The Silver Tree

The morning after the freezing rain, when the bright sun came out, I was stunned to see all the trees were glittering in silver.....I was in the wonderland of nature. Pictures were taken on 01.28.09 at 9 am

The Lonesome Blue Jay

Last year, this Blue Jay and it's partner were my regular backyard visitors, they often came together enjoying the food and water. But on 09.30.08, a tragedy had happened. That afternoon, I looked through my kitchen window, spotted a big bird which I had never seen in my yard before. Immediately, I reached for my camera, zoomed in and, noticed that it was not an ordinary bird. Gosh! It was a swainson's hawk! I held my breath, took a few pictures of it standing boldly on the fence. Then all of a sudden, it dived into the far corner of my yard, grabbed an object with its strong claws and started tearing it up with its sharp beak. Soon after the hawk left, I stepped out of the kitchen to the backyard. My heart paused when I saw some beautiful blue feathers scattering around under the tree......I rather not to the describe the gruesome "crime scene" in detail. Because it all happened so fast and unexpectedly so I was
completely in shock. Suddenly I realized that no matter how many episodes of "Nature" I had watched on PBS, showing about the survival and the cruelty in the world of nature, yet when it actually happened right in front of my eyes in my own backyard, I couldn't take it. It was just too real and brutal!

The lonely, heart-broken Blue Jay still comes everyday without its partner. Every time I saw it, I felt terribly sorry because of that unfortunate incident. I had tried to take its picture numerous times but it always flew away before I could even put my hand on my Cannon camera. Finally, last week on 01.16.09, I successfully took its picture! Here you can see the "Lonesome Blue Jay" still looks very sad, isn't it?

To learn more about Blue Jay: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cyanocitta_cristata.html

To learn more about Swainson's Hawk : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swainson

Free Refills for Coffee?

Whenever I see a Quizno's Subs, it often reminds me of my trip to Tokyo, Japan in 2000. You simply can't imagine how excited and happy I was when I recognized a Quizno's Subs by the entrance of the train station...... I rushed in there, ordered a sandwich and a cup of coffee with free refills.

Most of you who had been traveled to Hong Kong or Japan would have experienced how expensive to order coffee in the hotels & restaurants. With the no refill policy, drinking 3 to 4 cups of plain old black coffee per meal could be very costly.

In Hong Kong, if I wanted to have coffee with my meals, I would go to Dan Ryan Restaurant where my coffee cup was also refilled without even asked.
http://www.hongkongtravelguide365.com/restaurants/dan-ryans.html

The 1997 Teddy Bear

United Kingdom handed Hong Kong back to the Chinese authorities in June 30, 1997 - ending more than 150 years of the British Government. It happened that I was in Hongkong for business at that time, this cute little HK bear and I had witnessed the historical moment together.

To read about the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_sovereignty_of_Hong_Kong

The Cardinal

On Jan 07, 2008, I looked outside from the patio door, and spotted the cardinal in the tree. Immediately I grabbed my camera to snap this picture. Yeah, I do wish the picture could be cleared or sharper but I don't really care......'cause as long as I could capture that precious moment!

Learn more about the cardinals: http://www.americanbirdguide.com/cardinal.shtml

The Rose - From Bud to Bloom (1-5)

The rose pictures (1-5 & 6-10) were taken daily from Sept 7-15, 2008 except skipping one day on Sept 13 due to a business trip.

Added on Jan. 11, 2009

I have just read "Growing Roses the Easy Way" from the Rose Magazine: - http://www.rosemagazine.com/articles02/pages/growingrosestheeasyway.asp

The Rose - From Bud to Bloom (6-10)