THE STONE QUARRY; PRETTY OR NOT PRETTY. CAN'T DECIDE

click on photos to enlarge

I kid around alot about Cherokee Lake being a stone quarry with water in it.  Some mornings it is really attractive and other mornings it is a dismal looking place.  Notice, I didn't use the word pretty.  I'll stop at attractive.  The lake will be lowered another forty feet before it's done with.

The photo above gives an idea of how much water has been drained off the lake in preparation for possibilities of receiving flood water from the coming winter.  All that brown shoreline is normally under water.

Dangerous passage ahead



The narrow channel ahead will soon be too shallow to pass over

 Mother nature is making an effort to beautify this rock hole as best she can.  There isn't much to work with but she's trying.

Sometimes I'll cruise around an island and notice an especially interesting shoreline.  The shoreline in the picture below is an example of what I mean.  It almost appears as if the contour lines were added on purpose.  They are graceful and flowing.  The light was perfect for the picture.  This little spot is beautiful to the eye.  There are many such "special" places on the lake created by the lowering of the water level.  But, as a whole;  the combination of all the bare, brown shoreline lacking in the color green gives one a sense of a dismal environment.

Graceful contours

A break from the water and a short walk unveil further attempts by Mother Nature at beautifying the area.  Key word is "attempt."

Each tiny item of beauty exists within it's own tiny environment surrounded by the desolate out land.



I guess the difference between Cherokee and other lakes is that one must search to find beauty here.  On the many other lakes I am familiar with; beauty is striking everywhere the eye falls.  It is smashing and can drive a body delirious with overwhelming gorgeousness.

A tired little girl.  It's been a long morning

 

I had to scour the banks with binoculars to find these little beauty spots.  I wonder what Fall will have in store on Cherokee Lake?
It's the end of the shift and we have to make for the boat ramp.  I'll keep an eye open for any outstanding sights on the way back.


A quiet cove



This shoreline is dramatic.  Rock or sand.  It can't make up it's mind



Infinity



Lets go home Happy

 Douglas;  I'm not sure you'd like this mud hole but, I wish you were here to decide for yourself.

A canoe camping trip to Calderwood Lake is planned for day after tomorrow if the rains hold off.  See you then.

THE LITTLE GREEN SNAKE

Click pictures to enlarge

Actually it's called a Rough Green Snake.  No;  it isn't venomous.  It eats bugs.

I went out to the edge of the woods to hang a couple bird feeders and while wrapping a piece of wire over a branch;  I turned my head to the side and there he was not a foot from my face.  I've never seen one of these guys before and it was a treat to observe him on that limb.  He was on a branch that was about six feet off the ground.  I would like to have seen him climbing up the tree trunk.

There is another species of snake that is this exact color called the Smooth Green Snake.  The scales on the Smooth Green Snake are smaller and lay closer together and do not emit that textured appearance that the Rough Green Snake has.

These snakes can grow to 50 inches in length.  They are mild tempered and they appear to have a smile on their face.

They are tree dwellers and spend their lives among the limbs and branches of large trees chasing grass and leaf hoppers and most any other insect they can find. 

Green Snakes mate in the spring and fall and lay between 3 and 12 eggs.  The young hatch in about ten weeks.



He knew I was there, close to him, but he didn't become alarmed.  He just minded his own business and slowly moved along the branch nosing around, through and over leaves and bark.

I was excited to discover this guy on my property and can't wait to see more.  He is definitely worth documenting in the blog.  

I got my bird feeders hung and backed away from my very welcomed guest.  I hope he brings his friends around. 
I will be taking another canoe trip to Calderwood in a couple days.  The memories of Douglas are powerful there and it pains me to visit that place.  A friend told me to return over and over until Calderwood Lake presents memories of pleasant times that Douglas and I shared, and not pain and grief.  I'll try.  I will also be taking a 4 day motorcycle trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway on the 25th of September.  So;  stay tuned in to the blog.  There should be some interesting entries coming up shortly.  I also noticed that the blog site has altered their method of displaying photos when clicked upon.  I don't like it.  I hate when they change things and don't notify anyone.  I liked the old method of presentation better.

MORNING MIST

My job requires me to be on the lake most every day accept for scheduled days off.  I've often said that my office can be described by saying; my floor is the water, the walls the shoreline and the ceiling the sky.  It's wonderful!  Summer or Winter, the office receives a new decor on a daily basis.  I love it.  This morning was misty, or foggy, however one wishes to describe it.  I know this part of the lake fairly well and know where the boat can be driven safely.  I can pretty much hold a course to target in heavy fog or even dark on certain sections of lake;  not all sections, however.   I enjoyed this morning.  There were no people or boats, it was dead quiet and still and I was surrounded with soft gray fluff.  All ahead slow....Oh;  I wouldn't recommend trying this at home.  Wait till the fog lifts...