Today I am going to keep the topic very lite. I have been very interested in photography lately, and I have started adding filters to some of my photos to make computer generated are. Below, are some of the pictures I have run through filters. Let me know if you like them. The pictures below are not the same as the picture above. I have done some filters with the picture above, though, so if you like what you see, and want to see the picture above through the filters, let me know and I will post those pictures next week. The above pictures are of a sunset over Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire in early July. The original picture is the first picture in the second column. The rest are all run through filters.
Enjoy!
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Yesterday I took my daughters, and Maddie's boyfriend, Seth to Ashburnham, Massachusetts to hike the Watatic Trail. Mount Watatic has an elevation of 1,832 feet above sea level, and our hike was about 2.5 miles round trip, It was a very cloudy day, and we beat the rain by about two hours. This was Ashleigh's first attempt at climbing a mountain and she did very well. We are slowly increasing the length of our hikes and adding some elevation, so that eventually she will be ready to attempt Mt. Monadnock, which she has been wanting to climb for the past two years. The Watatic trail is the shortest of about four trails that meet on the mountain. We chose it because it looked like rain, and we also were not certain that Ashleigh was ready to do a seven mile round-trip hike in mountainous terrain. The trail was well kept, and an easier climb than Mt. Monadnock... perfect for Ashleigh's current skills. We met a number of hikers along the way, and Ashleigh took the opportunity to photograph all of the dogs we ran into along the trail. Below, are pictures I took along the trail, and at the summit. Just out of curiosity, does anyone else see a representation of an owl in the branches of the tree on the left? Not a real owl, mind you, but an owl made of branches and leaves. Take a look at the bottom left, just above where the two trunks are. The branches make what looks like an owl's face, with a wing spreading away on either side of it. The two trunks then look like its legs, and between them it looks like a hawk's face. Above that, the branches also look like some kind of weird representation of a bat.
Okay, I know, it's late and I am just reaching for things here, but that is kind of what I see when I look at the above picture. Maybe I just have too much time on my hands, but that is what I saw, and I snapped the pic, and I can still see it in the photograph. Some people can see pictures in clouds... I guess I can see them in branches and leaves! Anyway, I'll finish off today's post with some pictures from Halloween. I think Maddie looks very spooky this year, and that she did a great job with her make up. Meanwhile, Ashleigh makes a very pretty rainbow fairy. Finally, that last pic is me as a hippy. To be honest, I always dress like that. The only part that is a costume for me is the bandanna and wig. Old hippies die hard I guess! It's currently 3:09am. I'm still awake and I'm downstairs at my grandmother's laptop because I haven't been able to sleep for the past hour and I remembered I had a blog to write. Not wanting Dad to get mad at me... here I am. I've been feeling like crap all day, so I've had a lot of thinking time. My back was giving me some issues last night and they carried over into today; along with a killer migraine. Some excederin has taken the edge off but honestly I still feel pretty bad. Today has been interesting, to say the least. I had to help out with a children's halloween party at my karate school, even though most of my time was spent talking with my best friend of 8 years. I had a good time decking myself out in wild SFX makeup nonetheless. I'll include a photo below. I literally have no clue where I was going with this post. I really just wanted an excuse to show off my awesome makeup, honestly... it took me roughly an hour to do and it was a major pain in the ass to clean up after. Liquid latex gets EVERYWHERE. Now that I've had my bragging time, I think I'm going to go get some sleep. I have church to be up for in 5 hours and I'd hate to pass out in church (even though I must say it has happened before). Good night all. Sleep well.
- Maddie Since my dad decided to post photos from the hike taken last weekend, I figured I'd add my photos onto the blog too. Why not. It's beautiful around here currently; with the leaves changing and all... and hikes are truly more enjoyable. There's so much to see and the weather is perfect so you don't over-heat when hiking the trails, which I love. In any case, here are the photos I captured on our hike on Rails To Trails and through the Children's Woods.
Me and the girls went hiking yesterday. The fall is one of my favorite times of year, due to all of the beautiful colors and the cool breezes. I took a number of pictures to capture the beauty. We hiked about three miles along the Jaffrey branch of rails to trails. We cut off into the Children's Woods, and circled back onto Rails to Trails a little further up. Here are some of the photos I took yesterday. Enjoy! I hope you enjoyed that little bit of Fall color! If you have a nice Autumn scene, send in a pic and I will try to post it. I will naturally, give you credit for the photo.
Today is my daughter Madison's 15th birthday. We had a laid back morning, and then she went out with one of her friends for a few hours in the afternoon. At six, we went out to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate. There were five of us tonight since Maddie's boyfriend was also invited. Instead of a long wordy post, here are some of my favorite pictures of Maddie over the years. Enjoy! Tomorrow I will be back with one of my proper rants. Maddie took this picture this morning 2015 Black belt Sparring Champ Happy birthday Munchkin! May you have many more!
