Watery Wednesday

This is my creek. After a rain, I can hear it splashing and talking from my deck. I have played and waded and skated on this creek. I've thrown and skipped rocks. My daughter has done the same. I've tried to catch fish. I've successfully caught many crayfish and frogs and toads in it. I've even caught a snake or two sunning on the banks. From standing in the creek, I have spied deer, pileated woodpeckers, bluebirds,
and even morels.


It's not a big creek.
Many branches are down in it from the ice storm in 2009.
There are sandstones and salamanders and snails.
It seems cool down at the creek, even when it is sweltering.
If it weren't for the ticks, I'd probably live in the creek.

I love my creek.

This is linked to Watery Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Susan

Wednesday

Black and White and Frozen Watery Wednesday

These photographs were taken during the ice storm of January 2009. We were without electricity for seventeen days. All of our appliances are electric. Virtually every tree in our woods lost its top. The second night of the storm, we didn't sleep. Every three to five seconds (I do mean this literally; we counted!) we were startled by the sound of large branches falling or trees falling on the house and all around us. We lived in fear that the 96 foot poplar next to our house would fall. Thankfully, the poplar only lost branches.
The tree was cut down the summer after the ice storm.

Every time I catch myself complaining about all the snow we've had this winter, I remember that I should be above all thankful that this is just some snow. The power is still on, we have heat, I can wash clothes and diapers in the washing machine and dry them in the dryer. I sincerely hope that no one ever sees an ice storm of that magnitude again.





Our driveway


A nearby field

I liked the barbed wire in this one.

As I look outside and see snow, I can smile. It's not ice!!!
I'm joining Lisa at
The Long Road to China for Black and White Wednesday.
I'm also linking up with 2sweetnsaxy for Watery Wednesday.
Hope you're having a great week!

-Susan

Watery Wednesday

Yesterday was a wonderful day . We went to Land Between the Lakes. For those unfamiliar with the area, LBL is the land in between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. It's a huge, beautiful park.

This is my first Watery Wednesday. My first two photos today are rather watery.

Here is my practically requisite frog shot. Yes, it was warm enough for frogs! I saw several and caught two. Yes, of course, I let them go very shortly afterward. Both kids thought the frogs were really neat.

From the 1840's to 1912, before the lakes were created, the area around what is now LBL, was iron-producing. There were several iron furnaces. The prettiest industrial waste I have ever seen is something called slag. According to Wikipedia , "Slag is a partially vitreous by-product of smelting ore to separate the metal fraction from the unwanted fraction. It can usually be considered to be a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide."


It's a beautiful blue to blue-green, glasslike substance.
I love the striations that are in many pieces.
Slag's mixed into the gravel on some of the roads around Center Furnace. It's in the grass. It's in the creek.
To me, it looks like gemstones strewn all over.
Unfortunately, you can't take slag with you, but you CAN take all the photographs you want. My next trip will be on a sunny day so I can see how the bits of slag sparkle in the sunlight.
Some pieces are as small as pebbles; some are as big as baseballs.




Here is a photo of the remains of Center Furnace.


Click on the above photo, and notice the decorative pattern in the bricks on the left side of the furnace. Isn't that neat? I think that's a nice detail for a factory that was designed to be run continuously.


I highly recommend a trip to LBL to anyone within a reasonable drive. Did I mention that most things in LBL are free? They are. The things that aren't free are worth the money in my opinion. The Nature Station is a great place to go, especially with kids. They have coyotes, deer, owls, a bobcat, and many other critters. All for a whopping $4 for adults. For $5 per carload, you can see elk and bison in an enclosure that is so large that the animals appear to be in the wild. In addition to our native White-tailed Deer, you will also likely see Fallow Deer in LBL. We didn't see any yesterday, but we usually do. We did see a Coyote cross the road in front of us. I think our total deer count was about 17. Of course, there are many places in LBL where water birds can been seen. We saw some unidentified ducks, White Pelicans, and several Great Blue Herons. I'm already itching to go back.

Hope you all are having a great week like I am!

-Susan