Lamenting the many, many colorless days this season, I headed to an unusual place to find some brighter shades. In the basement, I have sheltered some flowers that I hoped to keep alive. I planned to return them outside when the growing season gets underway in approximately five months. 

There is part of my home's basement that is referred to as the back room. It was separated from the rest of the area. 
It was not cemented and featured a dirt floor. 
Long story short: When grandfather Stover was cementing and digging out the rest of basement, there was a stone in the back portion of the area. Grandfather decided to dynamite the stone out to continue finishing the concrete work. The blast blew out all the windows in the basement. Nonetheless, the stone remained and is still there today. Grandmother Stover was not thrilled with this attempt. I have a feeling that this disapproval halted any more blasting projects in the area. 
Fortunately for me, this made an awesome place for some grow lights and a winter refuge for a few plants. 
The dirt floor means that I didn't have to be careful with watering or any potting soil that might spill out. Dirt is dirt. 
The grow lights that I put up featured different types of light. This casted a glow that picked up a few novel hues. That was the case when I photographed a cyclamen in bloom. The flowers were actually white.​

A post on thespruce.com, described the plant as a "tuberous perennial, meaning it dies down to its thick roots (tubers) during its summer dormancy period and then regrows quickly each fall. ... It's commonly grown as a houseplant." A Wikipedia post stated that cyclamen species are native to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin east to the Caucasus and Iran, with one species in Somalia.  Some of the varieties are known to bloom in the winter. If I remembered correctly, mine died back and bloomed at different times throughout the year. That may have possibly been when I forgot to water it. 

Adding color to the basement darkness, was a black-eyed Susan vine. While they share the same coloring as black-eyed Susans, they are really different plants. 
A post by Bonnie L. Grant, on gardeningknowhow.com described the plant as a "tender perennial that is grown as an annual in temperate and cooler zones. You can also grow the vine as a houseplant but be wary as it may grow to 8 feet ... in length." I had put mine outside during the summer and moved it inside during the winter. It has currently vined out in the basement into the floor joists and some gas lines. I surmised that moving it outside this summer might involve some pruning. 

Among the blossoms, there was the plant whose name I can never remember.
I was sure it started with "diplo-something."
That prefix only brought up the dinosaur diplodocus in an internet search.
I added "flowers" to the search terms. That only brought up dinosaur planters. While cute, they were not the results I needed. Finally, I demined that the red flower is a dipladenia or rock trumpet flower. 
​A post on plantly.io said, "A member of the flowering plants, this species is a native of South Africa." It went on to provide tips on care and the difference between dipladenia and mandevilla plants.  
The post also added, "since dipladenia are accustomed to warm temperatures, you must bring it indoors when the winter season comes." 
So far, this plant has survived at least two years by being brought indoors in the winter. 

Likewise, several begonias were overwintering in the basement refuge as well.
​At least here, they were safe from hungry deer. Some of the begonias have been around for at least three or four years. 
A planter of Shasta daisies was added to those plants that were "saved" from the cold. 
​A post on almanac.com said, " ​A European native, Shasta daisies are now naturalized throughout North America. Like clockwork, these daisies return every spring or early summer and bloom until early fall. "
The post additionally warned that the daisies were considered aggressive growers.
This was my first year growing the daisies. After reading the information, I decided that I will likely keep the daisies in their planter. 
However, aphids have attacked some of the daisies. I have had problems with the little buggers before, but they usually resolve themselves. It's funny how I have never really had problems with aphids when the plants were outdoors. 

The blooms in the basement had me yearning for some spring blooms. I planted several poises including some white daffodils last fall.  However, I was curious to see if I actually placed the bulbs in the flower bed. I had a feeling that there may be several white daffodils located two or more feet from the rest of the flowers.  

A look back at spring photos in the past provided a timeline of growth. Last year, it was Feb. 24 for the first signs of green shoots outdoors. In 2021, on Feb. 28, there were tulip leaves popping up through the snow. In 2020, snowflakes, the flowers, were budding through green grass on Feb. 24. 

While the weather outside is frightful, there are signs that we are progressing toward spring.

