Beautiful Day Along The Canal

Posted on May 1, 2014 by

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It was a lovely day, today…..rather breezy, but the sun was out, the sky was bright blue, the clouds were fluffy and white, and it was fairly warm. So, it was a nice day to be out and about wasting time and enjoying the first day of May! The canal was finally filled a couple weeks ago……love it when it is full…….and it was supposed to open for boat traffic today, but the recent heavy rains caused them to decide to push the opening back to next week. But, that didn’t stop me from looking for a good spot to take some photos (different than the usual spots I capture downtown)…….and it didn’t stop the people I saw out enjoying the tow path!!!

I went to Lowes (in the pouring rain) on Tuesday to get some things and one of them was the wrong part, so I had to go take it back. When I was driving home from Brockport on Tuesday, I slipped up Canal Road off of Redman Rd, instead of going all the way to Route 31. I hadn’t taken Canal Rd in years and forgot how close to the canal it is — you could literally slip off the road just a few inches and fall right into the canal – if it weren’t for the guard rails!!! Like I said, it was pouring rain on Tuesday and I was drenched and tired, so I promised myself to go back through there on a nicer day to snap some photos. Today was the day!!!

These are shots of the canal along Canal Rd between Holley and Brockport right near where Redman Rd goes over the canal – that is the bridge you will see in the first photo:

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That gray strip along the left of the canal is Canal Rd – gets really close to the edge of the canal

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I can’t believe I used to zip down this road in the wee hours – not thinking I might end up swimming

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Not sure why, but I just loved the way this power pole looked against the sky

Same with this white log — just looked too cool to not photograph it

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I took the Canal Rd photos on the way to Brockport. On the way back, I went right to Route 31 and didn’t cut up Canal Rd. There is a nice little canal side park on Route 31 just across the canal and down a little ways from where I took the earlier photos on Canal Rd (just before you get to Holley on the right coming from Brockport). The park is right where Route 31 goes over the canal – the bridge you see in some of the following photos. They have a nice little pavilion with picnic tables, a boat launch and dock, and what looked like a hiking trail through the woods. I saw a couple walking their dog on the tow path and there were other cars there that probably belonged to people who were out on the tow path (or maybe that hiking trail). It is very pretty and peaceful there…..nice spot!!!

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The tow path along the canal is a popular place to walk or ride bikes

Many years ago, before tug boats and other ways to tow barges, the tow path was used by mules and ox to tow barges transporting goods from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes

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Another cool looking log….or should I say small tree, roots and all

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Pipes from the canal allow overflow to run into this stream

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Wordless Wednesday – Quirky Cemetery Shots

Posted on May 1, 2014 by

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I have decided to no longer do a separate blog for my Wordless Wednesday photos and to no longer keep up the challenge – it quickly stopped being what my blog is all about and started being something I felt I HAD to do! Case in point: yesterday was Wednesday and I got half way through the day and realized I didn’t have an inspiration and didn’t have time to go out to get inspired and take some photos – I felt like I had failed in something I set out to do!!! But, I reminded myself that blogging is something I enjoy……just for me……if others read my posts and enjoy my writings, adventures, photos, and reviews, GREAT – if not, oh well…..I’m really doing it mostly for ME!!! Doing Wordless Wednesday for the past month sounded like it would be a fun idea……so, I gave it a shot……it wasn’t that much fun, so I’m done!  🙂  So, I’m ending the Kim’s Wordless Wednesday blog and just going back to writing and sharing on my own personal blog – if and when I want to! Hehehe…….BUT – I didn’t want to lose the WW posts that I liked the most, so I’m copying them onto this blog so they are preserved (“Alleys and Arches” and “Quirky Cemetery Shots” – the third one, “Look Up!”, is already here). At some point, the Wordless Wednesday blog will be deactivated, but for now, it will remain, but not maintained.

Week of April 16, 2014

Here are some Quirky Cemetery Shots…..

