Charlie's Fake Blog

I've had some time off from the job over the holidays and have been using up some of that time taking pictures.  Something that has interested me for quite a while is the quantity of bridges over the Youghiogheny river.  I know, another old guy going on about irrelevant crap.  But hey, this is my spot, I'll do what I want.   This is a railroad bridge near Banning.  It's pretty high.  I have heard people brag about walking across it.  I've even heard one or two say they have ridden a dirt bike across.  They are bat-shit crazy.  There are no cat walks on a railroad bridge.  There is only enough space across the top to lay cross-ties and track.  This one has no hand rails or bulkheads along side the track.  Trains cross this bridge.  Get caught on it with a train coming and you are dead, no ifs or buts or maybe, just dead. The obligatory Selfie Near this bridge is an abandoned concrete building.  It ap...

To me there is something special about early morning.  Getting out and about while the grass is still wet and the air is cool and still. The last, best shot with my Pentax K10D.  After having that camera since 2007, I finally figured out how to shoot bracketed exposures for an HDR image.

On certain rainy days the sky is flat gray and other times the clouds have texture. Sometimes the the atmosphere is so unsettled the clouds get "dramatic". I had one of those days recently.  I don't have a fish-eye lens to try to take it all in but I stitched a series of shots together in elements and it almost captures the moment.  I stood there admiring the changing light when I caught the start of a rainbow. The grain field was lit up golden. Behind me the sun was blaring through the poplar tree. So, what about the rainbow. Cue the choir.

The Cottage The "beach" Sunset More beach Sunrise Same sunrise with a Lightroom preset Grandson learning to fish View from the deck. Camp Fire Fun a Vivian Meier style selfie

As I was walking to the mail box this morning I noticed some maple leaves  impressed into the sand at the mouth of my driveway.  I couldn't help thinking  that, given the sorry state of road maintenance in the township where I live,  these leaves have a good chance to be found as fossils a million years from now.

I started seeing stinkbugs (just Google "images, stinkbugs") about three or four years ago.  They fly from somewhere and land on my house starting about the end of September.  It's the middle of October and they're slowing down. They crawl into every nook and cranny they can find.  My wife uses a mild solution of water and dish detergent in a spray bottle to kill them.  Our house is really clean.  Her determination to keep the house free of stinkbugs reminds me of King Aragorn's exhortation to his troops in the movie Return of the King just prior to the battle at the black gate, "Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it i...

Another pair of worn out work boots.