May 22, 2015--Baby Bunny

I'm home in Grand Island for the holiday weekend, and I was quickly informed that my parents had a small, furry, garden-destroyer in their backyard.  My golden retriever is furious every time this little guy scampers across the porch when she's locked inside.

He set up camp in my mom's makeshift greenhouse and likes to nibble on her verbenas.  We do what we can to protect the little guy, but I worry that one day we'll let the dog out and it'll get ugly...

May 19, 2015 More Ducks

The duck family featured in my last post is continuing to flourish.  The flood waters have receded, but the waterways are still full enough to support a lot of duck life.  Here are a few shots I got of the ducks hanging out:

I saw them a couple days ago (without a camera) and all of the ducklings looked drastically different.  In the two days since I took these pictures, they apparently changed colors.  It was bizarre...

May 7, 2015 Lincoln Flooding (Part II)

I ventured my way towards south Lincoln following the trails.  I stumbled upon lots of other areas where the trails were blocked, where there were basically rapids (due to fast flowing water), and plenty of areas of standing water.  I took a few pictures at Holmes Lake as seen below. The baseball field, parking lots, bridges, roads, and several other areas within the park were totally flooded.  No tree in this area are going to need watered for a very long time...

Also, as a side story, my sister and I found an adorable family of ducks yesterday before the rain started.  When I started seeing tweets showing major flooding in the trails close to campus, I worried that the duck family may have gotten washed away.  I drove over to the area in search of the ducklings, and was relieved to find them a little downstream of where they had been previously.  The mother duck clearly knows what she's doing.  All 12 ducklings were seemed safe, healthy, and happy as ever...

Additionally, it appears that ducks have taken over the city of Lincoln.  They're in every puddle and seem thrilled with the new lake-like conditions all over town.  Geese seem equally pleased...

May 7, 2015 Lincoln Flooding Aftermath

Well, yesterday was eventful for several reasons.  I passed my final evaluation for student teaching, which means I am 100% done and can move into the final phase of my graduate program.  I have to complete my final project (essentially a mini thesis), present it to a small faculty panel, and take one more summer class.  We're getting there.... It's been a whirlwind 12 months....

The other eventful part of the day was the incessant storming that started around 8 p.m. and didn't stop until perhaps 4 a.m.  There were numerous warnings, including tornado warnings at some point.  Several times, I debated whether or not it was safe to go to bed since new warnings were constantly being issued.  However, it seems that Lincoln avoided tornadic activity, as well as high winds and giant hail.  Instead, there was just a hell of a lot of rain.  I think the ballpark figure was 7 inches overnight.  As a result, there is tons of flooding throughout the city.  I'm fortunate enough to live close to the Antelope Valley trails, which was essentially designed to prevent flooding.  The trails are completely flooded, but it seemed like the surrounding neighborhoods were relatively dry for the most part.

Below are several pictures of the abnormally high water levels at various points along the trails.  For a little perspective, the water is generally a tiny ditch with a trickle of water in it.  It's surrounded by tons of grass/weeds and trails and rarely comes even close to overflowing.  Today, it looks like the Loup River....

Looking south from the playground on P Street.

I'm sure the people in these neighborhoods were nervous last night.

Looking south towards campus.  I was positioned close to HSS.

I would be nervous if I were that train conductor....

I have to wonder if this pedestrian sidewalk was underwater last night.

Some of the worst flooding looked as if it was in the Devaney area for now. 

Looking north from Devaney.  This was so incredibly wide.  This definitely looks reminiscent of the Loup River.

People continuing to think their tiny car is capable of getting through deep water.  The girl watching on the right kept telling drivers, "Don't try it!"  as they approached.  She managed to convince a couple people to turn around.

The closest I've ever seen the water to the bottom of the bridge.

This one is actually the Salt Creek.  I relocated to 27th Street for a couple pictures.

I'm debating on going for a walk down to the south part of Lincoln.  I hear it's worse down there, and I may be able to get a few more shots of what other areas of Lincoln look like.  However, I typically take the trails, so that may be a poor idea.  We'll see and I'll post any new photos if I do decide to venture that direction.

April 26, 2015--Tulips Everywhere

It's been a couple weeks since I last shared photos of spring around Lincoln.  In that time, many of the flowering trees have either turned green (or an unpleasant color of dying pink or white flowers) as their petals have disappeared.  However, in the absence of brightly colored trees, more flowers have started blooming. In particular, tulips have really come on in the past few days.  

The photos below were all taken at Sunken Gardens, which is relatively close to my apartment.  I'll be honest and say that Sunken Gardens isn't the most attractive until mid-summer.  However, there were a few large beds of tulips scattered throughout the garden this year.  They all looked gorgeous, though I found the purple/white combination to be the most unique.  

Higher resolution photos may come in another post, but, for now, here are some Instagram snaps of the garden:

April 12, 2014--Lincoln is Blooming

I haven't posted for about a month...  Student teaching after Spring Break ended got extremely busy and stressful.  The job hunt has also heated up, with job fairs and a few interviews happening.  So far, I haven't been interested in any of the places I've interviewed for officially, so I'm still waiting for "the one" in terms of fit.  We'll see what happens...

Anyway, my student teaching stress level has been winding down.  My final observation was on Friday and I'm essentially done with all assignments in my other three classes.  Should be straight A's across the board... Woohoo!

Since I've had more time recently and since Lincoln has started to look a lot more attractive, I've had the opportunity to get outside for a little photography again...  Here are a few pictures from the start of the Lincoln garden scene.  I'm sure it'll only improve over the coming weeks as tree leaves start popping up.

The pedestrian bridge leading to Memorial Stadium

My boyfriend's dog chillin' on Main Campus at UNL.

Architecture Hall, flowers, and the Lied Center sign

The School of Music and downtown

Pretty purple trees that can be found all over campus

Go Big Red

Spring Break

Well, posting has been quiet over the past month.  I've been so incredibly busy and stressed during student teaching that I haven't had much opportunity to get outside for photographs.  Truthfully, there really haven't been many good photo opportunities.  For the better part of the last few weeks, it's been extremely cold.  Fortunately, just in time for Spring Break, the weather warmed right up.  The past few days have all been 55 or warmer (yesterday was in the 70's).  Unfortunately, it's an awkward time of year.  It's been warm, but it's not particularly pretty...  If we could get an overnight rain one of these days, I think the entire ground would explode with green grass.

Anyway, I spent the first three days of break in Grand Island hanging out with my parents, grandparents, and dog.  It was weird being home without my siblings there, but nice to get back to Central Nebraska for a change.  I needed a scenery change for a few days.  Now, I'm back in Lincoln, but will likely head off to Omaha in the next day or two to hang out with my boyfriend at the start of his Spring Break.  I'm hoping for a few more photo opportunities (perhaps a pretty sunset?) before the end of break.  It's a bummer to have all kinds of extra time, but nothing cool to capture.

Here's what I do have from the past couple weeks. Mostly just assorted Instagram photos.

Mediocre sunset a couple weeks ago.  At least it was warmer.

Cool trees and a a plane at sunset in my hometown.

Prairie gnawing on a bone out in the yard.