Ahead of my ability: October 2008

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Fountain at Night

This fountain is downtown in Perry Square. I've had pics of it on the blog before, in some of my shots of Em. Last week, I took a few shots at night.

I love the lights...

and the reflections.

The water changes every few minutes, from a fine spray to a more forceful one.

A quick note: I found a couple of my pictures on another person's blog. I never thought I needed to worry about that, but I guess it can happen to anyone. I decided that I'd better start watermarking my stuff. Hope it doesn't detract too much!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Liquid Thunder

Behold, the majesty that is Niagara Falls!

Imagine the roaring water rushing over the incredible precipice, thousands upon thousands of gallons every minute.

In pictures like these, it's easy to see why no one has ever survived a plunge over its terrifying heights! (Note: No one has survived a plunge over the American Falls. Several people have survived going over the less-rocky Canadian Falls. --ed.)

Oh...wait. Those are just the rapids.

Watch your step!

These are the American Falls as seen from Goat Island.

And here we are in all our bulgy glory.

To the west of the American Falls is a smaller falls called Bridal Veil.

See the little yellow ants down there? Those are the people on the Cave of the Winds tour I mentioned yesterday.

Here's one attraction I'm too scared to try: The Maid of the Mist boat! It goes way to close to the falls for my comfort level.

No, I prefer to look from a safer distance.

And on a somewhat-unrelated note, I managed to catch a very rare moment of brotherly/sisterly love while we were leaving.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Leaf Angels, Rainbows, and Tacky Backdrops

As I am often wont to do, I got sidetracked by cemetery pictures for the past couple of days. I still have some Niagara Falls pictures to share, including actual pics of the falls themselves. Today, though, I thought I'd share some funny shots.

Well, except for the rainbow. That's not really a funny pic. Unless you imagine a leprechaun down there guarding his pot of gold, I guess.

For funny, you have to look at the shots of the kids posing in front of the cheesy backdrop for the "Cave of the Winds" tour. This is a tour where you take an elevator to the base of the falls and walk around all upclose and personal-like. In my opinion, much better for a hot summer day than for one where temps are in the 50s. We had fun with the photo op, though!

Liam is the king of the boardwalk.

This is Em's "Aaaaaah, I'm falling!" pose. Don't ask.

In further "Don't Ask" news, you remember jumping into a leaf pile as a kid, right? Sure you do. But I bet you never laid down on a public path in the middle of a giant tourist attraction, er, I mean Natural Wonder and made yourself a leaf angel.

I should have taken pictures of some of the looks they were getting.

And there you have it...just as pretty as the more traditional snow angel, don't you think?

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Eternal Vigilance

We drove through Randolph, NY yesterday on our way to Salamanca. It was cold and a bit rainy, so when we saw this cemetery I thought maybe we'd just drive through. I'm glad we did, and of course I had to get out and get some pictures when I saw this stone.

Willie Lee died in 1866 at the age of 9. He has been immortalized as a sleeping child, with some playthings and books surrounding him, and his dog keeping watch.