Wednesday, December 7, 2016

The Curvy Road Less Traveled

It was one of those days.
The sun was out.
The skies were blue.
And adventure was calling our names.
I had directions.... but, thank you very much...., google maps failed me..
Persistence, determination, several turn-arounds, and a patient driver (King Ron)...we made it!.
"I'M GONNA FIND THIS PLACE, 'CAUSE I SAW IT ON THE INTERNET!"
Perched on a finger ridge of Cahas Mountain is John Gabel's tower.
This is not Ireland, my friends, this is Wades Gap Road, in Boones Mill, Va.(Franklin County)
John and Ron viewing Roanoke's Wells Fargo in the far distance.
John, greeted us, and took us on a tour of his land, his "man cave", and the tower.
The views were magnificent.....a 360 degree view of the nearby mountains and valleys.
John is now a retired school teacher, and doodles daily on his property!
His "man cave" is uniquely built into the hillside!
Man cave... sure does take on a new meaning here!



Oh you should see the inside of this man-cave!
John was one gracious Franklin County guy!
He and Ron talked, and talked, and talked, and talked.
His eagerness to inform us about the process of building his tower was a joy to hear!
(Isn't it nice to hear about someone who gets excited about something! He has a passion, and he is passionate about his hobby!)
The tower is made of local creek rock.
SEVENTY-ONE STEPS.... the number of steps to the top of the tower (I counted them huff, huff).
A spiral staircase winds up to the top!
John is obviously an excellent woodcraft kinda guy. Check out the pegs in these steps!

John Gabel broke ground for the tower in 1993. 
The diameter of the tower is 18 feet and over 50 feet tall.
Did I say magnificent views?? OH MY!


looking at Cahas Mountain
Yep, this curvy road less traveled today, led to a day of being outdoors, walking in the woods,  seeing new things, and meeting new people! The road less traveled often takes us places that we wanted to go to in the first place.




Wednesday, November 23, 2016

HAVE A COMPASSIONATE HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING




















Following are 3 gentle reminders:
Love comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet.
Love is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings' having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped.
Love is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us.
















And as for ME
Now is the time for ME to be the one who nurtures and builds.
Now is the time for ME to be the one who has an understanding and forgiving heart.
Now is the time for ME to look for the best in people.
Now is the time for ME to leave people better than I found them.

Let us not forget the reason for the season, when the first turkeys arrived in the new world and founded this great land. 





Monday, November 14, 2016

A Super-Duper Sunday

Thanks Michael Kline for capturing the GROUP!. 



















Today is the day.
November 14, 2016
The moon is 100% illuminated.
The moon is 363,313.18 km away.
It is 14 days old.
The moon will rise at 17:44 and set at 07:55 (Nov 15)
That's the facts. Here is what you should see:

For those that know me, you know I love looking at the moon.... and the stars.
It takes me away to a happy place. (and between me and you, we all need to find a happy place).
Yesterday (Sunday) was clear.
Our 'photog' group knew that today would be cloudy...........so we seized the opportunity to capture the moon as close to 100% as possible! (and between me and you, we all need to seize more opportunities)
We met at the Roanoke Mountain Overlook.



Can I say how much I love this diverse group?
Good!
I LOVE YOU! (and between me and you, it would do us all some good to be a part of a happy group similar to this!)
We were given hand-outs.
I was familiar with the SUNNY 16 RULE.
The LOONEY 11 RULE was new to me. (and that is much different than LUNATIC, which still has to do with the moon----->NOT ME).
Ready,
Set.
Here is comes.
Click! Boy, it got silent among-st this verbal group, when we saw that moon coming up over the mountain! (and yep, between me and you, it would do a world of good, if every now and then..... we became silent.)
The sun was shining behind us, thus the shadows near the mountains.


Oh what a breathtakingly beautiful site! Peace be still!
































Thanks Tom Cerul, our leader for the evening! Fabulous photo 


































And then my friend Stephen Humpleby from western Australia posted this.... oh my!
























Twenty-three+ members of the EXPOSURE ROANOKE CAMERA CLUB attended this event.
Each of us submitted photos to share with the group.
Every photographer sees something different.... totally different.
King Ron and I can be standing next to each other, same camera, same lens, same tripod, focusing on the same thing, and end up with 2 different photos.... (ready for this one? Between me and you, no 2 people perceive the same thing, My way of seeing things is not the only way. And sometimes there is a better way. 


















Some of us had never done composites before.



















