After Labor Day, the unofficial end of Summer, it seems we just morph into the harvest and Halloween season and go with the flow. Mums have replaced weather-beaten petunias in porch pots and I’ve already seen the first Halloween décor in the ‘hood. The whole morning walk has changed dramatically the past few weeks. Not only must I detour two blocks over due to the significant construction on my regular route, but the angle of the sun is different – the sun is getting up later every day and it sure is starting to look like Fall at Council Point Park.
Here in southeast Michigan, this season has had absolutely no rhyme or reason to it and our Summer chugs along, with merely ten days left until Fall … on the calendar anyway.
We had about five days of below-average temps, so long sleeves, or even a light hoodie were welcome in the morning – yesterday it was 74 degrees F (23 C) and 94% humidity when I stepped out the door for my morning walk. Ugh! The homeowners who closed up their pools are wistful for making such a hasty decision. Because Fall kept stepping on Summer’s toes, Mother Nature punished Fall for doing so with some whopper storms last night and more are on the way today and tomorrow – that effectively shows Fall who’s boss!
It’s apple cider time! I popped into Meijer the other day and the harvest goodies take up almost as much space in the grocery store as the Halloween candy, costumes and décor. Pumpkin “everything” seems to compete with caramel apples and of course apple cider.
Speaking of apple cider …
The wasps are giddy at Council Point Park. The wormy apples are plentiful and gathering on the ground and across the perimeter path. They are either dropping off the tree on their own, or yanked off their stems by the squirrels. The squirrels and birds take a few bites, then leave the rest of the apple on the ground to turn brown and rot. Walkers step on them, squashing them nearly to a pulp, then the heat ferments those apples so walking under the tree is like opening a container of apple cider.
What apples the squirrels and birds choose to discard, the wasps are quick to hone in on, so any time you walk past this apple tree, the wasps are buzzing about … let’s just say that buzzed buzzers must be avoided if at all possible. A fellow walker told me his dog was stung by them a few years ago at this very location.
The squirrels’ mindset is “Winter is on the way. Must. Gather. Nuts. NOW!”
The squirrels scamper over to greet me and they do their usual begging routines …
… or perhaps act nonchalantly like “oh, were you going to favor me with some peanuts Linda?”
Sucker that I am, I soon drop nuts near their front paws like they are tiny princes.
Occasionally they’ll stop to munch a peanut …
… but mostly they scamper away to hide those nuts, and soon their paws are fast and furiously digging holes here, there and everywhere …
… so much so that nut gathering becomes a blur. So much for photo ops, huh?
And then there are dribs and drabs of color around Council Point Park.
I’ve been walking at this Park since 2013 and it has always amazed me that the raggedy bushes and spindly saplings that grow along the Ecorse Creek banks are the first to show their shades of Autumn.
I’ve already seen colorful Poplar and Maple leaves littering the pathway or pavilion area.
There are berries that the birds delight in eating.
Weeds and wildflowers provide a touch of color to otherwise blah greenery near the Creek banks.
I kind of like these delicate white wildflowers.
Even the algae bloom makes a colorful, but yucky statement.
The burrs aren’t as vibrant as the berries and blossoms, but make a stunning, late-Summer appearance. They remind us that days of “brrrrrrrrrr” are on the horizon.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Fall has certainly swept in on time unlike spring which dallied in the Bahamas until June!
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For a while I thought the seasons were sparring!
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Wow how gorgeous… how quickly the seasons turn
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Fall has always been my favorite season Michael, even though it means that Winter is on the way. The red, orange and yellow leaf shades are just gorgeous. On my bucket list is to go to see the Fall foliage on the East Coast. The “Leaf Peepers” as they are known, come from all across the nation to view the colors and train trips are very popular to view the leaves from a distance.
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GOOD EYE!
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Thanks Fred!
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You’ve captured such lovely photos of the change of seasons. Those squirrel ones are adorable! I don’t know how you get so close, manage to hold the camera, and toss out peanuts at the same time?
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Thank you Shelley – like you, it’s my favorite season. Those wasps are everywhere – buzzing around the walkers, but more interested in the fermenting apples. As to the squirrels, they are adorable aren’t they? That was Parker looking up at me with the sad look on his face – does it not remind you of a dog making you feel guilty if you don’t share your cheeseburger with him? I should have said it was Parker. I use a mesh bag and hang it from my fanny pack – the bag zips up the front and I open the zipper, and dig into the Ziploc bag with my left hand and I use the digital compact so I can use it one-handed with my right hand. Pretty soon I’ll be in a coat, and can put the peanuts in my pocket – dig in with my left hand, operate the camera with my right hand. It’s tough with the DSLR – I have to wait until they are fed to take pictures.
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The bees are fascinating to watch. Thank you for elaborating on your technique. You’re very clever!!
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You’re welcome Shelley and it is definitely harder to do with the bigger camera as it requires two hands … this time of year, they scramble away to hide nuts more than sit and eat them, unless they’re hungry. Last year I took apples and mini pumpkins for them … two different trips, apples once, pumpkins another time. I used to line them up and down the perimeter path and they liked that … but I had to stop after I saw the Cooper’s Hawk swoop down and try to grab one of the squirrels who luckily escaped. I still gave them apples and pumpkins but tucked them close to the bushes so they could escape. So, interestingly, if I give them peanuts, they are busy with the peanuts and ignore the pumpkins or apples – people who walk later in the morning than me see them munching down later. So this year I must do it on a Saturday or Sunday morning so I can hang out for photo ops. It looks like I went on a Saturday last year, on Sweetest Day to share pumpkins – this was before we were following one another. I could find it easy since I knew I wrote about it on Sweetest Day.
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Aw, you’re so kind to the critters! I’m heading over to read the sweetest day post!
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Great photos as usual Linda. You do have an eye. Those wasps don’t look like my wasps. Mine had yellow stripes and I think they were just yellowjackets although Pest Control guy said not. He said they were too busy for yellow jackets. They’re gone now, so that $170 was money well spent. Hard to feel fall-like in such humidity!
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Thanks Joni – I had to share the shots of the wasps that were sipping on “hard cider” from those fermented apples. Under the apple tree, it smells as strong as apple cider when you open it up. You’re right about the money well spent – soon they’ll be a distant memory and you wish you hired him sooner. He must know his stuff and that’s why he offered to spray again no charge if you saw wasps again. Fellow blogger Tom, made this comment on this post which makes me wonder if the pest control guy told you if they might show up somewhere else in your yard/house?
