More Awe-inspiring U.P. Color!

If you missed my last blogpost,

drop below this one to see

more autumn pictures of the U.P.

The last blogpost highlighted

some pictures

from Brockway Mountain Drive

near Copper Harbor, Michigan.

Today,

we have more of the same for you!

There was a beaver pond

that I could see

from the top

of Brockway Mountain

So I zoomed in

with my zoom lens for

some closeups:

There is just something

about

the raw beauty of a wild beaver pond:

Most of the year, beaver ponds

are teaming with wildlife.

Unfortunately, I couldn't spot any

from this high up!:

The pond was narrow and long...

and I imagined it full of ducks migrating through

and maybe some brook trout.

But I thought I'd better not climb down THIS far

to catch it all with my camera:

A few days later,

we took some local woods' roads

to find some close-up

and personal autumn color.

We weren't disappointed!:

Again, depending on where

we went,

the autumn color was in different stages

and

different blends of colors.

Some had more oranges or more reds..

or were still a mix of green and yellows:

It is all so fleeting...

I think that is why I am always

SO AMAZED

at

nature's beauty.

It gives us little glimpses of heaven...

one

piece

at

a

time.....

I hope you

see

glimpses

of

heaven

whereever

you

are

today, too.

Color, Color....Everywhere!

I have been outside for the last four weeks

taking as many fall pictures

as possible!

Therefore, I am woefully behind in my loyal daily reading

of many of your wonderful blogs..to which I apologize.

But, here in the U.P.

it is a lonnnnng winter,

so I will go to each of your sites soon

and read all your back posts, I promise!

My post today will show you

some of the autumn beauty

which I have been trying to capture from the U.P.

for you.

First up,

this is a river about 5 miles from our house:

As you can see, that picture was taken when our leaves were in full color.

Believe it or not,

there is not a single colored leaf left in this same spot today.

We drove by yesterday, and there are only pines and bare branches.

A few weeks before the above picture was taken, we went to

Copper Harbor.

(click on link)

Here is a map of Michigan, Students.

See the UPPER land mass of Michigan?

That is the UPPER PENINSULA (U.P.) of Michigan, where we live.

If you look at the map of the U.P.

you will see a little "finger" sticking out at the top of the map

at the northern most tip of the U.P.

There is a little town named Copper Harbor there.

It is gorgeous.

At Copper Harbor is a wonderful mountain

called Brockway Mountain.

Click on the link to see more about it.

The pictures below were all taken off

the top of Brockway Mountain Drive

when the leaves were about 60% in color....

This is looking down at Lake Fannie Hoe:

 If you look close, you can see that the leaves are in all kinds of different stages of color...some are still green, and some of the hills far off in the distance are in full color.

You can see Lake Superior at the top of this photo:

Looking straight at the shores of Lake Superior from the top of Brockway:

You see beauty all 360 degrees when you look off the top:

Almost full color here:

This shot shows the different stages of color the best:

It is spiritual:

I spent most of the day Ooo-wing and Ahhh-ing:



I hope I provided you

with a small fraction

of the

wonder of autumn

that I felt that day!

More Dumb State Laws!: Maine!!!

Oh, yes!

It's that time again!

Time for MORE DUMB STATE LAWS....

along

with MY COMMENTS in bold italics.

This time, we are going to look at

the

wonderful state of

MAINE!!!!

Here we go:!!!

1. Shotguns are required to be taken to church in the event of a Native American attack.

Let's hope that never happens in Maine, or anywhere else. And, if my history lessons were correct, it might be more efficient and more of a level playing field if bows and arrows were used rather than shotguns, don't you think? And, if you want to have one culture attack another culture, in Maine...I guess they feel you should be in church to do it.

2.  You may not step out of a plane in flight.

Well, duh!  I say..if they are dumb enough to "step out" during a flight, let 'em do it...just don't stand close enough to the door to get sucked out!!  And don't you wonder why there had to be a law passed in Maine so that people did not do this?  And, um...who would be left alive to prosecute if they broke this law?  (Besides if someone survived to be prosecuted, I think parts of them would land in SEVERAL states, not just Maine....you know...the "splat factor" would probably yield body parts in at least 3 states, wouldn't you think?)

