The Beauty and Solitude of the Desert

Early Fall in Pennsylvania

 

Autumn is Here!

Sunrise in the Highlands

Flying in a perfect sky.

I was shooting this patch of sky through a gap in the trees. 

What that artifact is in the image center I couldn't tell you.

All in the Eyes

There's something so incredibly expressive about the eyes of a horse.

Upside Down

One of the rides at the Somerset County Fair

Running From the Storm

Deep Creek Lake, Maryland

Grandma Moment

Renaissance

The U Street neighborhood in Washington DC has undergone a remarkable rebirth.

More Forest Pictures



These from Laurel Hill State Park

Forest Walk at Dusk

The Laurel Highlands of Southwest Pennsylvania is a wondrous land of mountains and forests that are a delight to the eye and solace to the soul.

(We made a wrong turn and got to this place just a few minutes too late for the right lighting, but I rolled the dice and shot a few anyway.)

Gamers

Competitiveness runs deep in our DNA

(Grandma was losing)

Birthday Girl

Fourth of July in Our Nation's Capital

Along with a million or so of our closest friends.

Staple Bend Tunnel Trail, Mineral Point, PA

Staple Bend Tunnel was the first railroad tunnel in America, part of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, it was built to haul cargo over the mountains, connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  The cargo and passengers was loaded on canal boats and lifted over the mountains by a series of railways and canals. 

From the parking lot, the trail in is about 2 miles.  It is a lovely walk along a crushed gravel path roofed over with trees.  Along the way, you see close-up part of these magnificent Pennsylvania forests.

This is the eastern entrance...

the tunnel itself, which is 900 feet long...

and the western entrance.

Our daughter Crystal was visiting from Colorado. While trying to climb over the top of the western entrance, she happened upon a copper head snake skin between a pair of rocks.  That pretty much stopped her explorations.  Don't let that facial expression fool you for one minute.  She's no girly-girl.

Walking through the tunnel, it almost feels like everything you've ever read about a near-death experience.

Daughter, dog, Mom on the trail.

The Dream Becomes Real

Earth is finally being moved and the Flight 93 Permanent Memorial is taking shape.

The former temporary site had to be moved and has been relocated to what is called the "Western Overlook," which was the headquarters for all the on-site responders and investigators working the crash site.  The same old galvanized metal building is being used again to house the exhibits.  The personal memorials left by the hundreds of thousands of visitors have been carefully stored at NPS Headquarters in Somerset.

But along the new fence,  new memorials are already being left.

Once again, a flag borne of courage and sacrifice flies over ground made sacred by courage and sacrifice.