FAVORITE PHOTOS OF 2012--

Today we share six of our 12 favorite pictures from this year.  In doing this annual series I strive for not only pictures with some compelling interest but diversity in the series as well.  They are not ranked in any particular order, in fact, on any given day an entirely different selection might have been made from the thousands of images made in 2012.  Six more will appear here next Saturday.

I left my lunch sit while I grabbed my camera to do this shot on a pier in Sebastian, FL on a warm January day.  The exposure was manually controlled with a shutter speed of 1/320th of a second; brief enough to freeze the flight of the birds and the morsel of food thrown by the man in the foreground.  The aperture was f/10; sufficiently small to give abundant depth of field so the foreground man and the background birds all are sharply focused.  The lens was zoomed to 29mm (mid-way in its range) to tighten the composition.  Canon Rebel DSLR T3i camera with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens; my walking-around combination.

This photo was done along the intercoastal waterway in Vero Beach, FL while a heron-like bird waited patiently for its evening snack.  The camera was rested on a fence post with an exposure of 6/10th second and the lens wide open at f/4 with ISO sensitivity at 3200.  The lens was at its maximum focal length of 40mm which brought the bird and background bridge detail as close as possible.  If I had to choose a favorite of the year, this would be it.  It was particularly nice that my lady Sue and friends Mark and Nancy Meinzer were close by to enjoy the scene as well. 

This photo made the cut because of the spontaneous, near-background activity of the amorous couple while Sue enjoys the view of the inlet from the Atlantic Ocean at the Jupiter, FL lighthouse.  An aperture of f/10 and a 17mm (wide angle) focal length allowed the scene to be rendered in sharp focus from the near foreground to infinity.  A shutter speed of 1/200th of a second simply contributed to a correct exposure.

 
The violent action of a baseball pitcher was amplified by a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/15th of a second.  Good field lighting allowed an aperture of f/10 at ISO 100 in this night, Class A, minor league baseball, Spring-training game in Port St. Lucie, FL.  This shot was made while I was sitting in my spectator seat along the first base line using Canon's 70-200mm, f/2.8 L lens at maximum focal length.  I was shooting through a protective screen but the long focal-length threw it completely out of focus due to its limited depth of field.

Photo finish to a cross-country race:  "Adopted" grand daughter Mackenna Curtis-Collins (right), judging by the shadow of her foot nearly touching the white finish line, appears to be winning this race.  However, the official camera declared it a tie.  The camera was pre-focused on the finish line and the exposure was 1/1250th sec., f/5, ISO 400 with the same telephoto lens at its full 200mm focal length.

This very-much alive and wild alligator was swimming in slow formation with our air-boat on Blue Cyprus Lake near Vero Beach, FL.  It was estimated to be in the 10 to 12 foot range and continued its menacing presence until we did a discrete course change.  The photo was made with the 70-200mm lens at 155mm; exposure 1/500th second, f6/3.

GEOCACHING POTPOURRI--

MOHAWK DAM; An impoundment without any water

The top photo shows the downstream side of Mowhak Dam near Nellie in Coshocton County Ohio.  Invisible on the far right of the photo, the Walhonding River flows through the dam toward it's confluence with the Tuscarawas River in Coshocton where it forms the Muskingham River which, itself, joins the Ohio River at Marietta.

The dam is inert until flood conditions arise then, its gates are mostly closed restricting the Walhonding's flow and holding the water to help alleviate damaging downstream flooding.  The dam was built in the 1930s and joined 13 others in the Muskingham Watershed Conservancy District; all sharing the mission of flood control.

It's record year of flood control occurred in 2005 when it held back water to the depth of 80 feet behind the dam structure until area flood conditions improved.

The lower photo (above) shows the dry side of the dam as it usually appears when flood conditions do not exist.  For miles upstream the land is cultivated normally.

I once drove through the impoundment area after there had been considerable flooding .  By then, the water was gone but the land looked like a moonscape.  Everywhere, as far as you could see trees, crops, fences, township roads, etc., were covered with the drab gray color of dried mud; residue from the just ended flood awaiting the cleansing of the next rainfall.

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I got reacquainted with Mohawk during a recent geocaching outing in Coshocton County.  Speaking of confluences, on another recent cache outing Sue and I experienced a point of confluence where lines of latitude and longitude appear only as whole integers--with all zeroes to the right of the degrees indicated.

This occurs only 866 times in the US, 11 of them in Ohio.  (Remember to click on the smaller image to see a larger view.)

In this case the specific location was in a field west of the truck stop at the intersection of I-71 and Ohio 83 near Lodi.  The debris on the glass surface of our GPS unit was chaff from the brier field we negotiated to get to this very precisely defined location.

You may note the numerics N XX.XXX, W 082 XX.XXX in the little photo.  That is the decimal equivalent of degrees, minutes and seconds; the common notation of latitude and longitude used in geocaching.

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A popular place for geocache locations is around cemeteries--where cachers are respectful of the local rules and avoid any disrespect whatsoever to grave sites.  In fact, I often find myself repairing the medallions and flags that are askew on veteran's markers.

