Blue Ridge blog

Red skies in Boone

For those of you who don't understand what I mean about Blood Red skies that I spoke about in my previous post then you have
to check out THIS SITE . It belongs to a friend of mine, Ray and he
posted some shots from local awesome photographer Todd Bush. He caught the Aurora Borealis as far south as Beech Mountain.

Not so itsy or bitsy...

I went out on my deck last night and saw this freaky looking spider and just knew that it was a sign for me to share it with ya'll on Halloween. The weather is gorgeous
today and I hope catch a fairly impressive sunset this evening to post later. Last night the sky was red, a crimson red, a freakin' bloody sky. My wanna be Goth daughter
commented that she wanted her hair to be that color. I hope it is just a phase.

The Best Dog in the World

Ok, so she isn't quite right in the head and rolls in all kinds of dead & stinky things, but who couldn't love a dog who strives to get 4 tennis balls in her mouth. Meet Harley (aka: Everyone loves a Harley). We had to name her that so my husband would accept her into the family. She is five and is starting to slow down. In dog years that makes her what? 7x5+35 years old. She should be in better shape except that the old Floridian who lives below us feeds her leftovers all the time so she is getting quite broad. Thank goodness the Floridian has flown back for the winter and Harley will go on my own special exercise routine.

A Little more Eye Candy

What the heck! It is almost Halloween so here is another photo that I took. It looks North over Valle Crucis and a bit more in Tennessee.

A Wisp of Fog upon Autumn Barn

The New River begins in the middle of the Blowing Rock golf course and flows north through the town of Boone. This tobacco barn on Brookshire Rd lies about 200 yards from the river's edge. Most autumn days, the barn is shrouded in a mist . I was lucky to catch the barn as the morning sun hit the roof and a gust of wind blew a willow of a wisp up and over the barn.
Hope you enjoy today's photo. I have several more shots that I took over the past couple of weeks that I will be posting soon. Thanks to all of you who have sent emails and commented on my blog. I like the positive karma!
I'm in the office early this morning as the light was not inspiring to stay and shoot. Not much fog so there was plenty of frost on the ground, but Daylight Savings time
has thrown me off as far as timing the 'right' light.

A Bethel Sentinel

While driving back to Boone along Bethel Rd, I saw this owl out of the corner of my eye. I passed it, but backed my car up just to make sure that I wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, it was the middle of the morning and there was an owl starring at me. I found a spot to park my car and prepared my equipment. I've been disappointed so many times with great roadside wild animal photo ops that quickly flee, but this little guy wasn't intimidated at all by my presence. I kept approaching him and was able to get within about 15 feet. I made some great tight shots, but somehow I like this photo better because it shows him the just the way that I saw him when I passed by. Since owl's are typically nocturnal, this shot is unusual.
Check out the Watauga Democrat newspaper that I work for.

Taking flight

This photo of a hawk taking off from a wire has been my most requested photo of the week by subscribers to the newspaper that I work for The Watauga Democrat. Many folks have asked me if the hawk was landing or taking off. I would have to have 'divine' instincts to be in the right places at the right time to know where a wild animal was going to land. Instead, I saw it as I was on assignment for the Watauga Democrat shooting the opening of Hwy 421 in Deep Gap. I simply parked my car, prepared my photo equipment while still inside and slowly approached the bird. I knew that eventually I would get too close for it's comfort and it would leave. It was just a matter of time and patience and watching for its muscles to prepare for flight. I was so happy when I got back to the office and saw this frame.

All about the Blue Ridge

Welcome to my first attempt at creating a blog all about the people living in Watauga County, North Carolina. I live in and love this area tucked amid the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Appalachian region.