More This and That from the Woods!

More scenic woods autumn beauty

for you today!

I asked my husband to climb out onto the falls

and remove that log,

but he said no, it was nature's artwork.

Dang.

But, I had to agree with him.

Besides, I love him and didn't want to endanger his well-being.

But I kinda like the falls better with out it....

This was a tiny river flowing below a roadway that we accidently saw

while riding a wood's road:

There is just something peaceful

about a babbling brook

over river rocks:

Boulders along the bright orange riverbanks:

We talked about the glaciers

that formed these rivers

so many many years ago:

Nature really does have a GRAND plan,

doesn't it??:

We loved this huge tree root on the far side of this colorful pond:

BE

the

STREAM:

Let Nature

Wow you today!

****************************************************************************

Only

ONE DAY left people!!!

Get your

TEXTURE

photo into the FREE PHOTO CONTEST

by midnight

on Oct. 31st, 2010.

And, since you are gonna be too busy handing out Trick-or-Treat candy

tomorrow night,

you'd better get on it TONIGHT!!!!

More Scenic Shots from the Woods!

Today, we continue with more waterfall shots

and

scenic shots from this autumn splendor in the U.P. of Michigan.

Many, many places are like this in the U.P.

Sometimes the falls aren't even marked as falls.

You may be riding down a dirt woods road and come across a bridge and look down

and see this:

And if you follow the river banks down a ways,

you almost always find more cascading falls:

Or large rocks with deep crevices where the water flows down from:

I can never pick a favorite.

I love each and every one of these places:

It would be like picking a favorite child

out of all of your children!:

And if waterfalls are not your favorite thing in nature,

there are a zillion little ponds

out in the middle on nowhere

to marvel at the autumn's reflections in:

(Did you notice the little rowboat on the far shore here? Wonder who owns it?)

Another pond out in the wild.

Love the contrast of the pine trees against the bright orange trees here!:

Ponds of beautiful color
everywhere:

I hope you find color in your life
today, too....
 ********************************************************************
Don't forget to enter the FREE MONTHLY PHOTO CONTEST!

This month's theme is:

TEXTURES

Please send me your photo following THESE RULES
by
midnight, Oct. 31, 2010.

Random Thoughts about Random Subjects. Today?: Should I have Reconsidered Buying that Used Car with the Mystery Stain?

Time for yet another "Random thoughts about Random Subjects". Today's is: " Should I have Reconsidered buying that used car with the mystery stain?"

1. We are cheap frugal. 

2.  I like to call it "going green".

3. On everything.

4. Most of our house has used things in it.

5. Except my underwear.  That would just plain be gross.

6. Where was I?

7. Oh yeah.  Being green. (Get your mind off the underwear, gheesh!)

8. So, we have never bought a new car. Never.  Not in our 38 + years of blistered blissful marriage.

9. So when our last clunker died and went to rusty-car heaven, we went looking for our next victim.

10. Oh, wait. That's not correct. Our last car was driven down to Florida in a frenzy because our youngest daughter's car died an ugly death and she needed something fast to be able to like, feed herself by going to work every day. So, being the awesome parents we are, we drove down and gave it to  her.

11. I know, like you care.

12. Anyway, a friend of mine at work advertised on Facebook that he had a used car for sale.

13. I know what you are thinking: never, ever buy a used car from a friend. Nope. I was cool with that. So we inquired and got interested. The car was used at the local hospital as a car to transport the Physical Therapists to see patients. It didn't have a lot of mileage on it, but they wanted to upgrade to bigger cars to be safer on our snowcovered roads and that was why they were selling it. We have a four wheel drive for winter, so this was a nice solution for us to get a smaller car for better gas mileage. OH, WTF am I telling you all of that anyway? You don't give a rat's ass. Moving on.

14. Basic little car, good gas mileage...good price. Sounded good to us.

15. We had the guy drive it over to our house for last inspection, to test drive it, you know, the usual kicking the tires kind of thing.

16. He arrived at dusk.

17. We were not to be outsmarted, being the brilliant minds that we are.  We had a flashlight and a spotlight above our garage.

18. To our surprise, the car looked pretty darn good.  No major dents, scratches, etc. It purred like a kitten (and not even a sick kitten).

19. So I ask if I can take it for a spin, and of course he agrees so my hubby and I get ready to slip in and take it for THE. TEST. DRIVE.

20. As I open the driver's door, I notice the outline of something on the seat. Kind of a medium-sized irregular shadowy little thing (like the chalk outline of a dead body on CSI).

