The bright sunshine on a Sunday morning reveals the fallen leaves on the hilly forest ground. The colorful carpet is a reminder of the approaching season when the color will turn to white.
Sun Rays on a Golden Carpet
Picture of the Day for November 7, 2015
Now that the summer birds have headed south again, the year round resident birds are more noticeable, like the cheerful Chickadee, who are visiting the feeders very frequently on this chilly morning.
According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, every autumn Chickadees literally “allow brain neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons” so they can adapt to change in the next season. And with a fresh mind, which I don’t have, the Chickadee can hide seeds to eat later. Each item is placed in a different spot and the chickadee can remember thousands of hiding places.
Black-Capped Chickadee
Picture of the Day for November 6, 2015
The brief thunderstorm yesterday may have stopped the combine harvesting corn next to me, but I’m sure the harvesting equipment will be rolling again soon as there is still a lot of acres to get in before the snow flies. This field has a double workout with both the harvest of the corn and then the corn stalks are baled for cattle feed and bedding.
Corn Stalk Round Bales
Picture of the Day for November 5, 2015
In the early 1830s, skilled miners began arriving from Cornwall, England to a small southwestern town in Wisconsin called Mineral Point, which was an important lead and zinc mining center during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Half of the town’s population had Cornish ancestry and some of the original dwellings of these early Cornish immigrants have been restored at the Pendarvis Historic Site found on Shakerag Street. The street was supposedly named for the practice of the wives waving dishrags towards the hill were the Merry Christmas Mine was located to let their husbands know that their dinner was ready.
The Wisconsin Historical Society has tours, with costumed interpreters, through the different restored houses, cabins and even a pub. The Polperro House is in the foreground, with the Pendarvis and Trelawny houses seen just up the street to the right.
Pendarvis Historic Site
Picture of the Day for November 4, 2015
If you weren’t outside raking up the fallen leaves, you may have been enjoying one last warm day out on the lake or climbing the bluffs around Devil’s Lake near Baraboo, Wisconsin. If you had more energy for more than a just scroll around the lake shore, you could hike the trails up on the bluffs to see some interesting rock formations like Prospect Point, Elephant Rock, Balanced Rock and the Devil’s Doorway as well as enjoying the view from the top.
Devil’s Lake
Picture of the Day for November 3, 2015
With a sunny sky and above normal temperatures, it would be a nice day for a walk in the woods, but with the winds last week, the trees have been stripped of their colorful autumn leaves so the trees are mostly barren again for the long winter. So only memories of pretty autumn days are left as the leaves blow and scatter across the ground (and on my lawn where I have raked the leaves already) where they will eventually be covered with snow.
Autumn Walk in the Woods
Picture of the Day for November 2, 2015
If the weather forecast is right, we will have three warmer and most sunny days so I’m sure the farmers will be trying to get their crops in. The non-raining days are probably appreciated by those who don’t have a nice warm and dry tractor cab like this farmer picking corn with horses.
Picking Corn by Horse Power
Picture of the Day for November 1, 2015
Maybe the ducks were the only critters who enjoyed last week’s wet weather. I just know that I am looking forward to some sunshine for a few days.
Duck Enjoying the Water
Picture of the Day for October 31, 2015
Today I saw little kids (and adults) dressed up in costumes for Halloween when you might see the spooks, ghosts and goblins. One might find a ghost haunting a lighthouse like at Seul Choix Point Lighthouse which is said to be haunted by a former keeper Captain Joseph Willy Townshend (1902 to 1910) who died in the upstairs bedroom. Joseph was a cigar smoker in life, but his wife refused to let him smoke in the house. Now cigar smoke is often smelled in the house, as well as other strange happenings, including moving silverware, rocking chairs moving on their own, pictures with hazy figures, images in windows, footsteps, and the sound of someone climbing the lighthouse steps.
The Gulliver History Society, which maintains this lighthouse, has kept detailed records of each ghostly occurrence at the lighthouse recorded in a logbook which has more than 300 entries thus far. It is believed that in addition to the ghost of Townshend , there are three other spirits, including young girls.
So while visiting the keeper’s house of the Seul Choix Point Lighthouse, take an extra peek at the mirrors and windows and see if you spot a spirit.
Seul Choix Point Keeper’s House
Picture of the Day for October 30, 2015
A lighthouse might provide the light that the missing sun hasn’t on another cloudy day. First lit in 1849, Whitefish Point Light was one of the first lighthouses on the shores of Lake Superior and is currently the oldest active light on the lake. It is arguably the most important light on Lake Superior. All vessels entering and leaving Lake Superior must pass the light. It stands on the treacherous southern shoreline of Lake Superior known as the “Graveyard of the Great Lakes” in an area with more shipwrecks than any other area of the lake. It is the closest lighthouse to the wreck site of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The view from the top of the 76 foot tower was spectacular even on a cloudy day.
Whitefish Point Light