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My sister-in-law was stung by a whole bunch of Yellow Jacket Wasps recently. She raked right over their ground den. Wasps do not normally attack unless provoked.
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He didn’t say anything about them showing up elsewhere, but then he sprayed all along the back of the house siding, (not just the immediate area) and checked all the other sides of the house. A few days later I saw little bits of white powder drifting down onto the deck, so he gave them a good dose. I think he did a good job. He said it’s getting late in the year for them anyway. He also told me there was no queen bee. He said there are all kinds of wasps – he’d been in business 37 years and had 19 employees, but is down to 12 as it’s hard to find good workers. He does a lot of building contracts. He had a very fancy bee suit which you’ll see when I post about it in my children’s story!
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I’m glad you had a good contractor – we got that small company eventually and they figured out the nest (even though I had pointed to the fixture in the ceiling and said I saw a flying ant disappear in there), but many years with carpenter ants and no solution. It was discouraging. A bee suit – that is interesting. A fellow blogger, Ruth, lives in Michigan, not near me, and they have honey bees and she has posted pics of her husband tending the hives in the past. They live on a small farm and are resourceful with all the produce they grow, their honey – I don’t know ifthey sell the honey, but they do grow a lot of garlic and sell that. She has an interesting blog about their farm life and Ruth makes soap and sells it. I’ll look for her site and send it – I don’t know it off the top of my head and she doesn’t post a lot in the Summer as her/husband are busy with farm activities. I looked up “Please Don’t Eat the Soap” but it’s not that. You would like her.
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I already follow Ruth Linda…..she has an interesting blog and a nice life in the country.
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I didn’t know that – yes she does and I tell her I learn things I never knew reading it.
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I know you don’t have a lot of time to read, but I follow this lawyer from the mid-west and he’s so funny. He posts every Thurs, and while I don’t read all his posts, he posts about jazz and stuff, his wry sense of humour is just my style. Here’s a link to his blog about trying to unsubscribe to the newspaper. https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/93094320/posts/11548
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Thanks Joni – I have saved this link. I will look at it – I can identify with trying to unsubscribe to sites … they will not turn you loose sometimes! I once followed a lawyer in Alaska … she had lived there for years and was very funny. She was actually part of the Mysteristas group I told you about, a group of women who are mystery writers. I wished she had written more stories about living in Alaska where she lived and had her practice.
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Here’s another one called No Fair – about his non-visit to the state fair a few blocks away. I just find his wry sense of humor funny, but when I look at the comments below, mostly from guys as he’s into cars, no one ever comments on the humor, except for Annie – another one I follow who does discussion blogs. So many great writers on here who don’t have many followers. https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/93094320/posts/11535
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I am taking a few hours here this morning to at least get through comments, maybe a walk if it stops raining but just in the neighborhood and will hunker down and work in the house … we have thunderstorms later unfortunately. I read the other post you gave me … the subscription post was very funny and I commented and also followed him. Thank you for passing this blogger along – we all need more humor in our lives … I know I do!
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I don’t read all his posts, I skip the jazz and cars, but do read the humor.
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I likely will do the same as you – I don’t follow cars and never been a fan of jazz.
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I hate jazz. He knows his jazz posts are the least read, as he analyzed his stats one time. I guess jazz enthusiasts appreciate them – to me it’s like chalk on a blackboard.
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PS. Those wasps sure do know how to party! I have them singing in my kids story, they make great backup singers, but maybe a little hard cider would help in warming up the vocal cords!
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Yes they do – I have no doubt the fermented apples are like when you see birds or squirrels after they eat fermented berries – the birds can’t fly straight, and the squirrels keep taking tumbles in the yard. I’ve seen some of those videos – they are very funny.
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Do you mind if I have my wasps drunk on cider in my kids story? I guess I am stealing your idea…..
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Go ahead and use it Joni – if you want these pics in the post, just take a screenshot or I will send you the pics. I have more I took, but they look the same as these.
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Thanks, I had them partying on the deck after a bit too much cider. Thanks but I’m good for pictures – I used a couple of cartoons for the wasps and the vole, as I just could not stomach looking at a real vole, and figured my readers would be turned off too. I won’t put the post up until the following week, as I have the Plein Air Painting one for next week, which I may do on Tues, so as to avoid that Sept 20th protest climate thing. I know it might sound weird, but I had fun doing it and I discuss what inspires creativity in the post, so it’s not just a kid’s story. I even mention Parker as being a muse – as I promised I’d help make him famous!
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I am looking forward to that … it sounds fun. They both do. Hard cider for wasps. When I saw the cider mill last week I was going to stop there and get some pics to use with the wasps post … I took the pics of the wasps the day before, but then there was a group of motorcycle riders (100 or so) and a detou,r so didn’t do that. It turns out they rode last year for a couple who was killed by a car and the money was collected to participate and food at the end sponsored by a bar … all the money was given to the young kids in a fund – they live with relatives now … so that was the same weekend in 2018 according to what I discovered by Googling – I could find nothing on that ride which was the same street and same weekend in 2019 –
I suspect it was the same deal, but I couldn’t verify it so left it out of the post. My next post will likely be the community garden I took photos of at Heritage Park – several weeks ago. I’d better get it out before long and produce is no longer in gardens, but I will say it was shot awhile ago. I will do a quick post mid-week before the 20th as well. I don’t want to do any plug-ins and avoid that issue as well.
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You’re farther along the seasonal path than we are here. I have yet to see any leaf that’s turned color, but will try to remember to snap a pic when I do. As always, I love your squirrel friends. They are a photogenic bunch.
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Yes, in fact those yellow Poplar leaves have been littering the pathway since mid-August. I don’t understand it, because we had a lot of rain in May and June. Last year due to the late Spring, lots of rain in May, but not much the entire Summer, caused our leaves to drop right after Labor Day. Fall is my favorite time of year, even though it means Winter is on the way. The squirrels have lots of personality don’t they? Really, they are no different than a pet who is constantly looking for treats and will be shameless about making you feel guilty if you don’t provide them on cue.
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My sister-in-law was stung by a whole bunch of Yellow Jacket Wasps recently. She raked right over their ground den. Wasps do not normally attack unless provoked. We have a large wasp nest on the side of our house… and i do not mind one bit. They have respected me too.
Those burrs are Milk Thistle plants in the fall (dry) stage. Milk Thistle is very good for the liver. I take the herbal form of it now and then. 🙂
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That scary about the wasps. A fellow blogger had a wasp nest and they were able to get into her house. She sprayed and covered the hole (my suggestion) but covering the hole was not recommended. That is what I did with the black wasps I had earlier in the Summer. Joni had to resort to pest control and did that Monday and they are now gone.