21. The Seller notices that I notice. 

22. Without making eye contact (note this fact for later discussion), he murmurs: "Yeah, ahem...I spilled some coffee there."  "I tried to wipe it up...but you know guys, I probably didn't use the right stuff".

23. Note to self: no eye contact is NOT a good thing.

24. I reach down and feel the chalked outline area with my hand. It is dry. Alrighty then, let's test drive, shall we? 

25. The car was great. Handled just fine, price was right and we came back and bought it.

26. It has been the best car ever.  Drove it to Florida and back and all over hell's creation and it is fantastic. Better than the "ha-ha-we-are-rich-and-we-ran-out-and-immediately-bought-a-trendy-zillion-dollar-hybrid-car-with-better-gas-mileage-than-you-you-peon" kind of car.

27. It gets great gas mileage and no car payments. 

28. But I didn't realize THE SHAME of the STAIN curse.

29. And. I have tried a zillion and a half products on the mystery stain. It won't come out.

30. Now, when I transport anyone (besides family, because hey, what is a mystery stain between blood relatives, anyway?) I quickly either put a seat cushion over it to hide it, or quickly sit my ass on it so no one notices it and get out of the car last. Thank GOD it does not smell.

31. I have several theories about THE STAIN. Some, funny. 

32. Some, not so funny.

33. Some, just too horrid to think about.

34. It could very well be pee. 

35. I mean, it could happen.

36. Some person, driving it...some idiot cutting him off on the freeway and HOLY SHIT I AM GONNA DIE, OH GOD,  I JUST PISSED MY PANTS kinda happening. 

37. Or, some person, driving it and a deer runs in front of the headlights, like two inches in front of him/her, and HOLY SHIT I AM GONNA DIE. OH GOD, I JUST PISSED MY PANTS kinda thing.

38. Or, some blue-haired granny, (you've seen 'em), barely seeing over the steering wheel, swerving down the street because she can't handle the steering wheel and like, actually think at the same time....who sneezed and well, you know.. (well those of you that are old and have had a zillion babies know) what might have happened....and since she clearly cannot remember how to use a turn signal, how the hell would she have remembered to wear her Depends?

39. Anyhoo....I try not to think of it everytime I drive the car. And I sure as hell am not going to do a "scratch and sniff" thing to figure out just what in the hell the stain is, REALLY. I prefer to believe the guy and think it is a Starbucks stain.

40. And, most of the time, I make my hubby drive so I can sit on the "clean side". I know. I am AWESOME.


41. But I know how I am going to make money, people. For reals.

42. They have cancer-sniffing dogs, and marijuana-sniffing dogs, right?



43. Well, I am going to market Starbucks-sniffing trained dogs. And then, I'm gonna keep one of the dogs for my personal use.

44. Not only will the trained dog be able to confirm any car mystery stains to indeed, be Starbucks stains...but since all dogs naturally hang their heads out of the window and sniff...I can train the little bugger to sniff out the nearest Starbucks on the freeway and give me a signal whenever it smells one.

45. I'm gonna be RICH, I tell ya!


46. I just hope the dog is not old, hasn't had a zillion puppies and that she isn't prone to sneezing when she gets excited. Otherwise, we are in for a whole new set of "problems".

More This and That from the Woods

Since I have a ton of photos from our

glorious fall season,

today I am going to show you various shots

that I took during that time.

We went to many falls to catch the high rushing water from a recent rainfall:

A lot of our waterfalls here consist

of rocky rivers and the water rushing through small and large crevices:

And many scenes have more than one little waterfall

to look at:

Or shelves, that cascade the water down the stream:

Or brilliant, rushing rapids

through the autumn colors:

Some areas of our autumn woods

are full of reds, oranges, and yellows and greens.

Others, are almost all golden yellow in one area:

I always hope I will come upon a little pond to reflect the autumn colors...

this one fit my wishes:

Another rushing-stream-water-through-the- rocks photo:

When autumn comes here,

it just seems like I can't get outside often enough

or get to enough places to capture it all.

But we did our best and captured what we could this season.

I hope you are having a wonderful autumn

where you are and get to get outside to some places of beauty, too.

************************************************************************
Don't forget about the FREE PHOTO CONTEST!

This month's theme is:

TEXTURES!!

Get your photo in to me by midnight, Oct. 31st

following THESE RULES!!!

U.P. Autumn Waters!

Today,

I decided to continue the U.P. autumn series

by

sharing some of the streams and their waterfalls

that we have visited over the last month.

