“The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.” — Elliott Erwitt

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 10/13/2024: Posted photo — Fall Arrangement.

This is a fall flower arrangement. Fall flower arrangements contain items such as holly, ornamental grasses and eucalyptus. I see many arrangements that contain gourd and mums, such as the one in this photo.

Orange represents positive emotions, such as joy and happiness, as it combines the stimulation of red and the cheerfulness of yellow. These colors are needed this time of year when the daylight dwindles, and people are starting to get emotionally drained.

Monday, 10/14/2024: Posted photo — Wood.

Time to stack wood for the winter. This is the first of two loads of wood that will be delivered to our house. This pile contains three of the five cords of wood that I purchase every year. Some years we burn through it all, other years we have some left over.

We have a little over a cord of wood left over from the last burning season. I have other wood in our yard that has been sitting outside too long. That wood will be brought to the cottage to burn for outdoor fires or to be burnt in the wood stove. The cottage is only a three-season cottage, so burning wood will keep up warm.

A standard, full cord of wood is a volume of 128 cubic feet, measured as a pile 8 feet long, 4 feet high and 4 feet wide. A full cord can weigh up to 5,000 pounds. We have a four cord woodshed in which we can put in a little more than four cords. The blue tarp you see in the photo covers the remaining wood. We burn the wood outside of the woodshed first.

Tuesday, 10/15/2024: Posted photo — Echo Lake, Wachusett Mountain.

This is Echo Lake on Wachusett Mountain. The foliage’s reflection on the lake was the reason for this photo. This photo was taken during last night’s hike. I am a day behind because I wanted to post a photo of the wood at our house for yesterday’s photo and still wanted to post this photo. The lower elevations were clear, and the upper elevations were fogged in. As we were hiking in the fog, there were a few hikers that jokingly asked us if we were going to the summit to see the comet.

Lake or pond, what is the difference? Lakes are normally much deeper than ponds and have a larger surface area. All the water in a pond is in the photic zone, meaning ponds are shallow enough to allow sunlight to reach the bottom. This causes plants (sometimes too many) to grow at the bottom of ponds as well as on their surface. However, sunlight can’t reach the bottom of all areas of lakes. Lakes have aphotic zones, which are deep areas of water that receive no sunlight, preventing plants from growing.

Echo Lake is This 2-acre lake was created in the late 1800’s. It is considered a reservoir since it was created by a dam. According to the Princeton Historical Society, Echo Lake was used in the late 1800’s as an icehouse during the winter. The water from Echo Lake was also pumped up to one of the summit houses as its water supply. The last of three summit houses on Wachusett Mountain burnt in 1970.

Wednesday, 10/16/2024: Posted photo — Comet C/2023 A3 (ATLAS).

This is a composite photo of the comet taken from my phone and my DSLR. It was windy on the summit, and I am happy with my capture of the comet.

Comet Tsuchinshan (C/2023 A3 ATLAS) has an 80,000 year orbit and that it is now approaching its closest pass to Earth. The comet is massive in size and length. Its head currently measures a whopping two miles in diameter. The tail, which is largely comprised of tiny pieces of ice and dust, is believed to be as long as 18 million miles.

Last night’s hike was to see the comet. Monday night’s hike was also to see the comet, but as noted in yesterday’s information, the summit was fogged in so you could not see much in front of you. This one was a little hard to see at first since we arrived at the summit about a half hour after sunset and the sky was still bright in the direction of the comet. As the sky darkened, we were able to see it with the naked eye.

This was not the first comet I have seen, but for a few members of the group it was the first. It is very special to me to see the expressions and joy others have when they see a natural wonder for the first time.

Thursday, 10/17/2024: Posted photo — Harvest Moon.

The moon this month is called the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the Full Moon nearest the autumnal (fall) equinox. Took these in the morning on my way to work without my tripod.

I am trying out a new to me moon stacking program called AutoStakkert. I downloaded and installed it today and this is the first photo that I used it on. AutoStakkert has received some great reviews and seems to be one of the go-to programs for astrophotography.

The photos I stacked were taken handheld. Next time I will put my camera tripod. More practice is needed with this new software, so I am off to view YouTube videos and other tutorials.

Friday, 10/18/2024: Post photo —Acorns.

The years that many acorns fall are called “mast years,” and they occur every 2-5 years, with smaller acorn crops in between. A mast year is not a predictor of a severe winter. More acorns may mean more deer and mice.

This is a mast year at my house and in the area. It makes it difficult to hike with all the acorns being covered with the fallen leaves. Sometimes I think it is easier to hike on ice since you know the danger is present. Acorns and wet leaves are very dangerous!

Saturday, 10/19/2024: Post photo — Goose.

Went to the Old Mill today. It has been a very long time since I have taken a photo of the ducks and geese in the duck pond. It might have been the time of day, or the water level, but I remember more ducks and geese in the pond.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.