I just looked up the image of a Milk Thistle in bloom – that is what I see the Goldfinch sitting on. I’ve only had one Goldfinch sighting this Summer – sometimes I have seen one every day. And I saw the white soft down a few weeks ago. Thank you for the name Tom – I only called them burrs because they manage to get caught on my clothes sometimes if I get too close to the Creek banks.
I looked at the medicinal properties – also good for inflammatory issues – it must help your arthritis too.
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Milk Thistle might help some with arthritis but i take other herbs that are way better for that.
There are beautiful Thistle plants growing around a pond that i used to frequent a lot. But now a crabby, old farmer put a No Trespassing sign on the area. There are plenty of other places for me to take nature photos in our area, so i don’t mind too much. 🙂
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There is one in every crowd – you were just taking pictures for goodness sake. Your woodsy area and all the parks around here will be flooded tomorrow if you had weather like we did in Michigan – two bouts of torrential rain today. It came down in buckets and we had severe weather warnings up for most of the afternoon. I’m going to welcome Fall which I hope is less volatile. The mosquitoes will be out in droves after this … they are bad enough already.
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Oooh…those hornets! They love smashed apples, especially in the fall. Once a friend and I smashed a few apples on a dirt road to try to attract butterflies. We did get a bunch of butterflies and were having a great time watching them when the wasps and hornets began showing up. Ugh! They chased the butterflies away.
Beautiful nature photos, Linda. I love the teasels. My son took a photo of some teasels once and framed it for me. I still have it hanging on my wall.
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Yes Laurie – they were going crazy buzzing around the ground and I can see how that dog got stung investigating them. I didn’t realize the butterflies would enjoy the smashed apples – how fun to watch them sipping on apple juice, until the wasps and hornets had to crash the party! I like the teasels with a little sun on them, that shows off just how sharp those teeth are – I know the last two pictures look similar, but I honed in on them up close and thought it was an interesting picture even though they are such a drab color.
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I used to have a black lab named Casey. Once Casey got into a yellowjackets’ nest when we were out for a hike. We ran as fast as we could down to a little pond, and I made Casey go in to get rid of all the wasps that were still clinging to her. Ugh! I hate those wasps.
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Oh that’s awful Laurie – yes, they attack and “gang up” on you. Poor Casey – thank goodness there was a pond to get them off before she was stung all over. A fellow blogger said there was a wasp’s nest in a pile of leaves and his sister was raking leaves and the wasps came out in a swarm. You can’t be too careful anytime – I never reach into the leaves or anything in the yard … I have a pair of those yard claws that look like a pair of cymbals and pick up leaves or debris that way – keeps me in my comfort zone.
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Good idea! I had a friend who was pulling up weeds and disturbed an underground nest one time. They all came swarming out at her, but she hightailed it into her house.
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Just something else to worry about! The wasps don’t understand “accidental uncovering of their nest” either!
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Thanks for all the lovely fall pictures. I’ve been enjoying the change of season, but haven’t documented it much. 🙂
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Good to hear from you Michelle. I’ve missed your walks by yourself and with the kids. I guess your colors in Maryland will probably be about the same schedule as here in SE Michigan. Now that school is back in session, the only chance to escape on a walk is when the kids are in school, unless you walk with them after school. It takes a while to get back to that school routine doesn’t it?
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It is nice having time to go on walks again! I’ve been on a couple just this week. I really need to start taking pictures and blogging about them again.
Colors here seem to be about the same. We have the same raggedy bushes. 🙂 Ours may be just a bit more red.
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Glad you got out on a couple of walks this week Michelle. I know it’s difficult with the kids and their school regimens and activities. I miss seeing your trips around Frederick. Interesting that those raggedy bushes seem to get colors first – last year our trees dropped their leaves early in September as we had drought conditions in July and August and we had a hard freeze shortly after Fall arrived. The weather is crazy. We have a stormy day and the first wave of storms to begin this morning – since it is also Friday the 13th, I’m staying put.
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I’ve heard that when Apples (or any fruit for that matter) begin to decompose they can ferment making them mildly alcoholic. I’ve heard of drunk bears wandering around and assume other animals too.
So I see no reason why the Wasps giddy nature isn’t because they are drunk! Making them more aggressive.
On another note,Its amazing that squirrels can remember where they plant their treasures while everything is covered in snow. They must use the trees as benchmarks and have excellent spacial recognition abilities!
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I have actually seen videos in the past showing birds and squirrels that are drunk from eating fermented berries … the videos are funny because the birds can’t fly straight and the squirrels take a tumble or fall over their feet while running around the yard. Here is a funny video with a squirrel who ate too many fermented crabapples:
I have read some amazing stories about the squirrels’ habits in hiding their nuts … they may look like they run around willy-nilly and hide them anywhere, but according to the article, they remember where they put them to dig them up later. At the Park, with all those acres of grassy grounds, I find it hard to believe they could remember, but you will see them grab a peanut and run with it – they get a respectable distance away from where I fed them, then will stop and look around as if pondering where to put them. The problem is they can hide the peanuts and acorns as much as they want, but if the ground is frozen they cannot dig them up, even with sharp claws. And the snow – forget about that too. The last few years the Park maintenance people have been leaving the picnic tables under the pavilion roof – I don’t know if that is because they expect people will be sitting there in the Winter after walking on the trails (when there is no ice or snow on the trails since they don’t clear them) or they forgot or didn’t have time to haul them into the barbed-wire fenced-in area they keep them in til Spring. So I seized that opportunity to leave peanuts there for my pals for after I leave. I make sure they see me putting them there. I don’t understand why they don’t just store them in the nest … I realize they need room to curl up against each other for body heat when it is bitter cold, but maybe another nest-type receptacle to keep nuts handy? Perhaps I am thinking like a human?
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sorry Linda that link does not work.
I do not know but they might not store them in their nest because other squirrels would raid it. Thats why they hide them I bet. With frozen ground I wonder how they feed themselves?
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Hmm – I wonder why? Go on YouTube and search “drunk squirrel had too many crab apples” and I just checked and that was the key words used … it is the first video that comes up, a black squirrel in the snow.
That makes sense – someone (critters or humans) always has to take what is not theirs. I’d like to slip Parker a few Pay Day bars – lots of peanuts – to tuck away somewhere for a snowy and cold day. I can’t imagine how they get to food – there is no way they can dig the frozen ground … I’m sure the berries are all gone by then too.
