Friday, July 22, 2011
Saturday, January 30, 2010
A Very Exciting Day!
Disclaimer - this story is told in classic "Jane" fashion, so if you would like to skip every detail I find pertinent to the story. then scroll down to the last paragraph. Thanks for visiting Jane McComas Photography.
Oh, so you're a glutton for way too many details, eh? ;-) As a few of you know my husband's family lives in Oklahoma. I spend many hours driving from Omaha to Central Oklahoma a number of times per year. Often my husband and I are driving separately for a variety of reasons. So, I find myself with a lot of quiet time. In the past year I have really begun to notice the large number of hawks I see long my drives. I see them everywhere! So I have begun counting the hawks - thrilling I know - but it gives me something to do aside from paying attention to the road. This little pastime has left me with a habit of closely watching the sides of the road - like a hawk! (sorry couldn't help myself;)
Upon returning from a trip home from Pawnee City (my hometown) after Thanksgiving, once again I was back to counting my beloved hawks. Driving up highway 50 we come to the Weeping Water corner and I noticed these two ENORMOUS birds sitting in the trees! I screamed at Shannon to stop the truck and turn around. I could not believe my eyes...EAGLES!!! I had never seen an American Bald Eagle in real life. Now I know that their sightings are not as rare as they once were, and they are no longer on the Endangered Species list, people see them frequently - but I live in NEBRASKA - not the Rocky Mountains. I was shocked to see them and tried as hard as we could to get closer. But there was no way into the woods where they were perched. We spotted the two in the trees and a third flying overhead! I went back a week later after the snow storm but they were gone. I wondered if they really were in fact eagles. They were about 100 yards away, after all. Regardless, my big birds were gone.
Fast forward a week or so...this time we are on a Sunday drive (a favorite pastime of ours ;) north of Omaha in the bluffs along I-29. AND THERE IS ANOTHER ONE!! This time there was one bird out in the middle of what was a corn field! He flew off quickly after we spotted him - but wow!! I couldn't believe we spotted yet another eagle!
Then another sighting last week north and west of Elkhorn. THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!
Last week, ironically, there was a special on the American Bald Eagle on PBS. It was fascinating to hear how quickly their numbers are on the rise again. What magnificent creatures! I quickly followed up my viewing of the show with a search online. Nebraska was last reported to have 34 mating pairs in the wild! And the site was confident there could be more. It mentioned an actual nest location down along the Platte River. So today, we went for a drive -THIS TIME WITH A REAL CAMERA ;) We arrived and voila there was the nest - I couldn't believe it! No sighting of an eagle, but there was a real nest - it too was huge! I could sleep in that thing! We waited and waited but nothing. We drove and drove and drove around the area hoping to get a peek at one. Of course, with camera at the ready there wasn't even so much as one of my countless hawks soaring. I conceded to turn in for the day after one last drive by the nest. As we approached the nest maybe 1/4 mile away - THERE HE WAS SITTING IN A TREE RIGHT NEXT TO THE ROAD!!! I yelled at Shannon "STOP!" I quickly picked up my camera and hit the window button! The window! WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE WINDOW? "SHANNON! TURN OFF THE CHILD LOCK FOR THE WINDOWS!!"
I managed to get about 8 shots fired before my beautiful eagle took flight. Here are the best ones.
You can bet that I will be out again looking for my eagles - what a thrill!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
A Wallick Family Christmas
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas Blizzard '09
Well another Christmas Day has come and gone, once again. This by far has been one of the more interesting years - weather wise. I have never seen so many hours/days of snow and wind here in Pawnee City. It seems the weather is finally beginning to let up a bit today. Here are a couple of pictures from the trip home this year. And now we'll see how long it takes us to get home to Omaha as many highways are closed and reporting blizzard conditions - still.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve
Greetings everyone from beautiful Pawnee City, NE - aka "the hometown". As I sit here in anticipation of a Christmas Blizzard, listening to the wind blowing and ringing the front porch bell, I reminisce of Christmases of long ago. Christmas as a child was a special time simply because the rest of the year could be considered dull in comparison. My Mom always found a way to make Christmas a special time of the year. We certainly didn't have much throughout the year. A warm bed and groceries were the blessings of everyday. I frequently heard the words "...no, Jane, you can't have that" or "...no, we can't afford that". So every year at Christmas while I didn't expect much - my Mom always found a way to surprise me. I remember when I was 11, in the days leading up to Christmas there were nameless gifts under the tree. I thought nothing of them and figured they were gifts for cousins, friends, strangers - I never knew what Mom was up to. As I opened my gifts overjoyed with the surprise of wonderful wonderful gifts, she says to me "Well, why don't you open those other gifts too!" I couldn't believe my ears - more! I don't really remember what was in those particular gifts (clothes I think). But I certainly recall the special surprise Mom had managed once again.
