My cell of choice at the moment is an HTC Droid, and as strictly a cell phone, it’s frustrating to use because the stinking screen keeps going to black at key moments. Otherwise, it’s a handy little device with the usual slate of cool Android apps.

The nicest feature is the camera. I don’t know the technical specs except it takes darn nice pictures. Maybe the biggest weakness is I always take pictures slightly askew to the right (easy to fix in Picnik) and it’s be nice if there were an onscreen “leveler” but that’s a minor thing.

Here’s some samples that I keep in the “HTC Droid Pix” set on Flickr. I like landscapes:

On this day of annual leave, I headed up the road to Virginia City, the boomtown that practically created the state of Nevada. The discovery of the Comstock Lode in the 1850s drew thousands of miners from around the world and, at one point, the town had over 10,000 people living there. The Lode died out and so did the town, which survives today as a tourist stop.

Folks in my generation remember Virginia City as the second home to the Cartwright family on the television show Bonanza. In real life, V.C. looks nothing like a Hollywood backlot and there’s not a flat piece of ground anywhere to be found.

Being a tourist town, it does its best to pull folks into the shops.

And being Nevada, it has its share of idiots and notoriety.

Nevada’s first Catholic church was St. Mary’s in the Mountains.

Here’s a candle for JT and Danielle.

The mandatory “V” above the city.

Oh yeah. Breakfast at the Delta Saloon. Nice atmosphere but I’m still feeling the grease.

V.C. is a nice little town and worth the drive. Y’all should stop by and spend some money there. And soon.

Today we hit the road to visit the family that lives about twenty miles north (as the crow flies) of the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area, and again I was reminded of The Real Nevada: Desert.

Much of the Battle Born State is like these pictures: open ground covered by sagebrush with clear air and blue skies interrupted by occasional clouds. There’s no humidity to speak of, and the days are hot and the nights can be frozen, all within the same 24 hours, but this dust is in my blood and it is my home.

As Doc Graham said in Field of Dreams: “This is my most special place in all the world, Ray. Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows so cold again.”

Amen, Doc.

As odd as it may sound, this blog has loyal readers and both of them are patient folks, waiting eagerly for a post of any kind. But the blog has fallen by the wayside, yet again. I suspect it’s because I’ve gotten used to expressing my life in 140 characters (Twitter) and that my life has become so dull that I’m hard-pressed to use the full 140 characters to describe it, much less create blog posts.

This last weekend was the exception. Aunt Lily got me and The Bride down to Arizona for a little Cactus League spring training. The cherries, whipped cream, sprinkles and chocolate fudge on top was the quality time with her hubby Mike, her sons Chris and Dave, and the newest member of the family, Dave’s fiancé Marissa. They’re all really nice folks with good manners and quality grooming. (DNA tests are needed to confirm I’m related to them.)

There was also lots of baseball which is my idea of heaven.

Friday was the A’s and the Brewers. A’s won.

Saturday was the A’s and the Angels. A’s won.

Sunday it rained and we missed out on Cubs and Dodgers (darn it).

Monday was the Cubs and A’s. No one kept score. (*cough* Cubs *cough*)

Dave and Chris, both of whom are highly respected professionals in their particular vocations. It’s true. The fact they’re also intelligent, handsome and funny again makes me wonder about the gene pool thing.

Uncle Mike, Aunt Lily, and The Bride. Notice how none of them are melting away in the rain. (Somehow I didn’t get a good picture of cousin-to-be Marissa. Maybe she’s a ninja.)

Here’s my good friend Hall of Fame Cubs pitcher Fergie Jenkins (who is obviously thinking “restraining order”).

You can’t see it there but he signed my hat. Oh, look. Here’s a picture for my adoring fans (both of them).

If you’re bored, there’s more pictures over at Flickr. Have fun.

Sometimes lost in the discussion over Nevada’s open spaces is the fact that the federal government owns 80+ percent of the Silver State and much of the remainder is land for mining, transportation (highways and trains), and ranching/farming. The ranching part has a rich history in Carson City with homesteads owned by the Parkers, Lompas and others. The old range still exists in Carson but is shrinking from development and Californication. Here’s some pix from the old Lompa Ranch area and purists will note that the new freeway extension is to my back as I took this pictures. Even so, these shots show why this space should be preserved for as long as possible.