Red Wings At The Feeder

Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary.

 ― J.M. Barrie

FROSTY MORNINGS

Brrrrrrrr!

Happy Halloween

My Babies Many Years Ago!
Now my son has a baby of his own :)

A Pathway, A Bench and More Trees

The leaf covered pathway that leads down to Pandapas Pond from the parking area

Life is amazingly good when it's simple and amazingly simple when it's good. 

~ Terri Guillemets

The Quote Garden

Fall Reflections and Canada Geese

  “Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.”. 

― Stanley H. Horowitz 

 “Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable...the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street...by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese.” 

 ― Hal Borland

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket 
than all the other seasons.” 

 ― Jim Bishop

Foggy Fall at Pandapas Pond

Autumn Images from Pandapas Pond, Blacksburg Virginia

Truly a LOVELY place to visit any time of year.

Violet Drops

A blossom of returning light, 

An April flower of sun and dew; 

The earth and sky, the day and night 

Are melted in her depth of blue! 

~ Dora Read Goodale



Available as a Print or Card - HERE 

Foggy and Wet

Autumn 

Pandapas Pond - Blacksburg Virginia 

(top and bottom)

THERE is something in the autumn that is native to my blood—

Touch of manner, hint of mood;

 And my heart is like a rhyme,

 With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

 ― Bliss Carman

Floating and Carefree

Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. 
~James Thurber

I caught the leaves just as they fell onto the pond. It was a bit windy, as you can see from the ripples in the water. The sky was a bright blue which is reflected in the shot with the yellow leaf. The three pointed leaf was near pines, so the green of the pine is reflected.

autumn leaf art

A Different Perspective

You must look within for value, but must look beyond for perspective. 

~ Denis Waitley

Reach High - Dream Deep

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul.  Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
~ Pamela Vaull Starr

PEOPLE PICTURES

I left my comfort zone last Saturday and took a few people pictures. I really don't have a feel for people pictures at all. Brianna (my dear daughter) has been the subject of most of my people shots. She is also my photography companion. She really has the "eye" for unusual shots. A few of her shots are at http://www.onewhothinks.blogspot.com/ . Take a look.

RAIN!

Rain is a lullaby heard through a thick, isolating blanket of clouds. It is the tinkling harp of water droplets; a moist breath whistling through willow reeds;... 

~ Richelle E. Goodrich

New River at Bisset Park

 The bright summer had passed away, and gorgeous autumn was flinging its rainbow-tints of beauty on hill and dale. 
~ Cornelia L. Tuthill  

Autumn is the season of change. 

~ Taoist proverb 

 The New River and its Fall Colors. I was standing IN the river when I took this picture. It was very low and I was really just standing on wet rocks..... but it was VERY slippery.

The Naming of the New River

More history about the New River and how it got it's name

I got this info off of the Friends of the New River Website.

Tracing the Origins of the New River’s Name
by Kelley Trear

The New River, long in its history and in its length, has an equally long list of theories on how it obtained its name. The search for the New River’s name begins with early European explorers who happened upon the New River and presumed that they had found the river that would lead them west to the other side of the New World. In 1651, Edward Bland sent a pamphlet to London, England describing the western territories of Virginia and North Carolina, naming them New Brittaine and New Virginia. Then when he came upon a river that was unmarked on existing maps, Bland applied the title of “New” to it. Another noted European to see the New River was probably Colonel Abraham Wood, who sought trade with the Indians in 1654. The river became known as Woods River until about 1754. One educated guess regarding the origin of the name is the theory that in the late 1700s or early 1800s, surveyors were working their way across the new country. When they happened on the New River, they discovered that it wasn’t on any of their existing maps, so they charted it and labeled it as “a new river.” Another version of this story attributes the label "a new river" to Peter Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s father.The official name change to New River seems to have occurred between 1740 and 1750, although the two names, Woods and New, were used interchangeably in records and on maps in other states until about 1770. No one can really say for sure how the New River acquired its name. But as long as it keeps flowing, there is a chance that someone will discover how this old river became “New.”

Give Cheerfully - Accept Gratefully

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

~ Maya Angelou

Doesn't it looks like this Queen Anne's Lace is reaching out to help?

Wishing you a Very Blessed Day!

The New River....... not so new

I found this info from the FONR (Friends of the New River) website and thought it very interesting.

Despite its name, there is nothing new about the New River. In fact, the river is the oldest in the United States and second-oldest in the world. “I’ve heard dates of anything from 10 million to 360 million years," says FONR board member Lynn Sharp of the Virginia Tech Museum of Natural History. "I usually just say it’s ancient.” The New River has its origins in northwestern North Carolina, near the towns of Boone and Blowing Rock. By the time it merges with the Gauley River in West Virginia near Charleston to form the Kanawha, it has flowed north through parts of North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. In 1998 the New River was designated as one of fourteen American Heritage Rivers.

 

Fall Colors

A little church down the road.

Fishing the New River

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. 

 ~ John Buchan

The Way Appears

As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears. 

~ Rumi

Splish Splash

 To share often and much…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Collage of Brianna

I took these shots back in August. Brianna and I set out early one Saturday in hopes of finding some interesting things to photograph. We were both taking a picture of the same flowering bush/tree, then I started "shooting" her.

Winding Road

It amazes me how easy it is for things to change, how easy it is to start off down the same road you always take and wind up somewhere new. 

 ~ Lauren Oliver

Wings You Can See Through

Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you. 

~Hafez

Summer's End

Dried up Jimson Weed
reminds me
Summer's end is here

WILD TURKEY

As Jim and I drove into the Izaak Walton Park one Saturday we came upon a group of turkeys. Of course I didn't have my camera out........and they fled as soon as we came close. We parked quite a ways away and I started walking down that road again later to see if they were back. They were! I still wasn't able to get very close but I thought I would share these with you. I'm sure most of you have seen wild turkeys before. They are absolutely beautiful creatures!

 

Listen to Her Teachings

Go forth under the open sky, and list To Nature's teachings. 

~ William Cullen Bryant

Barn

There is only now. And look! 
How rich we are in it.

~ Vanna Bonta


Prints Available - HERE 

Fall Colors - A Collage

A Tangible Reminder: 

Underfoot rustling unsilent leaves 

Crackle electric ecstasy 

Spice the autumn air, 

A tangible reminder 

That death can be a glory. 

~ Elizabeth Barrette, 

From Nature's Patient Hands

colorful leaves art

Firehouse Flags - and our Founder

Firehouse Flags and Founder..... try saying that 3 times fast!  It was a very windy day when I saw these flags flying at our local firehouse.  I was hoping to catch them both "full out". But it didn't quite happen that way. The top flag, of course, is the American Flag, the bottom is the State Flag of Virginia. The other picture is the historical marker that is located in downtown Blacksburg telling about the founder, William Black.

Mushrooms!

There comes . . . a longing never to travel again except on foot.
 ― Wendell Berry

So many sights to see when I go for my walks!
I'm pretty sure that these are mushrooms growing on the tree in the first pic.  Shelf Mushrooms perhaps? I'm not sure about the gray/white ones.  I thought they looked interesting.

ALPACAS

The neighbors down the street have Alpacas.  I think they are so cute. This house has quite a bit of land with it so it is perfect for them. There is a dark brown one along with this blonde , but he didn't want his picture taken.

No Crowds Here

I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

~  Henry David Thoreau

Just ..... Moo!

 There are times in life
when all you can do 
is
MOO!