The geese are back!

Walking from a parking lot, which soon was completely full of swimmers at the Lake Tomahawk pool, (not in the lake)...I did a double take going by the picnic pavilion.

Well these are probably very big ducks, or maybe geese.

 I wasn't going to be bullied by a bunch (herd? gaggle? flock?) of Canada Geese.

So I kind of made little beep beep noises to let them know I didn't plan to wait for them all to walk across the path.  It worked, they made way for me.  The Recreation and Parks people used to have a dog which patrolled and keep the geese away, but now they are back in full swing, including leaving lots of droppings along their way.

 A week later, the same white ducks are begging for crumbs (which children often toss to them) at the side of the pool.

As I drove away from Lake Tomahawk, twice I had to stop for ducks crossing the road.  The wildlife is pretty demanding around here!

Today's Quote:
It is easy to laugh when we feel good, but it is when the world appears dim that we most need laughter in our lives. Madisyn Taylor "Daily Om"

Like ducks (er, geese) to water

What caught my eye were the goslings swimming with a family...three adults is rather strange though.

But this guy made sure I noticed him as well.

My jaunt around the lake often stops for the pleasure of enjoying beauty of nature, whether high or low.

And as I turned to resume my walk, who should I see but another goose family!  Imagine young that can not only walk and swim, but eat for themselves right after hatching!

Shared with these other ducks...enjoying the water on Sepia Saturday this week!

Old entertainment and baby fowl

The source of many a program which would get a family to gather 'round.

The Texaco Radio Hour, Amos and Andy, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, The Lone Ranger, Gracey Allen and George Burns, and many many more! Do you have radio (pre-TV) memories?

For Sepia Saturday (HERE) to remind us of times when entertainment meant we could see the things happening...as depicted by this sailing family with their rabbit-eared TV.  Here in the land of the free we no longer get free TV reception, but have to pay for someone to beam it into their box in our homes.

Today I have some baby fowl to share with you...first the Canada Goose family, with a couple of fluffy goslings at the foot of a column on the picnic pavilion...can you make them out?  It was really hard, because of course those are very wary parents!

Not sure why the goslings are sitting in a puddle, but they look like they were cold.

 And here were a couple of baby swifts...there tucked into the beams under the Senior Center's porch.

Located at the junction of where porch changes direction, the beams seemed just right for the Swift family, who returns to nest here every year.

A quieter area, but not the choice for the nest, also under the porch.

Nest is in far left upper corner

I'm guessing 3 mouths open wide...

I tried watching and standing further away, but parents waited until I was gone completely, as well as people walking their dogs.

Muddy water and clouds

After rain in the night, including flashes of bright lightening about 5 miles (seconds) away, I was happy to have a half hour walk around the brown-watered lake Friday at noon.

I'm guessing this is a cherry tree. I took photos, then carefully walked around puddles in the path.

A flock of Canada Geese landed, but I didn't have the camera out for their squawking splashing landing in the lake.

By the time I finished lunch the beautiful scudding clouds on that deep Carolina blue sky had turned to foreboding grey again, so I was grateful I'd had my walk while the sun had been shining.

Today's quote:

“While physics and mathematics may tell us how the universe began, they are not much use in predicting human behavior because there are far too many equations to solve. I’m no better than anyone else at understanding what makes people tick, particularly women.” Stephen Hawking

Lake walk day one

 Beyond the morning glories, there are the last tomatoes of this summer!

 Day one of new daily walking, in conjunction with eating at the Senior Center...and calorie counting to lose some weight before the holidays! I'll let you know when I reach my goal!

 I remember a lovely picnic with my friends George and Rosemary Beddingfield here.  That was my first year in Black Mountain NC

The Lakeview Senior Center on the other side of Lake Tomahawk.

 The geese up ahead have a couple of look-outs posted.  They probably won't mind my walking by.

 But soon every single one looks toward the footbridge.

 A dog (small, on a leash) is coming towards us
.

These are wild birds, and they know canines aren't their friends.

Some springtimes, they nest on the island, but raccoons usually raid the nests at night.  It's not easy being a Canada Goose!

Quote for today:

I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding. John O'Donohue

Being part of sunset

An amazing pink tinted cloud hovered overhead

One of our trees has already started to turn from green to (?)

My apartment has lots of planters on the rail on my porch (the second one) while everything turned pinkish gold the other night.  I didn't see them, but a while later I heard the Canada Geese honking as they flew over.

Going for clay

When you park at Highwater Clay in Asheville, NC, there's that old mother river, the French Broad, just chugging along next to you.

It was such a beautiful day, we had to go take a look at the Canada Geese who were having some fun out near a log.

OK, NOW it's fall

Twice last week I heard them overhead.  And the second time I had my cell phone and was outside looking up, at sunset the Canada Geese flew overhead.

That means it's really fall for me.

I'm so glad to know I'm on one of the routes they take.  I plan to go over to Lake Tomahawk tomorrow and see more of them.  Though there is a local flock of Canada Geese, this is the season they migrate north,* and I love seeing them come in for a landing on the water.  I guess they can land on the land too, but who would want to when you can gracefully settle onto water?
  *South, as fellow blogger Gary reminded me!

October 8, looking at maple trees outside my bedroom window.

October 13, looking through the screen (the only window that has one yet, remember the apartment is still being rennovated).

Yes still being rennovated.  On Mon the 12th an earth mover dug a trench under the front porch.

He dug another trench under the neighbor's porch also, deep enough for a man to stand inside.

Apparently there was a fan from the downstairs apartment, which went out into some kind of air vent culvert.  There has been too much seepage in these vents, so they are all being removed.  The apartment downstairs from me has no windows in bath or kitchen, so I'm very fortunate to be in the upstairs apartment.  The entrance to the downstairs apartment is on the downhill side of the building.  It's a pretty clever layout.

Another screen shot...the trees are outside the downstairs apartment entrances, and they also have a nice bedroom and living room view.

Quote for today:

May the sun bring you new energy by day; may the moon softly restore you by night; may the rain wash away your worries; may the breeze blow new strength into your being.

Apache Blessing