Bonus state on a New England trip

Everyone we talked to on our recent trip to New England, across two whole states(!), lamented the fact that a dry summer had led to a sub-par leaf-peeping season. But for us folks who hardly ever get any fall color, things still looked pretty good.

Although the "Maine" reason for our trip [get it ?  ] was to visit kids and grandkids, we took advantage of being that close to Henry's sister in New Hampshire to bop over there for a couple of days, too. (I don't think I'll ever get over the odd feeling I have when you can get to a whole other state in just an hour or so...)

The photo above was taken on our first NH evening at sunset. Colors from all kinds of nature!

While in the Granite State (always reminds me of the denouement of Breaking Bad) we checked in on one of their most famous landmarks: Mt. Washington. 

You can click on this image to enlarge and see the red lines pointing to a) the summit, and b) the line of the cog railway that can take you to the top. We didn't get any closer than this, but it's still cool to get a look at such an "ultra-prominent" topographic feature. (I'm not sure I agree with this description from Wikipedia, but it is famous, as you can read there, for its ferocious winter weather.)

Our knowledgeable hosts provided related information that I had not been aware of: Washington's not the only President featured in this range of mountains. There's a whole Presidential gallery! You can always tell Washington, though, even if viewed at an angle where its superior height isn't noticeable: there must be a ton of equipment on its summit, presumably for recording all that extreme weather.

We enjoyed these views of Washington and some of his fellows from the veranda of this most impressive building: the Omni Mount Washington Hotel...

There used to be many of these fancy watering holes in the area, but this one has a special claim to fame in addition to our visiting it (follow the link for the story—and consider making a contribution to Wikipedia for providing all of these wonderful, spot-on references). We certainly enjoyed having a snack and a drink in such luxurious surroundings. 

Here's what the back of the place looks like. You can see the enormous veranda that extends almost the whole length of the structure...and almost every seat was taken. They do know what views visitors want most to take in!

It would be super-cool to actually stay at this place sometime. In addition to wonderful views, you'd have access to this fabulous pool:

Of course there's also a golf course there, but our hosts said you can also use the walking path around it for gentle hikes. And in winter it's a perfect place for cross-country skiing—especially for beginners.

We enjoyed the relatively short drive from Portland to northern NH. And on the way back the colors had deepened just a bit, so the return journey was even more scenic. Here's a shot from along the highway:

Sub-standard, but still quite nice! Next up we'll return to Maine and see how the colors were developing there.

Wordless Wednesday: Laurel Heights indeed!

 

Wordless Wednesday: you should see the other guy!

 

Ice consequences

Every street I drove down in Austin last week had piles like this, although not all were as massive...

This was the aftermath of the big ice storm that hit A-town, cracking tree limbs all over town and keeping some folks in the dark and cold for as long as days. Sally's family only lost power for four hours, one of the lucky ones, but she said the house got pretty cold.

Fortunately for us, the temperatures where we live never quite got below freezing (plus we didn't have as much rain to freeze). But some folks in Austin got hit hard.

Here's what's left of a really big tree that just came up out of the ground in the Rosedale neighborhood, and had to be dismembered:

Playgrounds weren't spared either; so glad school was cancelled so that no kiddos were standing in the wrong place at the wrong time!

And I expect I'll still see effects of this nasty weather when I go back next week. But I hope they will have taken care of the huge limb hanging by a thread that you can see in the red box here:

You don't want to be anywhere near when that big boy comes down!

Finally, some white stuff!

 

When you go to spend a late Christmas just after new year's in Maine, of all places, you assume there will be snow everywhere. And you just hope the roads won't be icy when you go to the sledding hill or the skating rink. Right?

Well, because of climate change, or just the luck of the draw, we only saw the white stuff a couple of days before we left. And the poor Austin family didn't get to see any at all!

There wasn't too much for us, either, as you can see above, where an Adorable Granddaughter is waiting on the deck for everyone else to get suited up to come out and play.

Now they do have snow-making equipment up there, and everyone got to enjoy the man-made stuff at a tubing hill. Although some of the party just found the tubes to be comfy places to nap...

But the natural stuff waited until we were almost ready to go home to make an appearance. 

Even the little bit we got was enough to make for lovely coatings of bare tree limbs, one of my favorite winter photo subjects...

That last photo was actually taken from the car window as we headed mountain-ward. Yes, the two oldest Maine grandkids are taking skiing lessons at Lost Valley [and in the few weeks since we saw the first lesson they're already up on the big kid slopes and probably skiing faster than Gramma could keep up]...

Of course they have snow-making capability there, but they've been getting a lot of natural stuff since we left as well. Maybe our next winter visit will be with a more typical New England ambience.  

Sort of an explosion

Maybe it was our early cold spell last month, but for that or some other reason, our fall color seems much more vibrant than usual this year. It could be that more leaves turned all at the same time, rather than gradually, because of the early chill. Or they might actually be brighter, who knows?