Splashing water along the river crevices:

Not ONE, not TWO, but three waterfalls along the river! Heaven!:

The top of the golden falls!:

A hidden pocket of tiny falls under the logs:

Rushing river rapids:

Serenity of the river, changing into rapids:

A smooth shelf serving refreshing water:

A river swirl!:

I hope your life is

less like a rapids

and

more like the calm serenity

of a slowly flowing river

today...

if not,

I say:

Find the beauty in the rapids!

At some point,

a river always

calms down again

and flows with serenity.

We have a WINNER!!! September's FREE PHOTO Contest!:

Another wonderful set of photos 

were submitted to THE RETIREMENT CHRONICLES' blog

for

September's FREE PHOTO CONTEST

with the theme of

WATERFALLS or FOUNTAINS.

Another problem for the judges!

It is getting harder and harder for them to decide on a winner and get back to me.

But the deed is done, 

and I am happy to congratulate the winner!!!

So, without further delay....

(drumroll, please)................................

The winner is:

Congratulations to Linda Reeder!!!
Her blog is called: "Linda's Letters".

If you remember, she also won in July for her spectacular photo of the eagle catch on the beach!

Way to go, LINDA!!!!

The judges liked her rainbow catch at the end of the waterfall on this month's contest shot.

Honorable mentions also go to:

--Raymond C
--Larry B
and
--Mary

Thanks to every single one of you that entered September's Free Photo Contest, you once again ALL did a fantastic job!!!

Please don't give up if you did not win this month or if you did not get an honorable mention....the judges change every month and so do the themes And, every single month, the judges chosen all say that they think every photo entered deserves to win.  So don't give up if you have entered and haven't won yet...it is a fun contest to enter and to show off your wonderful photography and to grow and learn!!

*********************************************************************
That being said, we need more entries this month!!

So PLEASE enter October's FREE PHOTO CONTEST!!
The theme is:
"TEXTURE"....

Send in your entry by midnight, Oct. 31st
following THESE RULES.

More This and That from the Woods!

More autumn pictures for you today

from the north woods...

Fall road....

Interesting huge rock and roots beside the wood stream:

Bridge and stream falls tucked into autumn:

Same view with a slower shutter speed, making it

dreamier:

Cascading waterfalls:

Splashing water through a crevice in the river:

A slowed picture of the fast waterfalls:

Dreamy falls through the fallen log:

I really had a hard time

leaving this river cascade of falls..

I could have sat there all day

and

just watched the water flow over the rocks:

Water flowing through the ancient

rock cut of the river:

On the particular day

that we took these picture,

we visited four different rivers and waterfalls,

and each one

was really beautiful.....

just wonders of nature!

I hope I gave you a few glimpses

of some of the beauty of the U.P.,

the place I call home.

Funny Headlines!

I opened the newspaper one day last month

and

this is the headline that I saw:

Now, I don't know what YOU would have done...

but I was a bit concerned.

Several questions came to mind:

1. Why was this important in OUR local newspaper?  Did this mean that WE were going to somehow be INVOLVED in an attempt to set a record for the number of hearses arriving in hell?

2. And, were they looking for volunteers for this effort???

3. And, who is the poor reporter that had the Hell beat to do stories about? How did (s)he make it out alive to come back to give us these headlines?

4. I'm curious.  How do they GET the hearses into (and more importantly: OUT of) hell?

5. I had NO IDEA they had Guiness records kept in Hell too. But it stands to reason, right?

6. I knew that our winters in Michigan are HELL, but to actually have a State Update in our newspaper about hell hearse record attempts pretty much confirmed that we might have a close relationship sometimes.  Curiously, I really haven't seen many headlines in the State updates about heaven, so what is up with THAT...???!!

7. So, I had to read the entire article.

So, I better show you the REST of the article,

so you know what it was really about:

Whew!

So glad THAT was cleared up.

Yes, we actually have a town in Michigan called Hell, Michigan.

(How'd you like to be a Pastor THERE???)

Although, they do a RECORD number of postcard sales in that little town.

(I think I might want to stop reading headlines for a while.................)

P.S. The U.P. has a little town called Paradise, while downstate has a town named Hell.
Coincidence?
I think not. (heehee)

Random Thoughts about Random Subjects (Again!)

Yes indeedy.

It is time again for another installment of Random Thoughts about Random Subjects.

(I figured I'd better give you a break today from all that autumn beauty

and go straight for randomness.)

Today's subject of random thoughts?

WWJD.

You know the acronymn.....What would Jesus Do? (WWJD)

It is overused.

It is on too many bumper stickers.

So it got me to thinking random thoughts about something else:

1. Instead of WWJD....I had a random thought or two about WWAT.  What does this stand for (you ask?)

Well, What Would Aliens Think (WWAT) of course.



