Primary Research In The Field: Sand 'n the Drones

I manage a successful landing about 1/10 times (a successful landing is one where I don't have to go get the ladder, or the tree saw (to be used only for poking and pulling purposes), or the tennis ball attached to the long string to get it out of a tree or off a roof. And it hasn't crashed into something and dropped to the ground on its own, and preferably doesn't have dried beach grass wrapped around 1-4 of the propellers).

I was sorry to have missed the first snowfall before I left last October but they saved some for me.

The next morning was lovely (aka sunny, and preferably not a lot of wind but you take what you can get) though. Snow melted quickly and I celebrated a small victory in having sowed wildflower, grass, and clover seed around the property the day before (Thanks Accuweather!)

My first serious recovery (earlier two had been relatively low level). Though I was unable to accomplish the task with the ladder, even with the extra reach of the tree saw, I was able to find and deploy my standby tennis-ball/string setup which comes in handy on so many occasions successfully. If you look closely you should be able to see all of the aforementioned tools in this shot of commemoration and relief.

The driveway is a nice sunny place (rarely) to hand out when the wind is out of the west.

Drone's eye view. I think I've figured out which button snaps the still photos. Now the trick is to avoid pressing it in the excitement of the moment (aka pending crash). This was a lucky mistake.