It's Fall Y'all

My facebook feed has been filled with funny memes, a word I really don't fully understand btw. Anyway, they show images of Florida looking about the same whatever the season, along with funny things that essentially say what I have always said: Florida has a greater and lesser summer and that is all she wrote. Either it is broiling hot, or only slightly hot. Sure, there are a handful of coldish days thrown in here and there, but for the most part, it is all pretty much a variation on a theme. 

Here, it is definitely showing signs of Autumn matching the dates on the calendar. We are loving the cooler weather, waking up to temperatures in the low to middle 50's. It is not just the temperature that is changing either. The Valley River which flows behind the pickleball courts is the river I mostly walk along because for a good long while, the walk along the Hiwassee, which join together btw, took you through some wetlands which had far more bugs than I cared to encounter. Now though, with the cooler weather, I suspect I will be heading in that direction more often. Generally while Bruce is doing his elder bodybuilder thing in the gym, I walk and take photographs. 

So let's do the river in both directions starting with what it looks like now. No wait, let us first give our deep gratitude for those who made this walk possible, immortalized here.

Here is the thing, we have been on so many wonderful field trips that I've not written one word about yet. So why am I writing about the everyday? Maybe because one of the things that I so love about not living in Florida, which is how I felt in Vancouver, is the changing of the seasons as they unfold. The wonder of it all to this Florida gal leaves me in awe. So, please bear with me as I attempt to wax eloquent about the what some consider merely routine.

Before I go further though, two things happened yesterday, both of which are going to have a decent ending. One is that I took a tumble on the courts yesterday, reaching for a ball I had no business attempting to get, and secondly Bruce had a dental emergency in the form of part of a molar breaking off. The good news is I was only a little sore from the fall, and thanks be to God, we know people who know local dentists. He is there now being evaluated. So, there is that. Plus, today we went mini-golfing with a group who participate in the Senior games. I hope to get back to that topic another day, but I will say the leader asked Bruce to shepard a new fellow who wants to participate who is 90. I will have you know that he had a hole-in-one and Bruce had two! I did not belong to that club!

So back to the river walk which I have been doing pretty much since we arrived and even before we did. Back in May, when we checked out the cottage, falling in love instantly I might add, the river looked like this.

I remember freaking out with all of the yellow wildflowers, never imaging that wildflowers would come in all colors and sizes and I would still be seeing them in late September. 

Finger-like,

super tiny:

wild and free:

and growing adjacent to the roadway.

It is a feast for the eyes, or at least to this blogger anyway. I suspect many walk by these kind of things never giving it a thought as they are busy with other things, like jobs and children. Me, I've got nothing on the agenda, so but of course I am going to notice. Actually, I cannot help but notice things. My sister Nancy is the same way. 

This is a special place along the Hiwassee River known as the Leech place. It has to do with a Cherokee legend about a great leech that I won't attempt to explain except to say that I now see what they called in the brochure, a land bridge and here it is now that the river water level is so low.

It is where you see the rapids on the left hand side. I am standing not too far from the part of the walk pictured below.

I love the rock face! When I first looked at the map I was totally confused, but after three months I think I pretty much have it down pat. Except things change making it so interesting. During the summer, when I guess they let lots of water out of the dam, the area on the left is underwater.

The trees are standing in water on the whole left side of the photograph. You might note the yellowish color on the multiple trees and I am guessing, although I don't know for sure, but soon those will show more evidence of the changing season. 

On this particular day last week I came across some leaves which made our daughter-in-laws very happy when I sent them photos. 

I can hardly wait until there is a whole lot more of this going on!

What I find equally puzzling and thrilling is that what once looked like this:

now looks like this:

There are several places where the rapids are vigorous and melodious, or whatever you call the glorious sound of water traveling quickly over rocks galore.

Just a few months ago, the water looked brown and there was lots of it for swimming ducks. 

As you walk along the Hiwassee River, you come across the old railroad bridge which I found pictured in Autumn in the brochure that is widely distributed with maps showing the routes. You can bet I will be returning every few days to see this scene change for myself.

The track remains unused as the railroad left Murphy in the 1980's.

What is it about railroad tracks that create such a nostalgic feeling? 

A few more things I've come across, none more meaningful than this.

I could not have said it any better about my dear readers.

Because I can...

A super cool plant called a Strawberry Bush.

Aren't those buds, or whatever you call them, just the coolest? Apparently it is known by other names such as bursting-heart, hearts-a-busting, or the more flowery version, hearts-bustin'-with-love. Count me super intrigued by the intricacy. Those leaves have gotten even redder since I took this photo, so should it prove even more interesting, I can assure you I will document it for all to see.

Mushrooms, I cannot get enough of them. It is so fun to discover them in trees,

and on the ground. Super neat one with kind of a bulb root?

I am not entirely sure because my mushroom identifying skills are lacking, but I think this may be a highly poisonous mushroom called Many Warts. There will be no test, so rest easy!

