Anchorage

View of northwest Anchorage, Alaska from the 6th floor of our hotel on 5th Avenue.

Sunset Between the Storms

Saturday evening's sunset. We got a couple wet inches of snow Friday night into Saturday morning. We got another 2 inches or so Sunday night into Monday morning.

Rocky Mountain Birds

These are the only bird pictures I got while in Colorado last fall. The Blue Grouse, or Dusky Grouse. We ran into them often up in the pines, they'd flush at your feet and only fly 50 or 100 feet out in front of you. Then you'd just kick them up again. The Gray Jay, aka Camp Robber. This one was out begging for a snack while waited for the packers to take us out. The Black-billed Magpie. In all the years I've gone to Colorado, this is the first decent picture I've gotten of one.

North on the Niagara Parkway

A leisurely drive north out of Niagara Falls, Ontario along the Niagara Parkway. The Sir Adam Beck generating Station, the Niagara Parks Floral Clock and Fort Niagara.

Hockey Night

Spent Friday evening at the local ice rink for a little high school ice hockey.  I've not shot a lot of ice hockey game but I have shot  plenty of soccer games. It would be a toss up on which one has more contact, but the hockey teams wore protective pads and helmets. So...

Bloserville Scout House

I could only find a little about this building on the inner-webs. Address: 4118 Enola Road (State Route 944), Bloserville, Pa. It sits just a half block or so west  of the village in Upper Frankford Township, Cumberland County. The sign says that it is the Rob Zeigler Memorial Scout House for Boy Scout Troop 169. Dedicated 1989. Online photos from 2008 show the sign wasn't there then. It is the former Bloserville Reformed Church with graves dating back to the early 1800's.

Moonrise over the Border

Full moon rising over the Canadian / USA border at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ontario. August 2014

Mountain Drive

Sometimes all a body needs is to be outside. A drive through the mountains on a less than sunny day is good for the soul.

Michaux State Forest, Southcentral, Pennsylvania. January 2015

Potter Marsh, Anchorage

During On-Our-Own time in Anchorage we stopped at Potter Marsh. I thought we might see more but, I guess, time of day/time of year it wasn't as busy as expected. We did see a couple of Bald Eagles, Tree Swallows, geese and ducks, including this Canvasback.

The Grove

Aspen grove, White River National Forest, Colorado. Mid-October 2014

Barn After Barn After Barn

Well, life on the farm is kinda laid back,ain't much that a country boy like me can't hack. It's early to rise, early in the sack, thank God I'm a country boy. Well a simple kind of life never did me no harm, raisin' me a family and working on the farm. My days are all filled with an easy country charm, thank God I'm a country boy. Well, I got me a fine wife, I got me an old fiddle, when the sun's coming up I got cakes on the griddle. And life ain't nothin' but a funny, funny riddle..... thank God I'm a country boy.

Written by John Martin Sommers (1974), immortalized by John Denver.

Darlington Volunteer Fire Company, Station 9-1

Darlington Volunteer Fire Company Station 9-1, 2600 Castleton Road, Darlington, Maryland. Harford County Station 9. Founded in May 1949, they are an all volunteer fire departmemnt with paid EMS serving Darlington, Street and Dublin. Station 9-2 is located at 1520 Whiteford Road, Dublin, Maryland. This station was opened in 1998.

The Summer of Thrills

Much to our surprise we stopped in Niagara Falls just in time to catch the Summer of Thrills. We happened upon these guys on a walkabout.

The Sunrise Beyond the Tree Row

I slept in a little on Sunday morning. When I rolled over, though, this is what I saw out the window. I hurried myself out to the backyard for a few shots of the sunrise. 10 minutes later it was gone.

Wile E. and the Trail Camera

On the Sunday before Christmas I relocated my trail camera to an area I had seen coyote sign during hunting season. It took three days but he passed by early morning on Christmas Eve. It was raining, notice the fog. Then again on Christmas morning he made another pass.

Going with the Flow

The frozen Conodoguinet Creek from the Peiffer's Mill Bridge on Mountain Road. It's been below 20 for most of the past week. It's hard to believe there is any open water at all.

Waiting for Spring

Looking out across a frozen field of corn stubble this farm looks to be hibernating and waiting for spring.

Footer Review 2014

It's time for my, now, annual review of the pictures that show up at the bottom of my blog page. Here is where I tell you a little bit about them since you probably don't notice them anyway. Notice how "the outskirts" or "OoS" show up frequently?:

• January 2014: This detour is set up for horse and buggies. Back in the fall of 2013, and still, the Route 641 bridge over the Condoguinet Creek is being replace and they are using temporary traffic signals while they work on half the bridge at a time. The timers would switch when the buggies were halfway across and that would be a disaster.
• February 2014: The barn on the other side of the corn field. It has graced this blog several other times.
• March 2014: The soda selection at the Activities Center.
• April 2014: A lone snow goose at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.
• May 2014: The start of a winning season in Baltimore. Behind the bleachers along Eutaw Street.
• June 2014: A detail of the totem pole at the Totem Pole Playhouse in Fayetteville, Pa.
• July 2014: A float plane landing in Ketchikan, Alaska.
• August 2014: The "short-piece" of 5" supply line in the front bumper of Engine 252 at the Cumberland County Volunteer Firefighters Convention.
• September 2014: Neon on Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario.
• November 2014: Sunrise over the plains of eastern Colorado.
• December 2014: The drivers door of the old Marion fire engine at the Franklin County Public Safety Training Center.