First up – an ancestor of mine – Anthony Miles, August 11, 1784 – June 6, 1883. What makes this grave site odd and interesting is that the tree has grown around the stone….literally hugging the stone for all eternity! Anthony Miles’ grave site can be found in Carlton Cemetery in Carlton, NY.

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Next are shots taken during the 2013 Mount Albion Ghost Walk in Mount Albion Cemetery in Albion, NY. High School students dressed up like notable historic Albion citizens to tell their stories.

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And, finally…..shots taken at the Colonial Park Cemetery in Savannah, GA – one of a wall where broken head stones have been placed to preserve them and a couple of eerie views through the cemetery

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Wordless Wednesday – Alleys and Arches

Posted on May 1, 2014 by

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I have decided to no longer do a separate blog for my Wordless Wednesday photos and to no longer keep up the challenge – it quickly stopped being what my blog is all about and started being something I felt I HAD to do! Case in point: yesterday was Wednesday and I got half way through the day and realized I didn’t have an inspiration and didn’t have time to go out to get inspired and take some photos – I felt like I had failed in something I set out to do!!! But, I reminded myself that blogging is something I enjoy……just for me……if others read my posts and enjoy my writings, adventures, photos, and reviews, GREAT – if not, oh well…..I’m really doing it mostly for ME!!! Doing Wordless Wednesday for the past month sounded like it would be a fun idea……so, I gave it a shot……it wasn’t that much fun, so I’m done!  🙂  So, I’m ending the Kim’s Wordless Wednesday blog and just going back to writing and sharing on my own personal blog – if and when I want to! Hehehe…….BUT – I didn’t want to lose the WW posts that I liked the most, so I’m copying them onto this blog so they are preserved (“Alleys and Arches” and “Quirky Cemetery Shots” – the third one, “Look Up!”, is already here). At some point, the Wordless Wednesday blog will be deactivated, but for now, it will remain, but not maintained.

Week of April 9, 2014

Here are some photos of Arches and Alleys — the inspiration started out just being Arches, but I found arch framed alleys that looked so cool I decided to add alleys to the mix! I was out and about in the rain on Tuesday and these caught my eye…..enjoy!

The first three are of what inspired me to make it a dual theme – a church in our neighboring town, Medina, has an archway that opens into an alley between two buildings from Main Street to a parking lot behind the buildings. So cool!

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The next arched alley is also in Medina:

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This is the arched entrance into the beautiful and historic Mount Albion Cemetery in Albion. Made from Medina Sandstone, the arch is capped with a peak stone that reads “Mount Albion 1843″:

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And, finally, Beaver Alley in downtown Albion with a street paved in Medina Sandstone:

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2014 Bucket List

Posted on April 19, 2014 by

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It is that time of year, again…..the weather is starting to improve and be somewhat dependable (as dependable as spring weather can be) and thoughts of getting out and about and enjoying life abound! After the brutal winter we had, it is all the more exciting to start thinking about putting together my “2014 Grand Adventure Bucket List” (formerly called my “Things to Do and Places to Go” list)! I can’t wait to get started checking things off!

So, what will I put on my list this year? There are so many things to see and do that can be done on short day trips or even just taking an afternoon to enjoy! I also have a couple things that will likely be longer, 2-3 day trips. There are a few things I’ve had on my list since I moved back, but just haven’t gotten to them, yet – this year just might be the year they get checked off! Here’s what I’m thinking, so far……of course, as opportunities arise or I discover something new and interesting, the list will likely evolve as I go!