2. Before you snicker, just consider the following:

3. WWAT of earth where we pay/spend millions of dollars to pay over-steroided men wearing padded suits chasing a pigskin across a field yet still have homeless, hungry people in it because we say we don't have enough money to solve the problem?

4. WWAT of Paris Hilton and Linsey Lohan and the world watching their every move, along with useless trivial action details of their latest escapades?

5. WWAT of Tiny Tim?

6.  WWAT of Octomom?

7. WWAT of those kids that wear their pants hanging down with their cracks and their underwear showing and of them tripping up on the hanging-pants crotches?

8. WWAT of all of these awful political ads where none of the politicians tell the truth about their opponents or themselves?

9. WWAT of Ozzie Osborn?

10. WWAT of the Kardashians?

11. WWAT of Woodstock?

12. WWAT of Rubick's Cubes?

13. WWAT of hula hoops?

14. WWAT of Dancing with the Stars?

15. WWAT of the Twilight series?

16. WWAT of people always being on their phones texting or e-mailing on their computers and not talking directly to each other instead?

17. WWAT of the Sci-fi channel?

18. WWAT of the Star Trek series?

19. WWAT of plastic surgery?

20. WWAT of the movie E.T.?

21. WWAT of Area 51?

22. WWAT of Victoria Secret bras?

23. WWAT of Crispy Creme donuts?

24. WWAT of Marilyn Monroe?

25. WWAT of cemeteries and funerals?

26. WWAT of blogging? 

27. WWAT of the selling of Pet Rocks and that earthlings actually bought them? A LOT of them?

28. WWAT of the millions and millions of pounds of leftover food thrown out in the garbage by restaurants when there are so many people starving to death on earth?

29. WWAT of tattoos?

30. WWAT of rodeos?

31. WWAT of eating frogs' legs?

32. WWAT of surfing?

33. WWAT of snowsculptures and sandcastles?

34. WWAT of Jenny Craig, grapefruit diets and Nutrisystem?

35. WWAT of infomercials?

36. WWAT of Tang?

37. WWAT of Justin Beiber?

38. WWAT of the news spending 4 solid days on the death of Michael Jackson and only showing a bleep about how many soldiers that died in a war in their news stories during those same days?

39. WWAT of Splenda and Nutrasweet?

40. WWAT of warm homemade cinnamon rolls, straight out of the oven?

41. WWAT of crossdressers?

42. WWAT of childproof caps on medicines?

43. WWAT of bikinis?

44. WWAT of women (and some men) wearing makeup?

45. WWAT of penis and nipple piercings?

46. WWAT of the millions of people that leave the comfort of their wonderful homes and beds and of them driving miles and miles into the woods, only to set up a tiny canvas tent, swatting bugs and sleeping on the cold, hard ground.....and making a campfire and cooking food outside: on purpose.

47. WWAT of earthlings who leave the convenience and comfort of air-conditioned or heated, padded cars only to mount  uncomfortable bicycle seats or don tennis shoes to run and sweat and get blisters and get breathless from the effort, and then receive unbearably painful muscles the next day?: again, on PURPOSE.

48. WWAT of giggling, toothless baby earthlings?

49. WWAT of people who let their dogs and cats eat out of crystal dishes on the table, buy them outfits to wear and diamond collars,  yet won't look sideways at the beggars on their own streets?

50. WWAT of bubble baths?

51. Last random thought today? : Am I the only one who thinks Earth is still the most wonderful/bizarre planet in the universe because of/in spite of all of the above?

*******************************************************************

Don't forget to enter the FREE PHOTO CONTEST!!

This month's theme is:

TEXTURES!!!

Enter by midnight, Oct. 31st, 2010

following THESE RULES.



More Autumn Splendor

Are you tired of

autumn photos yet?

Me neither!

(Obviously).

So here are more for you today!

An overlook of Houghton, Michigan:

The reds and golds of Alberta Lake:

While going on a ride out in the woods,

we saw this pond and the hill full of color behind it!:

A set of waterfalls set in between golden sunlit autumn trees:

You know me! 

I  also can't pass up shots

of

roads full of color, beckoning you to go around the next curve to see more!:

And I search for little waterfalls

in the middle of the woods, tucked in amongst the color

and fallen trees:

Rocky bluffs full of color above green pines:

Water reflecting colorful shores:

And the thing I can't capture in photos?

The smell of autumn.

It is soooo SWEET...

it is the only adjective to describe it.

Go out and deeply inhale the sweet aroma of fall for yourself

if you live where the leaves are in full color.

For those of you that haven't experienced the smell of this, you need to come north

and inhale it.

It is amazing!!