Better Late Than Never - By Robin Janney

And then there is that moment, when you look at the blog schedule and realize..."Oh yeah, it was my week to post something!" and the week is almost over.

I'm usually all on top of that kind of stuff, but even my mother's birthday snuck up on me this year and that's been the same date since before I was born!

Of course, with the pressure on...my mind is completely blank.  But apparently it's been on the blank side all week!

The road goes ever on and on,
down from the door where it began....

But, my trip to my mother's last night gave me a bit of inspiration.  Another thing I have in common with my writing cohort, is photography.  Although I am nowhere near Carol's caliber, I love taking pictures!  My hands are so shaky any more, I'm lucky to get whatever good shots I can.

Lucky shot

With the invention of the digital camera, especially in camera phones, it's a lot easier to take pictures and have them 'developed' than it used to be.  All a girl has to do it point her phone at some pretty fall leaves, click and then upload to Facebook.  Well, if she's on Wi-Fi - it doesn't eat data up that way.

I have two tricks to get good pictures with my cellphone.  One of the things I love about my new cellphone is how quickly it can take pictures.  I can take several in rapid succession; which gives me some great Google AutoAwesome pictures by the way.  So one of my methods is to take several shots all at once and hope one of them is good enough to upload and share.  Sometimes I get lucky with a single shot, if I'm careful to keep my hands halfway steady.

The view out my back door...

The second trick is to use the video setting on the phone and then watch it, pausing at the spots I want and take a screen shot.  That was how I was able to get pictures from out my back door.  I just swept my phone slowly along the ridge, then snapped some screen shots.

I still have to look up to get the view, but it's worth it!

I learned the video trick from one of my husband's relatives while at a family reunion.  It was a large reunion, and there were a lot of people there and I don't even remember this teen's name.  He had commented on my iPhone's  casing, which was 'custom made' as it was pieces from two different sets.

It's a good time of year to be snapping pictures anyway.  Not that there is ever a bad time.  But with the fall colors creeping in, far too quickly, the mountains and the country roads are breathtaking.  So much color here.  I probably have scores of pictures of fall foliage, both in Facebook albums and in physical photographs.

My Jaclyn

I also like to take pictures of my animals.  I wish that camera's on cellphones were more common when my Little Bear was still alive.  I would have so many more pictures of her!  She was a special dog, and I credit her with saving my life during a very dark time in my life.  But that's okay.  It's not just my own animals I'll snap pictures of.  I have no problem snapping pictures of my mother's animals too.

Mother's cat - Fuchsias

My brother's dog Buddy, who is more mother's dog...

Mother's cat is a bit spoiled.  He was named by her one grandson and so his name is a bit different.  Think the color Fuchsia and pluralize it.  We're not sure where he came up with that name, or what it meant in his young head.  But it stuck, even though the cat is clearly yellow and not pink!  And he was male before mother took him to the vet.  And he is most definitely Mother's cat.  He doesn't like her grandsons' playing with him, and will tolerate us other grownups petting him.  He'll curl right up on Mom's lap though and sleep with her through most nights.

I'm not sure what to tell you about poor Buddy.  He was brought home by my youngest brother as a pup (look Mom, can I keep him?), who then later moved out and left the purebred coon dog with mother.  He'll run away looking for his master, even though he loves Mother and is clearly her dog as much as the cat.

Believe it or not, there is a deer in the picture...
All the way down where the sunshine is...
Honest...

As I was leaving my mother's last night, I had my phone's camera open and ready in case my suspicions were correct:  when I walked down to get mother's mail and newspaper, I took my phone with me to grab some fall shots; when I lowered it, I happened to see movement in the distance - a deer crossing the road.  So when I left a little bit later, I was hoping it would still be there when I drove by.  And was I ever right...and then some!  I got a few stills, but then decided that wasn't good enough and switched to video.  They cooperated for longer than I thought they would.




And last but not least, I managed to snag some pretty cool sunset pictures as well.  I'll leave you on that note, hoping you've enjoyed a slice of my life in pics.

a bit of heavenly fire

or heaven's gold, if you prefer

AutoAwesome rocks...

Bobcats, Coyotes, and Bears, Oh My! By C.P. Stringham

The woods and gorge behind my parents' house with the beautiful waterfalls. 

As some of you know, I’ve been on this healthier me lifestyle since June 2013. As it turns out, sitting with fingers flying madly over a keyboard doesn’t really burn calories throughout the workday. I know. Shocking. No one was more disappointed than I was. If you didn’t see my blog regarding my progress, here’s the link to Holidays, Damn Holidays. Since January’s almost daily 2.5 mile-excursion around The Matterhorn began, I’ve kicked up the difficulty level. Yes, after conquering the steepest part of the hike without stopping to rest and catch my breath (or throw up,) I began jogging or running along some of the downhill and flat sections. It has been amazing! Something I never thought I could achieve. The feeling of accomplishment was almost euphoric. I’d never before felt that from exercising. Instead of being exhausted and in absolute pain, I was ready to take on the world. Me, the fatty, leaving Paralegal Jenn and The Rage in the dust!

My oldest and me on 2-14-14 during our trek

around The Matterhorn. Would I use her 

for bear bait?! 

And leaving them in the dust was all well and good until the day my brother joined us for our hike—he does that from time to time over the weekends now that he’s dating Paralegal Jenn. On one recent Saturday, my oldest daughter joined us as well. She and I quickly took the lead by powerwalking our keisters off. At midpoint, we began picking up our pace by jogging and, at times, running to keep our heart rates up. A few times along the way, we chased beautiful deer and the scene was most idyllic. Very Wild Kingdom meets Chariots of Fire.  We made it back a full 10 minutes before the others. My best time yet at a little over a half hour for 2.5 miles. It was a champion moment…until Paralegal Jenn returned with the others and shared part of their conversation. When the first group of deer crossed our path ahead of us, my brother jokingly told the others that he would laugh his @ss off if we drove a bear out of the woods and it crossed the road in front of me. Not funny. It actually scared the bejeezus out of me because this is something that could totally happen in Bradford County. We have wildlife aplenty. Suddenly, being out in front and breaking time records no longer appealed to me.

Trail camera shots from my friend Penny Wood's backyard
shows her nighttime visitors; deer and coyotes.

Bradford County ranks right up there as one of the most rural counties in Pennsylvania. I’m sure there are a few ahead of us, but I would wager we’re in the top five. As part of the Endless Mountains region, we have dense woodlands and a fair share of farmland pastures. Before the natural gas industry invaded our tranquil part of the world, most dirt roads saw very little traffic—a few locals commuting to and from work, maybe a school van picking up or dropping off students too far out for a bus to get them, and an afternoon cruise by the local postal carrier. This is rush hour country-style. Our county has a wide assortment of wildlife: oodles and oodles of whitetail deer, a huge resurgence of birds of prey from bald eagles to red-tailed hawks, Eastern coyotes, bobcats, and black bears. I don’t care who you are, the first time you see one of those last three in your yard, your adrenaline level raises a tad. My parents live further out than I do. There’s nothing like having a relaxing evening out on their deck, chatting, taking in the sunset, when the coyotes start howling and yipping from the mountain gorge behind their house. I swear to God, every hair stands on end—even though you are completely safe. It’s chilling. A bobcat’s screech has got to be one of the most blood-curdling sounds of the wild. Another hair-raising event beyond compare is when you have your house windows open to catch a summer night’s breeze, when all of a sudden, it 

Bobcat trail camera photo in East Smithfield, PA.
(Photo by Bruce Learn)

sounds like a woman is being brutally attacked nearby. That's what a bobcat sounds like. No lie, the first time that happened two summers ago, I couldn’t get our windows closed fast enough…and I may have peed myself a little. Just a little. It was really freaky. Another time, my husband and I had just put the garbage out after dinner. We’d dined on Bernie Murray’s regionally famous Buffalo chicken wings. Something truly odiferous. Any animal with a strong olfactory lobe in a ten-mile-radius could probably smell them. We went to bed that night only to be woken up at 11PM to a scratching noise from outside. 
            

A bald eagle eating carrion. (Photo by Andrea Shaul)

The Husband told me it was probably a raccoon or opossum. He got up to chase them off. Upon turning on the back door porch light, he was greeted by the biggest black bear we’d ever seen in person. His head seemed to fill up the half-window of the door. The scene from John Candy’s film The Great Outdoors played out in my mind. Granted it wasn’t a bald-headed grizzly bear like in the movie, it was still incredibly unsettling. Seriously, the only thing between us and Smokey Bear was a piece of glass. Thankfully, we were able to chase him off and avoided further repeats by not putting garbage out at night.

                            Remember this scene from The Great Outdoors?

Bear about town in Troy, PA. "May I borrow a cup of sugar please?" (Photos by Cheri Thomas)

Running into THIS isn't an option!
But would I hide behind my duaghter?
(Image from internet search)

Getting back to my brother’s comment, the thought of running into a bear never crossed my mind. At least with walking and making noise (because the ladies and I are known to chat during our walks,) bears will usually try to avoid humans and scamper away. Running alone leaves too much opportunity for a surprise approach. Here it is spring and the bears will be waking up after their winter-long siestas. That also means momma bears are waking up with their new cubs or yearling cubs. The idea of crossing a momma bear kinda scares me beyond belief. I’m not good in emergency situations. I’d never be able to remember to drop and play dead—well, unless I died of an actual bear confrontation-related heart attack. And then it wouldn’t matter. Or worse yet. What if I turned into the worst sort of coward and hid behind my seventeen year-old daughter?! Some mother! That night, I had this realistic nightmare where such a confrontation occurred. Needless to say, running ahead is no longer part of my exercise routine. Instead, Paralegal Jenn and I have increased our distance from 2.5 miles a day to five by adding an extra lap. It’s all good. My hearts happy, my skinny-ass doctor will be happy, and, most importantly, Momma Bear will be happy.

Needless to say, living up in Bradford County means we have our fair share of sportsmen. A time honored rite of passage through the generations, hunting season is a time for hunting camps, camaraderie, and respect for the animals they hunt. Many of the locals are quick to share their bounty with neighbors helping to make sure no one goes hungry.  Here are a few great shots my friends supplied me with for today's blog:

  

Bill Thomas shot this glorious 10-point trophy buck with a 19 7/8" spread in Springfield Township, PA.
(Photo by Cheri Thomas)