Autumn Waterfalls: Part Three

On this Halloween, you have been scared enough!

Now, sit back with your hot cup of cider and your bowl of chocolate left over Halloween candy, and enjoy this third in my series of waterfall photographs!:

This log was brought down to the waterfall shelf and is caught there:

Down river a bit from the waterfalls:

Closeup of the trapped log:

Glancing back at the waterfalls from downstream:

Small shelves of waterfalls in the autumn beauty:

A little further downstream:

A splashing wonder!:





Closer to the falls:

A view through the fall foliage:

A beautiful scene on a beautiful fall day!:

Happy Halloween everyone!

I hope you enjoy your day as much as we enjoyed this one.

Autumn Waterfalls: Part Two

I am continuing today with my series on the waterfalls we saw on our trip out to the woods recently. Enjoy!

Looking through the trees at a pretty waterfalls:

Same waterfalls,

another view:

This log got caught in a pretty scene:

Standing in the middle of the waterfalls:

(Not really, it is the wonder of a zoom lens!):

Wonderful waterfall shelves:

Love the rush!:

And the sparkling sun on the yellow leaves and water:






I love catching the movement of the rushing water in the shadows, too:

And the water's descent into the colorful autumn forest:

A perfect place for meditation and wonder:

Since we visited three waterfalls on this day,

I will have a few more posts this week yet of the beautiful scenes we were privileged to see.

Have a SPOOKtacular weekend, everyone!!

Autumn Waterfalls: Part One

About two weeks ago, before we got our first snowfall, we went on a drizzling day to find some waterfalls in the autumn color.

We knew that the rivers would be high with a lot of fast moving rapids because we had gotten rain almost every day on the week prior to our trip out.

We visited three separate waterfalls, and so the next two blogposts will be sharing of the photographs I got on that outing.

We had a great time, packing a picnic lunch and hiking in the woods. Even though it was wet and raining off and on, the air was crisp and the colors were wonderful.

This shot is looking down from a small cliff at the fast rapids of the Silver River:

The river was making a loud roar as it rushed down this narrow rock path:

Further down the same river, it reached a rock shelf and made a small waterfall (The Silver River Falls):

All the splashing and frothing as the water squeezed itself through the rocks was fantastic!:

Can't you HEAR it???:

If I were the water, I would want to flow into

THIS.

Wouldn't YOU?:

Here is a view of the Silver River waterfalls from the bottom of the Silver River looking back upstream:

We spent some time going up and down by the falls, just admiring the view:





Not only were the falls gorgeous, and the river banks beautiful,
but LOOK at the path following the rushing, high river:

The woods seemed enchanted.

The water was so high it was brimming and lapping at the banks as it rushed downstream.

The nearby rocks on the shore were wet with the splashes of the water as it rushed by.

My husband kept holding on my coat as I leaned in for pictures, afraid I would slip into the river!

(He knows me well).

I mean, wouldn't YOU want to get close to the edge of THIS

to photograph it?:

I made it through this set of waterfalls and rushing river without incident, (just in case you were wondering).

Stay tuned for my next blogpost, as we saw many other pretty waterfalls on the same day!

More Dumb State Laws!....Delaware

For those of you that aren't regular readers, What the heck is WRONG with you? , every once in a while I do a blog post on Dumb State Laws. I have been doing them alphabetically, so am now on the "D's"....so next up?: The wonderful state of Delaware!!





So, below are the dumb state laws I found in Delaware, along with MY COMMENTS in bold italics. Enjoy!:


1. “R” rated movies shall not be shown at drive-in theaters.
Well then. How are we supposed to make out in privacy? There is going to be a LOT more action happening in the regular theater balconies, my friends.
I suppose this was a way to help prevent pregnancies in Delaware at the drive-in theaters. But where there is a will, there is a way. I am sure some of those hot and heavy R movies got people all "in the mood" and they found someplace to love it up close to the exit of the drive-in anyway. I would hate to live next door to the drive-in and have a long driveway or a wooded lot, you know what I mean? Dang that shift lever...it is ALWAYS in the way!!

2. It is illegal to fly over any body of water, unless one is carrying sufficient supplies of food and drink.
I guess there aren't a lot of flights leaving Delaware over the Atlantic Ocean then....because most of the airlines now do not supply meals. Or maybe you have to load on with a huge backpack. What is the deal with this law, anyway? Are the flights leaving Delaware that unsafe that they think they are going to crash land in the water and then you have to float and have food and water as you float, hanging on to the wing in the water, or what?

3. In Lewes:
It is illegal to wear pants that are “firm fitting” around the waist.
I will never be allowed to visit Lewes. Especially on Thanksgiving.
Woo HOO! Maybe that means elastic waisted pants will be in fashion there. Awww...the comfort!
What do they do..have a cop walking the streets, stopping people and seeing if (s)he can fit two fingers between one's pants and skin? Maybe THAT is where those God-awful hanging pants trend started (where they wear their pants hanging half way down their butts with their underwear showing)?

