Pam's Week 17: Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls....

Since Sharon informed me yesterday of her planned blog title, I decided to venture into the lyric archives of my brain to find a new one.  We couldn't both use the Sound of Music and since she has cats and I don't and my memory for lyrics (or words in general for that matter) is better than hers (just kidding, Sharon - I had to bug you since you stole my title), I found another suitable choice.  The other raindrop one that occurred to me at first was "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head".  The problem with that one is that when we were kids and didn't know any better, my friend, Terri, and I liked to sit in our treehouse and change the lyrics to songs and sing them at the top of our lungs.  One of said remixes was "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Brain Tumour".  I now know how awful that is but it escaped us when we were 9 or 10.

Anyways, as Sharon already pointed out, this has not been a particularly motivating week.  The skies have been grey and overcast, it's been bitterly cold and windy, and it's rained.  I still walked the dog every night and tried my best to find photographic inspiration, though, even when Sharon bailed on me.  The "Human Remains Found on Whitefish Island" kept me away from our favourite walk for a couple of evenings, especially since Riya and I had been there the evening before all by ourselves in the rain (Sharon pointed out that we were likely suspects; luckily the "remains" were discovered to be a fake blood-covered plastic hand so we're off the hook!).

Of course the Canadian dollar has taken a huge nosedive one week before our big vacation, but I'm determined to have fun anyways.  Sun, sea, sand - sounds heavenly (looking at everyone else's vacation pics right now is killing me....I'm talking about you, Christine, Renee, and Sherri).  Like I said to Robert this evening, it will cost us more to head back to California when the dollar is better than it will to just enjoy our time while we're there!

But, I suppose I should get on with the show....

Vegetable

I really wish I knew how to do vegetable carving because I otherwise did not have any creative vegetable ideas this week.  I contemplated just posting a pic I took of the Creamy Spring Tortellini I made last week with all its asparagus and peas and spinach.  Instead, after joking to Sharon that I would just take photos of the roasted red pepper hummus, asiago artichoke dip, and spinach dip that Kathy left at my house after Games Night last weekend, I decided to build on that idea and.....

Voila...

Made of Wood

We used to have loads of wood carvings on our waterfront but it seems they've all but one disappeared.  I hope they've just been removed for the winter and will return to their happy perches come summer!  Of course, it is possible that they're gone forever thanks to some drunks who thought climbing the big moose for a photo op, thereby knocking off his head, was a good idea.  While walking in search of raindrops the other night, the colours in this wooden bridge caught my eye so in spite of the overcast, rainy dreariness, I found beauty in this photo.  (And yes, this was the night before the not so human remains).

Raindrops

You would think with all the threats of rain we've had this week, this picture wouldn't be hard to come by.  The problem was that it was mainly short, misty showers which don't really "drop" per se.  Luckily, we were able to find a few hanging from branches on Whitefish Island.  I was even rather happy with how a couple of them turned out since I have a point and shoot compact camera, not fancy equipment and editing software.  I liked how I was able to actually see through this raindrop to the trees behind it.

Starts with O

There are certainly plenty of "o" words, but many of them are not particularly photographable, or photogenic if you can find a way to photograph them.  All week I was on a quest to photograph the "ominous" sky but my pictures ended up more "overcast" than ominous.  Last night, when Sharon and I were freezing our patooties off in spite of the tea she so kindly stopped to buy for us at the mall, she pointed out that this statue that Riya is so interested in is of "Billy O".   To quote the accompanying plaque, "Billy "O" was a well known citizen, musher and legend in this area. Over the years he entered many dog sled races, including the 1992 Alaskan Iditarod, not to win, but to compete for himself and his dogs. Born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, October 13, 1943, Bill met his untimely death February 19, 1994, doing what he loved best. Bill went through the ice in Little Bay De Noe in Escanaba, Michigan, attempting to save his 9 beloved dogs. He managed to save 2 before he succumbed to the icy waters of Lake Michigan."  I was too cold at the time to realize I didn't have the entire statue in the photo; it was hard to get Riya and the statue without getting Sharon, who was so kindly holding Riya.

Portrait of a Friend

Maybe this isn't exactly what Sharon had in mind, but in my mind, this is how I picture Sharon - examining the beauty of the world through the lens of a camera.  

Waterfall

I honestly just thought I would find an old waterfall photo in the archives for this one.  After all, I've visited two waterfalls this week but Sharon has taken pictures of both of them so it hardly seemed fair that we may post very similar pictures.  Instead, I decided to look at the waterfall at Hiawatha from a different angle.  My original plan was to climb up to the bridge that spans the top of the falls, forgetting that the stairs end and a scramble up the muddy embankment completes the trek.  Having just come from work and having no desire to go back there so soon, I decided to stop at the platform at the top of the stairs instead.

I think those rocks I am looking down on are the ones people used to jump from into the pond below, as Sharon mentioned.  I was never one of those brave (or stupid) souls.  

Wildcard

I just liked this picture because until recently, I've been one of the few people who walk at Whitefish Island regularly who had never seen the beavers there.  And there are an abundance of them!  The other night, I was lucky enough to see a few of them again.  One of them dove right under the bridge we were walking across!

I haven't checked out this week's weather forecast but I'm hoping it's better than this past week!  I have a crazy busy week ahead and still have to find time to finish packing and cleaning the house!  I better get back to muffin baking right now.  Have a great one!