How cows stay warm on a cold but sunny day

Walking the red trail, I detoured over to the fence where I could see some of Oscar's cows trying to stay warm. I like the picture! Before I could get off a second shot, half of them were standing up and the picture was gone.

Duck blind

Still working on photographing the Wood Ducks. I've built this blind (near the BOD for those familiar with the area). I can walk up to this from the trail without the ducks seeing me. At first I was trying to photograph over it but that exposed too much and they'd fly away. So I reworked it with a hole to shoot through. I was able to observe them for 5-10 minutes once but did not have the camera with me. So far, not successful! Either no ducks there or they were in an area I can't photograph from here.

From the ducks side it looks like this. Very well concealed!

Supplement to my last post

Here's one of my pictures of one of the Wood Ducks in our pond. There were still some twigs, leaves, etc. that messed up the foreground but the dozen or so of these flew away after this shot. Now I guess I need to go back with a short tripod and a cover to keep me out of sight until I can get a good picture.

A new entry on the Wildernest Property Bird List

It's been awhile since we got to make a new entry on the Wildernest Property Bird List. There are 53 species on the list now and it's very infrequent that we see a bird that we haven't seen before. There have been some ducks on the pond recently but they always see us before we see them and they are gone in a flash. The times I do try to sneak up on them - either I fail or there's been nothing there. This morning I was finally successful and for a minute or two got to observe a small flock of about a dozen birds. At first I thought the males were Mallards (didn't have my glasses on) but then saw the distinctive way the head feathers sweep to the rear - Wood Ducks! Pretty exciting! Then Shadow came bounding up and they all flew away. I wish that was my picture above but it came from the internet. (Yesterday we saw the first Cedar Waxwings and Goldfinch of the season on the birdbath along with 6-8 beautiful Bluebirds - a pretty sight!)

25 Years has changed a lot -

We were doing some closet cleaning yesterday and ended up digging through some old photos. This one was taken in 1984 or 1985 after a fire burned most of the property here. In the trees in the upper center you can see what was the mobile home then. I've studied the picture carefully trying to determine where it was taken and, from the location of the creek and walking the property to determine the angle, have come to the conclusion that I must have been standing very close to where the Treehouse is now - probably a bit more to the east towards the chapel. The trees along the bank of the creek on the right side of the picture are where the east bridge is now.

Sky Bridge and Zipline

The new addition to the Treehouse is actually a second platform about 8X10 attached to the Treehouse by a 30 foot elevated walkway that we're calling the Sky Bridge. It's not yet finished in this picture - more hand rail work to be done.

In other Zipline news - Glynda finally rode it - leaving only one family holdout - that being Beverly!! Jorge also rode it becoming the oldest person, at 78, to do so. Xander is the youngest and I believe that he was a year, 2 months, and 2 weeks old when he did it (Justin will have to confirm) and that still leaves an opening for James to beat it with Harper! I'm sure that Daniel has the record for most rides and that gives the Reyes family a sweep!

A clue!

Ref my post from last Wednesday - this is a clue!

Good news, bad news

My tractor repair guy just got back into town from a hunting trip and I stopped by to get an estimate on the repair of my lawn mower that won't start right now. If the problem is what he thinks it is, it'll cost me about $250. That's the bad news.

The good news is that I saw in my daily email reminder from Chase bank that there had been a deposit into my checking account. It was the $250 from the Seniors Protection Act of 2010. That's the good news.

As they say - easy come . . . .

Of course I still need to buy that $400 tire for the big tractor:(

Thanksgiving Day watch

So, this time of year we're usually working on the longer term things to get ready for the big gathering on Turkey day. Last year, since Deanna and Cody were not planning on coming, they were in charge of the weather and they did great! This year, the ten day forecast says we need help again! It suppose to be about 70 degrees BUT there's a 70% chance of showers forecasted now. We'll just have to keep watch and see what happens as they day grows closer.


Meanwhile, something else is happening. We were sitting in the Treehouse on Monday (me, Glynda, Alex, and Daniel) enjoying coffee and hot chocolate, enjoying the futon we just moved in and enjoying the morning very much. It was a perfect time for the mind to start wandering - and that's why something is happening now. I can't tell you what it is but here are a couple pictures. There's a trailer behind Alex's pick-up.



It's pretty cool!!! See you Thanksgiving Day!!

Another Wildernest outing.

The ladies from Morgans Mercy Mansion ministry in Winnsboro were here yesterday and enjoyed pizza on the deck and then an afternoon of zipline riding. The weather was absolutely perfect!

What buzzards do on sunny mornings after a cold night

We saw this guy sunning himself as we left for our walk on the trail this morning. He was nice enough to sit there while I went back to the house, got the camera, changed lenses, and walked back across the meadow.

BTW - for family and friends and for future reference - we've renamed the long part of the "Orange Trail" to the "Red Trail" so there won't be any more discussions about the "Long Orange Trail" and the "Short Orange Trail".

More Autumn Trails in Winnsboro - Antique car rally

The sign says - "This mess is a place!"

