Fall colors at Starved Rock State Park

I drove to Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois today. I was not the only person who thought that today would be the perfect day to view the beautiful fall colors.  The trails that are usually empty were filled with fellow photographers.  Even with a lack of water at several waterfalls, walking through the trails did not disappoint me.

Linking with: Our World Tuesday
                    A Southern Daydreamer
                    Rurality

Walking in the woods after the rain

The colors of the leaves intensified by the morning rain sparkled as I walked through the woods. Every once in a while the gentle breeze rustled the trees and the rain drops that were still on the leaves and branches came down. As I walked I could see my breath in the moist, cold air... Soon we will see the first snow of the season.

Linking with:   Weekly Top shot
                      Monday Mellow Yellows
                 

Sounds of Autumn

My husband said "It sounds like autumn out here".  I stopped and listened.  Well I know I am a little hard of hearing but what was he hearing?  Then I heard it..... the little rustle of golden leaves. A light breeze shook the trees and the beautiful colored leaves started falling making soft, barely audible swishing sounds. A little stronger breeze and all of the sudden plop, plop, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang... and I started dodging what was coming down on my head. What is it?  It was the sun ripened acorns and black walnuts hitting the ground and on our drive way. Yes, this is the unmistakable sounds of our autumn.  What does your autumn sounds like?

Linking with            Sunday Snapshot
                               Monday Mellow Yellows
                              Macro Monday 2
                               Our world Tuesday
                             Tuesday Muse
                             

End of the Summer

As the temperature drops I am ready to put away all things summer.  All the patio furniture should be washed and stacked, fountain turned off, drain all the water and the container put away in the garage, ferns that flourished during the summer (actually doubled in size) will be brought indoors for the winter.  What do you do to get ready for the winter?  Oh yes, one more thing, take a trip to a much quieter Lake and enjoy the last warmth of the summer.

Linking To : 

Skywatch Friday
Sundaysnapshot
Simple as that
Weekly top shots

Memorial Mural of Sept 11

9-11 Memorial Mural Dedicated to the first responders.

4508 N Milwaukie Ave Chicago, Il

Painted by Jill Arena and Cyd Smillie

Do you remember where you were when you heard the news of the attack on the world trade center? 

Muffler Men of Old Route 66 in Illinois

I drove down to St. Louis, Mo from Chicago on the Old Rte 66 last week.  I had already done some of the drive this summer, so I got off the Interstate in Springfield to photograph one of the Muffler Men that stand on the Rte 66.

I read about these giants (stands between 18-25 feet tall) but had no ideas what the attractions were. While I was taking pictures of the Gemini Giant (the Muffler Men on the right) cars would drive up and people will pile out and get their pictures taken with it.  It is pretty amusing that these fiberglass guys that were made back in the 1960's are getting their pictures taken with the i-phones and i-pads. 

Let me introduce you to the Muffler Men from the old Rte 66 that I encountered.. From left, this guy stands in Livingston,IL in front of the Pink Elephant Antique Mall. The Harley Davidson guy was moved from Kansas and after arriving here, he was painted with the Harley Davidson name on his chest. I think it is pretty fitting that so many Harley Davidson motorcyle riders drive on the Old Rte 66. In Springfield,IL there is the "Lauterbach Tire men" whose head was decapitated back in 2006 by the Tornado that hit the area. Now with his head screwed back on, he holds an American Flag.  I wondered what he used to hold, maybe a giant wrench.  Next is  "The Hot Dog man" in Atlanta, IL this guy used to stand in front of the Bunyon's in Cicero from 1963 to 2003.  After the place closed it was moved to the Rte 66 in Atlanta and is now called "Tall Paul"  It still holds the giant hot dog from the days.  The last is the "Gemini Giant" of the Wilmington IL.  He stands at the corner of the parking lot at the Launching pad drive-ins (which is now closed and up for sale along with the Gemini Giant).  His rockets were stolen and had to be replaced twice. What would you do with the 8 foot long styrofoam rocket in your garage?

Since I had mentioned the Pink Elephant Antique Mall I wanted to share with you "The Pink Elephant" that stands in front.  It is visible from the Interstate and there is no way that you can miss it if you are driving on I-55.  If you would like to see it up close and personal get off at Exit 33 and take the frontage road.  As you can see it is painted bubble gum Pink.....If you would like to know the locations of the Muffler Men drop me a note, I can direct you to them.  