A Facebook post Monday, Jan. 23, by C&A Trees, a Clarion greenhouse, said, "Happy Monday! Two weeks from today we start planting in the greenhouse and 56 days till spring..." 

Hopefully, it won't be too much longer until I view a little more color outside. 
However, the timing of the growing season is up to Mother Nature. 

Until then I will enjoy my artificial growing season and its blooms. That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

On Thursday, many Pennsylvanians will wait for mammal meteorologist Punxsutawney Phil to emerge from his den.

​As temperatures warmed recently, I noticed that other animals were out and about. 

According to the wildlife notes on the Pennsylvania Game Commission website, "Woodchucks begin denning up with the hard frosts of October. Few remain active past the first of November."

The note went on to say that the males emerge from hibernation before females, and during February and March fight aggressively.
​
I thought to myself that might be something to see, a woodchuck fight. With my walking companions I can say that we have never encountered a groundhog on our walks.

As well as the coyotes, the trail cameras grabbed some photos of a fox or two in my parents' backyard. 
"In late winter, foxes can be heard barking at night, making their presence known to members of the opposite sex. Breeding usually takes place in February," said a game commission wildlife note. 

Meanwhile, several gray squirrels have been spotted under the bird feeder and have triggered quite a few photos on the trail cameras. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, "squirrels never actually hibernate in winter but will hole up and sleep soundly through several days of snowstorms or extreme cold." 

The post went on to mention that there are peaks in the squirrels' breeding activity in January and February. There are peaks from May to July, but that squirrels can be reproductively active throughout much of the year, the post continued. 

Also holed up during the winter weather, were some raccoons. I tried several times to get a good photo without imposing on their den. I believed there were at least three or four raccoons in the hollow tree. 

"​Many family groups (mother and offspring) stay together through the young raccoons’ first winter," a wildlife note on the game commissions' site said.

In spring, the juveniles will disperse from the areas in which they were born, the note continued.  

While the raccoons stayed cozy in their tree, the deer were left to brave the snow and wind. However, a Facebook memory from January of last year, showed that they had it a little easier this year in terms of snowpack. 

Meanwhile, the Applegate canines were also out and about. They enjoyed the snow and battling each other in it. Sometimes they rolled around in it and ate the non-yellow parts of the snow. However, they are fortunate to return inside to a heated house where they can hibernate on the couch.

​That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

I saw a shiny object in the sky the other day. I was confused and wasn't sure if I had viewed such a thing over the past few weeks.

I took several photos to document the occasion. I even pulled out my crystal ball to make sure the sighting was real. 

Sure enough, it was the sun, and it made an appearance for the better part of two whole days. 

When it sank below the horizon on the first of those two days, it made graceful and colorful exit. 

However, by the second day the clouds started to absorb the sun before it even had a chance to make to the horizon. 

Over this winter season, it seemed to me that the sun had gone into hibernation like some of the animals in the region. Nonetheless, whenever the sun came and went, it did make a brilliant entrance or exit. 

In fact, a sunset on Dec. 28 was very spectacular.

It appeared that its brilliance wasn't just limited to this area.
Facebook pages and posts from across the state graced my newsfeed that evening and into the next day.

​However, it seemed that that event must have been a grand finale of sorts before the sun went back into hiding. 

I was determined to try to narrow down just how many the days the sun had been incognito. With help from some National Weather Service data and an internet search, the sun appeared to have been out of sight for quite a few days. 

If I tallied things up correctly, there have been 28 overcast days observed from Dec. 1, 2022, to Jan. 18, 2023, by a weather station at the Franklin Airport. However, within that time span, there were 15 days of missing data. These were times when the instrumentation did not measure the sky cover. So far only Jan. 15 and 16 were listed as days pegged with the clear designation. 

A little further research on the internet turned up that western Pennsylvania winters are more clouds than sun. A post on the Current Results site listed the "Cloudiest American Cities in Winter." The post included a chart listing the major U.S. cities averaging 50 or more days during winter when clouds covers over three-quarters of the sky. Pittsburgh came in with an average of 64 days of heavy clouds which added up to 71 percent of the winter days. The steel city was beat out by Buffalo, New York, that posted 68 cloudy days totaling 76 percent. 