  

3. After January 14th you will be charged a fine for having your Christmas decorations still up.

I LOVE this law!!!  It ought to be passed in every state of the union!!! We have one house here that leaves theirs up all year round!

4.  In Augusta: To stroll down the street playing a violin is against the law.

No minstrels in Maine!  No romantic proposals with accompanying violin players to make her say yes...how boring is THAT? Maybe it has to do with their cold winters? Maybe their fingers get frozen in position, and no one wants to see THAT!!!

5.  In Biddeford: No person may roller skate on a sidewalk.

What? No violins playing down the street and now no roller skaters???  So where are they SUPPOSED to roller skate then? In the middle of traffic???  I mean they can't just do circles over and over in their driveways, now can they? 

6.  In Freeport: It is illegal to expectorate from any second-story window.

How about the 5th floor? First floor? How did they decide on just the second-story windows? Did they do some kind of scientific study that determined that second-story spit causes death to the victim? Can you see the headlines? "Murder by Spit from Second Story Spewer. Eye witnesses said they couldn't identify the perpetrator because of the globs falling into their eyes. Forensic tests indicated that the perp recently had garlic and onions which made the crime that much more heinous.  Police suspect an Italian......"

7.  In South Berwick: It is illegal to park in front of Dunkin Donuts. 

That's right. You go, Maine...there is too much obesity in America.  If you are going to eat those delicious high-calorie fat rolls, you better park at least a block away to walk off some of those calories, you lard arses!!  And you..yes, YOU...the one holding the BISMARK....you...YOU have to park at LEAST two blocks from the Dunkin Donut's door....and you'd better not ask for cream for that coffee, either!!  

8.  In Wells: Advertisements may not be placed in cemeteries.

Now that is some thinking on Maine's part....you don't want all those dead people to be reading those ads and haunting the aisles in all of those stores, now DO we? I mean, the aisles are already crowded enough without all those stiffs bumping into us!!  

****************************************************************

Don't forget to get busy looking for or taking your picture

for

the

OCTOBER FREE PHOTO CONTEST!!!

 

The theme is:

TEXTURES!!!

Enter before midnight, Oct. 31st, 2010

following

THESE RULES.

You CAN enter a photo you have already published on your blog, 

(I changed that rule).

Rockin' Water!

Color and water

have been my captures

over the last few weeks.

Before I show you the gorgeous autumn colors up here,

I decided to share with you today

some of the water photos I have gotten

over the last few weeks.

Waterfalls are always fun for me:

But, Lake Superior

always has many moods

and many different shoreline conditions

to delight any photographer.

Recently, we took a trip way up to the most northern tip of the U.P.

of Michigan...along the Eagle Harbor, Michigan shoreline....

It was a windy day which I was thrilled about...

because

that means dramatic, splashing whitecaps on Lake Superior!

And the rocky shoreline there is like lava rocks!:

I was loving the splashes!~:

Can you hear those waves hitting the rocks?:

I could've stayed here all day just watching the waves!:

It was calmer in this spot,

but I loved the lichen growing on the lava-like rocky shores:

SPLASH!!:

The harder the wind,

the better the waves!:

Nothing more refreshing!:

I'll be posting

some color for you soon,

and

more of these shoreline moments....

Hope you have some refreshing moments going on in your life too!!

More This and That from the Woods...

I am once again behind in posting the many photographs

I love to take!!

We are in FULL COLOR here,

in fact, at my house most of the trees tops are bare already

with only colored leaves still on the bottom halves.

So, I thought I'd better get going

and post some photos

I took in the woods a few weeks

before our color change here happened in full stride....

We were at a little pond in the woods

and I saw a huge shadow

on the road beside me.

I looked up...

and saw this!:

A huge Turkey vulture swooping over me.

He must have not liked me at his pond!

But he did give me some great shot opportunities!

He flew so close, I could capture his ugly red turkey-like head!:

You can see it in this blurry picture too!:

Remember a few blogposts ago

when I said my husband made me walk and climb into a little hidden

waterfalls?

And I said I was glad I did?

Well this is a shot of the bottom of those falls, which I just loved:

We sat down here in this little spot for a little while....

which made me yearn to go and look at some other waterfalls....

So, we did!

