Why did I quit Duolingo after 1500 days? Let’s start by what I learned. I think I picked up a good deal of vocabulary in those four years and a little bit of the concept of German language. What I didn’t learn was why the verb went here sometimes, why is die, das, or der, why do I need to add an n or an r to that word now. I didn’t learn that because that costs extra. SuperDuo now gets you ad free learning but you need MaxDuo to learn why what you got wrong was wrong. That is the main reason I quit. I almost quit a year or so ago because Duolingo kept changing the lesson plan. Last week, one of my new words was kartofel. That was one of the first words I learned 4 years ago so now I understand why I’m presented with vocabulary I’ve never seen; those are now in lessons I’ve already completed. Next came DuoMax or MaxDuo, I can’t remember. That took where a practice lesson had been and made it a permanent ad for DuoMax. I no longer had the option to work on a unit review. DuoMax added a new “video chat” in my list of lessons that, fortunately, they allowed me to continue the unit without having to do the video chat. Lately, I grew tired of the app for its non-stop notifications. I haven’t figured out what they get out of making sure you opened the app every day when you were ad free, but man, they expected you to. “Theresa is hoping you continue that friend streak.” No she’s not, because I did 4 hours ago. The bottom line is it’s a game first. Did I learn something? I think so. Was it worth the money? Probably. It kept my mind active during covid and gave me something to do to give it a work out. Am I done with German, or learning any language? No, I’ve already downloaded Babbel and I’m going to see what it’s about. Why do I think you care? I don’t, I just needed to get it off my mind! ETA: I hadn’t planned on quitting cold turkey but the free version is so limited and so full of ads that I don’t know how I got into the game in the first place.

Free for all! (February 2025)

For this months Free For All theme, I've chosen no real deep meaning to my selection. These are just five photos that I enjoyed from my collection taken this month. Without further ado...

This guy had just told a joke he particularly enjoyed.

Chinese New Year celebration. 

Crossing the Brazos at Waco.

Yampa Valley Sunset

We've been going to Steamboat Springs for more than 20 years and always pass this little cabin. I always think I should stop and capture it. I finally did this year. Then played with some creative editing.

There's my five. Next month marks 12 years, I think, of this group. I can't believe it's been that long. Check out the others over at A 'lil Hoohaa and then join us, won't you?

New Year, New Me! (January 2025)

New Year, New Me, eh? I'm not one for resolutions and have endeavored to make changes when I feel they are necessary and not waiting for a particular date to do so. But the new year often allows for a chance to reflect on the past year and plan what's in store for the new. These pictures may or may not have anything to do with that. :) 

January 2025 begins with me 62 pounds lighter and with something akin to a beard. That's definitely new me material.

I am resolved to get outside more and have been able to get at least one long hike in every week. The weather has been cooperative.

This place reminded me of that one scene from the movie GalaxyQuest.

I've entered the bird-watching phase of adulthood. I don't hate it!

I bought myself a new camera for Christmas, I'm enjoying learning all the new bells and whistles.

That's 5. They do mostly depict something or somewhere new. They were all taken by me. Happy New Year to all and best of luck for a prosperous and healthy one.

Holly Jolly (December 2024)

Christmastime came and went in a hurry this year. We were busy, so busy I forgot to finish the November challenge but I'm back! I think I'll let the pictures do the talking; there's not much to say but Happy New Year! Let's go. 

Bonus 1: My boys know their Momma likes her Santa pictures so they still get one done. Year 25.

Bonus 2: Some of my people.

It's Fall Y'all! (October 2024)

The theme for October was It's Fall, Y'all! And it is fall and fall brought all sorts of 'F' words.

We start with Fiesta, celebrating Kelly's f-word birthday. She is now well into her f-words.

Fall is also for Fairs. We were able to make a quick stop at the State Fair of Texas for our Favorite Fletcher's Corny Dogs!

Fall brings Formula 1 to Austin.

Fall is also all about Football.

And Football brings Friends together for Homecoming.

And finally for a bonus, since F words are on my mind. Eminem provided the largest F-word of the month!

There you have it. Short and sweet and full of Fs. Hope to see you back in November provided we are all still here! (I'm writing this on Nov 5)

Experiences (September 2024)

September had quite a few new experiences for me and some not so new but different. I don't have a lot more to sat than that so I'll let the photos do most of the talking.

We've had quite a bit of wildlife at the house this late summer/fall. Egrets, herons, titmouses(mice?), wrens are among the feathered friends. This long legged one was walking down the drive one morning. 

Volunteering for the bike race was old hat but they changed up the route to an entirely different side of town. Our radio club tracked and dispatched the sag wagons while some of sat out on course and helped with keeping the aid stations supplied and relaying messages back to the start/finish.

I attended my first collegiate volleyball game. It was fun and I've been to several more since.

My first collegiate soccer game too. Also fun, but I haven't had a chance to get back out.

Did I mention wildlife? I couldn't figure out what was driving Charlie so crazy. We had several mommas and babies grazing acorns out back.

That was my five. As a bonus, I bought a wifi camera bird feeder. That has been fun to watch.

