Happy Monday! My pink Gerbera Daisy is going quite well. I have never seen so many blooms on one of these at one time. It was lovely. I took this image and 2 weeks later they were still looking great and more flowers were coming. It's a hybrid that blooms constantly unlike the normal Gerbera which I could never get to rebloom.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image goes back to my visit to Strasburg and the railroad there. They were in the news this week with a very unfortunate incident that makes me cringe every time I see it. Somehow, several people were not paying attention. Here is a link to a very short video on YouTube. (Updated Link, apparently the other was taken down for Copyright) It's unfortunate and glad no one was hurt. This is locomotive 475 from the Norfolk & Western Railroad that is the main locomotive that has been in use at Strasburg for the past several years. I am sure it will be repaired and people will have some training. Missing that the switch was not set was by several key people, the Conductor, the Fireman and the Engineer. All 3 of these people are supposed to be watching for anything. I know as a fireperson on the trains I work on I have to stay attentive and call out to the engineer about crossings because they cannot see my side very well. From what I have read, this switch is not normally ever thrown and it was probably the fault of the maintenance of Way people but they still should have been alert. I took this image at Paradise where this incident occurred as I watched the very procedure take place when this happened. The locomotive moves from one end of the train to the other to go back to Strasburg so they are always on the end of where they are heading. Fortunately, from what I have seen the damage was actually fairly minimal and the smokebox door is being welded back together. They expect it to be back up and running for Christmas trains by the 19th as long as the FRA allows it.
Today's image is another example of our lovely autumn that we have had this year. I took this after work one afternoon last week as I was heading home. This is looking west on the Republican River towards Milford Lake from the bridge off of Washington Street.
It's Friday, TGIF! Even though we had a hard freeze already this year, there are still some butterflies around, mainly Sulphurs and Cabbage Whites. I saw one of these after as well but they have not been seen for a while. I captured this image back in July of a Painted Lady on a Zinnia. Because Friday's Are Bokehlicious, I chose this image for the nice creamy bokeh.
Except for the very hard freeze we had in mid October, we have been having a fairly lovely autumn with temps in the 70s F on several days. Some of the trees have been really lovely as well. This is an image I did with my phone of our very old Oak tree that I quite liked. The trunk on this tree is huge. It was a good year for nut production as well because the ground beneath it is filled with acorns.
Well, today is a neat number day, all ones and twos. 😃 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog. Today's flower is Curly Cup Gumweed. This is another flower that usually only June through September but I found this still in bloom in Mid-October. The roots can grow to 6 feet long making it fairly drought resistant. The name comes from the fact that the plant contains a gummy sap.
It's November! Yikes the end of the year is coming fast. My photo for today goes back to the Baker Wetlands in Lawrence Kansas. This is an Egret I was able to capture as it surveyed it's surroundings. I think it is a Snowy Egret but not sure as it doesn't seem to have the fluffy plumage they have.