To add a little humor, I found this today on fb. hahahahaha.
Now this is worth trying, so beware of my future composite photos!
Steven Shires of Lexington, Va 


















Yes, it was a Super-Duper Sunday, but today is Monday, and the clouds came rolling in for the super moon tonight.
(And between me and you WE GET WHAT WE GET SO DONT THROW A FIT....lessons from preschool)
Oh wait......There's more!!!!!
Here is an 'add-on'.... It is now Tuesday morning.
Ahhhh..... delighted to wake up and be able to take the Super-Duper Super Moon as she was saying good bye. The sun was coming up and the moon was setting.
100% illuminated




















(100%........hummmmm...... between me and you, we should always give 100%)

Thursday, November 10, 2016

November, 2016 After the Election...A Time For Reflection.......


























It's time to move on......
This election exposed how deeply polarized this country is today. A lot of people are still struggling to accept the words 'President-elect Trump'.
Ready or not, this transition is moving forward.
Now, all eyes are on 2017.
TRUMP WON........CLINTON LOST. (If you don't like the process of the Electoral College,.....get your whiny butts out there and do something about it.)
OH WAIT..... I guess we could call it a tie, and give everyone a trophy!
Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.













But we can't do this!
Therefore..........
Quit drowning your sorrows on social media. You sound like a bunch of HISTRIONIC drama queens/kings.(Click on the highlighted big word, for those that may not know what it means!)
The grieving process is certainly allowable, I get that.
After a few more days, however, no one will pay attention to you, as you will have been profiled into that "eye roll" category.















In other words......
GET OVER IT.
GROW UP.
What to tell your children? seriously? Tell them your candidate lost.
It's not necessary to repeat everything you hear to your underage children.
Your job as a responsible parent is to "TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO".
It is what it is.........until it isn't.
FEAR NOT.
Take control of your own life.
Challenge yourself to control the way you respond (that, my friend, is power!).
Hillary Clinton's concession speech was very gracious:
"Donald Trump is going to be our POTUS. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."
.........What part of that did you not understand?














We have lasted 240 years so far, and both sides agree that America is worth fighting for. We just have to make sure that the fight isn't always against each other. Each of us must decide what kind of person we want to be and what kind of relationship we want to have with our politically estranged friends/relatives. Everyone came to their politics in a real way. If you scratch just below the surface of any political post, you'll find a reason for it. A real one.














At the end of October, Donald Trump spoke in Gettysburg, Pa., and released a plan for his first 100 days in office. A copy of this is now sitting on my desk. I will be watching to see how/what/if/when these issues are addressed.
THE FIRST 100 DAYS (Click on link to read)
I hope Donald Trump is a good president.














Until the dust settles............
remember the past,
be a nice person,
and....



We are all in this T.O.G.E.T.H.E.R
"United we stand, divided we fall"....hmmmmm, where did I read that?
PS. One of my favorite photog acquaintances and exquisite writer, wrote the following (Thank you, Matt Pollock )

Another first.
I go out of my way to avoid controversy on social media and never get embroiled in espousing personal views on religion or politics. Subjects which are deeply personal and differ from person to person.
Just as no one is going to change my faith or belief system I recognized a long time ago that I had no right to proselytize or attempt to impose my beliefs upon others when it came to these areas and that to do so would be disrespectful,rude and a blatant display of ignorance. Just because you are not on the same road or path that I am does not mean you are lost.
Like most Americans, I expect friends, family and acquaintances to respect my space and right to choose as I respect theirs even if I do not see things from their particular perspective. I certainly don't expect or appreciate being scolded, cajoled, laughed at, screamed at or threatened regardless of who you are including family or those whom I have had the honor to call my friends.
For nearly two years I have watched this election grow from something of interest into a circus of unbelievable buffoonery and lower itself into a slowly simmering then boiling pit of sewage. It seems it has been a race to the bottom almost from the very beginning.
Frankly I am sick of it. All of it! Now that its over I am ready to turn the page and hope for the best.
During this election, I have put up with an unbelievable deluge of posts from Facebook family, friends, and acquaintances. As election day approached it became an avalanche and a few of these people began spamming my inbox to the point where one person often filled my inbox with as much as 60% of all notifications I receive in a single day (hundreds)!
I have found it very difficult to deal with this as some of these posters are actual family or dear friends so I have put up with their often harsh and insensitive links and messages believing they would go away once the election was over.
Now I am finding a carry over. A particularly nasty gloating on one side and whining on the other. Did I already say I am sick of all this?
Think about what you are doing. Trump won. He will be our president, period! He only got 47% of the popular vote to Clinton's 53%. I get it. What does this mean. Look around you. Roughly half of your FAMILY and your FRIENDS are looking back at you from the other side of the fence. Some of them are scared. I must confess, I am scared.
The republicans have taken control of the entire government from top to bottom and their leaders have vowed to do some terrifying things. Our house leader, Paul Ryan has made no secret that he intends to eliminate what he calls "entitlements" such as Social Security (didn't we pay into that fund our whole working life?), Medicare, Medicaid and I suspect VA benefits as well. He says he wishes to privatize them. In other words, give a voucher to our trustworthy brothers on Wall Street and let them gamble with the lives of the elderly, poor, sick and helpless, and invest their very sustenance in DAH rivitives and other deregulated abominations as they see fit. Certainly, Trump will not provide any checks or balance to this scenario that I can see. Its open season. But we shall see.
So spontaneous protests have broken out across the country. A VERY bad sign. This has never happened before. People are scared. They spontaneously walked out into the streets to voice their concerns.
Unfortunately, its TOO LATE. Going out and blocking traffic, disrupting businesses and flipping the bird at every CNN reporter will do nothing but make things worse. Even in the most well planned protests you will get elements that will gravitate towards lawlessness and even violence.
Go home. Give our constitution the chance to show that there are good people on both sides who will not go beyond the bounds of civility and decency. If they throw your elderly, poor and minoritys into the street, THEN go out and protest. I will be there with you sitting on the courthouse steps with my 85 year old mother. Until then, stay in the bounds of the law and see how it plays out.
As to the Trump fans, STOP GLOATING! If I see another post smugly stating how they "Love to Spank Liberals" especially on my timeline, I will have to weed you out of my life even if you are family or a former friend. As a matter of fact, if your intention is to continue with this crap please spare me the pain and "unfriend me" right now.
Same goes for whiners. Time to move on and reach out to the other side and be the friends we have always been. America cannot be "Great Again" if its split in two. Plain and simple.
______ End Rant _____


