It also is interesting to simply pause and reflect on the older grave markers.  This one pictured, for example, marks the grave of Samuel Ziegler who died April 15, 1843 at the age of 82 years, 2 m(onths) and 7 days which means, of course, he was born in February 1761.

That was 28 years before George Washington became president.

In the lower photo, taken on a more recent geocaching outing in a cemetery on Middletown Rd., south of Crestline, this person died in 1845, some 167 years ago.  His stone commemorates his passing at an unknown age.

Then, a tree near his grave site germinated, grew to its massive size--and died as well.  Today only its stump remains yet still seeming to embrace its neighboring tombstone, while yet still another of life's cycles appears in the form of newly germinated plants in the foreground. 





 

LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN!

Mansfield pedestrians needed umbrellas rather than snow boots when they attended the city's Christmas tree lighting celebration near the downtown Carousel District Friday, December 7th.

Had the temperature been a bit cooler the evening's rain easily could have been multiple inches of snow.

In spite of the challenging weather area parking lots were full and shops in the district were buzzing with activities and customers in a celebratory mood.  The evening activities began with the tree lighting in front of the Carousel--partially hidden in the center of the photo behind the green and white umbrella.

This photo is looking south from the east side of N. Main St., just downhill from the near-historic City News.  The two green, traffic lights are at the corner of 4th and Main.

The tree itself has an interesting history.  It was planted by a city resident some years ago and grew so large it became a safety problem with traffic visibility.  Rather than suffering a severe trim the owner donated the tree to the city for this year's holiday.

Seveal downtown area churches participated in the event by offering open houses so visitors could enjoy their various, Christmas decorations.  A priest at St. Peter's Catholic Church greets visitors in the lower photo at that church's iconic sanctuary.

PERMIT ME TO INTRODUCE--
my new camera and a new park!

Maybe I better start at the beginning.  In this marvelous hobby of geocaching we find ourselves hiking in some very strenuous locations and more than once I've pondered that husky, digital, single lens reflex camera in my hiking bag with its very expensive attachment in the form of my walking around lens adding both bulk and weight to my burden.

The camera and lens weighs 2 pounds and 5+ ounces.

So, given the modest requirements of most blog/geocaching photography I bought a Canon Power Shot A4000 IS HD, point-and-shoot camera.  It cost about 115 bucks including its very own 8 gigabyte storage card.

It weighs just under 5 ounces and I can stick it in my shirt pocket.  That's it in the small photo (left). 

It took its maiden voyage with me, Sue and our geocaching friends Mark and Nancy Meinzer, Sunday, Nov. 18th in the Wooster Memorial Park.  That's our platoon on a ridge, high above Rathburn Run, the main watercourse through the park, in the top photo.

Below, we have successfully negotiated our descent to the Spangler Trail and another 1/5 mile of hiking back to our parking place.

As you can see this tiny gem of a camera performed marvelously and will be a welcome companion on our often challenging treks.

The park itself was a demanding and rewarding delight of a hiking venue.  Yet, it was unknown to us just 30 miles distance from home and one of life's treasures that would have remained undiscovered had it not been for our terrific new hobby of geocaching.

The park had about a dozen caches.  We managed to discover half of them in this, our inaugural outing there.  We really look forward to finishing the task.  

KINGS HOLLOW RR TUNNEL--

Deep in the Appalachian hills of Athens and Vinton counties stories of the paranormal abound to this very day.

In the case of the above tunnel and its neighbor the Moonville RR tunnel reports of apparitions linger from the area's history of death and ghostly mayhem when white-man's presence was first being established there in the 1800s.

Legends?  Maybe.

My lady Sue and I were there on a recent geocaching adventure and stumbled on this account of some geocachers that had preceded us just a few weeks earlier:

"As we got to the (Moonville) tunnel we noticed other flashlights and a guy in a robe in the tunnel. As we proceeded thru the tunnel the guy was dressed up like a grim reaper. At first I thought he was a prop, but as we passed him he turned his head and watched as we went through the tunnel. We then came up on some other weirdos that didn't really talk to us as we said hi."

This from the log of some folks who visited in the dark of night, October 26th last.

"Once we got through the tunnel we found the site of where the old railroad bridge existed and saw the road on the other side. We decided to cross the river down below and follow the road to retrieve the other two caches: Moonville Cemetery and Moonville Rocks.

As we got to the cemetery we started to hear those people chanting and beating a drum. Once in the cemetery there was a pentagram fire in the middle of the cemetery and items on graves. The items were coins and other weird stuff. We quickly found the next cache and decided not to stick around much longer as the chanting and drum beating continued."

When we visited that very cemetery just days later we shivered at the heap of cold embers from that fire and the odd trinkets remaining on the mostly tumbled tombstones.

From the web site Hauntedhocking.com we found this illustration (right) featuring the very tunnel Sue is pictured in above.