4. Also in Lewes: Getting married on a dare is grounds for an annulment.
Well, they are NO fun.
I wonder if they have a similar law that says getting divorced on a dare is grounds for staying married?
I wonder if they have a law that says getting pregnant on a dare is grounds for adoption?


5. In Rehoboth:
No person shall change clothes in his or her vehicle.
Again. They are NO fun. Wonder if you can do it if it is on a dare?
What if they are firm fitting in the waist and they are heading to visit over in Lewes in their car...I mean they would have to change so they weren't arrested there, right?
What if they are homeless and living in their car? Do they have to go outside and change outside?

6. One may not whisper in church.
Everybody HOLLER in church then. Speak up really LOUD when you tell Johnny to quit pulling Suzie's hair. And make sure you YELL at Uncle Floyd to stop snoring, so everyone in the congregation can hear you.
Since WHEN is God hard of hearing?

7. No person shall pretend to sleep on a bench on the boardwalk.
Don't PRETEND to sleep on a bench...go for the REAL thing. Snore! Heck, even dare to dream on the bench! Just don't PRETEND to sleep.
Even if your husband is going on and on about how the quarterback should have passed or if your mother-in-law is babbling about what a good son your husband used to be...faking sleep will NOT get you out of it there, because you will be arrested.

8. Changing into or out of a bathing suit in a public restroom is prohibited.
Don't do it! Instead....just step outside in the open and change into your bathing suit!
Or, better yet...just strip out of your clothes on the beach...who needs a bathing suit anyway?

9. Six-year-old girls may not run around without being fully clothed.
Those parkas are going to make those six year olds really hot in July.
By the way, I guess it is okay for the twenty year olds to run around without being fully clothed. But the six year olds? No way!
Such discrimination against six year olds! If you are seven, you must be okay.
Heck, what about the ninety year olds? They may want to reconsider the law and change the age. Because as a citizen of Delaware, I think it would be more of an offense. Don't you?

10. Alcohol may not be served in nightclubs if dancing is occurring on the premises at the same time.
I don't know about you, but I only get the courage to dance if I have had a drink or two first..so there probably isn't a lot of people dancing in Delaware.
What is the use to call them a nightclub if you can't dance at them?
Guess there aren't a lot of wedding receptions booked at nightclubs either. I mean after the champagne toast, how you going to do the Hokey Pokey?

11. In South Bethany:
All persons must carry a bag with them at all times when they walk their dog in case said dog “poops”, or risk a $100 fine.
I kind of agree with this law. But when a dog has to go in the woods, do they have to carry a bag then too? And what about CATS? Isn't this discriminatory against dogs if cats get to go wherever they want without their owners going behind them with bags? And then do they have places to PUT the loaded bags after they are required to collect the ummm....results? Or must the owners carry them home?
I saw a sign at the park that all people with pets must put their animal's waste in a bag or risk a fine...and they were OUT of bags in the stand next to the sign.
Heck, I would be tempted to leave the "results" of the dog next to the sign then, with another sign saying : When you are ready, so are we.

This and That in the Autumn....

Because we have already gotten SNOW and our leaves have already mostly fallen off already here in upper Michigan, I want to post today some of the autumn pictures we took a few weeks ago for you.



Here was a pond with plenty of color to see:

This was taken of the same pond, just on the other side. It was a very still morning, so I wanted to get a shot of the refections in the still water:

We ran across this abandoned farmhouse.

Look in the doorway!

Doesn't it look like a man in the door?

A perfect Halloween House!!:

Fall is definitely here when you see fallen acorns:

This is our back yard, which faces the lake. It was taken about three weeks ago or more, as the first leaves were changing in our yard:

I am not sure what kind of red berries these are....but I am pretty sure they aren't edible. But they sure look pretty along with the fall foliage:

Another pretty fall road to follow:






This could be hung up and used for Christmas decorations with its lovely red and green combinaton!:







I love me some abandoned houses!:









A pond full of color and stillness!:

Unfortunately, all of these lovely leaves are now down and we are faced with brown.

But not for long...we are expecting snow over the next few days!!

Useless Facts and Triva: Volume 14

For those of you that don't read my blog regularly, What is the problem? Get with it and join on as a FOLLOWER, for God's sake. What do I have to do? Get on my hands and knees and beg? Sheesh! , I post articles now and then with silly and useless trivia, along with MY equally silly and useless COMMENTS in bold italics.

So, yes....for a rest from photography today, I have a new set of Useless Facts and Trivia for you! You can thank me by sending me your first born child, later.

Here goes:

1. A pregnant goldfish is called a twerp.

Gosh, I have called people Twerp's before. I had no idea.

In fact, there was a TWERP dance at our high school once a year where the girls could ask the boys to attend. Wonder if the school knew it was encouraging impregnating goldfish?



2. More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.

Wow, they must live in the jungles or caves? Or be very, very poor. Think of how different our lives would be without telephones! Maybe better too?