 

I also managed to catch the baby daddies come for some acorns one night.

Explore! (August 2024)

The Explore prompt was easy for me this month as it started out in our continuing cruise to Iceland.  

I'll start this on the eastern coast of Iceland in a tiny little village called Djupivogur. We decided to take a little 4 mile hike when about half way it started a downpour and gusts of 40MPH. Still, we found this beautiful black sand beach.

Our next stop was supposed to be the island of Heimaey. Unfortunately the high seas would not allow us to make a landing but the captain took us on a cruise around the island and to this neat feature, Elephant Rock.

We landed in Reykjavik and disembarked the cruise. We had a few days so I have lots of of photos to choose from. We hired a guide to take the group of us around the Golden Circle. Our first stop was Þingvellir National Park. We walked between the North American and Eurasian continental plates and found a number of waterfalls. While these lovely falls were indeed lovely, they have a bit a sordid legend. The are known as the Drowning Pools. You can read more.

Our last stop on the Golden Circle was Kerið Volcanic Crater. It was quite a site to behold.

Before we said goodbye to our travel companions, we had one bucket list item we had yet to check off: Puffins! A quick Google search found a tour that would take us out to Puffin Island and we saw all the puffins we wanted!

Amy and I had one more night in Reykjavik. We hiked around town a bit before having a lovely dinner alone. We finished the night at the Lava Show. It was an interesting man-made lava exhibit. Our return home left us with a 22 hour layover in London. We booked a hotel at the airport and took the train into the city and got to see Wicked! The flight home was uneventful. Thankfully.

There are my five. I have so many more to share but you can find those over on my flickr page.

Things I Love (July 2024)

Last month the theme was I Get Around, this month, I really got around but I was doing things I love so it all worked out in the end.

Things I Love: Love and Love and Nothing Else...except for maybe live shows at Red Rocks and Trampled By Turtles!

And also maybe live shows at the Dylan Amphitheater and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit.

Oh yeah, and then there is street art, that's pretty cool and even cooler when led by a street artist that is passionate about it.

The lights of a city at twilight. It's a pretty sight.

And finally the Bee Gee's. 😁I mean, who doesn't love 'em!?

Special bonus: These three are my life without a doubt!

There's my July in a nutshell. Hopefully, you had a great month as well.

I Get Around (June 2024)

The one month this summer that I took a brief respite from travel and the theme was I Get Around! That took a little bit of work but not too much. I do get around!

I found this guy on a hike. He didn't much care for me so I gave him a wide lane.

One of Will's friends and my old scouts got married this month. We all got dressed up for the occasion! 

Bonus, because I got dressed up too!

Only one trip to Tulsa this month. It's been pretty quiet up there lately.

The Heart o' Texas Amateur Radio Club participated in ARRL Field Day 2024. It was miserable hot and there were only a handful of us that participated. We had quite a few visitors though.

And finally, more music. The city brought in Los Lonely Boys to play at the park. It was good fun!

I think this may be the first month that I got this posted before the link up! How about that? More traveling and more music in July. Hope to share that with you. 

Photo Blogging Challenge (May 2024): A look into my life!

This was a perfect month for a look in my life. Mostly because it was super exciting. My wife and I took our first trip alone probably since our honeymoon and that was 30 years ago next month. We decided to celebrate a little early and headed to Venice in late April for a cruise down the Adriatic and into the Aegean with visits to Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania; along with a few stops in Greece, too. We ended the trip in Athens for a few days to rest before heading home.

The month started with a landing in Corfu. From there we took a hydroplane 30 minutes across to Albania. There we visited the ancient city of Burint. 

Our penultimate stop was in Nafplion where we took a bus to Corinth where Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians. There is a nice, small museum and the ruins of the agora and the court where Paul stood trial is right around it. This is the Temple of Apollo.

The cruise ended in Athens. We arrived on Orthodox Easter Sunday. While we missed most of the parties, the lambs were roasting on the pits for the Easter feasts, and we were able to peek inside some of the churches. All the official sites were closed for the holiday.

 

One night at dinner, we noticed a crowd on a hill next to the Acropolis and wondered what was going on. The next night, we saw a crowd again so decided to check it out. Turns out the crowd was there to watch the sunset. It was lovely.

We ran into this issue last time we were in Athens around this same time of year and thought I'd avoided it by being a week later; on May 1st they strike. It's a national holiday. Well, it turns out they didn't want to mess up Easter, so they pushed it back until after. So on Tuesday, we were also stuck with all the government run sites closed. We made the best of it and wandered around town. I downloaded a Rick Steeves walking tour that showed us some spots we might have missed. We found that the Panathenaic Stadium, the old Olympic stadium, is privately owned and was open. But mostly we strolled through the Athens National Gardens.

Here's a bonus selfie of us and the Parthenon. 

It was a great trip. It was great to get back home. We've been inundated with rain though. May set a new record for wettest month. I can't wait until we can get away again. With over 600 photos from our two weeks, it was tough to pick out just a handful. The whole album is on my Flickr page. For more glimpses into the lives of random folks :) take a look at PJ's blog. Join in and show us what you got!