Despite the absence of the sun, the days are getting longer. According to timeanddate.com, Oil City should see nine hours and 34 minutes of sun, when the clouds part. The site listed that the sun currently rises at 7:41 a.m. and sets at 5:16 p.m.

By the end of January, the site posted that the sun is scheduled to set after 5:30 p.m. Whether or not we will be able to see the sunset through the clouds remained up in the air. The 10-day forecast on several weather sites didn't appear very optimistic about any sunny sightings. That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

Blue skies partnered with some sunshine brought to light an eastern bluebird on Sunday.  Local birding expert Gary Edwards in his book "Birds of Venango County," listed the bluebird as a common year-round resident. He wrote that their numbers have fluctuated over the years, but "the numbers continue to increase." 

Not to be excluded, photos of the younger Gus were also posted. However, Gus was too busy exploring the snowy scene to stop and pose for photos. 
​
Perhaps, Sherman could teach him a thing or two about being a model. 

 Sherman hesitated at first. Gus had no hesitation. 

Of course, Sherman and Gus, were not the only ones entertained by the snow. Sadie, a Newfoundland, and Clem, the bloodhound, were stirred by the snow. They also stirred the snow up in several places. 

Kennedy, however, was not exuberant about the cold white stuff. Nonetheless, he trudged on. 

Meanwhile, I was delighted with the weekend covering of snow. Perhaps, it was just the change from gray and brown to some white and blue hues.

​To me this was the perfect snow. It fell softly and slowly outlining bare tree branches as it piled up. It was unlike the blowing vortex of flakes over Christmas that were driven by winds up to 50 mph. As I walked our daily trek, I couldn't help but exclaim to myself, "How beautiful." Despite the panting of a curious canine or two, the woods were silent. 

It appeared that no creatures were stirring. Before the snow fell, we had spooked a herd of at least eight deer on a couple of our walks. However, the deer must have hunkered down over the wintery weekend. I didn't even see very many tracks once the snow covered the ground.  

That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

What a difference a few days made. Last week, the Allegheny River and Oil Creek in Oil City were packed with ice. This week only remnants of the icy chunks remained on the river and creek banks. The river was clear of everything except fog on Wednesday.

Last Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, the ice pack could be seen clogging up the river from the Wye Railroad bridge to at least a half-mile past the Oil City Marina. 

An inquiry to the National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh last Thursday prompted a cautious response about the dangers of a possible ice jam. 
"We're watching carefully, but (it) should be warm enough tonight through tomorrow night to continue melting a good bit of the ice," the office said. It also said that rainfall forecasted for last Saturday shouldn't have been enough to cause significant issues.
​The office's statement which was issued last week was right on the money. 

This week the river was cleared of most of the ice. However, some fog lingered, and recent rains helped river levels rise. A chart on the National Weather service's site, provided some information. On Jan. 2, the Allegheny River at Franklin was at 6.55 feet. The level jumped to 8.62 feet by Jan. 4 and had risen slightly to 9.25 feet on Jan. 5. 

Reports from the Kinzua Dam on Jan. 4, said the Allegheny River temperature was at 36 degrees which was at least 15 degrees cooler than the air temperature that day. By Thursday, Jan. 5, the river had cooled a bit to 35.8 degrees. The Tionesta Lake reported on Jan. 4 that its stream temperature was 33.4 degrees, and that the lake temperature was frozen. Tionesta Lake officials also reported on Jan. 4 that "we are starting to discharge a higher volume of water to compensate for the rising lake levels." The lake's stream temperature climbed to 37 degrees on Thursday. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh is looking for some help reporting river ice conditions. In a Facebook post, they reported that at 4 p.m. Jan. 11, they would host a training seminar on Facebook Live on how to report river ice throughout the winter season. 

While the ice exited this year without incident, folks more than 96 years ago were not so lucky.  My grandmother had kept some photos that were found in the backseat of a used car they had purchased. The photos stamped with the name Jerry M. Lynch were of the 1926 March flooding in Oil City.