Perhaps they resort to raiding neighborhood feeders but surely it is not enough to feed all of them. They liked the sunflower bells I left on the picnic table last year at Christmastime and all the seeds I left in a tray for the birds as well, but likely the birds never saw a single seed. At Elizabeth Park, there is a “feeder station” –
all it is is a small tree and a few shepherds hooks and people have taken it upon themselves to come by and load birdseed and load up the suet feeders. It is just people dropping by and they begin in Fall – I tried that on the picnic table … they ate the suet last … peanuts and sunflower seeds are like dessert I guess.
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I was wondering about evolution. What did they do when there weren’t any humans around? They must hide food above ground? Maybe inside trees?
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Inside trees makes sense, in the hollows that you see sometimes. That’s a good question because surely the berries could not last all Winter. I’ll have to remember and look if the apples up high in that tree are still there when it is very cold – but they would be frozen too I’d think. The pine cones are too big to hide and besides they will get dried out. The squirrels don’t eat them when they opened and brown and dry, just when they are soft and closed … they sometimes have a pine cone they are gnawing on and will ignore me as I walk by – they must have some taste and nutritional value, though I have some pictures I’ve taken of pine cones up close and the resin is just dripping off them – wouldn’t the resin gum up their throats and digestive system?
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I think they eat the seeds inside the cones.Great protein!
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Pine nuts and if you buy them in a market they are expensive – or used to be when I shopped at a big produce market which specialized in items not available in the grocery store. Squirrels are smart cookies!
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all animals are smart,only humans are dumb.
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I agree – not only smart, but resourceful. Humans … these days if they can’t find it on the internet, they are scr*wed.
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https://qz.com/1462091/how-do-squirrels-find-their-nuts-in-the-winter/
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That was very interesting Wayne – thank you for sending it to me. I said I often watched them run off then they sit on their haunches as if analyzing their next move, then they scamper off again. So, they likely are sizing up that peanut and where to stash it. The squirrels are intelligent … they are just as smart as the robins tilting their head to hear the worms. I was fascinated by that as well.
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everything out there is far more intelligent than what we give them credit for!
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I agree – I said for years that people don’t give birds credit, calling them “birdbrains” – not true at all. I saw it for myself. But we interacted with our budgies and canaries all the time so we figured we had the opportunity to notice how smart they were, but when you see it in wild animals … you know for sure it is them.
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I watched that video Linda,and it doesn’t make sense. There is snow everywhere meaning the crab apples would be not only frozen but buried and long gone (eaten)
That squirrel has eaten something that is poisoned I bet.
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I just wrote you a comment wondering if the apples are frozen in the Winter when you wondered how the squirrels were sustained in the Winter before humans fed them. I wonder what it ate/drank then? I’ll bet they bury the apples and pine cones too, though I’ve never seen them do that before. I should reach out to the DNR and ask them. The squirrel didn’t have a problem going down the tree initially, it was trying to climb up the piles of snow and like a pogo stick, jumping up and down.
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fermentation requires heat. Before the snow flies all the organic goodies would be consumed.One thing about Nature there is no waste.
Yes,ask a professional but ask someone in a university!
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Yes, the last time I reached out to the DNR it was to ask about the tufted-eared squirrel … it was not a true tassel-eared squirrel with the fur that sticks up straight in back of their ears … those type of squirrels are small like a gray or black squirrel. This was a regular-size fox squirrel and had big tufts of hair behind its ears – gave it a real different look and no other characteristics indicated that it had mated with a tassel-eared squirrel.
So the DNR writes back “your squirrel had a bad hair day!” I thanked them but was not amused and I put their answer in my post about this squirrel. I did ask them about an odd-looking bird I found one time. I sent the photo and they responded “good photo and good find – it is a green heron.” That bird had its neck pulled in and had huge yellow feet and was down at the marina where I used to walk sometimes. I stopped walking there as I have to walk across four sets of railroad tracks and there’s nowhere to park nearby … I should go again before the bad weather sets in. The cement bridge overlooks the marina and there are always lots of mallards paddling around the dock areas.
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DNR might be a good source but I’d go to a local University to ask detailed questions.
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I may just contact where you sent me the link yesterday about the squirrel intelligence.
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Hard to believe that fall is arriving already! The leaves have started to turn here too and the visitors at my bird feeders are increasing quite a bit. I picked most of the apples on my tree, but left the ones that have been nibbled on for the critters. Wasps are annoying! Last year we had a lot of them and even had to call someone out, but there weren’t that many this summer. Maybe the cooler and rainier weather kept them away? Great post, Linda!
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Glad you liked this post Sabine. The bigger trees are still green, but it amazes me how the small bushes’ leaves are already so vibrant. Hope it does not mean an early Fall like last year (a hard freeze the third week in September).
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Summer went by way too fast for me! Hopefully we won’t get any frost anytime soon here!
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My sentiments exactly Sabine – it was a tumultuous Summer for me … too many things going on, work wise and house wise and it seemed at least once a week having severe weather in the forecast … all of just unnerved me. I had some plans today but they are both outside events and it will rain/storm all afternoon. I will get out for a walk as soon as the morning rain stops. I hope the frost and black ice are not in the cards for a while. Sometimes the pathway tends to get coated with black ice come October … October unfortunately is just 2 weeks away!
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If it makes you feel any better, Linda, it’s raining here today and most likely all week. We don’t usually get frost here until late November. In the meantime I’m planning to spend as much time outside to soak up the sun while we can see it in the sky! 😉
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Well that’s not too promising is it Sabine? Maybe they will be wrong – that was us last week, with either torrential rain or severe weather the norm most of the week and the heat spiked up again. I agree with you Sabine – enjoy that sunshine. I’ve been indulging myself and doing that almost all Summer once we got past those rainy weekends through April, most of May and part of June … sometimes to just escape here and all the house mishaps Sometimes you just have to seize the day! (Of course I come home and look at the house and yard and cringe just a little.)
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I’ll keep my fingers crossed for decent weather this week, but we do need rain! Everything seems so dry! I don’t cringe about undone chores anymore! 😉 It’s important to do fun stuff while the sun is shining!
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Yes, sometimes you look and see cracks in the dirt where the grass is sparse. I have some areas that don’t grow good grass and it is amazing how deep the cracks are. I agree with you Sabine – I never was like that before when younger, but now I get out as much as possible when the sun shines – already the sun is getting up later and setting so much sooner. The last full week of Summer – can we have a “re-do and pretend it is just Memorial Day and go from there?
