My last day in Boise, I decided to make a stop by the Boise Depot. I was hoping that it was going to be open and I could get a few shots inside. Unfortunately, it was closed for a wedding and they were taking stuff in while I was there. I tried to sneak in, but that did not work either. I had to settle with exploring the Platt Gardens and a few shots of the outside of the Boise Depot.
By now, you are looking at this photo and thinking, what bear? Don’t look too hard, or maybe you should. It may be in the background. I owe my children a great big apology. As you know, we went to Goforth Creek near the Ocoee River in Tennessee over the weekend. We were climbing the rocks through out the creek bed and while they were playing, I was taking photos. We got about 1/8th of a mile into our trek of about 2 miles total. Not very far from the parking area and the only major highway. I had just finished setting up for this shot when my oldest said “BEAR!” Of course, like most people, in the back of my head, I said “yeah right”. We were way too close to the road and along a well traveled part of the creek / trail. What did I do? Finish taking the shot and then on the off chance she actually did see something. I was thinking maybe dog or other small animal. I looked up and scanned my surroundings. Well, I was completely taken by surprise when I looked just above this waterfall and saw a full grown black bear. It was crossing the creek and heading to the right of the photo, where it began to climb the side of the mountain. About that time, daddy mode, as opposed to photographer mode, took over and I made sure to get the kids back out of the way. This resulted in me not getting any photos of the bear. So, to make the story even more interesting, I had done something very similar with my youngest several weeks ago when she found a snake.
With the most sincerity, children, I am sorry!!!
After being so disappointed that many of the waterways in the Southeast had turned into murky mud runs instead of flowing rivers and creeks, I ran across Goforth Creek. This was the destination of my children and me for our surprise excursion. When we first arrived, it was still a little too dark to really get a good look at how clear the water was. It did not take too long for the sun to rise high enough to make little pools of light through the crystal clear water.
Sometimes, I am not the brightest tool in the shed (not the smartest person for those that don’t speak southern). After the drama of being stuck by a stingray, we returned to the same beach a few days later. Unfortunately, I had developed quite an infection and spent most of a day in the emergency room. Lets just say, I was not in the best of conditions, but seriously missing my exercise routine. I decided to take a short stroll. After about half a mile along the beach, I had left all the beach goers behind. Just shy of the mile mark, I ran across this log. It was sitting rather lonely along the shore just waiting for the storm in the distance to roll in.
I decided to surprise my wife Saturday morning. I was going to give her a day minus the children. It was a great idea, until…
I got the children up early, about 7AM, and told them we were going to go someplace fun. I cautioned them to be extremely quiet and not wake mommy. Not only did that not work, she was up before I could get them ready and out the door.
The short side of the story is that mommy chose to go shopping and we met in Etowah Tennessee for lunch. While we were exploring, I ran across these two valves with a chain between. Looked kinda like a smiley face to me. Check back later for where the kids and I chose to go.
Several years ago, we had a tornado pass very near where I live. It was an interesting night to say the least and left quite a path of destruction. Instead of letting all the fallen trees go to waste, many of the land owners chose to have the timber harvested. I watched for months as timber companies slowly cleared almost all the trees. This is what some of the area looks like now. The undergrowth and some trees are beginning to return. Unfortunately, it is going to take decades for what was there to return.
In Panama City Florida, we were driving around looking for dinner one night. We could not decide on a place to go. Like that is not unusual. We passed this sign for a restaurant on Thomas Drive and chose to give it a try. The front of the restaurant was nondescript, but I was completely blown away when we went in. It was not the interior, but when we went out on to the patio. They actually had a small swimming pool for the guests and it overlooked this marina. Of course, I had to go exploring just before a storm would hit.
Over the last couple of years, I have passed this gate on a fairly regular basis. I was kinda surprised when I saw the owners out several months ago putting up new fence (barbed wire) and fixing the gate posts. Fortunately, updating the fence did not take away any from the beautiful sunrises I get to see occasionally.
I am constantly amazed at how clean the remote areas of the western United States are. This small river, quite large by most east coast standards, was only about 30 minutes from downtown Boise, Idaho. It was tucked into a gorge where there was only enough room for the water and road. Every once in a while, there was a small area that was just large enough for a house also. The water was so clear that I could see all the way to the bottom everywhere in the river. I could even see the fish darting around.
So, the past couple of months have not been so good for me in the photography department. I am hoping to get caught up now that several non-photography projects and events have been passed.
When you go to a park, there are always signs that say to not feed the animals. I’m a pretty common sense person and can understand why you don’t do that. However, I still find people who don’t seem to get it. Of course, I grabbed the camera and stood by while people decided to do idiotic things. I’m kinda disappointed that I did not get to watch an episode of when animals attack. This little mother raccoon kept walking back and forth from it’s den in the jetties to this waiting group of feeders.
