catching up

Just like that over six weeks have passed since my last post, or finding time to read any of the blogs that I truly enjoy. Wow, how time fly's! I've also missed many awesome Sunday Still challenges, and yet - I had to if I was going to work on my own challenge...shooting sports, specifically my son's football games.

You see, for many many years I've wished for a good camera & long lens. I couldn't afford both at the same time, so the camera came first. Kinda like the chicken before the egg, except in this case - one makes sense coming before the other. 

After two years of saving my pennies my hubby filled in the missing funds as an early birthday gift, so I could get my lens in time to shoot our youngest's last season of sports, before it was over forever. 

With permission, I started shooting my son's football team on Saturday mornings (High School Varsity Reserve) and after the first game I got talked into being the second parent photographer for his Friday night Varsity games as well. Let me tell you, night action shooting is a different animal - especially in front of a packed stadium. It's been a great learning experience, but sorting through 1,000 plus photos every week left me with no free computer time. All too soon, the Saturday games ended. His team won their conference, and play-offs start tomorrow. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm very thankful to have had the opportunity to take & share photos with the team.

We've snuck a few trail rides in these past weeks, including a gorgeous three day trip up north with Koda & Nemo (post to come). I've decided to pick up posting, with a few Fall rides we've taken. With sunset approaching earlier each passing day, we've had to stick close to home. Sundays became our only hope for travel.

Early September was particularly busy, so we trailered to a nearby park. There was a couple sun bathing when we arrived at the trail head. The park ranger came by before we even had the boys unloaded, just to tell us we made his day.  We offered to show him our trail passes, but he just grinned and said it wasn't necessary. Apparently we just proved him right. He had asked the sun bathers to move earlier, stating that area isn't meant for sunbathing. There are acres & acres of land, and only one place for unloading horses - after we showed up and being asked again, they packed up. The sun bathers weren't going to stop us regardless, I was just glad they had clothes on ;)

bright sunny trails

We've become fond of this little park, mostly for it's proximity. It's not a long ride but has various trails including a pretty wooded section with huge oaks, and a nice open prairie. Horse's just have to be okay with the potential for flying frisbees, and people walking their dogs on the paths. Our boys seem fine with it all, most folks wait until we pass. On this ride we came upon a young family walking with a little boy who was clearly amazed at what he saw. I'm guessing it was the first time he had seen a horse up close. It's easy to forget how lucky we are to have special horses in our lives...

my special horse, Koda