The Weekend in Black and White: Mast General Store Valle Crusis, NC

I took this shot of the rear entrance to the Mast General Store in Valle Crusis, NC a few years ago. The front is painted white but I like the unpainted rear. This is the original store which has been in operation since 1883. Now there are additional Mast General stores including one in Boone, NC; Asheville, NC and several other towns. There are 9 in all and each one is in a building dating from 1883 to 1945.

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SkyWatch Friday: Sunset

Now that the trees are leafing out, I don't get as much of a sunset view as I do in winter. In spite of the obstructions, I thought this one worked pretty well.

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ABC Wednesday: N is for Neuse

The Neuse River in North Carolina is approximately 275 miles long (according to wikipedia).

It begins northwest of Durham, NC and empties into the Pamlico Sound below New Bern, NC (NC River Keepers and Water Alliance information).

NC River Keepers and Water Alliance site says that the Neuse River is nearly 2 million years old and its Indian name means peace.

The shots I'm using are of the Falls of the Neuse Reservoir (a man made reservoir in the upper portion of the Neuse River Basin) which supplies my city (Raleigh) with our drinking water. According to the City of Raleigh site on November 2010 the city of Raleigh was awarded a temporary permit to conduct studies and prepare a license application for a hydroelectric project it referred to as the Falls Lake Dam Hydroelectric Project. It's possible that one day my electricity will be thanks to the upper Neuse River Basin.

By the way, growing up I used to spend vacations with my family at Oriental, NC which is on the Neuse River near New Bern. Originally a fishing village Oriental, NC has become a sailing village and vacation spot too. My parents had a vacation house at Oriental and I used to take my daughter there too when she was very young, although that house was sold after my mother died in 1990 since my Dad wasn't going there much any more. All of the shots I have from the Neuse River at that end are pre-digital since we have tended to go to Atlantic Beach on the NC coast (which is also close to New Bern but on the Atlantic Ocean) after I had a digital cameras. It was easier to use these Falls of the Neuse Reservoir shots since I live near there and had a bunch of shots in my digital photo archives on my computer. Since the reservoir was authorized, in part, to address flood control issues with the Neuse River, it seemed appropriate to use photos of it for this post. Click for the home of ABC Wednesday.

Our World Tuesday: Birds with Attitude

You don't have to speak bird to know when a brown thrasher is cussing you out.

The shots I'm posting of the brown thrashers are from several different days and are not necessarily the same bird.

In addition to rather large beaks they also have wild looking eyes which add to their look of bird with attitude.

I didn't try to pick the clearest shots in all cases but am going for personality shots.

The American Robin below was doing a little yoga after a bath.

Next the robin adopts a meditative stance.

Following is the don't mess with me stance.

On another day the American Robin was in the larger bath doing a little water ballet.

The house finch couple in the next two shots cracked me up.

The male was patiently waiting for the female to finish up her bath. Then again maybe he preferred to let her do all the work and give him a shower.

The sparrow below used up all the water and tripled its size.

The male cardinal below was chowing down on some cold morning food I provided as a treat.

Another male cardinal watched from the shelter of the pecan tree.

The mourning dove turned its back on me and waddled away.

The carolina chickadee was wearing it's tuxedo feathers.

Lastly the rufous-sided towhee was curling up one corner of its mouth and eying me with displeasure.

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