I most definitely have no clue what this one is.

That's the thing about me, I am easily entertained. As I believe I mentioned in an earlier post, we have decided to rent Charlotte's Cottage for the year beginning November 1. I know, crazy, aren't we? We actually haven't worked out any details about when we will be staying here, but the one thing we know for sure, it is a good way to experiment. A great advantage we have over some folks who move to a new place is that we already knew a couple of people before we came and now we know more. For example, the tooth situation. Who do you use if you don't know folks to advise you? You can turn to Google, but that is just not the same as someone you know and trust giving you a recommendation. Turns out both Karen and Laura recommended the same dentist. I have heard from Bruce and yes, he does need a crown. :(

Another thing people worry about is will we be bored or lonely? I feel pretty confidant neither will be a problem as I just mentioned how easily I am entertained. Only time will tell, so for now I will leave it at that.

Okay, so the river looked like this  from the bridge yesterday morning and I will show a photograph a week from now to see any more changes.

Walking on the other side of the river there are various terrains including grass where I saw the local high school cross country team running.

Revisiting this rocky path in a few weeks before we leave, I hope to see some red fallen leaves in the mix. .

Speaking of color, these are the trees on the ridge beside the carport as of September 26, one day after our Mother would have been 98 had she lived!

The goldenrod have come out again on the hill behind the house, another puzzling occurrence. 

And yes that is the tiniest little blue butterfly that you see instead of a full on photo of the goldenrod, only hinted at in the photo above.

A visit to the folk school gardens on a sunny day was a treat where we saw the stacked corn stalks all ready for fall.

The last Third Thursday was held last, yup, Thursday evening, with banjo and fiddle playing.

We have thoroughly enjoyed that event and will be sad it is over for the season. 

Speaking of seasons, when oh when, do does have fawns? We are so surprised to come across them. Well surprised and happy is more like it!

They are so cute with those pink ears! The other evening we were coming home and I spotted deer in a big yard just beside the road we turn on to come to the cottage. By golly, it was a deer-fest although as we drove closer they were a little leery of me and my camera.

They adults are turning so grey and we have decided it must be to blend into the trees better during winter. As we watched these run off several more came out from the other side of the street to join them. 

Mr. Peck on our hike last week.

So the leaves are changing, apples and pumpkins are showing up in stores and markets, and there are fall festivals in every nearby small town. 

It's Fall y'all!!

your friend,

Gail

p.s. For those with time on their hands, here is a link to my post from September 26 while we were living in Vancouver. It could not be ANY more different! 

A Photographer's Life

 Well, this photographer anyway! 

This morning when we arrived at the courts it was not only chilly, 52 degrees chilly, but there were a multitude of spider webs wet with dew on the fences. After playing my first game, well, you can guess what I did can't you? Should you have guessed that I retrieved my camera from the car you would have been spot on. 

Very few folks at the courts know anything about this blog aside from one Miss Nancy who learned of it from a Florida friend. If you can imagine, the woman whose name escapes me, asked Nancy if she was playing pickleball with me in Murphy to which Nancy replied, Gail who? Said friend claimed that I was a famous Orlando blogger which was quite the surprise to me! Anyway, thank you to whomever you are! Nonetheless, several of the players expressed surprise, probably from seeing anyone with a real camera in their hands and wondering how in the world I was going to photograph the webs. 

I guess, try? 

One of the ladies insisted I take it with her back to the fence which turned out pretty cool, didn't it?

It is simply amazing how intricate webs are.  Sounds a bit like something we all are very familiar with and that would be the world wide web which indeed snares us and sometimes won't let go!

There were dozens of others but even I know when to quit! There are a bunch of ladies that not only play pickleball, but quilt as well, so the reference to spiral quilting after seeing the above rang true.

As you can well imagine, I take more photographs than is strictly necessary, but sometimes I just love the light and can't resist.

Of course I will want to remember this sweet bouquet of zinnias Laura gave us from her garden. She, of the recent Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year fame, Laura. Yup, somehow we have found ourselves well connected in this sweet little town. I have said it before, but it bears repeating many times over, how lucky we feel to have found this darling house and these lovely neighbors. Not one iota of drama which soothes my soul. Having so many wonderful things to photograph right outside the door, well literally right outside the door,

has added hundreds, well let's be real, thousands of new photographs to my overflowing library! 

While I typed that there was no drama around here, it depends on what one calls drama. In our case, every single deer spotting makes for drama for these Floridians. Sure there are deer in Florida, but I could count on both hands and still maybe have a digit or two to spare, the amount of deer I have seen in the wild. I spotted this sweet fawn on the front lawn this past Saturday morning. 