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I’m in on the summer extension! 😉
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I love the colours of autumn. The apples were falling from my tree in the garden and the wasps seemed to be enjoying the apples. I was quite glad when the wasps had gone. Parker reminds me of my cheeky guinea pig Tom, who has now perfected a ‘come feed me’ look. 🙂
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Yes, those wasps get into a big group and dining and sipping on the fermented apples get very aggressive – hope they don’t go after your pear tree Clare. Is it big enough to bear a pear or two? I remember it was small when you showcased it earlier this year. Parker is just like Tom – last year I was either taking a picture or talking to someone and did not go into my stash to give him peanuts right away and he started climbing up my bare leg! I was a little horrified – I was not scared of him doing any more than trying to reach the mesh bag where I have the the Ziploc bag inside there, but did worry about him scratching my bare legs with his claws. From now on, he gets fed right away when I first see him! (Spoiled rotten.)
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It’s the first year we won’t be picking up the apples from our 3 trees. The wasps loved them and we had to be careful we didn’t make them mad. Sure glad that’s done with but I miss the apples!
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I see the wasps there every year but this year it was really bad and I wondered if it had something to do with all that heat we had for about 4-5 days. They were all over those apples. I had some black wasps make a nest over my screen door – they were huge – much bigger than a normal-sized wasp and looked like a carpenter ant on steoids with wings!
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They were wasping over you! hahaha
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Hi L Regarding this:
Mums have replaced weather-beaten petunias in porch pots and I’ve already seen the first Halloween décor in the ‘hood.
– I see it a little here too – but I refuse to buy mums yet – nope – and Virginia will stay warmer a little longer than some other places up north so we can keep the Mandevilla and vinca and daisies a little longer
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They had the mum out in front of the grocery store back in August already … everything moves along much too quickly to be honest and soon the Christmas displays will be out. I was once at a farm market and they had beautiful mums displayed at three for $10.00. It was a great deal as they were flowering and full of buds all different colors. Made to trips and planted them all around one corner of the yard … no rain predicted, but we had three days of rain, those flowers were weatherbeaten and leggy, some of them the soil washed away as new planting soil … what a disappointment. I like when people have the big displays of mums. I went to a nursery last year and took some pictures of all their mums displayed on straw bales with scarecrows about … I like scarecrows and always try to take pictures of them as the harvest season progresses.
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I saw huge pots of mums yesterday for 4.99 – and almost grabbed a couple – but I cannot yet!
and sorry about the disappointment with the mums you bought – and it puzzles me as to why some plantings thrive and some flop – well you mentioned the weather and all – but sometimes it is a mystery
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Too warm for your mums I suspect – they are needy in that they need a lot of water, but too much rain just trashed mine. I lost some and some never looked the same and got really “leggy” so I had to pull them out eventually. I’ve seen annuals and perennials planted side by side and one flourishes and the one fizzles. It is a mystery.
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😊🌺🌺🌺
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Funny, my sister-in-law (who was visiting with my brother from out-of-town over the last few days) and I talked about the word “raggedy,” its usage and possible origins. And now I see you used it in your blog post. We both decided that we really liked the word, especially when used to describe how someone feels (as in “I feel raggedy today”). Anyway, lovely pictures of the changing season in your area. Still no sign of fall here yet… and I definitely don’t feel raggedy today!
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That is funny Janis – I love that word as it fits the bill for so many things. I just commented to a fellow blogger (Anne Mehrling) that I feel badly when I see my closets of work clothes and the way I look in the house now. I started working from home rather suddenly and I really used to love getting dressed up for work – the lure of working at home outweighed putting on makeup, getting dressed up and enduring a commute. I am raggedy looking many days. 🙂
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What a lovely descriptive post about the change of season. I love how you have seen the first signs of Halloween deco too as I know it is so big over there with you. Thanks for sharing your trips out and about again. You brighten up my day so much with your posts ❤
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Thank you for saying that Zena – yes, the people here set up their harvest and even Halloween decor right after Labor Day. I have already taken some photos of Halloween pictures and will share them later this week. I am happy to brighten your day with nature posts,just as you brighten my day with Munch’s antics and devotion to you.
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I love all your photos, your close up photos of the dried buds, I am not sure what they are. Those photos are beautiful, awesome composition. I talked about this today, you take beautiful photos along with, you are creating images. I read that on a photographers blog yesterday. The details are just beautiful. I never have squirrels come up to me, mostly I always have my dogs with. I like how they come right up to you and look at you. 🙂
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Thank you Sandra – there were so many wasps that day and the whole area smelled like a cider mill from the apples. I bent down as close as I could to them as I had the small camera with me, but no worries about them flying up and stinging me – they were so busy clustered all over the apples that they didn’t pay any attention to me. I like the little flowers and buds and berries around the Park and I watch from Spring to Fall and how the berries change color, the blossoms arrive and drop off and we have some pretty wildflowers there too. And the white flowers in that post, I did not know what they were, and in the late Fall, they became kind of hairy looking and a fellow walker pulled off a sample and asked me what it was. I took a picture of it, then went to see the entire bush to take a bigger picture – I don’t walk in the second “loop” at the Park too much. Even though there is the Creek that runs along the path, it is more in the open and across from a residential district so not much to see. I stay where the Creek is widest and accessible to watch the waterfowl and the squirrels have all their trees. I went over there to check it out and used the photo in a post and asked if anyone knew what it was. Rebecca, who writes a nature blog and lives in Tennessee said it was a wild clematis and sent me a link. This bush and several others grow like weeds there – just gorgeous all Summer and it’s hard to tell what type of wildflower it is sometimes because you can narrow down the color, shape, amount of petals and still end up with lots of possibilities, especially white flowers. I forgot to mention to you, I also have an owl on my photo bucket list and I really can’t count my eagle shots from the other day – when I do the post, you’ll see why – they are quite small in the picture. I remembered this post about the wasps but returned to see the squirrel photos I used – yes, that is a cute picture isn’t it – they do run up to me and I understand squirrels have bad eyesight so I must stand out to them – maybe they see the bag I carry or because I am tall. In the Summer I use a mesh bag on my fanny pack – I don’t feed them as much in Summer since they can forage easier. Did you see how skinny the squirrels were back in September as opposed to now – they look like little butterballs with the extra fat layer and heavier fur that Mother Nature provides for them to weather the elements. I give them Nutter Butters occasionally in the Summer – they run off the calories.
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It sounds like you have a variety of parks to go to, that is nice. A good change of scenery. I read one of your post where they had signs telling about the different trees, good information signs. It is nice that the park systems does that. I have a hard time finding the names of stuff also. If I can find it I will add it. I dont have a photo of an owl either, I wonder if we will ever get one. I here them in the evenings around the house, but in all the years I have lived at that place, I have never seen one. That will be a challenge for both of us. I did notice how skinny they are, they have such lustrous coats in the winter. The cookies are good for that.
