Waiting for Irene

Hurricane Irene that is. She’s on her way and should hit our area by afternoon.

Sitting here with the hatches battened down as they say, I’ve been going through my photos and thought I’d share a few.

The first four, including the above photo, were taken at a nearby park I’d never been to. Knew it was there and was on my list, I’m sure we all have them, of things to do when I had time. Well, time was the motivator for my first visit about a week ago.

Our road used to be a lovely country road. It doesn’t go anywhere in particular nor is it a short cut to anywhere but the traffic has reached take-your-life-in-your-hands when taking a walk proportions. I tried walking very early in the morning, which worked for awhile. Then I tried walking in the mid afternoon, which also seemed to work. Often, it wasn’t necessarily the amount of traffic, it was the speed at which people were driving.

There are no lines on our road, which is my definition of a country road. No speed limit signs are posted, which means, at least in PA, the speed limit is 50 mph. Our road can’t handle 50 mph. It's narrow and deer are always a factor when traveling our road.

Hence my visit to the nearby park. It’s close to home, which means in less than 10 minutes I can be at the park, walking with other like-minded individuals, some with dogs some without. And the best part is I’m safe. I don’t have to keep looking over my shoulder or jumping into ditches to avoid someone driving like they’re at the Indy 500!

It was a foggy morning yesterday when I went to the park. The fractured sunlight bent around trees piercing the fog giving the park an ethereal glow. It wasn’t going to last long as the sun was rapidly burning off the fog. I knew I had to work quickly. I grabbed my camera and within a few minutes was able to shoot these photos before the sun took control of the day.

The next two are from another local park, much bigger with a large lake enjoyed by fishermen, yakkers, wind surfers and skaters. A beautiful, low humidity day with comfortable breezes; perfect for launching a kayak or two.

And before I go, some humor. Or, caught in the act!

This bird feeder should be advertised as an automat squirrel feeder. Full of sunflowers seed, it didn’t take long for an opportunistic, gluttonous squirrel to arrive.  Not long into his feeding frenzy, a mockingbird harassed him mercilessly. But the squirrel persisted as did the mockingbird. I’ve learned it takes a lot to intimidate a squirrel.

For those of you who are experiencing or will be experiencing Irene, please be safe.

Namaste,
Chris