The girls and I went out for two hikes this weekend. The first was a little bit disappointing, while the second one ended in tragedy for Ashleigh. Don't worry, she isn't hurt! She did drop her iPad, though, and cracked the screen. On Saturday, we took a road trip to see what was billed as "The Grand Canyon of New Hampshire!" To be honest, we were all a little skeptical when we heard about it, but since it was only two hours away, and we like to hike anyway, we thought we would visit it to take some pictures. Our two hour trip ended up taking about three and a half hours to get there. I seemed to have missed a turn about one hour into the trip and we ended up going too far west. I blame Maddie since she was sitting in the shot gun position, and was supposed to be handling the directions. She blames me since I was driving. It's hard to argue with that, but I'll give her part of the blame anyway! Once we got there, we found that "The Grand Canyon" was only a creek that had cut its way through some rocks. It wasn't very deep, or very long. It was located on Sculptured Rock Road in Hebron. As soon as we arrived, it started to drizzle, which certainly didn't add to our mood. It stopped after a minute or two though, and we didn't get too wet, especially since the path ran through the woods. Below are our pictures from the creek. They are a bit underwhelming. Before I start with the pictures, I just wanted to point out that the picture above is from our second hike (from Sunday) at Cathedral of The Pines. We were there on September 11th, so the flag was flying at half mast. A friend of mine, Jennifer Tzemis, died in the towers that day, and I post the above flag as a tribute to her. Rest in peace Jenn. The Less Than Grand Canyon Of New HampshireDisappointed yet? We were. Maddie got a migraine on the ride up, so we didn't even attempt to hike any of the trails there. The trails did not run along the creek, so these pics were the "highlight" of the attraction. On a positive note, we saw a number of lakes and mountains on the ride to Hebron, so the trip wan't a total waste. And I did get to spend the whole day with my daughters, which was what was important to me anyway. Unfortunately, since I was driving, I have no pictures of the mountains or the lakes to show you. Ashleigh grabbed my iPad on the way home and took the selfie below! Cathedral Of The PinesOn Sunday, we stopped at Cathedral Of The Pines to hike the trails and take some pictures. It is only about five minutes from our house, so we go there often. In fact, Maddie and I volunteered there one season. I gave tours of the different rocks and their meanings, while Maddie usually helped out in the gift shop, or tagged along with me.
Although many of the tall pines that the Cathedral was named for were damaged in a storm a few years ago and cut down, it is still a beautiful place, and well worth the visit if you are in the area. As I said, Ashleigh fell and broke her iPad, and got very upset, thus we cut the trip a little short. Below are some of the pictures I took during the short time we were there. Over the weekend, my dad brought me and my sister to Cathedral of the Pines. It serves as a bit of a nature walk and a tribute to fallen soldiers, as well as being a place of prayer accepting of all religions. It's beautiful, and it's one of my favorite places to go to catch a good sunset. You have a clear view of the mountain from almost everywhere; and it usually isn't too crowded. Unfortunately, we didn't get sunset photos on our last trip due to some unforseen turmoil- but I managed to take a good photo of the mountain and a couple of photos of my sister. I'll post them below.
Finally, here's another photo of my sister that I took while she was sitting on the stairs of one of the rock sculptures. I really like it a lot.
In any case- if you ever happen to be in Rindge, NH, I'd definitely recommend taking the time to make a stop at Cathedral of the Pines. It's calm and beautiful, and well worth your time. - maddie Our second hike this week took us along the Contoocook River in Jaffrey, and eventually into the Children's Woods, which can be reach at a trail head along the Rails to Trails route. We had a beautiful day for a hike and we took advantage of it. We likely did about four mile round trip, and we timed our return with the onset of dusk. Below, are some of the pictures I took along our route. Note that most of these are along the river since it starts to get darker earlier in the woods, where the trees do a good job of blocking out a lot of the sunlight. Water shots are the best shots along this portion of rails to trails. You can really see the effects of the drought along the river. Water levels are just not as high as they usually are. I tried to catch the sunset as we were leaving, but I wasn't that successful. While the pictures are nice, they are not as dramatic as some of the ones we have caught in the past.
I like to take my daughters hiking when we have the time. Over the past week. I have taken them on Rails to Trails twice. Our first trip was in Rindge, on the part of the trail that runs from Rindge to the Massachusetts border. There was heavy tree cover on this trail and there were all types of mushrooms growing along the trail. I have tried to identify some of them, but so far I have not made much headway. The problem is that so many of the mushrooms look alike. Below, are some of the picture I took on that hike. My next post will have pictures about our second hike. The woods were dark as we entered the trail head. The ground was damp, even though it hadn't rained in quite a few days. Mushrooms. mushrooms, everywhere! Although some of them may look the same, these all seem to be different types of mushrooms. If any of you know what type of mushrooms these are, leave a comment. I'd love to know what they are! Aside from the mushrooms, there wasn't too much else that I found interesting on this hike. The scenery was a little bit lacking considering how dark it was along the trail. There were some flowers, though, in the areas where the sun was allowed to peak through.
