What the heck WAS this thing that showed up in one of my sunset shots on Monday ever (Sept. 24, 2007)??  

Well, it is Unidentifed, it's Flying, and it's an Object -- but beyond that --- ????

I thought it might have been an airplane so I enlarged it.  It is sort of plane-shaped, but it doesn't have lights like a plane and besides,  I didn't hear any plane -- and if it was flying that low, I should have.  Plus the sun was BEHIND this object (I was facing west into the sunset, remember) so why isn't it a dark silhouette.  Instead, it seems to be glowing from within.

Was it a star?  Too big in the landscape.   A meteor?  Wrong shape.  The Planet Venus?  Nope -- Venus is a MORNING star right now, not the evening star.  Something on the lens?  I thought of that, and it was drizzling, so a waterspot or reflection of some sort is possible,  In fact, there are some other spots in the pic that could have been from water droplets -- but they look NOTHING like this.  And if it was on the lens, then why wasn't it in the pics taken seconds before and after?   I did not clean the lens in between.

My wife didn't want me to post this because it looks like a cross and she was afraid I'd be swamped with emails from "crazies" telling me it is a sign to convert to Christianity.  (Please, please, don't do that to us,  because we are happy with our own religion.  Missionary comments will be ignored.)  Besides, it doesn't look so much like a cross to me as it does a humanoid.  See the legs at the bottom?   (Of course, the human body itself is cross-shaped, too, and pagans used crosses long before Christians did.)

You can see the full skyscape and buy a download of it in my store, with an enlarged insert and my and my testimonial at the bottom (and without the watermark, of course)  -- for only a buck.  Just click on the link below (the rainbow and other sunset pic were taken on the same day and as you see, there are no UFOs in them):

This went by so fast earlier I'm not sure anybody even saw it, so here goes again:

I've been going through my photos to add new fall and winter scenes to my inventory -- the blue ones are very popular for holiday cards, so I added a couple more.   Most of these shots were taken last year.   I'm not sure we are going to have much fall color this year, the weather was so dry all summer that the oaks are just turning brown, but we shall see.  I have added one new fall pic for 2007 so far -- the "neon" leaves in the top row below.  Not a trick!  That's exactly how they came out of my camera this morning.   But what a cool effect! 

There's also a "ghost" for you Halloween buffs -- and wait until you see the really strange "UFO" sky shot I'm listing later.... so stay tuned!

And remember -- the winner of dkcandle's autism charity Mystery Box auction gets their choice of any THREE digital photos in my entire store!

Yesterday morning when I went out at dawn to meditate on Yom Kippur, there were literally hundreds of geese passing over on their way south -- the big migration has begun.  I don't do photography on Yom Kippur, but I have this pic from last year.  Today I saw more also, but didn't get out there with my camera fast enough.  I'm always sad to see them go, because it means the end of summer, but watching them fly over is such a beautiful sight!  It always amazes me that such big birds can get off the ground.

The Milkweeds pods are also fluffing out -- I'm harvesting today, so I can offer these again now for butterfly gardening -- along with a lot of other seeds.   See links below for my listings.  (If a sale has ended, just go to my store for the relist.)

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, holiest day of the Jewish year.   It begins tonight (Friday) at sundown and is a 25-hour fast ending after dark on Saturday night.

For more info on Yom Kippur, see my guide at: http://reviews.ebay.com/What-is-Yom-Kippur_W0QQugidZ10000000001923193

  As is traditional, I ask forgiveness from anybody I might have hurt or harmed in the past year.  And of ocurse,  I already forgive all my blog buddies before you even ask.   

If you are Jewish, I wish you an easy fast. 

Peace & blessings to all!

Muqwa, my big fluffy black long-haired cat, crossed the Rainbow Bridge  today.  He was such a good friend -- always a bit grumpy looking as you can see in this pic, but he had a really good heart. Here you see him sitting in his favorite place to cool off during the heatwave. (The porcelain was colder than the air --smart cat.)

This death was totally unexpected. Muqwa was not in the house last night when a big storm hit (our cats have a cat door to go in and out as they please.) In the middle of the night I was awakened by the most awful howl I have ever heard in my life. I have NEVER heard a cat make a sound like that before, it still haunts me. Muqwa was sitting on the floor by my bed.  He did not look hurt, but was obviously in serious pain and throwing up.   I cuddled him and then put him in the cat carrier so the other cats would not bother him. 

He howled a few more times throughout the night and it was so heart-wrenching because I didn't know what was wrong and I couldn't do anything for him.  By morning he was bleeding from his mouth and it was clear he was dying.  I think maybe he was hit by a car or something like that and had internal injuries.  There was nothing we could have done.   I decided to take him to the vet to have him humanely put to sleep, but the clinic does not open until 9:00 and by 8:00 he was already gone. 

Whatever happened to him, we will  never really know, but his love for us was so great that he came home to die here even though he was in such pain.   He wanted to be with his family. 

I haven't buried him yet this morning because we are still having thunderstorms moving through here (being out in that with a metal shovel is a bad idea.)    When the weather clears, he will join other past pets in our pet cemetery.  I am very, very sad for this sudden loss, but at least he is not in pain anymore and his spirit is free.  

(Repost)  Shall I do the holiday coupon book?  Last year we had a holiday coupon ebook from the blog community but the person who did it does not seem to be around anymore, at least not in Blogland lately.  If people  want it again, I'm willing to do it, but if so, we need to start soon.

