10.31.2007

Happy Halloween!

I was going to save this for Caturday:

Zelda says HI!

10.10.2007

More Yooper Pics - Sept 2007

Following my visit to Munising Falls, I headed down the road to Miner's Castle in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

The Pictured Rocks are 15 miles of sandstone cliffs between Munising and Grand Marais. The waters of Lake Superior have shaped the cliffs in to various formations include the castle, a Indian Chief's head and more. At the same time, water is continually leaching out between the sandstone layers. In the winter, the water freezes and sometimes sections of the cliffs will break off and fall in the water. This happened to the Grand Arch in 2000 and to Miner's Castle in 2006.

If you read my previous post, you know that is was cold and rainy. When I arrived at the parking area for the overlook, it wasn't raining. There is a short walk to the platform that looks down towards Miner's Castle. Its still cold but not so bad with my coat on. Until I step to the railing of the overlook when the gale force winds forced me to take a step back.


To get these shots, I leaned forward, snapped a couple of quick ones then backed up till the feeling returned to my fingers.



Took a couple of tries to get this one with the water coming through the erosion holes.


Looking West toward Munising:


This photo just feels cold to me.

The Castle, up close. The two sides used to match. The right turret fell in April 2006. To see before and after pictures, visit Lake Superior Photo

I noticed the people in the Lake Superior Photo pictures. From what I could see, getting that close is no longer allowed or at least much more difficult. There are many signs that prohibit going beyond the guardrails along the path.


In June of this year, I took the Pictured Rocks Boat Tour, see those pictures here:
Pictured Rocks Slideshow


One more post with pictures of this trip coming soon.

10.09.2007

Themeless Tuesday

I'm working with my old laptop this week, thanks to an incident with my cats (Parada mostly), my newer laptop and a vase on a bookshelf last week. The cats were allowed to live, albeit banished to the basement for the weekend.

It took some work to get the old laptop back up and running and connected to the internet. And its uses are limited. The space bar doesn't always work. When the chip gets hot, the other keys do funny things before the whole thing either restarts or freezes up.

I'm in a much better mood about the whole thing since I found a lower price than I expected for a new screen on-line. Plus I had the visual amusement of seeing Zelda and Parada all slicked up with their monthly flea treatment. It makes their fur all spiky for a couple of days. Maybe I'll get some pics of that later.

In the meantime, I've been going through the pictures on this laptop and found a few to post up here.

Vacation at Grandma's House



Here I am with Uncle Rick and a grandma-made stuffed bear are at "Grandma in Iowa's house" where I spent lots of Thanksgivings and Easters while growing up. It took days to get there when we were kids, or so it seemed then.
There are scads of photos with the cousins and Rick standing in front of these orange curtains. Sometime around 1980 they were replaced with a lighter color (and we still stood in front of them for photos) but I still see the house with these orange curtains in my memory.

Storms in Chicago




For some reason, nearly every time I drive to Chicago to see Melissa, the weather is awful during the drive. The first time I drove out, in a Chevy Metro, was the worst I think. I had rain, snow and ice. The winds were blowing Lake Michigan right up on to Lakeshore Drive. About 1/2 way there, I thought 'I should go back home' but then realized I'd have to drive back through what I'd just survived. It had to get better, right? Pulling over on the highway to chip ice off the wipers is not, as it turns out better.

I made it on that trip and this one too. This trip was tame by comparison and actually the storm hanging between the highrise building was pretty neat looking. This picture was taken in stop and go traffic and does not give the scene justice.

How about some eye candy?





From Melissa's bachelorette party which took place in Chicago. And this guy is built like a bear. So maybe there is a theme here, subtle though it may be.

10.08.2007

Monkey Monday

Witches, Goblins and Pumpkins, oh my!



Yummy!



Artie works on his masterpiece:


Possession!


You can't see the rat barrettes but I think the red-eye is a nice touch, yes?

Post-carving break-dancing:


That's Artie and Stuart bustin' a move and the two Kaylas (I think) waiting their turn


These pictures were taken at the 2005 Pumpkin Carving Party, hosted by Jonquil and Scott. I hope it goes without saying that I did not take the guts picture.

I'm going to miss this year's party because the Grand Rapids 1/2 Marathon is the next day. But I'm thinking I'll get a pumpkin and carve it at Becky and Brian's house so I can be there in spirit.

10.01.2007

Monkey Monday

Time does fly



In these photos taken in April 2005, Toby is just about 6 months old and this was the first time Kayla and Artie met him. Also one of the first times Artie used up my memory card in one afternoon.

The Artie photo:


Kayla, Artie and Toby:



Toby recently celebrated his 3rd birthday with what I can only assume was a low key party since I didn't get invited to any special events.

As you can see from Rosa's birthday party, Toby is still all smiles.