Tomato Hornworm

I wondered what was happening to our tomato plants. Now I know. We didn't have the heart to kill them and we didn't think sneaking over to our neighbors and putting them on their plants was a good idea, so we just put them on the hedge out back. Those dudes sure can eat.

High Key

This is one of my first attempts with the high key technique. I saw some photos online and I thought, "Man, I've got a perfect picture to try that on." The original was taken on our driveway between the van and the truck with the water hose in the background.

Coal Keeps the Lights On

Color or Black and White?

Saint Albans Riverfest Car Show

Stadler's Greenhouse

My friend owns Stadler's Greenhouse. We live close by and we go there and hang around and take pictures.

Sci

Fireman's Dream

Matt's special dog. Nathans hot dogs, sharp cheddar, BBQ sauce, onions and bacon!!!!!!!!

Too Noisy for Fishin'.

Tim and Susan survive the Tour de Coal.

Scooter J

My friend got a scooter to save gas. Now he can use the money he saved to pay his hospital bill.

WSAZ Story

WSAZ News came and did a story on Saint Albans Fire Departments new water rescue boat. We took Will Jones and photographer John for a ride. We also made the first rescue with the new boat. When Matt was showing them how well the boat performs, John's hat blew off and was recovered before it drowned. We were so proud!

My, what big whatever...

...those things are you have. I wouldn't wanna meet this guy in a dark alley.

Saint Albans Fire Dept. Pinning Ceremony

Tonight the recruit firefighters received their badges in a "pinning" ceremony at the city council meeting. Members of the firefighters families had the honor of pinning the badge of a Saint Albans firefighter on each recruit. Firefighter Jeff Davidson had his badge pinned on by his Dad, retired Captain Scott Davidson. The other three firefighters had their badges pinned by their wives. Veteran firefighters Brent Clevinger and Dan Taaffe were recognized for their promotion from firefighter to lieutenant. Brent's wife Tammy and his daughter Melissa pinned his badge and collar insignias and Dan's wife Amy put his on.

Spruce Knob / Dolly Sods Camping Trip

My daughter and I went on a camping trip this past week to Dolly Sods and Spruce Knob. We had a great time climbing around at Bear Rocks and hiking and taking pictures. I think Spruce Knob Lake is my favorite place in WV. We didn't see any bears or snakes ( we were hoping to) but, my daughter thought it was cool that there was a possibility of coming across some live bombs from WWII.

Camera Comparison

These photos are from 2 different cameras. The 2 on top are from a Fuji Finepix F100fd and the others are from a Canon 30D. The Fuji is a 12 mp pocket sized point & shoot and the Canon is an 8.3 mp digital SLR. At this size and even when viewed at full size the pics are very similar. All my Canon gear weighs about 25 lbs. On my next outing I'm going to force myself to carry only the Fuji and not lug my DSLR around and see what happens

Power Game

Went to the WV Power game tonight with my daughter and some of her classmates. Not a very big crowd. One of the other dad's almost caught a foul ball but all he got was most of the cheese knocked out of his nachos and onto his shirt. He did get a hand on the ball, he just couldn't hold on to both!

Last Day

This was the last day I had the recruit firefighters for PT. I had led the firefighters through PT every morning of their 5 week training program. We did a lot of cardio and strength training. We ran a lot, went to the gym on Thursdays and when the weather was bad and ran the 13 floors of stairs at Riverview Towers several times every Friday. The stairs and pulling the "tire" around were my favorites. I enjoyed being with the guys and I know we're all in better condition. After PT this morning the guys had a couple of chores they had to get done before their final test today.