You see Christmas holds a special place in Mom's heart. Growing up as a child with very little, the simplest things made for a magical time. Things, as a child, I took for granted. Like oranges. So many of us received oranges in our stockings on Christmas morning. I remember thinking - what in the world! Why is there an orange in my stocking? Accompanied by the ubiquitous peanuts still in the shell, and hard candy - none of which I was very thankful (I was a well documented brat as a child fyi). Today however, I realize what those oranges and peanuts meant to my Mom. A piece of fresh fruit in December for a family of 9 barely making ends meet was a culinary delight for those 7 children. And she simply carried on that tradition for me and my brother, as well.
Looking forward, as my daughter Hadley is now 3 and excited as ever for Christmas, I really have tried hard to make sure she sees the beauty in this magical time of Christmas. This time full of surprise, hope, and magical wonders. We've made our cookies, wrapped gifts for others, and talked about the birth of baby Jesus. (She's mostly into the cookies.) It is my hope that I too can live up to the precedence of my Mom set before me.
Merry Christmas to you all and may your holiday remind you of the magic of others.
Love,
Jane
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Adams Family
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Monday, September 8, 2008
Laura Powers and John Ashford Wedding
This is John and Laura and they are quite possibly the cutest couple on the planet! I shot their wedding out at Soaring Wings Vineyard just south of Springfield, NE this past weekend. The weather was perfect until about 8pm when it poured down rain! Thank goodness for a huge tent! I really enjoyed shooting John and Laura because they were just the most fun and pleasant people. Best wishes and Godspeed to you both!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Day 7 - NO FRIDGE!
I always had my suspicions but now I know for sure - I would have never made it as Pioneer Woman. My refrigerator blew up on August 22. So now I have been treking out to the garage to the fridge (the one I'm sure came to Omaha with the Pioneers) every time I want ice or cheese or whatever. It has gotten so bad Hadley, my 2 yr old, says "Garage...milk...in garage? Mommy go to garage for milk!" I love how repair people tell you "oh sure, it's the condenser. we can have one here in A COUPLE days. But technically it could take 3-5 business days. However, I think I could find you one in town - today!" Yea, that was Monday. So as I sit here typing this at 6:30am, I'm really wondering how chilly it is outside this morning....because I need creamer for my coffee.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Little Red Trucks Grows Up!!
As many of you know, my husband Shannon is a pretty handy guy. And recently, he decided to push his Little Red Truck Home Improvement Company into Keystone Remodeling focusing his work on remodeling work. He'll do great, I know he will! You should see the work he has done on our house! Congratulations Shannon!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Gigi All Good!
Lots of you know my Grandma, and if ya don't know her personally - you've heard her stories! She is an amazing woman and humbles me every time I walk in her door. Weeks before I graduated college in 98, I was awakened by a call from my Mom early in the morning. She was calling me with instructions to immediately get over to the hospital b/c my Grandma was on her way. I had no idea what to expect or what was going on. My Grandma was invincible. And downright scary when the occasion called for it. The thought of her going to the hospital was one of my life's most frightening moments. I arrived at the hospital and was the only member of my family present. The doctor came out to the lobby and escorted me into the surgery room where they were about to do a cath and investigate why she was having chest pains. Now it was getting really serious. Here was the Matriarch of our family in one of her greatest hours of need. My instructions from the doctor were very clear: go in, touch nothing, and give your Grandma a hug. I walked into a room where her heart was on a screen, lights and people everywhere. I looked down and there was my Grandma....wearing bright red lipstick? My Grandma is just about as country as it gets and that doesn't include red lipstick! Whatever, she looked scared and I knew I had to dig deep and fight back a lake of tears. She hugged me and assured me everything would be alright, as she had done a million times before. Well that day passed like all others do with one exception, now we knew that one day Grandma would in fact pass away. It was that day but for a brief moment. They managed to save her precious life. God could not take her just yet - we all needed her too much.
Fast forward 10 years, through numerous surgeries, lots of plain grilled chicken, miles of walking, a little slower pace of life - and she's still fighting this heart disease. Yesterday I received another one of "those calls" where my Mom calls to say "I'm with Grandma at the hospital...she's fine." Which is a total lie in reality - nobody is fine if they're at the hospital. But in our family, my Mom was really saying is "She's still alive and it doesn't seem to be undeniably life threatening at this point." So yet another trip to the Heart Hospital in Lincoln. And today brought really great news!! She's fine. Her 1 artery that is blocked has by-passed it all on it's own - the heart is amazing! Her pain was from these new little arteries working so hard. But everything looked good. Whew! What a relief!
Love ya Gigi!
Oh, the lipstick - she was heading to Omaha that day. When my aunt picked her up, my Grandma said she wasn't feeling well. She had been having pain in her arm since the night before! I told you she was tough. She had a blood clot in her heart for 9 hours and lived - you should be afraid ;) 6 months later is when the heart disease kicked in blocking her arteries. Thank God for that blood clot. After that blood clot, she started getting regular heart check ups.
