The Third Snow of Winter (aka The Third Snow of the Week)

The fence line behind my house after the third snow storm this week. And winter is only a week old.

West End Fire Company No. 2, Quakertown, Pa.

West End Fire Company, 1319 Park Avenue, Quakertown, Pa. Bucks County Station 18. Organized 1925, first station was on 12th Street near West Broad Street, soon followed by their first permanent station at 15 South Main Street. This served from 1927 until they built a new station in 1959. That station was replaced (or modified heavily) in 2011. WEFC is part of the Quakertown Fire Department along with Quakertown Fire Company No. 1.

Footer Review 2012

Footer Review time. These are the little branded pictures I put at the bottom of the web page every month. Thing is, when I replace one it disappears forever from the blog. This post put them back in.

January 2012 - The Bluesmobile parked outside the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC.

February 2012 - One of the dancing lions from the NYC Lunar New Years parade in Chinatown.

March 2012 - A temporary door to the mechanical room of the Shippensburg Emergency Services Building during construction.

April 2012 - Sunset over Myrtle Beach, SC.

May 2012 - A bronze marker on the bridge on Route 230 over the Swatara Creek in Middletown, Pa.

June 2012 - A visitor living in one of the storage barns on the Norristown Farm Park in Norristown, Pa.

July 2012 - Fireworks, of course.

August 2012 - The lighted signs on the hose tower of the Shippensburg Emergency Services Building in Shippensburg, Pa.

September 2012 - A visitor to my butterfly bush last summer.

October 2012 - The sign along the docks at Captian Bob's Marina in Chincoteague Island, Virginia.

November 2012 - The president of the Outskirts of Suburbia's Colorado Fan Club's car. I think they were stalking me.

December 2012 - I think I found out where the pheasant feathers came from that I found at the State Game Lands.

1 Hour Cleaners (PG 182)

Sometimes when I'm digging around in the files room, I find pictures I took, intended for specific posts, but got swept away when the next big thing came along. Here's a good example. I took a hundred pictures or so this week (back in May) I spent working in northwest Philly. Some were posted elsewhere. And one thing led to another and the 4 or 5 pictures that I took of the old 1 Hour Cleaners in the East Falls neighborhood (4255 Ridge Avenue) were forgotten until now. Not that this is the perfect picture or one suitable for framing, but hey, that's never been the intention here.

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas to all out there. Things here at the home offices are busy, busy, busy. So I'm sending out the Christmas card a little early. This post may have to last until Thursday. And below is a little wintery holiday cheer. Feel free to sing along. As long As I don't hear you that would be great. Until then may your days be merry and bright. And hey, let's be safe out there.

Vail Fire and Emergency Services, Station 3

Vail Fire and Emergency Services, Station 3, 2399 North Frontage Road West, Vail, Eagle County, Colorado. Vail Fire and Emergency Service was established in 1964, the West Vail Fire Station opened in 2011. Vail Fire and Emergency Services is a combination career and volunteer department. These pictures were taken from Interstate 70, Station 3 sits on the north side of the interstate.

Goodnight Colorado

Goodnight to the clouds, goodnight to the wind.

Goodnight to the lake and goodnight to the pines.

Goodnight to the elk that disappear at first light,

Goodnight to the coyotes that howl through the night.

Goodnight to the wood stove, goodnight to head,

Goodnight to the gray jays who ate all our bread.

Goodnight to the sunrise and goodnight when it sets,

Goodnight Colorado for a week as good as it gets.

Please Don't Park in Front of Gate

Ever heard the expression, "Uglier than 5 miles of bad road"? Well, there's a road out in Colorado that the Webster dictionary refers you to when you ask it, "Just how ugly can 5 miles of bad road be?" This sign sits near the good end of that road. You should park here in front of the gate anyways, just to kiss the ground that you and your truck made it out in one piece.

Living Large

Experts will tell you that deer grow to be older and bigger by being smart. We just never considered that that  meant they would learn how to read a map and know which side of a no trespassing sign to hang out on. This is probably the largest  mule deer I've ever seen on the hoof. He wouldn't be caught dead up in the mountains.

I Once Shot an Elk at Midnight

That's right I shot, not one, but two elk shortly after midnight. OK, it was catch and release elk hunting and I didn't have a cow elk license anyways. I had set late morning on the first day and read the instructions while watching a nearby meadow. And then I found a likely tree and set it up. Besides these two cows I also caught a turkey walking by. I may play with this camera some more this winter. 

I don't know what happened with the date. Some were OK, some said 1-1-12, some said 10-26-16 and even others said 2-28-2035. But figuring from the pictures of me when I pulled the camera the clock was about 4 hours off.

Greenbackville Volunteer Fire Department

Greenbackville Volunteer Fire Department, 1479 Stockton Avenue, Geenbackville, Virginia. Accomack County Station 2. Organized in 1956 and started providing ambulance service in 1979. This building, built in 2000, replaced the old station built in 1956 (it sits behind and to the side of the new station). GVFD run an average of 55 fire and 175 ambulance calls per year. 

Watching the Sunrise

Most mornings I'm not the only one coming out to watch the sun come up.

The Island Theater

The Island Theater sits on Main Street in Chincoteague. Built in 1945, Misty of Chincoteague was, no surprise, the first movie shown. Misty's hoof prints are in the concrete sidewalk out front. I remember it being the Island Roxy with different signage out front. But these signs are more close to what was original  I'll need to find some of my pictures of the older "Roxy" look. A quick search shows that the building was sold last spring and returned to being The Island.

The Sea Has Her Now

Slowly be surely the Seahawk falls victim to the sea, or Chincoteague Bay, in this case. I posted a picture of the Seahawk way back in March of 2008. It looked a lot better then. Well, at least more complete. For years it was moored at a dockside restaurant (can't remember the name anymore, been vacant for years) next to the old Landmark Seafood Restaurant.

Did You Ever Sit at the Beach and Watch a One-Legged Gull Try to Eat an Eel?

Well, I have. And I'll bet this is the first time ANYONE has ever blogged about it.

Assateague Island, Virginia, September 2012.

Doylestown Fire Company No. 1, Station 19

Doylestown Fire Company No. 1, 68 Shewell Avenue, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Bucks County Station 19.  Organized August 4, 1879. The old Station was built in 1902/1903 and the cornerstone to the annex bays reads 2001. The DFC also operate a second station on Warden Road outside of town, Station 79. As a side note (I seem to have some interesting ones sometimes) these pictures were taken just two days after Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast. The roads north of town had no power. All traffic lights coming into town were out and some utility poles were still lying were they fell. In town it seemed no power was working either. Some of the traffic lights were being operated off of small generators.

The Beach in Black and White

Sunrise on Assateague Beach. Not too many people out yet. Perfect time to be on the beach.

Yield to Wrong Way Traffic

Why should you "Yield To Exiting Traffic"? if you are going the "Wrong Way"? This sign is in Newark, Delaware right around the campus of the University of Delaware. It figures that this is something you would find in a college town. These people will be taking care of us when we get old. Sleep tight with that thought in mind.

November Skies

Taken during a short walk around the State Game Lands. It seems that the skies are always overcast during late November. We get some blue skies later into winter, but for now it's overcast.

One World Trade Center

Work on One World Trade Center (aka Freedom Tower) continues. I forget what street this is but we were almost too close. I almost couldn't fit it all in the lens.