A post on the website greenerpasture.com listed a several news bulletins. One with the dateline Oil City, Pa., on March 21, 1926, said "Flood waters are rapidly rising here. ​A flood stage of twenty-five feet and six inches of was reached by the Allegheny River late tonight and the water is still rising."

The post continued with another bulletin also on March 21, 1926. It said that the ice had covered the river since Feb. 26, 1926, had started to move. The ice piled up at "the eastern end of the city, with the result that the lower parts of Oil City, along the river were flooded," the bulletin continued. 

While the old photos provided some visual insight into the catastrophe, it was hard to imagine just how much ice there was. One photo was labeled as a picture of the ice above the railroad bridge in Siverly taken on March 14, 1926. After enlarging the picture some, I surmised that the black figures on the ice were humans, albeit not smart ones. 

An article published March 24, 1926, in The News-Herald estimated the flood loss in Oil City to be around half a million dollars. Companies that sustained substantial damages included the National Transit Pump and Machine Co., Joseph Reid Gas Engine Co. and the Kramer Wagon works. Oil City wasn't alone in flooding woes. The ice also took out the Big Rock Bridge at Franklin on March 21. 

While much has been done over the years to prevent the flooding, Mother Nature is still very unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

Nonetheless, the weather-tough critters of the Applegate clan decided to brave the weather to continue their daily walks. However, the human leader of the pack did limit their time exposed to the frigid temperatures. 

Nonetheless, the Applegate canines appeared to enjoy the snow in spite of the subzero temperatures. 

There were a few times that Clem displayed the "cold foot" pose. However, that didn't stop him from exploring the frozen tundra. 

One area of exploration included the neighbor's pond which had frozen solid in what appeared to be overnight. The smooth white surface provided an interesting backdrop for photos. 

My animals were not the only ones withstanding the freezing cold. The bird feeders were filled with puffed up birds sporting snow encrusted eyes. Visitors included dark-eyed juncos, tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches and American goldfinches. The feathered ones struggled to find shelter from the winds in the   garden debris and in the trees. 

Meanwhile, the beginning of this week was a different story.
​The wind died down and the temperatures started to climb.

Our walks became more endurable and enjoyable. One could not draw a breath without nostrils freezing together.
​
Remnants of the previous week's freezing rain could be seen on the trees. 
​
The forest animals were on the move again. Over the past weekend almost no deer tracks were seen. At the beginning of this week, the deer were everywhere.

They visited my yard, my parents' yard and traipsed around our trails in the woods. 

As the warmup continued, a Facebook post on the National Weather Service's Pittsburgh office's page said things were looking up temperature wise. "Confidence is high that above average temperatures will occur in the Ohio River Valley between Dec. 31, 2022 to Jan. 4, 2023," the post said. 
It also added that there would be an above average chance of precipitation and that would most likely fall as rain. 

As we approach the new year, the birds appeared to lose weight. It was not due to their resolutions. Merely they just smoothed out their feathers a bit. While the Christmas weather was white and wicked, it seems that New Year's will be warmer and wetter.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.  

Several years ago, I decided to torture my pets by dressing them up for the holidays. My main concern then was to create a perfect photo for our Christmas cards. 

There was lots of crying, screaming and gnashing of teeth from all parties involved. I learned a few tricks over the years. Treats and positive reinforcement were much more successful than yelling and scolding. ​

Additionally, adding elastic straps kept hats in place just long enough for a photo. 

For this year's session, I was blessed with a sunny day over the Thanksgiving holiday. My parents' house was often seen in the background of my holiday photos. So, this year I decided to use my porch Christmas decorations as a backdrop and for the most part, the photos turned out well. 

I got what I considered a perfect bunch of photos to use for Christmas cards. However, it was the shots that were imperfect that provided the most delight. 

That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

It was nice to see the sun on Tuesday and even nicer to view a phenomenon called a sundog or sun dog.

A post at foxweather.com repeated the same information. "These 'side suns' are colloquially known as sun dogs, officially known as 'parhelia,' which is Greek for 'next to the sun.' And just like other rainbow-type displays in the sky, sun dogs result from light refracting off precipitation ...," the post continued.  