In no particular order:

  • The Original Kazoo Company in Eden, NY – located just south of Buffalo a little over an hour drive from here. This is a factory that still actively makes kazoos on the same equipment it has manufactured with since it began almost 100 years ago in 1916! You can watch the process and even make your own kazoo. Of course, there is also a gift shop and museum.
  • The Herschell Carousel Factory Museum in North Tonawanda, NY – located near Buffalo just about an hour drive from here. I LOVE CAROUSELS…..and I am hoping to share this trip with my great neice and nephew sometime this summer! The Allan Herschell Company was established in 1915 and was in operation producing beautiful carousels until 1970. Many of Allan Herschell’s hand carved carousels are still putting smiles on peoples faces across the country today! The factory museum incudes a 1916 carousel that visitors can ride, as well as kiddie rides, a room full of original Wurlitzer music rolls, and a wood carving shop.
  • The Genesee Country Museum in Mumford, NY – located near Leroy, NY about a 30-40 minute drive from here. I have been to this museum before — many, many years ago — and really want to go see it, again. It is a historic 19th century country village that features people in period costume doing chores and running businesses that would be found in an actual village in the 19th century. Cool!
  • The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY – this will likely be an over-nighter because it is located about 4-5 hours from here near the New York / Pennsylvania border. You can watch beautiful works of art being created by master glass workers and even make your own masterpiece! This trip can include other cool things on the way and near the museum, as well as a possible stay in a quaint bed and breakfast inn.
  • Niagara Falls, Canada – a little over an hour drive from here, the Canadian side of the falls was always a favorite place to go for me! I haven’t been in a very long time and really want to do it this year.
  • Canada – there are a lot of wonderful things to do just over the border or not far from the border that can be fun day trips or perhaps an over-nighter!
  • The Niagara Wine Trail – there are many fabulous wineries along the Niagara Wine Trail. I’d love to just take a day trip and drive along the trail to visit a few (or several) of them. I’m also considering doing a guided bus tour, which might be a better option!

I think this is a good start……more to add, I’m sure! AND….of course, there will be repeats of some of my favorite places along the shores of Lake Ontario!

Sunday Stills – International Food

Posted on April 14, 2014 by

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This week’s Sunday Stills Challenge is all about International Food – click here and check out the comments on the Sunday Stills Challenge page to see photos of some amazing looking food!

For my entry…….which just happens to be my dinner, tonight…….Guinness Stew at O’Lacy’s Irish Pub in Batavia, NY – YUMMO!!!

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First Spring Visit to the Point

Posted on April 13, 2014 by

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Dare I say it? Dare I mention in writing that Spring is finally here? Today is Palm Sunday and it is in the mid-70s with a gentle breeze and partially cloudy blue sky! As I drove through town, I saw people out walking, fathers and sons out playing catch with baseballs and footballs in their yards, and motorcyclists all over! It was the perfect day for a Sunday drive……and my first Spring visit to Point Breeze! I’ve said it before, but it is worth saying again…..Point Breeze, NY is one of my most favorite places on earth!!! It is peaceful – even when it is really jumping in the peak fishing and boating season – and it is beautiful! It is the perfect spot to go and just sit and think or read or watch the water, boats, and ducks with your mind totally void of any thoughts what-so-ever! It wasn’t my first visit this year, but it was my first visit where I didn’t have to wear a jacket and could truly enjoy myself.

It was so lovely seeing people out fishing and boats out on the water! Here are some photos I took at Point Breeze this afternoon:

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Patterns

Posted on April 9, 2014 by

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Another great weekly photo challenge that I will try to participate in and give me yet another opportunity to take photos to share! This week’s topic in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is PATTERNS!!! Let’s see what I can come up with from my archives for this first entry on her site. As with all photo challenges, I will prefer to take fresh photos specific to the challenge, but I’ll start here with archived photos and hope to do it with new photos next week and beyond.

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Boards on the side of a covered bridge at the Old Gilliam Mill Park in Sanford, NC look more like a grass skirt than a wall!

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Azaleas reflecting on the pond at the Old Gilliam Mill Park in Sanford, NC

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Cotton Exchange buildings in Savannah, GA

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Stripes on a lighthouse at Hilton Head, SC

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And, finally…..I can try to claim that I deliberately set my camera to get this effect, but it really was just a fluke!!! Not sure how the photo came out like it did, but it did…..and it looks cool!!! It is the Temple Teens taking a bow after a performance at the Temple Theatre in Sanford, NC – there is a curtain covered in clear Christmas lights behind them that (in this photo) gives the appearance of sparks flying all around them!!!

