Before the Carroll Creek Bridge project, the artist William Cochran had painted some other murals on buildings in downtown Frederick. His work is NOT your average graffiti. His technique is "trompe l'oeil". The first time Marianne and I saw the above picture we were eating in a restaurant across the street. She said "that man is just staring out the window and not moving!" When we left the restaurant, we finally realized it was a painting and sometime later learned about Mr. Cochran. Below are details from this painting, the adjacent window and another painted window a few blocks away. The last picture shows his canvas for that painting.
I have had hearing lost since my 40's. At my annual hearing test, the audiologist said my hearing was below the capability of my old hearing aids. So I now have 2 new, more powerful, noise canceling hearing aids. The whole world is much louder than it was last week.
Last Thursday we had several inches of rain as the storm that covered the eastern US went over us. Above is the view friday morning from our yard of the Israel Creek. Normally it is on the far side of the flood plain and cannot be seen from our house. Below is the Monocacy River not far from us. This is the place where I found the hawks on December 3 (posted for SWF).
And here is Carroll Creek near where it empties into the Monocacy. The white on the far side on the water is where the creek normally flows.
And finally, the view Saturday morning from our house of the receding water. From what I heard, no significant damage was caused by this flood in Frederick.
Marianne started blogging in 2005, posting "bits and pieces of the world she lives in" including an occasional photograph. In late 2006, she decided that she would join Project 365 and take and post a photo every day. As she took her photos, I occasionally snapped a shot of her in action. She likes to get close to her subjects and has taken some great close-up pictures. Here are a few samples of her with her camera. The title link to her post the day each of my photos was taken.
Here are some sky shots from the first and second of December. I was planning to use them last week, but I spotted the hawks on the third and they got top billing. The picture above is where I is took the photos of the hawks, standing on the bank to the right of the water.
As I went into Costco's a little after 4 PM on the first, clouds were billowing in the western sky. When I come out about a half hour later, the sky colors had changed dramatically.
And here is a close-up of the bottom of the clouds near the horizon.
And finally, here is a shot the next morning from my window.
Breakfast for me is simple (Marianne usually eats later). When the company visits, we will do a bigger breakfast (pancakes, bacon, eggs, home fries, ect.).
As I came out of Wal-Mart Wednesday, I spotted some seagulls flying over the parking lot. Before I got to my van (and camera), they disappeared over the building. But then I noticed a low flying hawk on the other side of the parking lot, so that's where I went. Standing on the bank above the Monocacy River flood plain, I watch as first one and then a second and third magnificent bird circled slowly back and forth above the drainage pond below. I was using my zoom lens set at 200mm. None of these photos has been cropped. The second and last were auto color corrected to remove haze. For a few more hawk photos, see my Wednesday post on Lew's Pics.
Frederick County, Maryland is 50 miles west of Baltimore, the largest city in the state and a major seaport. The county is the largest in Maryland with an area of 665 square miles. Nearly 46% of the land is used for farming, with 1200 farms. In 2006 the annual revenue from farming was 100 million dollars with one-half from dairy operations. There are also a significant number of horse farms. Much of the farmland is used for pasture and growing food for livestock, though there are farms and orchards that produce food for us humans. Often two crops are grown for feed; grain planted in the fall and harvested in the spring followed by corn or soybeans for fall harvest. We live on the edge of a housing development surrounded on three sides by farms. I have posted a number of photos of the farm behind our house. Here are some recent photos of other farms in the county.
Frederick County has 29 historic bridges of 20 feet or more length that span the Monocacy River and various creeks. Three are wooden covered bridges: Roddy Bridge, Utica Bridge and Loy's Station Bridge. One is the Legore stone arch bridge. The others are steel or iron truss bridges. Most of these metal bridges were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's. This one is the Stevens Road Bridge over Hunting Creek. It was built in 1912 and was the first of the historic bridges to be rehabilitated in 1990. Like many others, it is one lane wide even though the road widens to 2 lanes beyond the bridge.
I joined the Header Challenge team in November. We post a new header each week on a suggested theme. Imac is the founder and head of the team. The members vote for best header and the winner gets the gold. The links above will take you to the other participants.
This blog contains my posts for Our World Tuesday and Sky Watch Friday. Click on the logos below to reach the host site for these memes and links to a world full of great photographers. I also share photos, both present and past, on additional subjects. I may occasionally post photos taken by others and will so note ownership in the post.
My other two blogs can be viewed through the links below.
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Disclaimer
Photos on this blog were taken by me, unless otherwise noted. They belong to me or the person identified and are protected by copyright; they may not be copied, reproduced or distributed without the express, written consent of myself or the owner. All Rights Reserved.
I am retired, married to a smart, talented lady who once thought we computer people were geeks and now is one of us geeks. I have a long time interest in photography. We live in Maryland, about 50 miles from Washington, DC.
My main camera is a Nikon D3100 with two zoom lenses (18-55 and 55-200).
[Portrait by Marianne Oct 2, 2010]
Before the Carroll Creek Bridge project, the artist William Cochran had painted some other murals on buildings in downtown Frederick. His work is NOT your average graffiti. His technique is "trompe l'oeil". The first time Marianne and I saw the above picture we were eating in a restaurant across the street. She said "that man is just staring out the window and not moving!" When we left the restaurant, we finally realized it was a painting and sometime later learned about Mr. Cochran. Below are details from this painting, the adjacent window and another painted window a few blocks away. The last picture shows his canvas for that painting. 