They explain, "Kings Tunnel was located on one of the more remote and eerie sections of the railway built...around 1857.  It was forged through a mountain-like hill and was almost 350 feet long.  Kings Station was located nearby.  Like (nearby) Moonville and the other ghost towns of the region, it was a small mining town with little more than a schoolhouse, post office, general store and the shack-like houses of the workers."

"The tunnel still exists even if the railway tracks are gone.  The reek of creosote used to preserve the wooden beams permeates the air and nothingness echoes against the walls.  But, if you go there and visit, taking the rocky path, listen closely and you might hear a little bit of the past still lingering in the air.

Or, you just may see a filmy white apparition following you in the darkness of night.  It happened to one railway walker on a dark rainy night.

The young man stated he had left to meet his father and a woman in a white dress walked just ahead of him.  The faster he walked, the faster she walked.  Then suddenly she disappeared completely.

The ghost was later identified as a woman who had, just weeks after giving birth in June of 1878, committed suicide by slitting her throat with a razor.  She had been married less than a year and lived just a couple of miles" from the tunnel.

That's Sue (below) as we finally found the geocache in the Kings Hollow tunnel then were glad to make a hasty retreat into the normal comfort of a sunny, late fall day.

BOOK REPORTS—


The Rocks Don’t Lie by David R. Montgomery

The book’s flyleaf says, “With an explorer’s eye and a fresh approach to both faith and science, Montgomery takes readers on a journey and across landscapes and cultures as he investigates historical dialogue...” regarding the formation of Earth. He questions whether Biblical stories of creation and Noah’s Ark should be read as allegorical or factual? He concludes “I believe faith and science can peacefully coexist, so long as we don’t founder on or cling to the rocky shore of either.” It’s a very, very thought provoking read.


Black Wave by John and Jean Silverwood

This is a true story of a family’s adventure at sea and the disaster that saved them. The story blends nicely between the segments presented by each author. It blends nicely between their disaster and that of an identical, historical experience by a Captain Pond and his square rigger, the Julia Ann with colorful supporting tales from Captain Ahab and Moby Dick. What more could you ask in a tale from the sea? Bravo!


The Best American Travel Writing 2012 by William T. Vollman, Editor

I really like travel stories but this anthology mostly left me cold. Of course, it squeezed the works of 19 authors into its slim 220 plus pages so that made for a batch of very short stories. I couldn’t even warm up to one of my favorite travel writers’, (Paul Theroux) offering of The Wicked Coast. I did, however, enjoy a piece on Chernobyl by H. Shukman and another on hiking the US Mexican border by L. Dittrich. Maybe it was just me.


Why Does the World Exist by Jim Holt

An insightful topic, indeed. And the author was scholarly in his pursuit of the viewpoint of near-countless, informed folks on this challenging, philosophical topic. Ultimately he crashed into a wall when he concluded “nothingness” was the real eternal home. Then, in his epilogue while pondering a Parisian night scene from his favorite foot bridge and the deeply penetrating beliefs of his sources, he flicks his cigarette butt into the dark waters flowing below him and heads home. Good grief!

MOONVILLE--

Deep in the hills of Vinton County there once was a town called Moonville.  It was born in 1856 when the country was sprawling its way toward the frontier.

The railroad tunnel above was part of that expansion by the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad which itself was grinding its way westward through these Appalachian Mountain foothills in southeastern Ohio.

Coal also was found in the area then and the railroad would be a terrific means of moving that fuel to the marketplace.  Hence Moonville was born in these forested hills where the Civil War was several years away and hostile Indians were in the death throes of maintaining their land against the overwhelming force of this expansion of white people.

The railroad was built and the town made up of railroad workers and miners reached its biggest population of about 100 in the 1870s.  But soon, progress passed the little hamlet by.  By 1887 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bought out the M & C line while the coal mines already were becoming exhausted

By the turn of the century the mines were closing down.  The last family left town in 1947 and the town was abandoned.  By 1960 all the buildings were gone and the only things left to mark the town's site were the tunnel and the cemetery which my lady Sue is reconciling with the tunnel's location in the small photo above.

Lookout Rock (below) is a nearby, geologic feature.  Local legend has it about 20 men were passing this area one night in Ohio's early history when they were attacked by a large pack of wolves.  The men took refuge on this rock structure, built a fire and spent the night--safely.

Other local legends tell of ghost sightings, often of people who met gruesome deaths, usually by encounters with moving trains on dark and stormy nights.

Vinton County to this day is the least populated and most heavily forested county in Ohio.  Note the road Sue is standing on above is gravel and one lane.  Not far down this road we passed a place where the road was barely wider than the car and the drop on either side was nearly straight down and unprotected by any form of guard rail.

Can you see the face of a local ghost in the rock above; the broad high forehead and the hooked nose flanked by a disfigured eye on the near side with the other eye hiding under a sharp brow and above a bony cheek with a small mouth and drooping chin below--supported by hunched shoulders and a sunken chest?

All that and the possibility of a slumbering ghost being in the neighborhood added up to our being very happy that we made this visit in the partly sunny daylight.