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Sunday Stills – Yellow

Posted on April 6, 2014 by

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YAY!!! Ed decided to not end the weekly Sunday Stills Challenge, after all!!! So, here is this week’s challenge – Yellow!

Yellow is a fun color — it is sure to make you feel happy! When I think of yellow, I think of the sun, flowers, spring, and Easter. Here are the fun yellow things I snapped photos of today:

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Wordless Wednesday – LOOK UP!!!

Posted on April 2, 2014 by

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People are always so worried about watching where they are going and in too big of a hurry to pay attention to the awesomeness around them! So, I took the time today to go out and wander around town looking UP! There are a lot of great things to see if you just look – here’s what I found, today!

Of course, the most awesome reason to look up is the sky!

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I always liked the look of our County Clerks Building, but just look at the amazing detail on the top of it! Especially the fencing along the roof line….

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And….you can’t check out the clerks building without seeing the silver dome on the County Court House

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The Presbyterian Church steeple is hard to miss, but did you ever notice it has a similar fencing along the roof line as the County Clerks Building?

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This turret room is seen from the back and side of the First Baptist Church – it is rumored that, in the early days, the men of the village would hold their “political” meetings there where they could see unwanted visitors before they were surprised! Also in this shot, you can see the uniquely pretty material used to face the steeple (on the left side).

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While we’re at the Baptist Church…..did you know there is a clock on at least two sides of the bell tower? It isn’t there so people won’t be late for church – haha – it was put there as a service to the community back when the church was built in the 1800s.

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Until today, I never noticed this interesting “thingy” on the peak of the roof on the old Cooperative Extension building.

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I notice there are a lot of little cupolas on buildings and houses around town – this one is on the Post Office and has a weather vane on it.

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This is the old funeral home that is now a private residence (or apartment house?) located across the street from the current Merrill-Grinnell Funeral Home on State St. Notice the fencing on the roof line and around the tower? Seems to be a theme around town – I’ll have to start paying attention to see if it can be found on more buildings!

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These are the fire whistles…..when I was a kid, they would sound these off whenever there was a fire AND every day at noon – if I happened to be downtown, it would scare the bejesus out of me – they were deafeningly loud! I know they don’t sound them off at noon, anymore, but I’m not sure if they even use them when there is a fire….I haven’t noticed – anyone know?

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Sometimes, looking up can also be an education……like in these photos:

When you look up at this clock on Main St, you not only learn the current time, but you also learn that Albion was incorporated as a Village in 1828.

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When you look up at this ornate building topper on Main Street, you learn that it was built in 1882 and owned by (or maybe even built by) D.B. Day and F.A. Day. Brothers? Perhaps father and son? Don’t know, but they sure had good taste in building design!

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When you look up at the Briggs building on Main Street, you immediately learn that Mr. Briggs was a man that wanted to be noticed! It stands taller than the other buildings around it and is, by far, the most ornate of all the buildings in the downtown business district.

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Look up at the Pratt Opera House building and you not only see the stately gentleman I’ve photographed before, but also yet another very ornate building topper along our historic Main Street.

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Another ornate building topper – this one on Bank Street – with some softer touches to it.

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And, interesting things you find by looking up aren’t limited to Albion!

I took this photo in downtown Sanford, NC a few years ago – it is a sculpture called “Robot Boy Choir” or something like that and is on top of a building on the corner of Steele St and Wicker St. It is a little fuzzy, but you get the idea!

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Now, back to the main reason for looking up…..the sky!

No matter what time of day or what the weather…..the sky always has something interesting or beautiful to show us!

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And, I’ll leave you with this…..

I took this in August of 2012 – I was looking out my den window and saw the clouds take on a heart shape – it only lasted a few minutes before the wind moved the clouds and it was gone, but I was able to capture it! If I hadn’t been looking up at the sky at just the right moment, I would have missed it!

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Spoiler Alert….