Regardless, I'm certainly enjoying the show. Here are a couple of round-the-'hood shots to demonstrate:

as usual, it's cedar elms that are the brightest participants

a Chinese tallow in the park

I particularly like it when the ground at the feet of these guys looks looks like it just snowed colorful leaves...

In fact, our front yard and driveway have been practically carpeted in color lately...

cedar elm leaves make our sidewalk look like Midas'

a "red carpet," for sure! from our neighbor's ornamental pear

a close-up of the vibrant red guys

So even though it's kind of a pain having so many leaves getting tracked into the house, not to mention the near-constant irritant of leaf-blowers in the area, autumn's show this year is a real treat!

Maine woods

I never cease to be amazed by what trees look like in areas with reasonable rainfall. Like Houston, or Maine. I spent a delightful couple of weeks in the latter location recently...primarily delightful due to the presence of not two but THREE adorable grandchildren. But the local flora, as well as the wonderfully cool temperatures, was another draw.

The photo above was taken in Robinson Woods, in Cape Elizabeth. And here's one from Sewell Woods, in Scarborough...

But you don't have to drive far, in the Portland area, to see wonderful trees. Just down the street is where I saw most of the fall color that I was hoping for on this trip. Unfortunately, rain at the wrong times, as well as generally warming trends, big-picture-wise, are making leaf-peeping more hit and miss. I was a bit too early for the peaks of color, but saw plenty all the same. Mostly on a walk with my host family around their neighborhood cemetery.

As long-time readers of mine will know, during my semester in London ('way back in ought-8) I lived within a couple of blocks of Brompton Cemetery, where I loved to walk, especially with newly arriving guests working to get their bodies on European time. Cemeteries are just wonderful places for walking (and biking, as my granddaughters can attest), and Evergreen is one of the best.

you can see the host family here, although the bike riders are pretty far ahead

Here's another shot of early fall color and monuments...

...and you can see other neighbors also take advantage of the lovely weather and the expansive trails...

The reds are the most vibrant here, and I couldn't resist zeroing in on them (although I'm not happy with this camera's capture of vivid colors; but good news! I've got a new one now and am hoping for great things!)...

The yellows are eye-catching, too, as you can see elsewhere in the neighborhood...

Not only are these leaves good for passive peeping and photo-snapping, but when you've got a super-crafty (in a good way) mom in the house, collecting them can result in these wonderful pieces of art...

Aren't those nice!? In spite of the cold snap I got to enjoy during my visit, there were still lots of flowers blooming in the 'hood. And I'll show you some of those next time.

Wordless Wednesday: Is it Christmas already?!?

 

Night and Day*

Much as I would like to visit distant planets more than just in my imagination, the pictures here were not taken in a galaxy far, far away...even as it might look like it. No, it's in a location familiar to you, my faithful readers: just our local Botanical Garden. But, a Garden transformed.

A couple of weeks ago I took one of my now frequent strolls around this wonderful place, making note of some special installations. Then, just a few nights ago, Henry and I got to appreciate the purposes of that hardware, as we attended a Lightscape tour of the place. I thought it would be fun to show you some of the sights from both perspectives. (My little camera doesn't do super-well in low light, but some of these shots turned out better than I had expected.)

Here's the Garden's lovely lake, a peaceful oasis with a nice walking trail around it, during regular business hours...

...and here it is, transformed by laser light...

This array of colorful strings was arresting enough in daylight...

...but with clever lights applied, it became quite magical...

I was curious about this display during my morning walk...

...never guessing what it would become after dark...

You can look down upon this area from a raised walkway, which I often like to do on my walks...

But the view was totally transformed by the Lightscape folks:

A quirky display that I was particularly taken with on my daylight walk was this collection of plastic waste made into art:

I didn't realize at the time that it was part of the Lightscape, too. But it would be eye-catching on its own, as you can see in this closeup:

isn't it clever?

But, yes, it does light up!

The glass-walled conservatories, which you can see in the background of some of my photos (and which I wrote about, 'way back in 2015!), are pretty impressive all the time, but with the shifting colors of light, they really look spectacular...

Perhaps our favorite display was one that I read in our paper was especially designed for our Lightscape show. I saw the setup during my morning walk, thought it looked impressive, and wondered how it would be transformed...

Wow! Was it ever transformed! A field of flickering bluebonnets! We stayed there quite a while, admiring the artistry, and this was my best photo:

Another big, spectacular display was this one, covering all of a large, grassy hill. Unfortunately, I don't have a daytime shot to compare it with, but it was an amazing light/music show, coordinated with color-morphing floodlights on the gazebo at the top of the hill:

The show's "finale" is the archway that appears in most of the ads for the experience. Here's the way it looks in the daylight:

And here it is, all lit up, from the side and from within:

It was a great way to really turbo-charge the holiday season for us. We hope yours is just as spectacular!

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*Sorry for the Cole Porter earworm!