How it would work is this:  You buy an ad in the ebook from me for $6.13 (what my ads usually cost, also a lucky number in Jewish lore) and offer some sort of discount or deal for the holidays.  I put it all together.  You get a copy PLUS a free link to use for download on your site or in your store or in emails, etc.  (I have unlimited downloads on my service so I'll just let you use my link for free.)    Everyone who buys an ad has re-seller rights for the coupon book.  You can either give them away free to your customers, or sell for 99 cents, or both. 

Also, this version would be a PDF file with clickable links -- something last year's version did not have.  This would enable people to go directly to our stores (or ID if you don't have a store.)   That would make it easier for customers to check us out.

Anybody interested????

New to eBay?  Looking to increase sales?

Got an eBay Store? Thinking about one?

then get this ebook COMBO --

 

BOTH of my bestselling ebooks in one PDF file!!

Over 100 pages of good solid info with full-color graphics in an easy-to-read style and font. Save it to your hard drive to read offline -- and you can print it out, too!  It's yours forever!

You will be able to download your COMBO immediately after paying.

Get started SELLING BETTER right away!

You will get BOTH: 

 "The Happy Rooster's Guide to 

Successful eBay Selling"

and

"The Happy Rooster's Guide to

eBay STORE Success!"

 

Learn from my mistakes -- don't re-invent the square wheel !!!

This is not one of those HTML-based "books" that are just a bunch of hyperlinks to more products on the Net. And it's not some multi-level marketing "chain letter" scheme where you (supposedly) make money by selling more ebooks to your friends.   And no, I'm not "feedback farming," either.

This is REAL WRITING!!!

As you can see, I'm not some hot young guy using sexy (???) pictures of himself and his girlfriend to lure you to a marketing scheme.  I'm just a down-to-earth, rather homely over-50 codger who knows how to sell things.  Check out my feedback -- my customers are satisfied, and they keep coming back. 

How do I do this? With magic?

No, with hard work. Anybody who tells you that you can strike it rich on eBay without working is scamming you. On the other hand, if you are trying to push a square-wheeled cart uphill, you are wasting your time. That's why you need these books -- to learn where to best focus your energy. 

Only $2.99  for BOTH ebooks combined --

that's $1.00 off the regular price!

(If you want them separately, you can still get them for $1.99 each in The Happy Rooster store)

And yes  -- I leave VERY FAST feedback --

usually within 24 hours, faster if I'm online at the time

I believe in being PROMPT!!!

>A few of my eBay items - qsell

Happy Roosters eBay SELLING STORE success COMBO ebook $2.99 NEW Happy Roosters eBay STORE SUCCESS selling ebook $1.99 Happy Roosters eBay selling tips success secrets ebook $1.99

Free Quick*Sell Gallery from ISDN*tek

You may have noticed something on your calendar called "Rosh Hashanah" tomorrow ( Thursday) -- it's the Jewish New Year!   But it is not a day of revelry.   Rosh Hashanah (pronounced "ROSH-hah-SHAH-nah")  is a time of serious introspection, reflection and repentance, also known as the Day of Judgement, a time to "take inventory" of our lives and make positive changes. 

Last year I wrote a Guide with the biblical references, some common customs, symbols, foods, etc. you and it's still up there at:

 http://reviews.ebay.com/What-is-Rosh-Hashanah_W0QQugidZ10000000001894745

If you find it helpful, please give me a YES vote to help keep me in the Top 1000 Reviewers list. 

And by the way, Rosh Hashanah actually starts tonight at sundown.   (WHY is explained in the Guide.) 

I will be offline until Sunday morning --

Wishing you all a prosperous and Happy 5768!

As we once again remember the tragic events of September 11th, let us also strive to distinguish between terrorists and peaceful Muslims, especially those Muslims who also happen to be Americans.  This link goes to a speech given by President  Bush in a Washington DC mosque on September 17, 2001: 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html

And this one goes to an excellent resource page with LOTS of info on peaceful teachings in Islam, condemnation of terrorism by Muslim leaders, images of Muslims grieving over Sept 11th tragedy, etc. :

http://groups.colgate.edu/aarislam/response.htm

Let us also keep in mind these lyrics from my favorite song about September 11, "Just Americans" by Randy Sparks and the Minstrels:

"On the 10th of September, we were black and we were white,

we were rich and we were poor, we were Left and we were Right,

We were folks from the country, we were city dwellers, too,

and we often took for granted we were red, white, and blue.

On September the 11th we became Just Americans,

Other words were rendered obsolete.

All I know about my neightbors is that they are just Americans,

Shoulder to shoulder now the circle is complete...."

A big storm system passed through here and took away the heatwave -- yay!  It's in the 70s now and more like fall in Minnesota should be.  Here's a pic of the first red leaves of the season on my land  -- scarlet sumac is always the first to turn.

Another sign of fall here is the sound of crickets.   They can't chirp until they shed their skins for the last time and get their wings, which the males rub together to make the sound.  (It's actually a courtship call.  The females then lay eggs in the ground for next year's brood.)  When I hear crickets, it's always a sort of sweet-sad sound to me.  Sweet because I like it, but sad because summer is almost over.... 

I bought this in a pet shop several years ago and it has entertained a lot of cats (and one very curious 2-year-old.)  It's a simple concept, really.  A doughnut-shaped plastic thing with a ball that rolls around inside, and slots on top and sides for the cats to put their paws in and try to get the ball out (not possible, but they do try!)  The ball rolls around inside for tons of kitty fun!

People have asked where I got it so they could get one,  but the store where I bought it is long gone and I have no idea what to call it for a search.  Anybody know what this thing is called????