Another nest in the front yard, but which kind of bird!?

I’m turning into Michael Keaton day by day. Why? Because in 2014 he was Birdman and 7 years later the title has been bestowed on me. Ok, no one calls me that but I’ve given myself that nickname due to all the birds I’ve been obsessed with since the beginning of the year. I even bought a book about birds from an estate sale. A bird book. Birdman has a bird book. I always thought I would be Orlando Bloom or Jack Sparrow. Michael Keaton? Hmm. Whatever.

Anyway matey’s, the other day I was in the front yard, where this nest hosted 4 little birdies, when a female cardinal quickly flew off a high part of a bush near the front of my pirate ship house. I thought, “Arrrrrrr!!! That’s peculiar.” I peaked in the bush and sure enough, there was a nest! It was too high to see inside so later that day I got out a small ladder, like any good pirate would do, and this is what I found.

Awesome!! Speckled eggs, and a lot of them. I am very curious about how cardinal chicks look when they’re hatched so I will be sure to pass along any updates in the coming days and weeks.

Eggs be a’hatchin’, stay tuned for more. Thanks for docking your ship here today, ya scaliwag!

–Birdman Jack Sparrow Out of the Wilderness

My thoughts on the fatal California road rage shooting

In the news this week is the story of a young boy who was shot while in a booster seat in the backseat of a car in an apparent road rage incident. This is such a tragedy. Only 6 years old, the very definition of innocence. The Bible says God is near the brokenhearted and that’s a promise that I hope is fulfilled for this family as they move forward short one family member. He was a son, a brother, a nephew, and was so new to the world. I’m sure he never thought about road rage, angry people, or what it would be like to face death. Those are things adults think about, which really shouldn’t be something anyone should have to think about. As a person who was almost in an incident like this (click here for my story of a road rage driver pointing a gun at me), I can say with 100% confidence that having a gun pointed in your direction is very scary. It’s something I think about a lot, even three years later. For all I know, the man pulled the trigger and it just didn’t fire for whatever reason. That’s an experience that could have severely altered my life, or even brought an end to it. My behavior on the roads and highways has changed since then and although I still get impatient, I think twice or three times or nine times before I act in anger.

As I watched the news about this story on ABC this morning, only one thing struck me as a bit odd. They reported that her car had a bullet hole in the back, coming through the trunk to the cabin of her vehicle. The mother, who was driving the car, said in her interview that the suspect(s) cut her off on the highway. So how is it that they were shooting from behind her? My guess is she had a bit of road rage, too, and acted in anger after she was cut off. Maybe she sped up to return the gesture by cutting them off further down the highway. An article I read reported the mother was just trying to get away from the other vehicle and that’s when the shot came through but I think there is more to the story.

I’m definitely not saying there is any justification in the shooting. I hope the suspects are found and pay for what they did. It’s too bad a young man suffered the consequences for immature adults, one of which may have been his own mom.

What do you think about this story? Do you think the boy’s mom might have played even a small part in fueling the anger that caused this tragedy?

Thanks for stopping by…

-Out of the Wilderness

Astrophotography – Starry Night by the Gulf of Mexico

After I got a new camera, I found out the lens that came with it was great for taking pictures of stars at night. Also called astrophotography, I was eager to give it a try. I had seen some photos online and the best way to describe my reaction: mesmerized.

I was recently in Florida visiting family, with one main photography goal – pictures of stars! So one evening I grabbed my camera and walked out to the beach. It was about 11:45pm with an almost perfectly clear sky, so I was pumped to take some photos of the stars and landscape around me. Without further ado, here– oh wait– before we get to the photos, here are the settings I used as a screen grab from a YouTube video on how to shoot astrophotography…

Ok, without further ad, here– oh wait– the lens! I was using a Sony 24mm f/1.4 lens which you can find on Amazon here. It is quite phenomenal and if you are on the fence about getting one, jump off the fence and get it!

Okkkkkk, without further ado, here– wait, wait, one last thing… (just kidding)… without further ado, here are a few photos from the beach. To see more from this session of astrophotography, go over to FineArtAmerica and check out the photos!

I have much more to learn so stay tuned and as always, thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

I called McDonald’s while I was in McDonald’s – embarrassing stories from an UberEats driver

I moonlight as an UberEats driver, delivering happiness to hungry people all over Nashville. Well, when everything goes perfectly then I’m happy, they’re happy, and everything is happy. After all, there are some amazing restaurants delivering through UberEats, so who wouldn’t love to have food delivered to their door? Check here for a list of popular Nashville restaurants.

But…. well, sometimes I fail. LIke the other day when McDonald’s was out of chocolate shakes and Sprite. In the UberEats app, I clicked the button to call the customer to find out what else they wanted instead. The person on the other end answered and I heard them in both ears, one on the phone and one in real life. Yes, I called McDonald’s while I was standing in the lobby of McDonald’s. I literally saw the woman on the phone with me. At least we both had a good laugh about it.

Here’s another one…

Once I pick up an order, I will usually message the customer with something like, “I’ll be there shortly with your order,” or “I’m on my way with your order.” Not this time. In my defense, typing is hard! You have autocorrect, word suggestions, and I’m trying to hurry– no wait, I’m trying to work efficiently, that sounds better. So to this customer I said (and remember, UberEats delivers food, only food)… so I wrote: “On the way with your hair!”

Yes, that is 100% real.

I’ll leave you with a final embarrassing story. I was delivering after dark one evening and made it all the way to the customer’s house without incident. I parked in the driveway and proceeded up the walkway to the front door. Only thing is, I didn’t make it to the front door when I had planned to because on this particular walkway was one single lonely step about halfway from the driveway to the front door? Who puts a random 6-inch step in the middle of the walkway, anyway? I fell all the way down, only barely bracing the fall with a hand and a shoulder. Their bag of food helped cushion my landing as well, and all I could hope for is that the customer liked flatbread burgers.

Do you have any embarrassing stories like that? Please, PLEASE share so I’m not alone in my misery…

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

We needed a bigger boat – catching a shark in the Gulf of Mexico

I didn’t expect to catch something so big– wait, this is fishing– I didn’t expect to catch anything! But there we were rocking back and forth 40 miles from the closest safe place. Yes, in my world, land is safe and ocean is scary. It’s where where people get their limbs bit off by sharks and barracudas. Or get stranded on a little rock with predators swimming around waiting for high tide. Hey, The Shallows was a true story, you know. Ok, no it wasn’t. But it’s true they made a movie called The Shallows. Think about it.

ANYWAYSSSSS, we were on the boat ready with baited hooks. Dropping our lines down 90 feet hoping for the grouper you write home about. All of the sudden, a tug on my line! Then just a bent pole and no bobbing up and down like the pole will do when you have a real fighter hooked on the other end.

Long story short, this fella gave me the workout of the year. But with the help of my brother in law and the other guys on the boat, we reeled in a 10-foot shark! Take a look at the moment captured on video.

To be truthful, the boat was plenty big but we had no way of getting the shark into said boat nor would we have wanted to, anyway. As you can see, when my dad cut the line the shark slowly drifted back down to the depths of the sea to terrorize us on a future day. Swim down and enjoy your life you beautiful creature.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness