Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Sailing Masts with Oil Paint Effect

Early in the hike we passed a couple of marinas with scads of sailboats, perfect for the shooting of things through things.  The photo posted above combines that with my new favorite effect, oil paint.  The picture below is the original from which the above was created:

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Second Look at Stone House

Same awesome house, captured from a few yards back as we approached.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Stone House with Oil Painting Effect

A little further down the path - probably about three quarters of the way through - we passed this awesome stone house overlooking the valley.  Below is a cropped-in portion of the pic filtered with the oil painting effect, quickly becoming a favorite.  Again, it looks best and the effect is more noticeable when expanded to full screen size:

 

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Lake House / Salty and the Bridge Club

This is one of those zoomed-in shots - the house next to the lake was just too cool not to capture, though a good distance away.
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The second boa constrictor I owned was named Salty, and he had an appetite for teddy bear hamsters.  Yes, the cute kind, which were plumper and had more protein.  As a matter of routine I rode my bike on Saturdays to purchase Salty's weekly meal at the Kresge's department store on the McArthur Circle there in Orange.

Also on Saturdays - once per month - Mom's bridge club played in a rotation at the various members' houses.  Whenever the meeting was at our house, we kids were under strict orders to stay out of the living room to avoid disturbing them.  One of those Saturdays, however, it occurred to me that it might be fun for the ladies to watch Salty eat.  After all, why let something so interesting go to waste?

This was exciting enough to break a rule, so I went into the living room and headed straight for Mom, offering that some of her friends might be interested in seeing the spectacle.  Some expressed a mild interest, so Mom agreed and announced to the entire group that they would take a break from play in order to watch.  I set things up in an empty cedar chest we had in an adjacent room, where we kept Salty's cage.

Four or five of the ladies gathered around the cedar chest while the hamster was inside exploring its new environment.  I went to Salty's cage and brought him over, assuring the ladies that they were in for a treat, as they were about to see nature in action.  After a moment to allow them to get a good look at Salty, I placed him in the cedar chest with the hamster.

As soon as he caught the scent with a flick of his tongue, Salty went immediately into stalking mode.  Bit by bit he approached the hamster, who had taken to hiding as best as he could in a corner of the chest.  Then the moment came and he struck, gripping it in his coils.

All was well and everyone was watching with rapt attention - that is, until, in the throes of its desperate kicking and gulping for air, the little guy let out a squeak.  Too much for one of mom's blue-haired friends, who fell flat in a dead faint!  Completely lost consciousness, eyes rolling back and everything.  And were it not for the fact that she was surrounded by others who broke her fall she likely would have cracked her head on the hard linoleum floor.

Suddenly everyone's focus shifted from the wonders of the natural world to reviving the poor lady, splayed out on the floor in a prone position.  I discreetly closed the cedar chest lid, allowing Salty finished his meal in peace and darkness, and skeddadled to safety in my room...

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Lake Vista with Fence with Neiko's Double

We ventured further down the path after passing the house with the cows, and were treated with vistas unlike any we'd seen before.  The expansive views of the lake, the structures of their lucky occupants dotting the surrounding hills, and the vessels on the lake all made for stunning views.  And very fortunately the weather permitted the capture of these scenes with even light, as it was cloudy...in fact the forecast was for heavy rain but we got a break in that respect as well.  I'm only going to post a few of these photographs, but it could have easily been a hundred.  I went crazy with panoramas and zoomed-in shots.

You can see a portion of the trail on the left in the photo above.  Below is a cat that joined us for this stretch of the hike who proved to be quite companionable.  A spitting image of Neiko, our pet back in Texas that recently had to be put down.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Emerging from Woods #2

This is what we saw in another place as we walked up a rise toward full sun.  Turning to the left to follow the "trail" (really a small road at in this particular spot), we saw the house captured below with a few more cows wandering around.  What a life...

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Emerging from Woods #1

The hiking trail took many twists and turns, going in and out of the darker woods.  Several times we would emerge into the full brightness of daylight to see some interesting sights.  This pic was captured as we were emerging to find a derelict, abandoned old house, a full view of which is below:

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Wilderness Trees #2

Really liked the patterns of the bare branches here.  The light coming from the left is from a break in the woods, through which the city can be seen.

However, from here the path took a turn into the deep, darker woods and before you know it we became aimless wanderers, only guessing at which way to go with every fork in the path.  It led to some anxious moments for me, being the head of the family, protector, responsible for our safety, etc.  We were relieved to see the wood pile below, a sign that we couldn't be far from the civilized world...

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Wilderness Trees #1 / Salty's Hamsters

In the post of January 13 I described my first serious pet, a boa constrictor that we named Pretzel.  If you read that story, you know that I was bitten by Pretzel, which eventually led to our decision to give him away.

I was not to be deterred, however, from using exotics as a way to express my eccentricities to the world at large.  After Pretzel became a problem because of his illness and the fact that he was a bit skittish (due to his having recently been caught in the wild), we went back to the pet store in Groves and purchased a younger, captive-bred, more docile boa that would be more interesting and fun to handle.  I named him Salty, and never regretted the decision to bring him into our family, as he was indeed noticeably more docile and even appeared to enjoy being handled.

And now that I had a snake that would actually eat, it was made clear by the parents that it was my job to keep Salty fed.  Salty was younger and much more active, so had a decent appetite, and the food of choice was hamsters - the teddy bear variety since they were more plump.

Being the diligent pet owner, and now all the more eager since we owned a boa that had an appetite, each and every Saturday morning, rain or shine, I rode my bike to the local Kresge's and bought a teddy bear hamster.  It was a trick, though, because on the way back home I had to control the bike one-handed while holding the box they came in.  Hamsters can quickly bite through, especially at the corners, and I would sometimes have to stop and poke it's nose back in to keep Salty's meal from escaping while en route.

After about eight weeks of this, the cashier lady remarked, "My, you must have one of those big hamster cities!"  I proudly stated that, on the contrary, as a responsible pet owner I was feeding them to my snakes.  She gave me a disgusted look, and from then on I avoided her whenever possible.  Word got out, though, and soon enough every cashier soured at the very sight of me.

One Saturday I was sick and it fell upon my dad to go get the hamster.  As he told it, he approached the cashier holding the little box and, upon seeing it, the cashier said, "Boy, am I glad to see someone like you buying this hamster.  Do you know what we see here every week?"

"What?", Dad answered, beginning to feel a little sheepish.

"There's this awful little boy that buys these to feed to his snakes!!"

Dad played along, saying something like, "My, that's terrible!"...and walked out with Salty's next meal.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Summer-to-Fall Leaves

Using another effect (Sprayed Strokes) yielded the pic above.  A flick of the (hue) switch, and now we've changed from summer into fall!

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Oil-Painted Leaves

One very cool effect that I discovered in Photoshop is Oil Paint.  Click on the above to expand and the effect is obvious, though not so much when viewed from a virtual distance, or zoomed out.

The photo below is the original before the effect was applied:

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Roots

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Duck Nest

At least I think this is a duck...maybe not.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Barkless Tree / Pretzel's Fate

A few posts ago I related the story of how we acquired our first boa constrictor, Pretzel, and how the tale ended with my decision to give him away.  The question from that point was, "How do you give away a boa constrictor, especially one that has bitten its owner?"  Since Pretzel was almost recovered but still a little sick, Dad decided that the Houston Zoo would be the best place to get the care he needed while perhaps being of use as an exhibit animal.  He made the call and one Saturday we packed him up in a pillow case and made the two-hour drive to the zoo from our home in Orange, Texas.

Going to the zoo was always special for us, and we'd been many times before as a family, but this time was different, as we were going for "business" purposes.  I knew we were making the right decision and looked forward to speaking to a curator who actually took care of the snakes in the reptile house, our favorite part of the zoo.

We arrived and walked in with the rest of the visitors, conspicuous in that I was carrying a good-size snake which could be seen moving in that pillow case.  Once we arrived at the reptile house (which, incidentally - for better or worse - looks exactly the same today, almost 50 years later, as it did back then) the head curator met and ushered us straight into an area marked for Authorized Personnel Only.

Once inside we found ourselves surrounded by stacks and stacks of cages, each with snakes, lizards, turtles and amphibians not on current display.  The curator took time to give us an extensive behind-the-scenes tour, explaining this or that about what we saw, patiently answering the questions of a herpetologist wannabe.  It was a very special time, not least because it was shared between just me and Dad.

Our tour concluded, and Pretzel appropriately handed off to a better home, Dad and I headed back to Orange with something special in the memory bank, and for a boy of eleven a little wiser about biting off more that you can chew when it comes to pets. (unintended pun)

FAST FORWARD - NINE YEARS LATER...

I was twenty years old and in college.  Pursuing the childhood dream of becoming a herpetologist, I settled into biology major studies at Steven F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.  To get a head start on working with snakes I joined the Texas Herpetological Society.  One of its regular activities was camping out in the reptile-rich woods of Deep East Texas to capture and catalogue everything heard and/or caught over a two-day period.  One of those nights, around midnight, I was walking with a small group on a hunt and learned that one of the group had driven up from Houston and was actually an assistant curator at the zoo.  He was a bit older, so I told him the tale of Pretzel and how we'd donated him some years back.

Incredibly, this guy remembered Pretzel and was able to tell me how he spent the rest of his life!  And just as incredible - to me - was the fact that, after Dad and I donated him and once he recovered completely from his mouth rot, they put him in the petting zoo!  After several years he got sick with a brain parasite and died, not too long before this chap and I ran into each other in the deep woods of East Texas.

Just one of those things that reminds us of how small this world is, and how at times life comes around full circle...

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Flower Hill

Leaving the beach area, we passed this scene before entering the more rugged, woodsy part of the trail.  The pic below is a close-up of one of the flowers sticking up in the middle of the bed:

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Beach Girl

Some of the best people shots are candids captured surreptitiously while on the move, such as this one, in a way similar to another caught of a gypsy on the subway steps in Paris in 2009.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Hike, Beach Scene

One of the things that we researched as something to do in the Lucerne area was take one of the local hikes.  Being so close to the majestic peaks of the Swiss Alps, one option was to take a bus to a hike in the higher altitudes for an all-day jaunt.  Not having that kind of time or preparation, we instead opted for a half-day hike among the foothills immediately surrounding the city.

This walk ranks as one of the most interesting and varied that we'd ever experienced.  Indeed it did include some wilderness trekking, but the trail also wended its way through neighborhoods, pastureland, marinas and beach scenes, such as the one captured in the 5-shot panorama above from the beginning of the hike.  Really a good way to see it all in a relatively short period of time.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Viewing Stations (World Cup)

Soon after arriving in Lucerne we started to see places like this pop up - temporary venues for outdoor viewing of the World Cup championship, currently in semifinals.

Folks in Europe are crazy - absolute bonkers - for soccer, and the approach of the 2014 World Cup finals had the place buzzing.  We never followed the sport, but felt the excitement in the very air.  Allison and I saw a movie the night that Switzerland's team won a key game.  We emerged from the theater at about 11 pm to walk back to the hotel, straight into celebration that included shouting, horns, streamers, confetti, and people hanging out of cars waving bottles of champagne as they sped past.  Allison remembers that walk as one of the highlights of the trip.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Fountain / Pretzel Bites

When I was about ten, with the blessing of my parents, I acquired my first boa constrictor.  Always fascinated with snakes - arguably some of the most beautiful creatures on earth - I considered the acquisition of a boa to be the gold standard that would enable me to stand out among my young collector friends.  Thus, my parents, my brother Allan and I all piled into our family station wagon and headed for an exotic pet store owned and run by a guy named Glen Duplechain in Groves.

It was fascinating to be in a place like that for the first time.  They had all kinds of exotic reptiles - including the poisonous variety - plus tarantulas, scorpions and the like.  Glen took a personal interest in us and allowed me to touch and handle several boas until I selected one of good size, just over four-and-a-half feet long, naming him Pretzel due to his darker coloration and (of course) bendy nature.  Glen told us that Pretzel had been recently caught in the wild and was not totally tame, but with enough handling would become more accustomed to people.  I agreed that I could handle the responsibility and we trotted off with Pretzel in a bag, placing him in a newly-built cage once we got home.

Pretzel and I became the talk of the block, and soon people from all over were coming to visit and have a look-see.  I boldly showed off my new pet, walking around with him wrapped around my neck and allowing others to do the same.  I even once walked the two blocks down 16th Street to the corner 7-11 to make a candy purchase with Pretzel as my companion.

But Glen Duplechain was right.  Pretzel had recently been wild-caught, and was not used to being handled.  He was skittish at times, and seemed to want nothing more than to be put down and left alone.  The only thing he appeared to like was when we let him loose in the mimosa tree in the back yard so he could climb around at will.  Had to watch him close, though...once he had to be rescued from the gutter, as the tree overhung the roof ledge.  Through it all I had been told and believed that he would get used to handling eventually, so endeavored to pick him up every day even when my friends weren't around.

After a few weeks we noticed something else about Pretzel.  He wasn't eating.  He ate a hamster right off the bat, but would not eat after that no matter what was offered.  When the weeks turned to more than a month we decided to take Pretzel back to the store in Groves to see if his condition could be diagnosed.  I imagined that he was getting a bit "thin" (if that can happen to a snake), and was getting worried.

Glen was happy to see us and concerned that we were having a problem.  After observing a bit, he took Pretzel and, to my astonishment, pried his mouth open to have a look at his teeth and gums.  Sure enough, there it was.  Mouth rot, a common disease of captive boas.  There was a cheesy substance that had accumulated between his "lips" and gum, which Glen swabbed out with a Q-tip to show us the culprit of Pretzel's loss of appetite.  Fortunately a treatable condition.

Since I was the pet owner and would be responsible for curing Pretzel, he showed me exactly how to do the swabbing myself (!), and in addition gave us a yellow powder, an antibiotic, to mix in with his water every day.  We put Pretzel back into his pillow case and headed home, instructions and prescription in hand.  I was not looking forward to this unforeseen duty as Pretzel's owner and caretaker.

But I did it anyway, every single day.  The water got changed and antibiotic mixed in (the easy part).  Then I would pick Pretzel up and hold him in the prescribed manner so that his gums could be swabbed.  This was not a pleasant task for anyone to see, so I mostly did it by myself.  Encouragingly, after a few weeks the cheesy substance began to diminish and we were on our way to recovery.

Pretzel evidently got impatient with the whole process, however, because one morning I opened up the cage and reached in as usual to do the mouth-swabbing, but this time he was having none of it.  As I reached from above he was ready, and struck with the lightning-fast speed for which snakes are famous.  Before I knew it he'd covered the entire right side of my hand, letting out a hissing sound as the jaws clamped shut.  It was just a warning, though, because just as quickly he let go and assumed a striking pose in case I didn't get it the first time.

Well, I got it!  In shock, I glanced at my hand and saw numerous trickles of blood where he'd broken skin.  There was no pain at all - the equivalent of just a few needle pricks - but the thought that my beloved pet, whom I'd been so diligent to cure of this illness, actually struck and bit me was too much to bear.  I let out an ungodly howl and ran for my bedroom, throwing myself on the bed, letting loose with more howls and loud, mourning sobs of disappointment and betrayal.

It so happened that no one else was home with the exception of our maid, Addie Mae Brown, who came to clean every Thursday.  She rushed into the bedroom wondering what the fuss was all about.  When I finally got it out that Pretzel had bitten, she got this alarmed look on her face and rushed over to the play room where the cage was and, sure enough, in my shock and haste I'd forgotten all about closing the cage and Pretzel was halfway out deciding where to spend his first moments of unexpected freedom.  Again, this was a large-ish reptile, almost five feet in length.  Seeing the potential of a full-blown escape, Addie Mae rushed back to the bedroom to inform me of the circumstances.  I had no choice but to go back in there, still bleeding and sobbing, to secure Pretzel back into his abode.

Naturally, from that moment on I was hesitant to do the mouth-swabbing, and was surprised to find that Pretzel acquiesced, but it wasn't the same.  There was always the nervousness that he would bite again, which I knew animals - even those with a reptilian brain - could sense, and the balloon of my enthusiasm over owning such a pet was deflated.  After a few months, even though Pretzel almost completely healed of his condition and was eating again, the parents observed my indifference and allowed me to make the decision to get rid of him and move on to other projects.

Below is yours truly, holding Pretzel when I was about 10, in front of our House at 1512 Chapman in Orange.  Do I look a little bit nervous?

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Rail Yard

The Radisson Blu was very close to the main train station, so had plenty of opportunity for these kinds of pictures.  The colorful buildings through the overhead infrastructure fits the bill for the shooting of things through things in both of these shots.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Film Crew

Don't know what these guys were filming - or where they were from - but this was interesting to watch for a little while.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Tabletops

Going vertical again - a neat, clean way to clear a sidewalk, reduce outdoor clutter, and keep birds from using the tabletops as latrine platforms.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Bike Racks

This and the next few posts will depart from the touristy, postcard-ish city views.

In traveling there are so many things to see and share that are "different" to us.  As a younger man living in Mexico I remember going crazy taking pictures of the everyday things around me that were different from what we see in our culture, but no doubt mundane to those that live in the area.  Every place has its share...even when traveling from place to place within the U.S.

This bicycle parking lot, for example - what a simple, clean solution to parking your bike.  Compare this to, say on a college campus, the tumble of bikes in row upon row, and at times rusting due to neglect.  Would not be seen or tolerated in Switzerland...

Europe 2014 - Lucerne River Boats

Being on a river, there were lots of boats around to be photographed.

Stepping a few yards to the left yielded this view:

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Panorama

This 5-shot panorama will be the last pic to be posted of Lucerne's riverscape; the remainder will focus on other aspects of the city.

I took this JPEG to a lab and had them print it 12" tall x 62" wide - more than five feet!  Mounted on Gatorboard, it has been a mainstay wall piece ever since.  Encouraged by the quality, I went a little further and created a collage with this serving as the anchorpiece along the bottom.  It's not cheap, but hopefully the entire work will soon be on display.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne People Shot

If you've followed this blog at all you know I don't take many pictures of people.  It's the people that make this shot, however, with the diners, the couples walking, and the contemplative nun looking into the water.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Church View

Allison and I took a walk across the river one day into the old part of the city.  Mass was just beginning as we approached this church; the organ prelude could be heard clearly through the doors, which had a way of drawing you in.  But alas, we were dressed as American tourists with shorts and shoulders uncovered, and would not have been allowed...

Europe 2014 - Lucerne River with Pedestrian Bridge

A photographer friend once told me that all you have to do is step a few feet away from one shot and you have a completely different picture.  That's what happened in this case - after taking the second picture from the post of two days ago I moved a few feet to the right and captured this - a completely new and fresh look at the same subject from what seems like a completely different angle.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Wasserturm Tower with Gutsch Hotel

On top of the amazing vistas on all sides, there's a boatload of history if you're into that sort of thing (which I am).  The tower to the right was built around 1300 and served variously as government offices, community center and torture chamber, depending on the era.  The hotel in the background, of course, is a bit more modern, below which is a closer-up view:

Europe 2014 - Lucerne Vistas

As stated before, everywhere you turn there is a picture to be captured.  Think this might make a good print someday, as well as the pic below.  The weather was awesome for most of our stay.

Europe 2014 - Lucerne, Bridge Abstract

...an abstract of the bridge, captured through a pane of glass.