True Colors
Although I've been disappointed in the autumn foliage in my area, I checked out three cemeteries in two days to find pretty specimens to capture on (digital) film. The second day's shots I took during overcast weather because reports suggest that we won't be getting much sun for several days, especially if Hurricane Sandy hits us, and those leaves aren't going to stay up forever, especially if Hurricane Sandy hits us. (Driving the highways into and out of Long Island today I found out that they have much prettier colors than my part of Queens.)
No ankle injuries this time, a relief since that major ankle and foot blowout I did falling into a hole while shooting fall foliage at Green-Wood Cemetery October 2010 led to me using a cane for a while. Getting caught like that bent my foot nearly in half, to the point that part of my mind was internally screaming, "Oh, God, no!!!" at the look of it even as I carefully removed my foot with my hand, since I couldn't get it out any other way. Extreeeeeme leaf peeping! I rarely even cry out in pain anymore, just assess the damage, pick myself up, and move on. I was extra careful looking for holes not to step in. For the most part the turf was soft and springy, the way I like it.
I put the best of the photos up at my Flickr and my deviantArt. The next two photos you'll only see here.
In the same general area as the McGrane monument are many tall obelisks with statues topping them. I saw a big brown shape atop the hand of a Jesus on one and couldn't figure out what it was from the ground so I took a shot at the highest zoom my camera is capable of. This is the result. I think it's a red-tailed hawk. I've seen hawks at Green-Wood, which is an Audubon site, but First Calvary is in the middle of a highly industrial area. In fact, things stank pretty badly the day I was there. So I was surprised by this hawk.
This is writing on a "book" atop a much newer monument at The Green-Wood Cemetery. I don't know if the left-side "page" has the same message as the right, though given the "Mama," I doubt it.
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My Appa, Toph, and Ember Island Player Toph photo is now up to 3,242 hits on Flickr, waaaaaaaay more than my other New York Comic Con 2012 photos.