Looking Up and Down

I love my nature walks, and this afternoon at the Mountain Park Aquatic Center was a reminder that we don't always need to be forging ahead. Sometimes, we need to look up, down, and around.

The first photograph is one I took on the walking trail. Of course, it's just a small branch with what's left of two little pine cones (after a squirrel had enjoyed the rest)....but doesn't it look a lot like a dragon fly? The other is one of many I took of the same afternoon of a stunning winter sunset.

Happy New Year In Oak Valley

I'm afraid that I've been negligent in posting regularly here, and I'll try to do better in 2012. I so enjoy my HO scale miniature winter town year around, I created a blog for it this holiday season to share photographs (you can link to it by clicking on the title of this post, or go to http://www.mytinypeople.wordpress.com/. It's given me a chance to become well acquainted with my new camera and actually see the street scenes and people at ground level! I've met quite a lot of nice people around the world who have enjoyed the daily views of Oak Valley.

For me, the allure of towns and cities goes back to a kid of the 50s and 60s growing up in the suburbs. When we moved from the Columbus GA area to metro Atlanta, we rented briefly in the "Great Lakes" area of the City of Decatur. My sisters and I named our little cottage style 1930s house "The Witch's Cottage." For the first time, we could ride our bikes to Woolworth's in downtown Decatur!

I've always been fascinated with historic towns and cities and that fascination has led me to collect and restore vintage postcards, host history and genealogy web sites, and learn about 19th century architects.

Enjoy!