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Yes, I agree we have many parks nearby and more to visit if I would feel comfortable taking the expressway. Today I heard that all the rain we’ve had this Winter is going to cause big flooding problems in all the parks with shorelines and I guess Belle Isle in Detroit is going to have a big problem, but they said it will be similar to what parks experienced last year. We had water creeping up and over the seawalls or grass that was spongy and soaking wet. I’ve not been to Belle Isle in Detroit in years – in high school, I walked in a March of Dimes walkathon with Bob Seger as the celebrity who led the group – that was in 1973. My boss rides his bike there most days unless out of the office. I am assuming I don’t see the owls as I’m not out in the dark, but after I wrote a post lamenting not seeing a snowy owl that had been seen on Point Mouillee, a photographer from the neighborhood whom I met one time at Council Point Park while he was taking pics of the Fall leaves, and subscribed to my blog asked if he could send me pictures of an owl taken in the middle of the day at our DPS office. It was a cute little brown owl. They have snowy owls flying around Detroit in the downtown business district – no one has mentioned it this year, but in Winters in the past they have sightings of them and photos of during the day. I saw my first owl in a cage at one of the metroparks – I’d not even seen one in a cage before. I hope we can both get a shot or two this year.
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They are talking lots of flooding on the Mississippi again also. There are two or three owls around the house in the summer, and they start hooting in the evenings, it is kind of a spooky sound. My one dog does not like it, she will howl when she hears them.
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Yes that is a spooky sound, like the loons. My parents rented a cottage near Alpena when I was young – it was 1968 because I remember the black flies were pretty bad so we did not sit out much at night and on TV there was a political convention and the Summer Olympics. We often went to bed early – you’d hear the loons, owls and moose every night – spooky sounds.
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I have not seen a loon in so long. They are so pretty. I have never seen a moose either, I will put that on my bucket list. There are some in the UP, maybe I will see one.
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Yes, they are pretty color too and their perfect profile when you see them in the water. I have not seen one since being up North either. Their noise is a little haunting sometimes.
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I cant remember there sound, I will have to look it up sometime
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I’m not a movie buff but I remember seeing “On Golden Pond” with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn and they had loons on the pond and they would make that noise.
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Thank you for the reminder. I might try to find that movie again. I like the older movies.
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Yes, it was a good movie and the loons were “featured” a lot in the movie.
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Here you go – short and sweet and eerie:
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That is so cool, and it reminded me of the movie right away.
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They had longer calls on YouTube, but that loon called twice in such a short video … always eerie and sends chills up your spine.
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They are so unique looking..
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Yes perfect posture – I never remember seeing them moving or twisting around or diving, just swimming straight – pictures you see seem the same too.
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Your right, they always look like that. I saw them all the time when I lived in Minn. That is the last place I saw them.
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They are regal looking. I just visited your post – those flowers and the lighting are very beautiful, no matter that the blooms are long gone – you have made them just as gorgeous as before. I am going to leave here now to go through my pictures for the geese and ducks on the ice and goose fishing to publish this weekend … I have a lot of pictures to go through and the second post will be what I saw on the River (not as much as you unfortunately). Have a good evening Sandra.
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You to Linda, look forward to seeing your photos.
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I worked on the photos last night, loaded them up in a post this morning, wrote a quick draft of the narrative to go along and will have to work on the text tonight … it is very long – I had fun with the goose chomping on a fish photos and it was hard to pick which ones to use. I’ve cut myself short on time and need to hustle now to get going timely for what will be the last trip to the Park for a few days given the snow/sleet forecast.
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I look forward to reading it, it doesn’t matter how long your post are. Your writing draws me in like reading a excellent real life story. Which it is, I like how you call your area the hood. Have a good day Linda,
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Thank you Sandra. I do know I am wordy sometimes, but also, like you said, it is like a collection of small stories, and sometimes it is not easy to get everything fit into a short post. I’m going to try and finish it up tonight to post Saturday morning. I will hold off on the second part as I’m going to write two short posts next week – Tuesday is my 7-year WordPress “blogiversary” and also, as I mentioned before, my 40th year as a legal secretary. That won’t be a long post. Have a few ideas about it and then Valentine’s Day. I got some heart-shaped cookies and took them to the Park and a few to the “house squirrels” … Parker grabbed one and I took a lot of shots of him eating it. I’ve not looked at the photos yet – I took enough to ensure I got him starting it and halfway through, then he tried to bury it. The house squirrels were apprehensive and didn’t eat them while I was there – I came home then one remained, next morning, it was gone too – I put it up high. I’m having some fun with the photos too, which I didn’t really do too much before, but I figured that the “whimsy” in the blog title, might as well do a few fun things from time to time. I may even do the second part for Sunday – I really doubt I will be walking over the next five days or so due to the snow, sleet, etc. but do have to do a few things in the house.
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You are such a good writer, that is a talent, a gift. I can not put my words together like that. I like to do humorous post now and then also. I like to read post that put a smile on my face. And the animals we take pictures of seem to do that all on there own. I can’t always think of funny things to say, I am terrible at telling jokes. But I do love to laugh. It makes one feel so much better.
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Well I missed this comment from earlier. Thank you – I am enjoying the squirrels as they put a smile on my face. I had a few squirrel shots I was going to turn into a Super Bowl post and decided against it and worked on the pony ranch post instead. I’m not a joke teller either, but I can think of some funny things to include in a post and I find there are enough people who remember the “good old days” that it resonates with them. Like using the ducks for the housecleaning post. My mom and I didn’t see eye-to-eye on the housecleaning and I really have to do better on it, but people can disagree and still love one another – I hoped to convey that in the post. It was a bone of contention between us, but it is good to poke fun at yourself too sometimes. I poke fun at myself all the time – I have said I’m sure my neighbors don’t see me talking away to the squirrels and think I’m a little off.
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We have to be able to laugh, I dont take things to serious, life goes by to fast not to laugh. I talk to my dogs all the time.
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Yes, the older you get, you realize that you have to let some small stuff slide. I talked to my canary all the time – he sat here, not far from the table where I sit now and I never got him up before I was home from walking, errands, etc. so he was never alone. He slept in a separate room – very spoiled, but never by himself. He was a good companion, but I couldn’t bear to lose another pet, so that is now and I concentrate on squirrels now. 🙂
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It is so hard to lose a pet, but taking care of the wildlife is just as rewarding and they appreciate it I am sure.
