Jim Dailey

One of the last times I watched a lunar eclipse I was camping with my buddy, JC.  We found a deep dark sky location in the Hurricane Creek Wilderness area on the Ozark Highlands Trail.  It was a cold clear night and a perfect place from which to watch this spectacular natural event.  Sorry folks … I have no pictures.

Last night I watched the eclipse from the back yard of my home.  This time I did take a few photos.  I think they turned out pretty good … not because of my talent but more because of my Sony 7R lll and a SonyFE 100-400 G lens. Even more amazing … these were hand held shots.

I love this stuff … and in 2017 Patti and I went over close to Nashville to photograph the Solar Eclipse.  This time I was using my Canon 6D with a Canon 70-200 L lens. I especially like the total eclipse shot but am equally amazed with the ability to see sun spots in the top left photo.  Click on any of these to enlarge.

The wonders of our world continue fascinate, expand imaginations and hopefully make us realize how small we humans are in this great universe.

FYI …  you might consider a trip to Arkansas in April, 2024  … Little Rock will be directly in the path of the  next major North American Solar Eclipse.  Besides that, there are  plenty of other reasons to come and enjoy …

” Arkansas … The Natural State “

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To celebrate Forty years of friendship, we gathered with our wives at the home of SST founder, Loyd and his wife Kaye.  And then dinner at Cheers Restaurant.  

Here is the note I sent to my ski buddies after the 2012 SST ski trip. We had been going on a trip each year for over 30 years. Stanley is the last name of the original founding father of SST … Stanley Ski Team!

Once again, it was a special treat to be with the best friends in the world. In a very small way, I miss skiing with the group but in a very big way I enjoy our time together and will do all I can to attend for as long as the Good Lord allows. I certainly don’t wish to be maudlin, but John made a prophetic and profound statement when he said “we will probably not be doing this ten years from now”.

The evening discussions, especially the evening discussing family histories was a highlight for me … as different as we may be, there is a common thread we all share. We are family oriented, we obviously value true friendships, for the most part we are fairly conservative (a couple maybe more than “fairly conservative”), we are self starting, entrepreneurial guys … in most cases from self starting entrepreneurial roots, we are fundamentally Christian, God fearing men with strong work ethics and, by golly, strong play ethics… I repeat, Strong Play Ethics!!! Who would ever have thought for 31 or 32 or 33 years, a group like ours would click, stay together, take a trip each year together, schedule lunch every Friday together and for all these years keep this exercise right at the top of our priority lists. Who would have thought? Who would have thought a Dermatologist, Ad guy, a coffin salesman, a funeral director, an asbestos tester, an architect, a refrigeration/electric supplier, a jeweler and a politician could find enough in common to embark on this adventure, and even more significant, to continue it for so many years. Ours truly is a unique story..a meaningful, enriching celebration of friendship. I thank each of you.

Now more pictures of our 40th Celebration evening …

As one can see (above) we have moved from Skiing to golf, to hiking and to “Apre Whatever” around the pool in Scottsdale.  

Below a couple of shots from the beginning days of SST.   Keystone Mountain and Blue Spruce Restaurant in Frisco, Co.  Circa.  1980

Above photo was 2018 in Arizona.

The two pictures above are of the same group dinner with our Wives … circa. 2014

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