A Fall Excursion - Post 101

Lake Barnett, White County, Arkansas

I had a wonderful time this afternoon! I threw caution (about gasoline consumption) to the winds and hit the road. My trip was only a relatively short jaunt away from my regular stomping grounds, but something I haven't done for quite some time. My friend Barbara, always game for an mini-adventure, accompanied me. She rode shotgun; I was on a photographic mission.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm enrolled in a Basic Photography course at a local camera shop. We have homework every week for which we are to use something we've learned in the most recent class. This week (the class meets Thursday evening) we are to submit a photograph of 'Nature;' no buildings or people included. Since I've not had my chosen photograph critiqued as yet, that one is not included here. I'm still on the short end of the learning curve and have a great deal to learn, but I had fun taking the photos I'm sharing here.
 This afternoon, we wandered down several roads that I've never before driven over, all within about 50 miles northeast of my home. Following is a small selection of the photos I took this afternoon.

A gnarled tree.

Not much color, but an interesting shape, I thought.

Immediately across the road from the gnarled tree was a meadow

backed by a colorful hillside. Still a lot of green, but getting there!

Geese swimming on Lake Barnett.

Fall colors reflected on the water

at the far end of the lake.

(The photo at the beginning of this post was taken at the nearest lake access point. The lake itself covers about three miles. More information about this little jewel can be found by clicking the link under the first photo.)

Dried grasses and colorful plants, dappled with light.

I captured a beautiful sunset, too, but I'm saving that photo for this week's Sky Watch.

I came home with lifted spirits after viewing some hitherto unseen, and very beautiful, parts of my home state, well worth the quarter-tank of gas I burned.

I hope your day was lovely, too.

Woolly Hollow State Park - Post 93

This morning dawned bright and sunny, with very coolish temperatures and a brisk wind. Shortly after noon, taking advantage of the good weather, my daughter, granddaughter and I hopped in the truck and headed to Woolly Hollow State Park, located about 50 miles north of here. I hadn't been to Woolly Hollow in years, and found the site much improved from my last visit. In fact, it wasn't even a state park when I last visited, having achieved that status only in 1973.

Woolley Hollow got its name from William Riley Woolly, who moved to this Faulkner County location in 1851. He homesteaded some acreage, and while the original family home has not survived, the one room cabin built in 1882 by W.R.'s son, Martin, has been moved (about 1 mile from its original site) to the park, and has been restored. I can't imagine raising a family in this small building, but it was probably considered a very nice home in its day.

Daughter and granddaughter on porch of Woolly Cabin

There's a nice split-rail fence around the "front yard" of the cabin (not original, I'm sure) that lends to the overall ambience of the site.

In looking around the park, we saw several trees that, at first, we thought had huge fungi growing on them. Closer examination revealed that the white, bulgy stuff is some sort of wound dressing, put on the trees where good sized branches have been torn off. It looks like expandable foam insulation, but I don't really know what it actually is.

Most of the trees on the park site are Oaks, and I noticed more change in color in them than in the Oaks in my neighborhood, which are showing hardly any color at all. That may change quickly, however, since it's supposed to get quite cool tonight. The bright yellow foliage below caught my eye. I don't know why just one branch of a tree will change color and the rest stay green.

As I wrote above, there was a brisk wind this afternoon, and these scarlet leaves fell from a tree almost at my feet. There are still green leaves attached to the same small branch. It's a wonderment. Aren't they beautiful?

The park surrounds a 40-acre lake, Lake Bennett, named for the first director of the Soil Conservation Service. The dam creating the lake was built by the WPA and CCC in 1935. The lake provides swimming and fishing, and there are kayaks and paddle boats available. Power boats are not allowed. The photo below shows the fishing pier and a long, narrow dock where the paddle boats are tethered. When I took this shot, a woman and two boys were walking between the boats.

My not-quite-four-year-old granddaughter loves to fish, and her mama brought along a small fishing pole and a few worms. She didn't get even a nibble, however, although (carefully watched by Mama) she did get the bobber wet.

The shallow upper end of the lake was sporting some colorful trees which provided a frame for my photo of what I call "diamonds on the water," which were caused by the aforementioned brisk breeze.

The more protected edge of the lake was full of weedy growth, which provided some nice reflections, I thought.

I got to breathe a lot of fresh air and (as Abraham Lincoln said on one of his blogs today) "dance on sunshine." Following an active child around for a couple of hours was more exercise than I've had in a while. I should sleep well tonight.

Just about time to head for home. I got a couple of parting shots looking across the lake toward the earthen dam. It's really a pretty place this time of year, and I'll bet it's pretty in the spring, too. Another excursion may be in order.

Until next time, Woolly Hollow!

Can It Really Be Fall? - Post 92

Dogwood branch

While I was outside this morning looking for a Sky Watch photo op, I spied my neighbor's dogwood tree and was captivated by the beautiful leaves. Dogwoods and Bradford Pears are almost the only trees in our neighborhood that have begun to develop much color. The same neighbor's Sycamore tree has only a few bright gold leaves on it, and even the maples are just now beginning to display the beginnings of their fall glory. Arkansas trees can be very beautiful in the fall, but it sometimes takes a while for the color to develop. Then, with the first hard freeze, it's all gone... overnight, in most cases.

The branch pictured above hangs almost over the fence which divides our lots. The tree trunk on the right is inside my yard.

Sky Watch - Post 84

Nothing but blue skies do I see!

 

A hint of fall is in the air here in Arkansas, with temps falling into the 50's at night. A bit of color is showing in the leaves of the crepe myrtle in my yard; I thought it made a nice contrast to the uninterrupted blue of the sky today.
Sky Watch was created by Dot and is now brought to you by our friends Imac, Klaus, Sandy and Tom. Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page anytime after 7:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Thursdays to see sky photos from around the world.

Sky Watch - Post 81

Not a cloud to be seen anywhere today! Hooray!

We've had quite enough rain lately, thank you, so it's nice to look out my front door this morning and see clear, blue skies. To keep you from having to look at a totally blue photo, I included a couple of trees in my shot. Thanks to cooler weather, the maple tree across the street is beginning to get a few tinges of fall color. For some interesting information on what causes changes in foliage color, visit Jeannelle's post today on her blog Midlife by Farmlight .

Sky Watch was created by Dot and is now brought to you by our friends Imac, Klaus, Sandy and Tom. Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page anytime after 7:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Thursday