Taken through the screen, I was so happy even if it does give it a fuzzy appearance. I wanted to call out to Bruce but at the same time I wanted the fawn to stay where it was. Oh the conundrums we face!! The doe was some feet away and over time the fawn thought I might just as well go and join my mother, scampering off.  WELL, looking in the other direction I was freaking out as three, count them, three bucks appeared out of the trees!!!

Unreal I tell you! Fortunately by then Bruce had joined me on the porch, making us very happy indeed. One thing that we noticed and I have now confirmed it with a bit of research, is that the deer lose their tawny brown color as winter approaches and turn gray.

Sometimes I neglect to look at all of the photos I have taken and that would be the case with this mantis because I can assure you, had I seen this before, I would have used it in my bug post!

I can hardly believe I took it, but I assure you I did. As you may have already noticed this post is going all over the map with photos and stories of things that interest me or I think might interest you. So, allow me one more shot of the mantis on the newly installed very dark brown mulch.

From that same garden bed, lots of plants were trimmed including these neat ones that I am leaving out to dry.

I will admit that my feelings were slightly hurt that no one seemed very interested in my exciting Robin photo so let me try again for a response!

Let us go to the kitchen now. A visit to the farmer's market on Saturday was very successful resulting in these local goodies. (not my messy tea bag birdie!)

How does one resist a dozen which includes a green egg? One doesn't. Interestingly enough, the egg adjacent to the green one turned out to be a double yolk!! Both of us agreed they were very tasty indeed. When buying them we got a little lesson regarding eggs and their storage. Turns out these organic eggs can be left on the counter for weeks. As well, she claimed my baked goods would see an improvement so testing it out I just had to make this oatmeal cake, an old recipe from Bruce's mom.

So yes to the eggs, and a double yes to the okra. Roasting it with cajun seasoning was a winner.

The best part of the okra was that there was no slime. NO SLIME! Don't you just love that cloth napkin Nancy gave us for our anniversary?

Gosh, there is just so much to report. Like how the river is diminishing. Note the water level on the rock. I suppose the water line is a clue too. :)

John had told us that what we were seeing when we arrived was considered a lake and in September it would go back to being a river, but at the time we just didn't get it. Now we have seen it for ourselves, although I can't say that I get it yet!

What is so interesting is that before it looked muddy but the truth was that it was an illusion due to the brown bottom and rocks. That reminds me when we visited Blue Ridge last week, stopping by a small park on the Toccoa River, we could not resist standing in the cool clear water.

That would be one of the two jeans skirts Nancy brought here for me, both of which are getting plenty of wear. Although not today as it is quite chilly this morning and gasp (!), I have put on a light pair of pants! Gasp because I hate both pants, and shorts, but will probably have to get used to them sooner or later.

It might have been on our way back from Blue Ridge that we stopped for a brief time at a roadside cemetery. Wandering cemeteries is a pass time that I enjoy, imagining what life was like for those I see memorialized. What do you think could have happened here? 

Did Wade die of a broken heart? How sad the two of them must have been when this happened in their married life.

Can you read it? Enlarge if not. Losing not one, but two infants? 

I will admit to scanning the cemetery for mushrooms, something I seem to be doing everywhere we go since I discovered how interesting they can be. 

Quite the pile of them right? It is a type which I have now forgotten the name of as there are dozens and dozens of them to be found here in North Carolina. 

Last week, our field trip did not take us too far away. John, who is an Energizer bunny btw, rides his mountain bike on the Piney Knob trail system just outside town. He had been encouraging us to give one of the hikes a try and so we did. Bruce kept reminding me that at the rate we were going it was going to take all day to go only a few miles. And why might that be, you ask? Blame it on the mushrooms that were begging to be photographed!

By the time I spotted these Bruce was a ways ahead of me as he knew that I would eventually have to catch up. I think I did have to call him back when I spotted movement in the leaves and saw this creature which I am calling a toad due to lack of knowledge about what it really is. The camouflage is amazing!

I have become accustomed to my iPhone identifying plants and flowers, bugs too, but as for mushrooms, it is a no-go. Amphibians as well. Perhaps it is this?

On our way to Blue Ridge we stopped at a super weird place which I will show you in more detail another day, but this sure caught my eye while we were there. I love seeing weird stuff like this.

Peer out the window for a preview of the place!

Remember we stopped at the vineyard that was closed? The one with the Palominos across the street? 

The owner was quite chatty and suggested, in spite of us being there while they were not open, that I head down a few rows for grapes that were soon to be harvested. Each row had the grapes covered with a mesh to protect them from the hungry birds. 

That color, right? 

Well here is something to celebrate! 

The doors are wide open; let Autumn begin!!

So, a glimpse into this photographer's everyday life. Stuff just begs me to take a picture.  As soon as I typed that sentence it reminded me of a funny incident in our family's past. Our twins were on an episode of the show called "Get the Picture" on Nickelodeon and it was quite the experience. Those were the days!

your friend,

Gail

p.s. It does really take the two of us, but how to work that into a title, I really don't know how.