Skywatch Friday: Sky Faces on the way to the NC mountains

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Wordless Wednesday: Bird Convention

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That's My World: Raleigh NC's Greenway system

I live in a city with greenway trails and parks which are an oasis of sorts in a highly developed area. These trails cut through woods which have been preserved, often alongside creeks, and around lakes. The Capital Area Greenway System (which is in Raleigh, NC, USA) currently has 54 miles of trails and a 3000 acre system which includes many parks. The shot below was taken at the lake near my house which has many connecting trails radiating out from it.


Below are two maps of the greenway system. The left hand map shows the entire system with trails in brown. Because of its scale you can't see the creeks which run along side many trails. Therefore, the map on the right shows the part of the system (mid to northern portion of left map) near where I live with trails in green and water in blue. The lake in the shot above is the only lake shown on the right hand map but is the top center lake on the left hand map.To find posts from other parts of the world please visit the home of That's My World.

Monochrome Monday: Me and My Shadow

Monochrome Monday is hosted by Aileni at Loose Ends.

SkyWatch Friday: A rooster, a cross and a big blue sky

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Wordless Wednesday: Contrasting Building Materials

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That's My World: City of Oaks

That's my world is a new photo meme which is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy & Tom . As they put it: This new Meme is for everyone, who has a photoblog! With it you become a virtual tourist guide, showing all of us your part of the world. The world has become so small these days, and yet we know so little about each other. So why not change that? With an introduction like that how could I resist joining in.

The city I live in has had the nickname City of Oaks since the eighteenth century, therefore, I thought I'd start with a collage of the oak trees in front of my house from each of the four season. They are shot from different spots but they are all of the same oaks.
Naturally the City of Oaks has a 1,250-pound, 10-foot-tall copper-and-steel acorn that rest in Moore Square in downtown Raleigh throughout the year. This big nut is lowered on New Year's Eve by crane as part of the First Night Raleigh Celebration. Being something of a nut myself it seems appropriate that I live in the city which arguably has the biggest nut to be found. In addition to being the home of the big nut and me, Raleigh is the capital of the state of North Carolina in the U.S. To visit other participant from across the world please visit That's my World.

Note-This is my photoblog and I usually limit text since I have another wordy blog. I will probably try to keep the text portion down in future posts.

Monochrome Monday: Butterfly dining

Monochrome Monday is hosted by Aileni at Loose Ends.

Still Mooning

Skywatch Friday: The moon this morning from my yard in North Carolina

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Wordless Wednesday: The Tree Man sprouted a beard

This is for the Tuesday and Wednesday Editions of Wordless Wednesday

Monochrome Monday: The Gyre in black and white

For my last Skywatch Friday I posted a color shot here from a different perspective of this same work which is in the NC Museum of Art's Museum Park . I thought I'd post this black and white shot to show what it looks like as you approach it. The Gyre by Thomas Sayre is made of concrete, colored with iron oxide and reinforced with steel.

Monochrome Monday is hosted by Aileni at Loose Ends.

Before the First Frost the Plumes Wave

SkyWatch Friday: Sky over and through the Gyre by Thomas Sayre in NCMA Park

Note- I am editing this because from a comment I could tell I wasn't clear. The Gyre is the sculpture by Thomas Sayre and is located in the NC Museum of Art's Museum Park. I took this photograph while walking around the park.

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Wordless Wednesday: Please come out of the tree and clean up your mess

This is for the Tuesday and Wednesday Editions of Wordless Wednesday. To find other participants please visit the home of Wordless Wednesday.

Monochrome Monday: My Lawnmower

The shot above is my monochrome Monday offering but I thought I'd show you why I can get by with the lawnmower above. I love tall grasses and like the natural cycle to be allowed to run its course so I do very little mowing. My typical response to grass in paths is to dump a pile of leaves on them. Sections of my garden with wild grasses and mixed wildflowers run their course and in the winter I do some clean up. Below is what a corner of my backyard looks like today. Since my city has ordinances about how tall grasses can be I hope no one turns me in. I won't mention where I live in this post, just in case.
To find other participants of Monochrome Monday please visit the Host Aileni at Loose Ends.

Hearts a bursting (Euonymus americanus) photographed in the NC Botanical Garden

Skywatch Friday: Shot from around the lake on each side

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