This is called "Big Erik's Bridge"

after a large man that worked in some lumber camps

right near the river in years past.....

It has a couple sets of rapids and waterfalls right near the bridge..

a wonderful spot to take photographs during the different seasons:

A closeup of a little waterfall between some rocks:

There are little nooks and crannies all over the place

where water "falls" between rocks, which I loved!!:

You can see that at the time I was there, the leaves were just starting

to turn colors:

What is odd here, is that you can drive for 20 minutes

and the leaves or forest can be totally different,

and the changing leaves

can be way ahead

or

way behind

the place you just left.

Like this pond, for instance:

Lots more color here....and glorious reflections!!

Which started:

THE FEVER.

Oh?

You don't KNOW about

THE FEVER????

Be glad.

Be very glad.

Because it is bad.

B.A.D.!!!

You see, as soon as the leaves show me that they are changing into brilliant yellows, oranges and reds

I go into CRAZY PHOTO MODE!!

I make my poor husband bring me all over creation

every single waking moment

that I can get him to during this time of color in the U.P.

The poor guy is lucky that I let him sleep, or eat, or shower....

I am at the door, pointing at my watch, saying: "Hurry, don't you see that sun out? It is going to be a perfect color day out there...HURRY!!! I say HURRY!"

So, if you see a weary, run-down man with big rings under his eyes

that would be him.

Because, we have had a ton of sunny days in a row here.

And, you guessed it....

I've had him on the run.

He is probably the only man in the U.P. who prays for rain every fourth or fifth day

just so he gets some rest.

But, don't worry....

I remind him daily that this season is verrrrry short here...

Before we know it, all the leaves will be down and we will be having SNOW...

So, I also remind him to suck it up

and HUIRRY

to load the car.

Besides, I always make the sandwiches and pack the picnic basket....

So, that's not so bad, is it????

Here They ARE!!!...September's FREE PHOTO CONTEST entries!!!

Wow!

We got some beautiful entries this month

for our September FREE PHOTO CONTEST

theme

of

Fountains

or

Waterfalls

We did not get quite as many entries as in past months

because

many of you said you don't have either fountains or waterfalls near where you live.

I am so sorry for that, as I would be very sad if I couldn't get my butt to a waterfall

several times a year.

(However, I do not have a fountain anywhere near where I live either. ha)

Before we get started looking at the entries,

I wanted to remind you...

IF you have entered a photo this month

and

DO NOT SEE IT BELOW

please contact me IMMEDIATELY via email!!!

I try very hard to keep them organized, but life gets in the way sometimes and

I skip someone now and then.

I will wait a few days before I contact my judges

and if I forgot someone, I will do a revision of this post

to include anyone I may have forgotten...

Hopefully, I won't have to do that and I got everyone included

that entered.

So, now we are ready.

Put your feet up, grab some wine or coffee

(heck you have two hands, grab BOTH!)

and

look at these beauties:

This one is from Mary. Her blog is called: "Journey into Elderhood".

This one is from J.J. Her blog is called: "The World According to JJ in L.A."

 This one is from Raymond C. He did not list a blog.

 This one is from Grannyann. Her blog is called: the "Ann Tucker Blog".

This one is from Larry. He has two blogs. One is called: "Larry's Creative Zone" and the other one is called: "Larry's Photo a Day".

This one is from Jean. Her blog is called: "The Joy of Bird Watching and Living the Simple Life".

This is from Rachel. Her blog is called: "Ciao, Eh? A Canadian Adventure in Italy".

                                   This one is from Arti. Her blog is called: "My Yatra Diary".

This is from Linda Reeder. Her blog is called: "Linda's Letters".

This one is from DJan. She has two blogs. One is called:  "Djan-ity" and the other is called:
"Eye on the Edge".

***************************************************************

Aren't they AWESOME?????

I wish each and every one of you that entered good luck

and I once again want to thank you for your efforts and talents.

You are all amazing!!!

The theme for the FREE PHOTO CONTEST

for

OCTOBER

is:

"Textures".

Now, let your imagination run wild with that one!

Send in a photo that you think fits the theme of "textures"

no later than Oct. 31st, 2010....

following THESE RULES.

You MAY enter a photo that you have already posted on your blog,

if you have a blog.

You do NOT have to have a blog to enter the contest.