3. Rats and horses can't vomit.

Well, NOW I know who I am taking out to the bars with me next time I go. Come to think of it, neither rats or horses would look very pretty vomiting, now would they? And the horse? He would need an extra deep toilet bowl to ralph in it. Giddy-burp-up!!





4. "The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.

You are going to practice it, now, aren't you? AREN'T YOU?? And then you will challenge your friends to say it ten times fast and then you will whip it off your smooth and silver tongue and say, "Why are you having such a hard time with it, it is easy to say!"

5. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.

First, does that picture bother you as much as it does ME?

Second, doesn't that thought bother you?

Third, even if you are "living green", don't you want to go out and buy about a ton of rat poison? Heck, TWO tons???


6. A lot of photocopier faults world-wide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their buttocks.

You have done it, haven't you???

C'mon, admit it!!!!

I know I will be armed with some antiseptic spray and some wipes the next time I use the copy machine. You know, just in case...

7. Cat's urine glows under a black light.

I KNOW you are going to save some from your litter box and try testing this one.

Again...keep those wipes handy.

I bet it glows purrrrr-fectly under the black light. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

8. The oldest standing building in Australia is Captain James Cook's house, brought over from England brick by brick.

Why did they do this? Weren't there any bricks in Australia so that they could copy his house plans and just build another one?

Put another shrimp on the brick barbie, Jimmie.

9. Paul McCartney's real first name is James - Paul is his middle name. Thus, all the Beatles (including Ringo, whose first name is Richard) were named after kings.

A royal flush! Who knew?

They were like princes to me when I was a teen...who didn't have royal crushes on them ALL???

I wanna hold your crown hand....

10. The hole inside a CD is exactly the same size as an old Dutch 10 cent coin, called the "dubbeltje". (?!) Of course, all the European countries (save a few) have gone Euro now.

Wonder why they made the hole the size of a coin?

The hole serves no purpose, really....does it?

Except to get your thumb stuck in it when you are trying to pry that sucker out of its CD case, (which by the way takes about 80.9 minutes to pry out of its for-the-love-of-God-why-don't-they-use-this-plastic-no-break-crap-to-make-condoms-with covering).

SNOW!!!...and EIGHT Different Visitors!!!

We woke up to several surprises yesterday!!!

THIS is what I saw when I opened the curtains!:

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you.

We got four inches of snow.

Where was all the color?

Where are all my yellow, orange and red autumn leaves?????

Oh, and WHERE in the HECK is my bench on the deck????:

Discouraged, I went to make my morning coffee to console myself.

And I looked out the window again.

These little yellow finches were eating at the thistle feeder!:

And a few minutes later, I saw more yellow.

But it wasn't a yellow finch.

THIS time, it was a beautiful yellow Evening Grossbeak!:

And, THEN????

Right beside him, flies in a beautiful Purple Finch!:

I was so excited!

The snow brought all the birds flying through going south to our feeders for the day!

The Evening Grossbeak asked me:

"So, when is this snow going to STOP???:

I told him this was the U.P.

Lord only KNOWS when it will stop.

Maybe April, maybe May.

Then this female and male Purple Finch said (in unison!):

"You have GOT to be kidding!!?":

And I told them:

"Nope. For all the beauty we have here, we pay the price of a very, very long winter season.

To which they panickly said to each other:

"We better eat up and hit the road downstate!":

Then a Junco flew in and said:

"You guys are wimps! I stay here all winter!:

And then a Dove flew in!

She said: "Yeah! I stay here all winter, too! I never used to, but I have hung around here the last two winters, and it really is beautiful in the snow here!

Maybe if you learned to ski you could stay here and you would like it?":

And a little Chickadee stopped by and said:

"I stay here too.

Maybe if you learned how to skate you might stay and like it here too?

This bowl is pretty near ice now and I slide in to eat!:

So, they had a conference to discuss all of this:






And then a Woodpecker stopped by the suet hanging nearby and said:

"If you eat suet, you will fatten up and be able to live here year round.

What do you say, guys?":

And the Blue Jay saw what was happening and stopped by.

He said: "Eat corn, like me. It will sustain you too!

I stay year round now, too...people LOVE to see a flash of color in the winter against the white snow!

You would be LOVED here and welcomed here all year round.

But just don't eat my corn when I am at the feeder, because I will kick your a--.

I am a little aggressive.

I am in Anger Management classes, though.

I am working on it...I really am...":

And then the Blue Jay flew up to talk to the Dove about ways to be more peaceful.

"Back to the loving place!" said the Dove.

That should be your mantra.

Be like ME, and stay year round but don't bother anyone.

Everyone admires my quiet demeanor and pretty, calm face in the winter here.":

"Yeah, right", said the Blue Jay, sarcastically.

"I will just EAT more.

That should calm me down.

Isn't that what the lady does that is taking all these pictures of us?"

"Hey Lady...

How DO you handle living here all winter? Is that how?

By now, all the other seven kinds of birds flew away.

I swear I heard them giggling.

Even the Dove chuckled as he flew out of sight.

I think I may just hate that Blue Jay.