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Yes, it was and I would be upset to lose one of these guys too, so try to be realistic about it but it is rewarding having them around – I get lots of smiles watching/interacting with them.
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I know, every year I look for Mittens the squirrel to make sure she is still around. So many things can happen to them in town. I saw her in the fall, i will look for her when i get back. I better quite talking your ear off. I sure enjoyed memory lane tonight. I better hit the hay, like they use to say.
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Mittens was a cutie with those white paws. I’ve enjoyed chatting with you and enjoyed the trip down memory lane as well. I am ready to hit the hay to be up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to shovel. (Wrinkling my nose.) Have a good night Sandra.
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You also Linda.
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I just looked and it is not bad ($$-wise) and looks like they do it in-house, which is good.
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And it would be worth it to see them again. It has been years since we watched them. Thanks for that Linda.
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You’re welcome and I like the idea that they will do it on site Sandra, though not to scare you, but in 1982 I took a Panama Canal Cruise. I had taken a lot of rolls of film and the one I was the most excited to see was the actual passage through the Panama Canal. I had gotten up very early in the morning to stake out a place to stand and would remain there all day … it was very hot and tropical, so I wanted a place where I was out of the direct sun as the passage takes many hours (an entire day, at least 8 hours if no hangups). Took an entire roll of film there that day and never moved from my spot. I returned home from vacation, went to the one-hour processing store in the building where I worked and dropped off all the film – went on my lunch hour and they were missing a roll – it was that roll and I asked if it fell behind a counter and they said how many rolls it was but the finished prints were minus one roll – all they could do was give me a free roll of film and pointed to the small print on the package. But that was many years ago and I was upset – I had talked to the ship’s photographer on the cruise – all the single people on the cruise sat at one table – just for their seating purposes as they sat families/friends together and we were kind of the oddballs – so I was friendly with him and wrote him and told him what happened and asked if I could buy some prints for my photo album and he sent some that he took but did not sell to me for free which was nice. I think you should do it – it seems reasonable to me and not sending it through the mail is a good idea. I am sorry I did not read your post last night. I said goodnight and went to bed. I did not go to Reader at all yesterday and did not go to my e-mail either. I caught up a little on e-mail this morning (I was behind due to the long Council Point Park Sunday trek with fish-eating goose I am working on and still have to write the text which I’ll do tonight). I am going to stop there now, then as soon as i is light, need to go outside and shovel – can’t tell how much fell as it is still too dark.
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That was so nice of him to send you some photos. So you at least have some shots to remind you of the trip. I found some vhs tapes when we had to clean out my step mothers apartment. I made those into dvd, they were a little expensive but worth it. Some videos we had never seen .
Sometimes I take a break from reading post and emails also. I get caught up on the days of bad weather. Or I do most of my reading in the morning when it is still quiet. Have a good day Linda,
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Well I got caught up on e-mail before I came here – did a few this morning but have not gone to Reader yet. I am behind two days but don’t want to stay up too late. I do get up early and will be getting up earlier once I can get out earlier but happy to see the sun getting up earlier and earlier. We got two inches of crusty snow and it has been snowing and sleeting so tomorrow will be another 2-3 inches and a little slippery – same as here. More snow on Sunday, so now Winter has settled in for the Winter likely. That’s too bad – it has been a good run. The videos are priceless and worth it to have them put onto a CD and I think they did a flash drive too on the Walmart site. I had a video camera my parents bought me for Christmas after the 35mm camera. I took it once to the ad agency where I worked and took videos of the department – there were 40 of us. Then we lost our major account and everyone (or most of them) went to other agencies. I should convert the video one day for old time’s sake but have no one to share it with now. It was nice of the ship photographer to do that – he gave me some pointers as he went on all the same shore trips that we did and attended the cruise events along with us so took lots of pictures. We had a nice group at our singles table – we kept in touch for a while afterward, but it was long before any social media, so eventually lost touch with all of them.
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I didn’t do alot of reading today, will ne back in Iowa this weekend. I can’t read to long at night, it puts me right to sleep. I have always been a morning person.
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I am a morning person too – I promised myself I would read 20 books this year. I bought some new ones the end of 2019 and I have books my mom/I bought together but I never got to read once I stopped taking the bus. I was typing a little bit ago and nodded right off – the heat was on and just closed my eyes and woke up to gobbledy-gook on the screen.
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I was doing that earlier, about 4pm, I was trying to edit photos, but it was to late in the day. I have not read a book in a long time.
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Yes, I have that problem if it is too quiet in here – I have the radio on sometimes and it helps. I had not read a book in twenty years and a fellow blogger loves to read and would do book reviews and I liked one of the books she reviewed so I bought it. I read it and another one over Thanksgiving and then read a third book at Christmas or New Year’s but have not gotten back to it again. I forgot how much I enjoyed reading – I took the bus for years so always read on the bus and my lunch hour, then we moved out of downtown Detroit and I started riding with someone in the building – no more reading time and have missed it … I had tried to spend less time online, but not been too successful at it though.
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I like reading others post, it is a nice variety and not as big as books. My sister lives reading and all her kids do. They buy books all the time. I would have no place to put them if I bought them.
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I had that problem already with the ones I bought. I did want to get back to them and had figured the ones in the basement I’ll keep for a while longer – there are books (all paperbacks) upstairs too that my mom never got too. We used to go to Waldenbooks once a quarter to buy books – back then we were both avid readers. I am leaving to go to Reader now Sandra – have a nice evening – it is still early but I am two days behind there.
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Have a good night Linda, talk later.
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Congratulations on both accounts. Your anniversary’s. A great career and I still think you should write a book. Or a few short stories in book form.
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Thank you Sandra – when I first began the blog, the friend who moved to New Mexico about three years ago, suggested I do a little collection of stories and call it “Strollin’ Downriver” – I was incredulous, but he had done a small book, a novella, so suggested it. At that time I didn’t have any photos with my posts and when I started doing the posts with pictures, I used stock photos from “Dollar Photo” so that is why I never attributed to anyone in those posts. If you see a picture without attribution it is one I bought years ago. In those days I did a one-word title and one long paragraph – a far cry from the long posts I am writing these days.
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Well that might be what you have been practicing over the years. Preparing you to be a writer of books in your retirement. Not only short stories, but children’s books. Teaching kids about nature getting out and seeing the world around them. But your words are for all ages. Reminding us of times gone by, but still needing to never forget the good times.