Hello Mountain Rant readers, For a special treat, we have our first Guest Blog post today. Today's Post is written by Michelle Armistead, who lives in Marlboro New Jersey. For those of you who don't know, Marlboro is in Monmouth county, near the first shore towns. Without further ado, let's hear from Michelle! Hello Mountain Rants Readers, I loved the idea of Wayne’s blog post “There is Beauty All Around Us”, and I knew immediately that I wanted to have my own pictures of beauty from the Garden State: New Jersey posted to the blog. New Jersey is often the butt of many jokes, but to me, it is a wonderful, beautiful place to live. We have mountains (ok—no pics of them this time, but I will add to this over time if Wayne’s willing), lakes, streams, farmland and perhaps my favorite, the beaches. No, not just the beach life seen in that awful show Jersey Shore. My pictures of the beach are from Sea Bright. This is a small public beach that I have been going to for almost 30 years! I love early morning there: a few bird prints left in the sand, a lone stretch of footprints from an early walker, and the flag on the life guard stand blowing in the breeze. The shoreline brings me peace and a sense of renewal. When I come home from the beach, whether it was a perfect day, or somewhat overcast, I feel like a new person! (This is how I believe my brother feels with his NH mountains.) The views of a long stretch of beach/foliage jutting into the ocean are of Sandy Hook Gateway National Park. They were taken from a stretch of road known as Scenic Drive, a road in the hills of Highlands with many beautiful views. This road leads to Mt. Mitchel, a place Wayne often visited and has brought his daughters to when visiting NJ. There is a monument here in honor of the people from the area who were killed on 9/11. A piece of steel from the twin towers is clasped in its talons. The Twin Lights rise above the ocean overlooking Sandy Hook and are still working today. Here are a couple of pictures from there. The great horned owl is a recurring visitor to our yard this summer. He sometimes comes so close to our window that we can see his bright yellow/green eyes and the feathers covering his feet! I often bring my dog to Holmdel Park, and took this picture of the trees reflecting in the pond as we walked. This is one of my favorite parks in the area. There are gardens in the park, too, that have many pretty flowers. Being I live along the shore, water is a recurring theme. Not all of our views are of the ocean, however. We have bays and rivers as well. I find the Atlantic Highlands marina is beautiful during the summer. We also enjoy boat rides along the Hudson River and sunsets over the Navesink River. Finally, I find beauty around my home too. The flowers and trees in my yard. Rainbows after a rain, and my Christmas tree! Last but not least, not all of the life has to be wild to be beautiful! Here is a picture of my dog Willie! Well, I hope you enjoy my ideas of some of the beauty found in New Jersey. Michelle Thanks, Michelle, Great post!
I hope you have liked today's guest post. If anyone else would like to do a guest post to show some of the beauty in your area, send me some pictures and a little bit of commentary. Beauty becomes more powerful when it is shared! My email address is [email protected] Last night Maddie and I stopped by Cathedral of The Pines. There were some nice cloud formations out and we wanted to see if we could get any good pictures. While there, we decided to walk around, and I took some random pics of other beautiful things. Like I said, the other day, you don't have to go far to see beauty. It is all around you. So far, I have heard from one of you looking to do a guest post about the beauty in your area. To make life easy, you do not have to write your post in any particular format. Just send me ten to 15 pictures with a little description such as where the picture was taken what town and state you live in etc. If you want some personal information added, please send a short paragraph telling us about you, and you can even add a picture of yourself. I will then put it in the editor and post it giving you full credit. One rule, however. Don't send pictures from somewhere where you do not live. In other words, don't send me pictures of Mexico, if you do not live in Mexico (If you live in Mexico, that is fine). Instead, send me pictures from where you do live. Trust me, there is beauty everywhere... it just doesn't always take the same form. So gather them up and send them in! Your posts will be in addition to ours, not just taking the place of ours. So if you like our writing, rest assured you will still be seeing that as well! Now, without further ado. Here are some pictures from my walk around Cathedral of the Pines last night. Cathedral of the Pines is about three minutes from my house by car. When the clouds are overhead, it can make it seem dark. That is Mount Monadnock in the background. There are beautiful flower gardens at the Cathedral too. Here is a picture of Maddie sitting on a bench, and then snaps of some of the flowers we saw there. A couple more of the flowers we saw, and then a snap of a chipmunk that didn't seem to mind we were there. The last pic is a shot from the parking lot at Cathedral of the Pines. If you look out towards the road, you can see the mountain that we live on in the distance. You can get a better view of our mountain from Rt. 119, but I am always driving, so I can never get a good pic. I will pull along the side of the road one day and take a picture though. It never hurts to show off our nameless mountain. If you ever wondered why we call this blog Mountain Rants, now you know! One final thing before I go. I want to give a final shout out to my childhood friend Chuck Rogers who died yesterday. He was 50 years old, only three months older than me, in fact. Rest In Peace, Chuck. You'll be missed.
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