Take the path or ride the rails?
Monday Walk
As I walked through my favorite local trail, I heard a faint tapping in the nearby brush. I paused, listening, and then saw a spot of red, and realized a downy woodpecker was busy at work on a reed.
Tapping, tapping, fast and furious.
He paused for a moment, just long enough for me to capture a shot.
My new found duck friends also made an appearance. I let out a quack and sure enough from across the pond they made a beeline. They already know when they hear my call, there’s bread to be had.
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Here’s one of my favorite views, yesterday at low tide, today at high. Beautiful either way.
Fall colors have finally arrived. Along with cold temperatures. It’s mittens and hot cocoa season once again.
FOTD
Cee’s B & WPhoto Challenge: Numbers
Wordless Wednesday
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Coast
One view of the coast in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Looking North I can see Asbury Park in the distance. A favorite place to visit, and walk along the beach at sunrise.Â
Last September a friend and I jumped in the car after work and headed down to the beach. We were missing the sound of the ocean, and the feel of sand under our feet. We managed to get there before sunset, greeted by an empty beach with the moon rising in the east, the sun setting in the west. Another beautiful coast in Bradley Beach, New Jersey.Â
The Weekly Smile
Last week I visited my favorite local pond to find two ducks had taken up residence there. One was a Mallard, the other a white Pekin, a domestic duck. It didn’t seem to bother them that one of them was born in the wild and the other most likely domestically born and raised, and perhaps an escapee from a farm. They were gliding along the pond together in total sync.
I returned to the pond a few days later, curious if they would still be there and bringing along some bread with me. Sure enough they were there. I approached the edge of the water and they swam over, but would not come any closer than the edge of the water, where it met the land.
Mrs. Pekin was very vocal, non stop quacking while Mr. Mallard watched and stayed in the background.
I returned yesterday with a friend, but this time it was a different experience. Mr & Mrs. swam right over and came right up on land.
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My friend and I walked to the other side of the pond to sit on a bench, leaving the couple behind. Much to our surprise they swam across the pond and Mrs. Pekin figured out how to come upon land even though it meant hopping up on 2 dead tree branches in order to get there. She made her presence known. Mr. Mallard could not make it on shore, but you can hear his quiet quacks in the background. She must have heard too, as she waddled back to the edge of the water and jumped in, and then they quietly swam away, side by side. A weekly smile for me for sure.
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Pull Up A Seat
One of my favorite places to sit. I love the view and the stillness, the birds that fly overhead.
Bird of the Day
This adorable little Yellow Rumped Warbler joined me in enjoying the view from a local bridge the other day. He even sat long enough for me to capture a few shots.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Textures
FOTD: October 24, 2019
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Sunset
Frank’s choice for Sunset this week was perfectly timed with my walk after work today. One of those days where I just felt I needed to get out and take in some nature. I was able to catch the sun as it was on its decent in the West.
Wordless Wednesday
Cee’s B & W Photo Challenge: Indoor Walkways, Hallways, Elevators
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Back Catalog
This week’s challenge is to find an image in our back catalog that still grabs our attention and share it! Any kind of image is appropriate for this challenge. Tell why this image still gets our attention.
A block from where I live there is a walking overpass high over train racks that run through town. It leads to a park on one side. I walk across it on my morning runs. I have often stood there as a train approaches, and like a child will wave to the conductor below, who usually will wave back, able to see me standing there above. These photos were all taken with a cell phone. The first taken as the train approached one morning. I took it years ago, but still love the composition of the photo whenever I look at it. The early morning sky, the fog rising over the trees, the headlight glowing on the train.
The second photo was taken looking in the opposite direction, at the peak of the autumn, with a setting sun glowing in the distance. I loved the colors of the trees against the colors of the train.
The last photo was taken from the same vantage point as the first, but in winter, when the train was parked on the tracks. The snow was freshly fallen, untouched, and I love the quiet that seems to project from the stillness of the morning in the photo.
Swirling Seagulls
We visited the ocean last week, an hours drive from where we live. It was gray and cloudy but we didn’t mind. We love the ocean any time of year. The beach was filled with seagulls, year round residents. My husband threw some bread out, and suddenly we were inundated and over run with masses of seagulls, many of whom seemed to appear out of nowhere. They were right above my head, seemingly suspended in air. I took my camera and pointed upward and just kept clicking away. I have included some of the close ups as photos here, but collected them all into a short video, below. It was a quite a moment. My favorite the last photo where the gull is looking right at me.
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FOTD: October 17, 2019
Wordless Wednesday
One Word Sunday: Sepia
A Photo a Week Challenge: Sun & Water
A favorite combination of mine. Especially when I arrive at the beach earlier than anyone else, and find the sand empty and the sun glowing above the water and making it glisten.
Or visiting a local park in winter as the sun makes it way above the trees as it rises
Or greeting the day sitting on a beach at sunrise
The beach in winter at high noon
Tuesday Photo Challenge :Tourism
My days of real travel are over. I don’t like to fly and haven’t in close to 10 years. My husband and I take a lot of day trips, there are plenty of places to visit not too far away from where we live. Here are some old photos from trips where I really was a tourist, discovering new places overseas. The quality of the photos is not great as they have been scanned in, taken way back in 1983, 1985, and 1998. If you’d like to read a post I wrote about a funny experience on a train while traveling through Italy, you can read it here.
Paris
Paris…of course
Florence,Italy
Trevi Fountain-Rome
Rome
Venice
Blenheim Palace England
Tower Bridge-London
The Wailing Wall-The Kotel Israel
Wordless Wednesday
Pull Up A Seat
We spotted this wonderful bench in front of an art store. I just loved it, and it was very comfortable too!
A Day In The Life 
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