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Thank you Sandra. I am really enjoying writing a lot – I am glad my neighbor convinced me to start a blog as I never would have done it myself. I like going back to the past and the best thing I did was scan in those photos. Many albums and scrapbooks of photos and they are not full-sized photos in many instances – my mother had a Baby Brownie camera and it took very small pictures and I didn’t want to ruin the pictures and so I took scans of an entire page – so I have tweak to enlarge the photos in some cases. I like putting the B&W photos in with the modern photos – makes it more fun that way.
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My husband knows a lot about cameras, I just mentioned to him if he knew what the Baby Brownie camera was, he said yes, he even explained how it worked and what it looked like. His Dad was a photographer also, they both had the dark room and everything. I do like black and white photos. I have done a few that way. I should try doing more of them.
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It looked like a little box and had a braided strap. My mom gave it to me when I got older and I took photos with it for a long time. A fellow blogger mentioned some items of her mom’s that she found after he mom died and took pictures of those items and recalled her mom using them in a blog post. One was a Baby Brownie camera – I Googled around and found one like my mom had used. My father was from Germany and bought a Leica 35mm camera there before he met my mom. I can remember that as I think the brown leather case had it stamped name on the front. However, the pictures he took were not as good as the Baby Brownie. I saw that because whether it was the camera or my father not composing the pictures, almost every picture he has cut me out of the picture – that is why I mentioned it in today’s post … even the header image, he almost cut off the front of the horse. After the Baby Brownie, I had a Kodak pocket camera for years after that – I took it everywhere and only stopped using it when the door you put the film in got loose and light was getting in. I like the B&W photos too – I only used that once when I went to a Model A Ford exhibit and took a picture in B&W – using B&W did not get the effect of how shiny those antique cars were though … the cars were waxed and had a high sheen (except one guy had the original paint job). So I just did the one car only.
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I noticed that in your photo, the top of your head was cut off, my step mother did that all the time also, I think she kept both eyes opened, and kept looking with the wrong eye. 🙂
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I had an idea a few months ago to write a post about photography mentioning the Baby Brownie, the pocket camera and my parents bought me a Polaroid camera before they bought the 35 mm camera for my birthday when I was about 24 years old. But I was going to write about that and all the pictures in the album and was going to mention that every picture he took, even as a baby, I was over in one side and the landscape (not always beautiful) or the car was in the picture. You will see it as you go along. Maybe that is what he did as well – he wore glasses, but so do I. If I do this photography post, I want to include a story about our neighbors across the street – this is a great story and you’ll appreciate it. They were married for over 60 years. They had four kids. They were inseparable, and only apart when she had the four kids. So he got cancer, passed away and it took a toll on her (as my mom said it would as soon as he was gone) … she got dementia and had to go to a nursing home, assisted living would not even work – she could not be by herself. She passed away within a few months after that and this was the same year as my mom died. Anyway, her kids came to clear out the house and go through their things and put the house up for sale. In the corner of a dresser drawer they found a box and it had a Kodak Instamatic camera. They were not rich and she stayed home and they had kids one after the other, the three boys and one girl were a year apart. So they had a roll of pictures, never developed, taken at Christmas each year of the family … the kids got the pictures developed and they were perfect, such old film, and all B&W too. Can you imagine – they never developed the film and got to the end of the roll so could not take any more pictures. They always wondered why there were no family albums and the parents never told them about the photos, nor said it was expensive to develop the pictures.
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That is such a wonderful find for them. What a beautiful story, that is what happened to my Grandparents, he died first from heart problems and she died about 9 months later. They were only in there late 50’s. What a gift for the kids to have all those photos. Photos are so important, grandpa would get the projector and slides out once a month. He took lots of photos and videos. And we would watch home movies, so much fun.
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That happens so often with couples who are so devoted to one another. My mom and I predicted she would literally die of a broken heart and not long after he died, my mom called her and they had been best friends since we moved here in 1966 – she hung up when she answered the phone. We would see her out in her yard, she would have the watering can in her hand, but just standing there with it. She did not recognize either of us. She wouldn’t eat, didn’t remember how to cook and did not garden – she had a beautiful perennial garden but lost interest in it. She called across the street to me when I was outside to ask me the time and what day it was and called me “girlie” – very sad. The kids were very surprised to find the roll of film. Their whole childhood in one roll of film. Home movies would be fun to watch – where did the movies end up?
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Dementia is a hard thing to have happen, I had a step grandmother that ended up with it and forgot who I was. It was very hard. My sister has the movie reels, no movie player though. I should turn them into dvd, I will have to ask her.
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I know you can use a service to turn them into a DVD – I have heard it advertised on the radio. The company is Legacybox.com. However, I was looking for the site and found that Walmart’s does it – even better. https://www.dvdwalmart.com/services-and-pricing/movie-film-transfer
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Thank you for the link, I didn’t know who would do it. I saved it.
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You’re welcome – I have heard of Legacybox (https://legacybox.com/) but I think it is better not to send them through the mail and risk losing them. There are enough Walmart’s around to make it easier.
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That would be bad to lose them. I will check wallmart.
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My husband said that was a problem with the Leica, the lens was off centered from the view finder. And there was a small square in the view finder in the bottom right corner. So you were suppose to put your subject in that area or you would cut the top of the photo off.
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Wow – tell your husband thank you as I always thought he just didn’t pay attention – maybe I ought to take that comment out of the post? I always wondered why he could not take a correct photo. You will notice it time and time again. We have it easy now don’t we?
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We sure do, the cameras are amazing now. I still prefer our dslr cameras over cell phone cameras. I had a small pocket camera before switching to the Nikon, and I could not take a clear photo for nothing. I finally realized it was my camera. Everything was program only. You could not adjust the settings. It is more fun now.
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My pocket camera was very simple – just a thin camera and carried it everywhere with me. That was when Kodak ruled the photo industry. How sad how far they have sunk since people rarely develop film now.
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He said Kodax filed bankruptcy in 2012. My father in law was talking about that last week. That kodax invented the first digital camera back in 75, but they held onto the idea to long and cannon and someone else jumped in ahead of them
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I think I remember that now – I could not have told you the year but I guess it was inevitable once the digital cameras were so popular. That’s a shame and really too bad that Kodak could not jump on the bandwagon first and had to lose that prestige.
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Yes, that is why I was so surprised that the pony stable was still in business at your park. Places usually dont survive that many years.
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That’s true – it could be since the park is so old too, so kind of goes with the territory. They have those historic bridges that are as old as the Park and figure this is just an enhancement.
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It is good family time. Getting to all the parks.
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Yes it is.
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