Autumn Photo Log, Part II

It's been a beautiful, summery October. Here's more photos from the last few weeks.  The Appalachian Trail winds through the surrounding counties. Here's the road leading up to the AT in Giles County:

Near the Appalachian Trail in Giles County

We've had several foggy mornings, not uncommon in the New River Valley. One morning was particularly nice. Here's the backyard in the early morning fog:

Foggy morning in the backyard

Another in the ongoing photo stream of Asta:

The umpteenth (and counting) picture of Asta.

Morning dew

One evening I took several photos of Barrie, but the light was way too red (note to self: check the white balance before taking photos). Converting to black and white worked well. 

Barrie in black & white
 

While driving home one day I spotted this pumpkin truck. How festive!

Pumpkin Truck

We took a trip last weekend to visit our friends Edwin and Carole and their boys, Andrew and Michael. We all went to the Apple Fall Festival in Waynesville, where Michael surveyed the apple critter art:

Michael examines the apple art

Michael in the great Thai restaurant in Waynesville:

Michael, quite the Beatle fan.

A few close ups, messin' around with the macro lens. This is a mandala kaleidoscope/coaster that I bought at the Art Institute of Chicago. Cool to look at and spin, but not so good at being a coaster:

Mandala coaster

I'll end this photo set with a basic food item:

Don't be without it.

Autumn Photo Log, part I

Spring and summer have come and gone with nary a bit of banter on the blog. My Bantering Bibliocrat blog has always been, in my mind, more of a photo forum than anything else. But I wandered away for a while, opting since last winter to post photos on Facebook. My poor blog has been feeling rather neglected, so I'm reverting back to the ol' BB forum for most of my photos.   I tweaked the interface a bit, just to freshen things up. (A few things led to this decision - Blogspot made it easier to post photos, and the Facebook interface just seems to get stranger all the time....)

So here you go - the first autumnal photo posting, with a link from Facebook.  Oh, such social networking.

Yep, it's autumn. Suddenly autumn.  On Thursday it was warm and humid in Blacksburg, but a front came blowing in and by Saturday it was in in the 40's with wind gusts up to 30 mph. Autumn arrived with little hint of subtlety, so Asta and I took a hike to enjoy the breezy, cold weather.  I donned the fleece and parka and we headed off to the Audie Murphy section of the Appalachian Trail.

Asta on the AT - you can just see her reflective vest as an orange spot.

It was Asta's first trip since last mid-summer, when she was diagnosed with Intervertebral Degenerative Disc Disease (IVDD).  After  several months of limited activity, Asta's been feeling better and we were both ready a hike.  

We hiked to the Audie Murphy Monument on Brush Mountain outside of Blacksburg, near the site where Murphy died in a plane crash in 1971. It's a short, easy hike along a ridge.

There are several very elaborate cairns beside the Audie Murphy Monument.

Close up of the AT.

The larger cairn at the Audie Murphy Monument.

Peace sign left by previous visitors. 

Thistle beside the trail.

Wildflower bed in the backyard, catching the last of the fall wildflowers.

Also from the backyard.