She was dancing to street music on Market Street.

I could really post 60-80 shots of very neat old cars and these are just a few - along with a few pictures to give the feel of the crowd and the happenings. We watched the parade, had lunch at A&E, and then walked over to Main Street where all of the older cars were lined up so you could get up close and personal. A fun day!

Autumn Trails in Winnsboro this Weekend

We missed seeing the trail ride but did see a few of the folks on their way home - as we were on our way home. Their hayride trailer was pulled by a big Farmall tractor and the elder riders were sitting in lawn chairs! And the modified automobile made the most unique cart I've ever seen!

2010 - Vacation - Gettysburg

Gettysburg National Military Park

One of our last stops on our vacation was Gettysburg. Beverly drove down the evening before and joined us at the hotel. The next morning we went to the Gettysburg Battlefield - beginning with the visitors center. But first - I'm one of those people that thinks every American should visit this place. It's unique in the history of our country and this battle determined what our country would be like. Not that the result had an immediate impact - but it did determine the direction.

Gettysburg was a small town then and still is. The town was surrounded by the battlefield then and is surrounded by the park now. Over the years more and more land has been acquired by the park service. A tour of the battlefield takes you down the streets of the town and it's sometimes hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Because this was such an important battle, it and the aftermath were photographed extensively. There were also reunions where the men who fought there, returned there. A lot is known about just exactly how things were at the time and the park service is doing an incredible job of keeping it as it was. There are fences now where fences were then. If trees get to tall they are cut down and replaced. So when you visit and you do see it, it's very much as those that fought there saw it. So I think all Americans should visit here. They should first learn about what happened and when they visit they can see where and why it happened that way. Start with Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address".

The visit begins at the "Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitors Center" and you can meet Abe Lincoln just before you walk in.

Your ticket includes admission to the museum and to the Cyclorama. I only took a couple pictures in the museum. This one is from the section on Lincoln but the other part has a different look and has very much to say about the time and place.

There is a short movie about the battle and then you take the escalator up to the Cyclorama. You really don't know what to expect here. This is a giant painting done in 1884 - in the round. It is 27 feet tall and 359 feet long - longer than a football field. You stand in the middle and it's all around you. The foregrounds are landscaped and it gives a three dimensional appearance. In reading about this I expected it to be a little "hokey". But when I saw it and heard and saw the presentation, it was very moving. Because it's round and the area is darkened you can't really photograph it - but here's an effort to show a small part of it.

We looked at our options for seeing the battlefield. You can do it on your own, ride tour buses, etc. But we quickly determined that the best (and for three people or more, the least expensive - a rare combination) was to hire one of the private guides. They drive your car and give you a two hour private tour of the battle field. So we signed up and then went to lunch where we tried some food that the soldiers ate then - hard tack and peanut soup. The hard tack is also know as sea biscuit. (Sounds like a horse.)

Then, of course, there's the gift shop - Lincoln, Lincoln, nothing (almost) but Lincoln.

And then the time came when the guide walked up and called for the Willis party. The picture below was taken a little later in the tour but this is our guide - a very friendly guy that enjoys doing this. He spends six weeks a year in Gettysburg. All of these guys are certified and they know the answers. In the 25 square miles of the park, he took us to the small Texas monument.

Major-General John Reynolds of the Union Army killed
on the first day of battle. The monument was built in 1878.

The map below shows the town of Gettysburg and the battlefields and is marked with the events of the three days - day one in the upper left, day two towards the bottom of the map, and day three towards the center of the map. That's the route that the guide took us - beginning with the fighting of the first day.

We then went by the Confederates positions of the third day as that was between the day one and the day two sites. Monuments have been placed throughout the battlefield beginning very early on after the battle. Some are for the officers, some are for particular regiments, brigades, etc. The one below is a detail of the monument for the State of North Carolina and is placed on the field in their position on day two.

Below - This is the James Longstreet memorial - Lee's second in command

Below- Little Round Top and Big Round Top as seen
from Seminary Ridge

Our guide said not to put too much into the names at Gettysburg. Cemetery Ridge (like Cemetery Hill) is where the cemetery was. Seminary Ridge is where the seminary was, etc.

He pointed out this monument for Georgia and read the words. It's still a powerful message to him.


I'd have to add one that I saw in the museum. It refers to the killed and wounded there and was published in the Gettysburg Compiler just a few days after the battle:

"Every name is like a lightening stroke to some heart, and breaks like thunder over some home, and falls a long black shadow over some hearthstone"

Little Round Top - We stopped there and walked out where we could see the valley and he pointed out the places of the fighting on the second day. I took the picture below of Devil's Den from there.

The picture below doesn't look like much but the guide says that it still effects him every time he comes there and I was already having difficult time with my composure when he said that. This was taken from Cemetery Ridge from the spot that was the focus of Pickett's Charge. You can see the futility of that move - the last ever of the Napoleon like charges where the only chance of success is to advance more men than the enemy can kill. Thousands of men died in that field between where the picture was taken and the trees in the distance.

And this is where our tour ended.