Reflections - Across the lake

This is the far end of Greenbrier Lake (Sky Watch second image) on a breezy afternoon with muted reflections of the trees.

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James of Newtown Area Photo.

Sea worthy vessel?

This water vessel is really used by the lifeguards at the lake in Greenbrier State Park.

Jordon Lake, NC

On the way to Bro John's, we cross this arm of Jordan Lake southwest of Raleigh. The lake was named for B. Everett Jordon, a North Carolina senator from 1958 to 1973. The lake was created by the Army Corps of Engineers to provide flood control, water supply, water quality, recreation, and fish and wildlife conservation. The dam is on the Haw River and the lake extends 5 miles up the Haw and 18 miles up the New Hope River. Information on the recreation areas is available from the NC Division of Parks and Recreation. There areas for fishing, boating, camping and hiking. Below is a shot of one of the boat access ramps.

Splish splash he was taking a bath

or "Water, water every where, nor any drop to drink."

with apologies to Darin and Coleridge.

Reflected sky

This morning is cool, cloudy and calm. As I passed the birdbath on my walk around the yard, this mirrored image of the tree limbs and sky caught my eye and I captured it in pixels. A slight change in position added a little more of the sun trying to break through the clouds.

Saturday stop at Baker Park

Warning not required

Water landing - approach

Water landing - splashdown

Sea gull over water

Earlier in February, I spotted this lone sea gull cruising low over the water. The reflection of the poles near the soccer fields beside the water made for an interesting pattern. Below is a shot from a week earlier with a gull flying near the nets (on those poles) that keep the balls from landing in the water.

Monster vacuum

This morning when I went out to get the paper and check the sky, this monster vacuum was parked in the vacant space next to our house. Later some county workmen showed up and I asked them what was happening. The county has started a program to clean the main sewers on an annual basis and this week it is our turn. The truck is capable of sucking leaves and other debris out of the sewers and letting the normal stuff flow on to the treatment plant. Sure beats using a shovel!

Day 354 - Lights and leaves

Day 352 - Small creek, small bridge

A small creek and pedestrian bridge in one of the parks in Frederick City near the hearing center where I got my new hearing aides.

Day 337 - Morning after the sleet

Day 293 - Leaves and drops

While watering the mums on our patio, I got a few drops on the table. The beads of water stood out in the morning sun, so I added the leaves and went for my camera and voila, today's post.

Day 292 - Another day, another lake

Today we drove to Greenbrier State Park on South Mountain to the west of Frederick for more shots of fall. When the kids were younger it was one of our favorite places for a Saturday afternoon swim and picnic. We had not been back in about 20 years. They greatly improved the lake area with expanded beach, gazebos, new picnic areas, improved paths and expanded parking. The Appalachian Trail transverses the park and there are other trails as well. The trees in our area are changing in spots, but there is still a lot of green. Marianne also posted photos of Greenbrier.

Day 278 - Wet leaves

We went for a drive this afternoon to see if the fall colors were in evidence up on Catoctin Mountain. Not much color yet. Marianne got a shot of the Cunningham Falls and I took this one of leaves in the creek below the falls.

Day 250 - Hanna was here

Hanna passed through Maryland/DC/Virginia today, leaving some flooding, power outages, road closures and accidents. For us, Hanna was a steady rain starting about 9am and ending about 4pm. I took the picture above of our front yard about 1:30 (see Marianne's post for the back). We were on the western edge of the storm with little wind damage in Frederick. I also found an interesting USGS water watch site that provides maps with water flow at monitoring sites around the US. They put up a link to show the effect of Hanna on streams and rivers in her path. Our rain was just over 4 inches for the day.

Day 227 - Water fall

Today I took the boys to Cunningham Falls State Park to see the falls for which the park is named. It is about a 20 minute drive and 20 minute hike to the falls from our house. We were disappointed in the water flow - the falls are more spectatular after Spring rains.

The forest in the park is second growth. Timber was harvested and the area was heavily farmed by the settlers in the 1700's and early 1800's. The park is spectacular in the fall when the leaves changed to red, yellow and orange.

Day 220 - Water on windshield

Storms passed through the DC area today leaving damage and power outages. We were on the edge and got a little rain, thunder and lightning, but no damage here. I took this picture of rain on the windshield as I was running an errand.

Day 217 - Water and bikes

Today we took the boys to another park with more space for biking. There are about 2 miles of paths winding around the baseball, soccer, and football fields. Our outing ended on a sour note when Michael took a spill; only injuries were a scrape on his elbow and his ego (see Marianne's blog also).

Karen guessed my mystery photo with her theme for this week. This is the Monocacy Aqueduct which carried the C&O canal over the Monocacy River. This picture was taken standing in the bed of the old canal as it approached the aqueduct.

George Washington first proposed making the Potomac River navigable in the 1750's. The River has falls that make travel by boat impossible. Just upstream from Washington, DC the river drops 75 feet in about one-half mile. Initially, the plan was to construct five canals around the impassable spots. This helped, but was not adequate, so plans were made for a canal paralleling the river all the way to the Ohio valley. Construction of the canal began in DC in 1828 and reached Cumberland in 1850. Eleven aqueducts were built, with this one the longest, at 438 feet. Steel braces were installed to stabilize the structure after the flooding caused by hurricane Agnes. In the 1990's an effort began to restore the aqueduct. A partnership was formed to raise awareness and funds for the restoration. The restoration was completed in 2005.

The C&O canal is a National Historic Park stretching from Washington, DC to Cumberland, MD. Parts of the canal still hold water, the towpath is open for bikers, hikers and runners, and there are scenic vistas and picnic areas. There are a lot of web sites with further information. See the National Park Service or McMullans sites for example.

Day 178 - Watering the lawn

We have an inground sprinkler system that we did not need until a couple of weeks ago (lots of rain in April and May). Some spots in the yard were looking too dry, so today I checked the system (and took a few water shots). I found a few problems so I will be calling the service people tomorrow. The one above is working fine.

Day 133 - Rain and more rain

It rained steadily yesterday afternoon and last night and when I checked our gauge this morning, this is what I found:
and this is what I saw across the fields behind our house. Compare this view to my post of April 21.

This afternoon I went out for a look-see at the flooding. Here is the view looking back toward our house from the other side of the fields. Notice the geese in the lower left enjoying a swim.

And another photo looking to the right of the above. Notice the fence post in the water. I also posted more photos on my other blog.