Icy & Fuzzy

One of the ice sculptures on exhibit in downtown Frederick's First Saturday Fire in Ice event.

Some of you may remember my fuzzy friend at the ice cream shop and his seasonal changes of attire, here and here. Apropos of the upcoming day, the big fella is sporting a snazzy Valentine's vest.

Winter in the park

See? I told you I'd be back. :D

Until yesterday, I hadn't taken one picture. Not a one. Hadn't even been tempted to take one. Instead, I've been thoroughly enjoying a leisurely, obligation-free beginning of the year. I needed to recapture the spontaneous fun with my camera instead of allowing it to become a burden.

I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I'm here now and have some photos to share of our trek to Baker Park yesterday. I was in my bench mode again...

the fountain is still, the lake ice-covered...

most feathered critters have migrated elsewhere...

the benches sit in their lonely emptiness...

waiting, patiently waiting...

guarding the still beauty...

until the warmth of the sun and friends return.

Day 323 - Country horses

A lovely horse is always an experience....

It is an emotional experience of the kind that is spoiled by words.
~ Beryl Markham ~

Day 321 - Somber stone

The gloomy, overcast day made a fitting backdrop for b&w photos of solitary buildings along the country roads of Frederick.

This forlorn run-down structure might have enjoyed a lovely pastoral setting...

...back when someone cared.

Day 309 - Election Day

None of the predicted lines at our polling place. Most of the people you see above were electioneers. At 11:00 am, the whole process took us about 15 minutes. I'm sure the after-work crowd will have a different story to tell.

Day 306 - More fall colors

This past week of chill has really brought out the colors and today the weather was just glorious, so we took off again looking for more fall eye-candy. This little pretty lives right up the street from us.

Back in Cunningham Falls State Park, we found a spot where we were able to get down closer to Hunting Creek.

On the way back home we stopped near Buckeystown to enjoy the scenic Monocacy River.

Day 303 - Electric pumpkins

Some folks in our neighborhood really get into the spirit of Halloween. This was a clever decoration -- the head (with two faces) on the big one turns around and the lid on the smaller one lifts as a black cat rises up -- cute.

I'm still not too good with nightime photos so these aren't the best quality, but I couldn't resist -- with and without flash.

Day 296 - SSDD

Now, now... be nice. I'm talking about Same SPOT, Different Day. ;)

I took several photos of squirrels and bluejays today, but they all turned out crappy so I deleted them but I did fulfill my project duties of taking a photo a day. Instead, I'm posting a couple I took recently when we were at Cunningham Falls State Park.

These were taken at the same spot but a week apart at different times of the day and under different weather conditions. Note the change in foliage color.

Hunting Creek Lake, Cunningham Falls State Park
October 11, 2008 on a crisp, clear and still day

Hunting Creek Lake, Cunningham Falls State Park
October 17, 2008 on a crisp, partly cloudy and windy day

Day 292 - Chasing colors

We took advantage of another glorious day -- chilly and windy, but beautiful -- and drove up to Greenbrier State Park on South Mountain looking for more fall colors.

There are patches of beautiful color throughout the park, but a lot is muted and there's still a good bit of green showing. I think what we're seeing is what we're going to get this year rather than the vivid panoramic views we had hoped for.

I'll enjoy it while we can though before the winds blow it all away. Lew's Pics has more pretty views of our day's doings.

Day 291 - Old Man and the Lake

Initially, I was frustrated that the elderly gentleman was "in my way" for a clear shot of the lake, but after looking at the photos, I really liked those with him better than those without. He added a sense of pleasing tranquility to the already peaceful scene.

Day 288 - Politics

My discovery word from the dictionary today could have been "policeman" or even "polka dot" but since I don't have anything dotted and couldn't quite see myself convincing the local constabulary to strike a pose for me, I chose the timely "political" instead. Definitely no shortage of political anything around nowadays... ad nauseam!

Day 286 - Season's end

"Corn and grain, corn and grain
All that falls shall rise again."
Wiccan harvest chant

Day 285 - Standing out

We drove back up to Cunningham Falls State Park today to check out the Hunting Creek lake area -- we want to make sure we don't miss the peak color season. There's still a lot of green but the leaves are slowly changing and we found patches of color here and there. This orange beauty caught my eye as soon as we got to the lake parking area...

... another view from the side.

Day 278 - Feeble falls

Even though it's a little early, we went for a drive up to Cunningham Falls in the Catoctin Mountains to see if we could catch some fall color. The falls are almost as scant as they were when Lew took the boys in July, and the leaves are still pretty green. Looks like it'll be another couple of weeks or so before they put on their display.

Day 268 - Mum's the word

A sure sign of fall hereabouts is the abundance of mums that start appearing in yards, garden shops, and stores when the weather cools. When we stopped at Safeway to pick up a few items, there were masses of these yellow pretties on display .

Day 267 - Hair Care

Tonight was cut and color night, so while I was there, Dave let me look around for something yellow. His bin of hair rollers worked just fine.

Day 253 - Serenity

If there is magic on the planet,
it is contained in the water.
Loren Eisley

A sunny day, the lake, the ducks, and time spent with my guy -- it doesn't get more peaceful than that. :)

Day 248 - Learning

The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught,
as that every child should be given the wish to learn.
~ John Lubbock ~

You may remember this statue from my library post in April -- it makes a good subject for hands too.

Day 229 - Apples in the sky

In our travels 'round and about the countryside, we're always on the lookout for unique and unusual water towers. We've passed this one umpteen times, and finally stopped for a picture today on the way back from dropping off the boys. It's located a little south of Winchester, VA, in Mount Jackson. Not surprisingly, apples are one of their primary agricultural products.

Day 227 - Decadent dessert

The boys asked to go to Carrabba's while they were here and since they'll be leaving soon, tonight was the night. They each ordered the Pasta Carrabba (an alfredo-type dish with grilled chicken, mushrooms, and peas) but forgot to request that they leave out the latter two items. It was amusing to watch them each pick out every single piece of mushroom and every single pea!!

They had no problem, however, sharing and digging into a huge piece of chocolate something with brownies, mousse, whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

We had fun. :)