Torch Lily

A macro shot of one of my favorite plants in our garden, the Torch Lily (aka Red Hot Poker). They bloom between the beginning of June and mid July here in Flagstaff.

Schultz Pass Fire

The Schultz Pass Fire as seen from FMC

The biggest news around Flagstaff in the last couple of weeks is the Schultz Pass wildfire. It started on June 20th and continued to burn for about 2 weeks. By now (July 7th) it's been completely contained by the hard work of over 800 fire fighters, but it ultimately burned over 13,000 acres of some of the most beautiful and heavily utilized national forest in Northern Arizona. The above photo was taken from the back parking lot at Flagstaff Medical Center on the day the fire started. I apologize for the quality, I took the photo with my cell phone. Below is a better quality image of the smoke plume as seen from my son's bedroom in our home. My wife took it.

The Schultz Pass Fire as seen from our house

Hiatus

Wow, quite the hiatus I took. But bare with me, I have a good reason.

Five days after my last post, my son, Dane Alexander, was born. This was pretty unexpected since he was not due until Feb 24th, but arrived on Feb. 14th (Yes, that's Valentine's Day!). My wife did great and the delivery went smoothly. However, we were shocked to learn only minutes after his birth, that our son Dane has Down Syndrome. We never had any genetic testing done during the pregnancy, as we were not technically "at risk" for a Downs baby, and nothing about my wife's pregnancy suggested that anything was atypical about the baby inside her.

We were reeling after his birth. We knew little to nothing about Down Syndrome and didn't know what it meant for the future of our son or our family. To make matters worse, about 12 hrs after he was born, he was admitted to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). With my wife and I both working in healthcare, we knew the gravity of what that meant. Dane was having trouble keeping his blood oxygen level up and refused to feed from my wife or a bottle. We found out later that this was caused by a number of things, most of which were not related to the DS and could happen to any baby born at 7000 ft above sea level. Over the next several days, Dane displayed problems eating, most of which were a result of his low blood O2, which made him extremely fatigued and too weak to eat the amount of calories he needed.

Without going into too many details of his condition while in the NICU, he was neither the healthiest nor the least healthy baby in the unit. After about 10 days he promptly "turned a corner", decided he wanted to eat and most of the problems keeping him in the NICU disappeared and we were able to bring him home 17 days after we was born. He was still on oxygen for a couple weeks after that, but each day he got stronger and more active.

The above photo is one of my favorites of him. My wife took it, so I can't take credit, but I wanted to share it with you. He is now about 4.5 months old and doing GREAT! He is small for his age, but when measured on an adjusted DS growth chart, he is doing well.

So this is why it's been so long since I have posted a photo. I hope to get back to posting regularly again. It is summer in Flagstaff right now, and the land is beautiful. I may not post every day as the title of the blog suggests, but I will do my best to post as frequently as I can. I realize I have probably lost most of the my regular visitors, but for those of you who find your way back here (or arrive for the first time), I hope you will be patient and check back from time to time to see how my blog is going. Thanks so much and I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Texture

I had to include this macro shot of a blanket I crocheted for our soon-to-arrive bundle of joy. I like the texture and variety of color in the photo.

I think it came out pretty well considering it's the first thing I've tried crocheting in 5 years. The wife liked it, anyway. :-)

Flagstaff's Snowpocalypse

A few weeks ago, Flagstaff got socked by a massive, 6-day snow storm. The second biggest in its history. We got approximately 55 inches of snow from Monday to Saturday. I heard the Snowbowl ski area got from 6-8 feet. For several of the days, most of the town just had to shut down (except the hospital, of course, so guess who still got to go to work!). Anyway, since I was at work once the sun finally came out, these photos were taken by my wife, Becky.

This is our Irish Setter, Curry. She has the weirdest hair I've ever seen on a dog. I had to share this photo even though it's not exactly "of Flagstaff".

Backyard Startrails

Backyard Startrails, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

Another attempt at startrails. This photo was taken from my backyard. I really want to try to get out of town and into The Dark to get some good, clear startrails. Maybe when it gets warmer. :-)

8 Month Mark

8 Month Mark, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

My wife, Becky, is at about 8 months pregnant and, after a recent snowfall, I figured the snowy backyard would make for a good background for a silhouette photo. She is due February 24th...THAT'S NEXT MONTH!! I can't believe it! It's gone so fast.

