airplane > that someone around here owns was sitting outside of > its hanger. > > I have been wanting to take a few photos of that > airplane since I first saw it, > and would like to talk with the owner if he was > about. So I walked around to the > gate and up by the tiny hanger the airplane is kept > in. It turned out to be a > homebuilt Avid Flyer. No one there, but I took a few > shots of it. > > As I was shooting I noticed the light was getting > dimmer and dimmer. Then it > started to sprinkle. I tucked the MX under the vest > and headed for the flight > office. It started to rain heavily and I ran the > last 100 yards. Not used to > that! It was locked. Damn, what are things coming to > when the feel they have to > lock up the office at a tiny airport like this one? > Must be because it is a > college town. By then the rain had become a real > gully washer. > > I pulled the collar of the vest up over my head and > headed for the apartments > only an 1/8 mile down the road. It was raining so > hard it knocked the breath > right out of me. By the time I got to the apartment > I felt like I was having a > heart attack, or had run all out a couple of miles > (about the same thing for > me). I do not believe I have ever been out is such a > hard rain. > > Heavy thunder and a lightning begin just as I got to > the apartments. My clothes > were soaked through, but the camera and lenses only > had a few drops on them (the > vest it seems is water resistant). I wiped them > down, and changed clothes. The > wet stuff is still dripping in the bathtub. > > It seems that my beliefs about mountain survival > need to be reaccessed. I have > always known mountain weather can be dangerous, but > I would never have though > that a 1/4 mile walk from the house in sunny weather > could have turned so > suddenly to nearly a life threatening situation. If > I had been much farther from > the house in my present health. I doubt I would have > made it back. It seems like > I may need to carry my mountain survival kit any > time I go farther than the > trash dumpster on foot. > > So that was my 4th of July adventure. What was > yours? > > > -- > graywolf > http://graywolfphoto.com/graywolf.html >
Glad all's okay, Tom! Sounds like a scary situation. Most important, your MX was unscathed <g>. My 4th? Well, went to the Jet Fuel Cafe to show off my race pix from Thursday, and to watch the Tour de France (a big deal at the Jet Fuel, it's packed every weekend during the Tour, and we have a great time cheering for our faves). Walked about afterwards with no photographic results. Stopped at a Liquor store and bought "exotic" beers for my housemate and me to sample: Pilsner Urquell, Schneider Weiss (a German Wheat beer) and a Slovak beer called Pheasant which was quite nice. Spent the rest of the day on our veranda drinking the beerand watching and hearing thunderstorms roll by. A low key but fun day. Time for another beer... cheers, frank ===== "The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca
