Foaming Fountain

My bet is that this foaming fountain was the work of some delinquent. Vandalism!

Lock # 27. C & O Canal

A Memorial Day ride to the site of several engagements today at the Monocacy Aqueduct when Confederate Raiders attempted to impede canal traffic, and then a mile beyond to these old locks. Shown is the Canal and the lockmaster's quarters with my trusty mountain bike parked in front. This part of the canal has a lot of water from the recent rains

Two notes:

First I saw some adventurous types with their bikes loaded for the long haul from Georgetown to Cumberland. Well over 200 miles as I recall. Maybe an adventure for me once all is completed with my current tasks.

Second: I saw one fellow who had a small plastic fender on his mountain bike, and then looked down to see mud from the trail had spotted my trousers. Got it :)

Heron Turns for Profile Portrait

I spied him this morning in Carroll Creek. This was my third and best photo as he turned his head to give a profile for this portrait that shows off his crown and the hanging feathers down the back of his neck.

I looked him up in a National Geographic "Birds of Prey" book and leaned that they hunt before sunrise and and after sundown. They will remain perfectly still and perched in a good location when hunting for fish, as was likely the case with this bird.

Read more here http://birds.audubon.org/species/blanig2

(iPhone on full magnification at about 6:40 from inside the covered bridge-- auto focus was a challenge for the phone no doubt due in part to moving water, high magnification, and low light)

Wild Imagings

I must wonder of the sculptor had in mind CS Lewis' Narnia series and the Divine Aslan (Jesus Christ type) in this art which graces the park in front of the Carroll County Library. I shot this with iPhone 4s and an App "Camera +" which allows separate focusing and exposure points. This shot would not have been possible without the Camera+ exposure set to capture more of the shadows under the high noon sunlight today. Sculpted by Westminster artist Bart Walter http://store.russellfinkgallery.com/wawiimisr.html

Carroll County Center

Westminster City Plat painted on the side of this old antebellum building. The town was founded out in about 1764 with a document presented in Frederick In 1837 Carroll County was founded and in 1838 the City Fathers made petition for Incorporation of Westminster On the east end of Main stands the original stone marker for Westminster

Winchester Walk

This is one of the charming and well preserved Victorian homes in Westminster. Along with Frederick, this city has become one of my favorite for a stroll as it takes one back in time with many antebellum and Victorian style homes and buildings

Cylburn Mansion

Baltimore. ca 1868
Built by a wealthy mine owner and occupied initially by his mother and him as a summer house north of and above the heat of the city. At 61 he married a beautiful 19 year old debutant who commissioned it's lovely gardens. The city bought the estate in about 1945 when she passed away. The 270 acres are assessable to visitors via a series of trails. Now known as the Cylburn Arboretum and a city park.
I enjoyed the small gardens and got some ideas of things I might like to try one day at Carrollton on the Southfork

http://www.cylburnassociation.org/

Braveheart on Druid Hill

Baltimore.
What a delightful surprise this was this morning. The statue of William Wallace is grand. It is especially meaningful for our family as Wallace is a distant cousin of my wife through the Morgans (Sarah Morgan-Squire Boone line.) Wallace in 1320 in the Declaration of Arbroath wrote and said, "It is in truth not glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself" That spirit of resistance against tyranny lived on in the Scots, and came with them in the great migration to American Colonies Where they gathered to finally defeat their English overseers. (Morgan May McAfee Johnson Lyons Patrick Lyttle and a host of other ancestors)

Occupy Baltimore

Since G8 crowds posed the possibility of Occupy Frederick I decided to evacuate on sound advice from a close advisor and drove east until I arrived at Federal Hill in Baltimore The original Occupy Group moved in and occupied this hill and set up batteries of artillery over the city in 1861 for the duration of the war to ensure those Rebels didn't cause any more trouble.

Mountain View Rendezvous

Frederick

Destiny? Providence? or just Coincidence?

Paul and Mark at Mountain View --

This afternoon at about 11:30, Paul sent me a text message that he was up from Fredericksburg in Frederick on a job and suggested lunch. I had my phone on Airplane mode and never saw the invitation. Then, walking home from work at about 4:30 PM, I tried to open Evening Prayer on the iPhone as I came out the Post Gate at Rosemont. I saw Paul's message pop when I turned on the iPhone as I waited at the light to cross Rosemont. I put the iPhone up and crossed. Unbeknown to me, Paul sat at the light on Rosemont and recognized the "man in the fedora" as I crossed. Once across, I pulled out the iPhone and wrote Paul that I was sorry I missed him, and then I saw another message that said " Need a ride?" I figured that it too was from about noon because Paul knew my truck had been disabled. I messaged him asking if he was still in town and had just sent it when I got my answer. Paul had pulled his truck in the parking lot at the Pizza Hut a block down from the gate and hailed me along my route. He had been delayed by a half an hour on his job--A job that I had guided him to on our last Rendezvous here about two months ago. I too had left work about 30 minutes later than I had planned, as I had some last minute work come up. So it was that we, by strange chance or Providence, had our rendezvous. A good place to dine? The best in Frederick according to my beloved: Mountain View Diner -- for a hearty feast on Ascension Day. Laus Deo -- for his many good gifts.

Spawning Season

Carroll Creek Park
This Largemouth Bass guards a nest set over a deposit of gravel in the faux creek here. I watched him (this is the male) as he fanned the eggs with his bottom fins and rotated in a counterclockwise direction over the nest. He only departed once and that was only a short distance toward a young black bass that has approached the nest -- which he readily dispatched.

Camera Corner

Aspens 1958 New Mexico. Ansel Adams photo featured in Book 1-The Camera.

http://photojournalistjournal.blogspot.com/2011/08/ansel-adams-aspens.html?m=1

I found this nicely framed print in a yard sale yesterday. I rearranged some of my photograph books that I still have here to make a central place (Camera Corner) for my growing library and prints and probably some equipment You may be able to see first printings of Book 2 The Negative and Book 4 Natural Light next to the radio. I hope to one day complete the set which will also includes Book 3 The Print and Book 5 Artificial Light, and as mentioned above, Book 1-The Camera. I had to shoot this a little off center to avoid some distracting light reflections. Taken with the most popular camera for Flickr iPhone (4S). Nice camera!

A Purple Rhododendron

Carroll Creek
Our rhododendron is in full bloom again this spring. I recall one our famous authors of Appalachian region, John Fox, who wrote a wonderful short story entitled "A Purple Rhododendron". It is the story of a hunted man's love for his beloved and the elusive beautiful flower along the precarious high mountain cliff in a Gap that he sought to express that love. A moving story well worth a pause to enjoy. See it here

http://www.online-literature.com/john-fox/1630/

Ps. John Fox was raised in the Bluegrass region where I was born. He wrote several books that focused on the mountainous region that he eventually moved to for his health, and where one branch of my family still resides along the Virginia-Kentucky line.
http://www.english.eku.edu/services/kylit/fox.htm

Lead Lady

Frederick Marathon
This is the first woman in the marathon to pass my abode this morning. The weather is excellent for the race with a gentle mist to keep things cool

Cinqo de Mayo Celebration, etc.

Frederick.
The festivities this day have been grand. The entire downtown was in a festive mood. The runners competed tonight in the 5k and tomorrow is the marathon. Bars were alive with the Derby and what a race it was. Open houses dotted the downtown area this evening while live bands performed on the sidewalks. The weather was excellent as the overcast skies and warm breeze kept it nice all day.

Marvelous Mannequins

These lovely ladies were enjoying the open house at Vintage   They struck a pose for me -- my reply through the window. "You Look MARVELOUS!". 

Mannequin: Dumb and Live!

Noun:	A dummy used to display clothes in a store window. A young woman or man employed to show clothes to customers.

Via IPhone

78s and old Victorlas

Hard Swimming' Fish

On the sidewalk. They sound pretty good. That is a dobro guitar he is playing and the fellow on the end with an acoustic base with a mike rigged up. Reminds me of Memphis Blues and a little of Lynard Skynard and a little Honky Tonk Good stuff

Tis the Season for Sneezin

This morning I awoke after a sound sleep and walked into another room and sat. I immediately sneezed and began to suffer from hay fever (only arrested with antihistamines.) I looked next to me and noticed the window was open and this magnificent conifer loaded with pollen filled my window. They say this year has been worse than most. I'll do without a spring breeze for a while I think.

Burger Tuesdays at OTT

Olde Towne Tavern -- Market St.
This is my favorite dinner that I get nearly every Tuesday in Frederick. It is a Blue Cheeseburger. This is discount night, and the burger is dirt cheap at $2.50 and drafts at $1.50.