Sunday, November 6, 2016

The Sun, Moon, and THE Star

Today was an unplanned bucket list accomplishment.
SERENDIPITY!
I've done this many times, but it's been several years.
Actually, more than several years.
The fall weather was absolutely gorgeous!
I knew I wanted to take a few more fall photos before all of the leaves fell to the ground.
I drove my car, parked, and started walking at the bottom of the "old road" up Mill Mountain Greenway.
Of course, I was loaded down with my camera, bag, tripod, cell phone, but oops, I forgot my water bottle. Oh well, I wasn't going too far up the back road.
HA!
The further I walked, the prettier the scenery became!

















I was by myself, with plenty of bikers, and walkers along the way.
I seriously had NO intentions of continuing my upward climb.

























The more I walked, the more I wanted to walk.



























Oh look, there's the moon!

























And before I knew it, I was at the star!























..... and I needed water. (which was provided at the welcoming station!)
 .....and I had to walk back to my car!
Today was a great day!
I walked 5 miles.
















I talked to myself, and answered a lot of questions!
My mind is clear, and ready to take on the week.
It's the first day that DARK thirty is actually at 5:30pm!

The good news.... It was dark enough, early enough to capture the moon.
Photo taken on my patio!
Good night all! ♥ 




Saturday, November 5, 2016

"But, I've Got To Feed My Family."


"But, I've got to feed my family."
It's the first and usually the only quote that I hear, to know precisely what King-Robin Hood-Ron will be pursuing for the day.
Those that know him, know he loooves to hunt.


















Specifically, DEER!
He starts contemplating as soon as summer vacation is over.
The place, the tree stand, the path.
He converses with his hunting buddies Walter, and Andrew.
The hunt begins with BOW season. (The technical term is Archery Deer Season)
His pride this year was making his own BOW(s).
If you missed these 2 posts, click here to read-----> Robin Hood and His Arrows
 or here -----> Osage Orange Tree and Robin Hood
Well, so much for Bow season. He enjoyed being in the woods.
As far as "I've got to feed my family", our freezer from last year's haul is dwindling to one shelf.
The score from Early Archery season was:
Hunter ZERO, deer WON!

































Today was opening day of MUZZLE LOADER SEASON in the state of Virginia.
What is a muzzleloader?
Here's an interesting read! MUZZLELOADER .
If you think your calendar is full of dates to remember, try keeping up with a deer hunter !
There are dates, and rules and counties and restrictions galore! ----> DEER .
All hunters are required to purchase the appropriate VA Hunting Licenses.
As the season temperatures begin to fall, the woods are usually laced with figures like this:



















I'm pleased to announce that as of this moment, I'm living with a happy hunter.
Today's adventure was a success!
THE HUNTER'S carnivore capture!






































"Honey, I've got food for my family!"
I'm guessing a few hundred pounds! It was a whopper.
As an added bonus, I was pleased to accompany THE HUNTER to the processing plant in Catawba, Va. (A first for me in this room!)
These guys know what they are doing!























......and so does THE HUNTER!























I'm thinking of ways to decorate!










































Good luck to all of the hunters. For those that enjoy the hunt, but not the venison, consider donating to ..... HUNTERS FOR THE HUNGRY