Mural Monday -- Have you ever had a feeling that something is watching you?

Well I sure did. I turned around to see what was there and here it was cold as a stone, just watching me with this eye.... It could easily have been over shadowed by the huge wall of murals right behind it, but its intensity was too strong.   W Lexington St. & S Cicero Ave.  Chicago, Il.

Tasty Tuesday ... Blueberry Crepes

Please visit my food blog "Munchy Delight Adventure" where every week I will be posting images of yummy delights from my travels.

Mural Monday --- Ben Slow in Los Angeles

I happened to see this wall art tucked away next to the Mexican fast food restaurant at the corner of Sunset Blvd. & Sanborn St. in Los Angeles. At first glance this looked like a magazine advertisement, but with closer examination the careful placement of the Red layer, the way the collage like image was put together I felt that this was a very calculated art work.  

It turned out that this work was done by Ben Slow a Mural artist from London. Here is a link to his blog where he talks about this piece. .http://www.slowbenart.com/new-endings-on-paper/

Thames to blame

London Eye at Night.  London England 2013

I hate tripods. Yes, me who takes many night and nature photography at very slow shutter speed, hate using it. Tripods are heavy to carry, I can't be spontaneous, it slows me down and sometimes I can't get the angle that I want.  But I love the results, crisp sharp images, the silky water and the blending of the moving lights are just mesmerizing to me. 




During my recent trip to London I didn't take my tripod because of the above reasons, but also because of the weight restrictions of the airlines. So what do I do when I see a subject that requires a slow shutter speed with long exposure?  In this particular instances I put my camera on a stone wall, propped the lens up with my scarf and used the timer. This was a 20 second exposure at F-14, ISO 200.  I think it turned out pretty nicely...




I was so intent on capturing the London Eye that by the time I was satisfied with the image I was left all alone on the banks of the Thames River.  After putting my camera away I hurried to the Underground station and hopped on to the tube (London subway).  I felt relieved and tired and was looking forward to getting into a warm bed. 




After a few minutes the tube stopped. I mean dead stopped between two stations.  I tried to stay calm, and in about 15 minutes it started moving again.  After getting to the next station, the announcer came on the intercom and announced that this would be the end of the ride and that there will be no more tubes running until signal problems were fixed.  We were to find another way to get to our destinations. What? I had several more stations to go.  How was I going to get back to my hotel?  I had a pass for all day tube ride to get around the city but No Cash.




I ran out of the station to orient myself as to where I was. However, since I had been taking the underground in London the surface streets meant nothing to me.  To make it worse, the streets were deserted.  By this time it was close to 10 pm and I was getting little scared. So I walked around the station until I started seeing some cars.  I figured that whether I had money or not the only way to get back to my hotel was to hail a cab.  So I waited for a cab to come by and when I saw one I waived frantically but it did not stop.  Another cab came by.  Again I waived but it did not stop.  Why weren’t they stopping?  Couldn’t they see me? Or did they think this lunatic, funny looking lady was too scary looking that they didn’t want to stop?  Or did they secretly know that I didn’t have any cash?






But I had to get back to my hotel.  I didn’t know which direction my hotel was and I didn’t have a phone that I could use in London.  So I started jumping up and down (with my camera bag jumping up and down with me) waving my arms to get their attention. Finally one cab driver saw me or felt sorry for me and he stopped.  Thank goodness. I told him which hotel I was staying at and I asked the driver if he could take me to the hotel in under 10 pounds. Can you believe this? I was negotiating with the cab driver; me who didn't have any cash on me.  As the cab was getting closer to the hotel I had to come up with a plan.  I could ran out of the cab just as he drove up at the hotel then... well that wasn't going to work.  Maybe if I pleaded with the front desk, they could pay the driver and charge it to my room?  Well that was as good as it was going to get.  Just as the hotel came into my view it occurred to me that I had put 20 pounds into my wallet for an emergency.  I had forgotten all about it. Thank goodness I remembered.  I gave the driver a huge tip and I didn’t have to embarrass myself at the front desk. Soon I was back in my room.  phew.....