Posted on March 28, 2014 by

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“Spoiler Alert” — These words mean that someone is about to spoil an ending or a suspenseful scene that you’d really rather the chance to see for yourself. They are also words that typically do the exact opposite of their intent – they are intended to let the reader know to not continue reading if they don’t want to see the spoiler…….but, come on…….don’t they really make you want to continue reading even MORE???

So, here’s the thing……I was out of town on vacation this past week, including Sunday evening – the night I usually watch The Good Wife! But, I wasn’t worried – I made sure my DVR was set to record everything I usually watch every night while I was going to be away! I wasn’t going to miss a thing! Grey’s, Scandal, The Good Wife, Revenge, Nashville, Resurrection, and others would all be waiting for me to catch up on all the juicy episodes when I got back home – if I got to see it while I was gone, fine – if not, no big deal. On Sunday night, we watched Resurrection at my friend’s house and I didn’t give The Good Wife a second thought.

Then, Monday morning we were watching one of the network morning news shows and the hosts said those words…….”Spoiler Alert!!! If you’re a Good Wife fan and haven’t watched last night’s episode, yet, you may want to turn your sound off!” I covered my ears and turned away – I did NOT want to hear the spoiler!!!! Then, I went online and both AOL and Yahoo had lead stories with titles like “Good Wife fans in shock” or “Good Wife fans light up Twitter over shocking episode”! UUUGGGHHH!!! Now, I was in such a heightened state of curiosity, I could barely stand it!!! How could I possibly wait until Friday night, at the earliest, to watch Sunday’s episode! The suspense would kill me! So, I gave in and read just PART of the article — just enough to know what they were talking about, but not enough to ruin it when I got home to watch it! But……when I saw the words that informed me that Will Gardner was DEAD, the shock forced me to read on and even watch the video clip! The video really didn’t show much – it wasn’t enough to really spoil the build up! But, how could they kill off Will??? He is an important character…….and some pretty impressive eye candy, as well! I had to know more…….so, I found myself listening to all the news stories and reading all the articles about how the fans were in major turmoil over it and the producers and actors coming out to explain “WHY”!!!

Even though I knew what was going to happen, The Good Wife was the first show I selected on my DVR list when I settled in after arriving back home today – I had to see for myself. But……guess what??? The start times of the Sunday night shows on CBS were all shifted!!! Obviously, there must have been a sports event televised earlier in the day……and we know that sports events take priority over ALL other programming, which, by the way, really ticks me off that they can run over and preempt or shift everything else – they should have a set time slot and be made to stick to it, but, nope – they are allowed to just run over everything!!! But, I digress……where was I? Oh, yeah — so, I started the recording of The Good Wife and found that the DVR actually recorded most of The Amazing Race, which is on before The Good Wife…….YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! I DIDN’T GET IT ON DVR???? I pay extra for DVR — it is amazing technology — and just when I need it the most, it fails me!!! Just seconds before my total melt down took over completely, I suddenly thought about On Demand……whew – a possible saving grace!

I immediately went to On Demand and thought “if it isn’t on here, I’m going to lose it!” But, all was fine – there it was – just waiting for me to watch it! And I did! And I cried….scratch that……I sobbed!!! I am not a happy Good Wife fan…..the show will need to take some really good turns to make up for this one!!!

So, the major points in this soap box session are:

  • If you know there are people who might be frustrated by you spoiling something special for them, don’t announce “Spoiler Alert”! It only makes them more frustrated and curious! Just don’t spoil it!!!
  • Televised sports events really need to stick to their allotted time frame and stop taking over everything else on TV – not EVERYONE is a sports fan!!!
  • Why kill Will Gardner off??? Couldn’t he just go off somewhere and let us believe that some day he might come back??? Can we hope that just maybe there might be some weird plot twist that brings him back from the dead – they do it in soap operas all the time!!! Hey, maybe the plots from Resurrection can spill over to CBS from ABC……they’re in the same time slot!!!

That’s it…….all off my chest…….soap box safely tucked away……for now……..good night!!!

RIP, Will Gardner — we will miss you!!!

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