Hot Christmas Morning

"There's nothing like a cold beer on a hot Christmas morning." -Home Simpson

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!

Mount Elden At Sunset

Mount Elden (right) and some of the San Francisco Peaks (left) as seen from our front bedroom after a storm that dumped 2 ft of snow on Flagstaff.

As is probably pretty obvious, it is the new header for the photoblog, too.

Curry By The Tree

Our Irish Setter, Curry, sleeping near the Christmas tree. She's grown since last year....check out this photo:

Curry Last Year

She must have been really deep in sleep since this photo is a 30 sec exposure and she didn't move at all during it!

Curry watching birds

Curry watching birds 6909, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

Our Irish Setter, Curry, watching the birds at the feeder during an early winter snowstorm

Courtesy of the Little Woman

Hi Everyone. Even though I didn't take this photo, I had to post it. My wife took it a few weeks ago from our backyard. One of Arizona's famous sunsets. Unfortunately, I was at work at the time and missed the whole thing. Thankfully, she snapped several photos to share with me later.

Watching

Our Irish Setter, Curry, scoping out the backyard from the newly constructed steps on our deck. My wife watches in the background.

Sunflower

Sorry folks. Just had to include a shot of the ubiquitous wild sunflower. Enjoy.

Hops

As some of you may know I brew my own beer. And since store-bought hops are so expensive, I thought I would try my hand at growing my own. This photo is of my hops plant. The small, green cones are the hops flowers and are what are added to beer to give it it's bitter taste and floral aroma. My hops plant is of the Cascade variety.

View

This photo was taken during a hike on Humphreys Peak Trail. We were taking a break in this open area where you could practically see the Grand Canyon. I believe the peak in the distance is Kendrick Peak. The red blob next to my wife is our dog Curry, an Irish Setter.

Good Measure

OK, so here is one more macro wildflower shot, just for good measure. I'm about 95% sure it is a California Poppy, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

My Equipment

Just for those other photographers who may be curious, all of these macro shots were shot with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 prime lens and a Canon Extension Tube EF12 II. I love the lens, it makes extremely clear photos and the extension tube really allows me to get close up.

Black & Yellow

Here's another wildflower from my yard. The contrast of the black center and yellow petals really caught my eye.

Wildflower

Sorry for the flood of macro photos of flowers lately, but it is "wildflower season" in Northern Arizona right now, so I'm gettin' out while the gettin's good. Here's another wildflower macro that I took in my yard. I'm not sure what kind it is, so if anyone knows please let me know. Thanks and Happy Summer to everyone!


EDIT: I was searching the website for a local nursery (Flagstaff Native Plants and Seeds) and I just happened upon the name of this flower.I'm pretty sure it's called a Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella).

New Mexican Vervain

I went backpacking recently and found this little guy on my way down the trail. Not sure the kind of flower, but the purple really caught my eye.

EDIT: I was searching the website for a local nursery (Flagstaff Native Plants and Seeds) and I just happened upon the name of this flower. It's called New Mexican Vervain.

Beautiful Weed

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted last. Sorry about that, everyone. It's been a busy summer, but that's no excuse. Here's a macro shot I took recently of a thistle in our backyard. Weeds can be beautiful at times.

Give Me a Hug

Backyard Prickly Pear6127a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

A macro shot of a prickly pear cactus in our backyard.

Ice plant 6109a

Ice plant 6109a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

The blooming pink flowers from our Ice Plant in our front garden.

Red Hot Poker 6087a

Red Hot Poker 6087a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

A newly planted Red Hot Poker plant (a.k.a. Torch Lilly) from our garden

Hunt n' Peck

A bee hunts for pollen on a lupine flower near Veit Springs Trail.

Just Starting

A fern stem just starting to unfurl. Photo taken on Veit Springs Trail near Flagstaff, AZ.

On The Trail

My Irish Setter, Curry, on Veit Springs Trail near Flagstaff.

Elements of Life

Some elements of a relaxing evening in Flagstaff. ;-)


FYI: the beer in the background is the superb Fat Tire Amber Ale produced by the New Belgium Brewing Company.