However, an excerpt on Wikipedia said, "A somewhat common misconception among the general public is to refer to any member of the ice halo family as a 'sun dog' (especially the 22-degree halo, being one of the most common varieties). However, sun dogs represent just one of many different types of halos. For referring to the atmospheric phenomenon in general, the term (ice crystal) halo(s) is more appropriate." 

​Brisk temperatures created some intricate shapes on the surface of the neighbor’s pond. The angular and almost geometrical shapes glittered as the light played off them. 

A post at squarespace.com provided a little more clarity for me on the subject.

 “Lake ice is crystalline and comes in a few crystal arrangements.  Various classification systems have been developed to describe them,” said the post.
​
The post first listed a “simple and practical classification" from Tony Gow, a well respected glaciologist.  I’m not so sure I would have used the term simple to describe what followed. 

That list included unseeded ice, seeded ice and snow ice.
​
As near as I could decipher, the ice I had been seeing was unseeded ice which Gow explained was” large crystals with a vertical C axis.”

Meanwhile, the simplest explanation I found, was the answer to the question “Why does ice on lakes and ponds sometimes freeze clear and other times not? on Quora.com.

However, it was hard for me to verify the answer by Edward Mahoney of Salt Lake City, UT.

​“Ice forms in elongated crystals. When the ice first forms on a lake or pond, it’s usually clear and you can see through it. Those first ice crystals are lying flat. They grew with their long axes oriented in the direction of least stress, parallel with the water surface,” Mahoney posted. 

​“As the surface of the water body freezes over, the ice crystals become confined. As they grow and expand there are horizontal stresses. The direction of least stress becomes vertical, rather than horizontal. The ice crystals reform themselves into larger crystals, with the long axis vertical, rather than horizontal,” he continued. 

​He also went on to describe bubble formations in ice.
 
Feeling slightly more knowledgeable and only a little less confused, I believe I might have a handle on ice identification. 

However, whether it was P1, P2 or unseeded ice, it was still a sight to see. That’s just the nature of things ‘round here. 

​Darker December days may indeed create more color. Despite gray days, I had captured some stunning sunsets as the area moved toward the winter season. 

​My observations led me to search the internet for why it seems winter sunsets and sunrises appearmore brilliant. 

​Articles pointed to a few factors that aided in the brightening of the winter skies. A combination of low humidity, the angle of the sun and clouds have led to some stunning displays. 

An article by Brian Resnick titled "Sunset color science.." posted at this site said, “Low humidity + cleaner air = more intense sunset colors.”

​In the post, NOAA meteorologist Stephen Corfidi explained how tiny particles in the air called aerosols can attract water vapor in more humid weather and hinder the way we see colors. 

​“They’re essentially acting like a paper napkin in the air, they’re scattering the light,” he said. “They’re reducing the intensity of the light, and they are reducing the spectral purity.”

Corfidi was also quoted in an article titled “Why winter sunsets are best, according to a meteorologist” posted at The Optimist Daily.

​In the piece, Corfidi said peak sunset season for the middle latitudes (… Northeastern United States) is November through February, and it has to do with the confluence of a few meteorological factors.

Meanwhile, Resnick wrote in his article that as “we approach the winter solstice, the time the sun takes to set lengthens, due to the angle the sun takes in setting into the ground. … the sun sets on more of an angle, drawing out the time it takes to set.
​
Resnick explained that “sunset colors linger closer to the winter solstice, which allows us to enjoy them for longer.”

​Additionally, Resnick’s article mentioned that clouds could add to the sunset displays.
Corfidi is quoted as saying, “In the wintertime, it’s more likely you’ll get well defined cloud systems.” Corfidi said the systems are the result of a stronger temperature gradient between the north and southern latitudes, and a stronger jet stream.

Nonetheless, the winter solstice is approaching quickly.
The December solstice in Pennsylvania is at 4:48 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, In terms of daylight, this day is five hours, 52 minutes shorter than the June solstice. In most locations north of the equator, the shortest day of the year is around this date, according to www.timeanddate.com.
The site also mentioned that the earliest sunset is on Dec. 7 or Dec. 8.

​Despite the lack of daylight, I was able to use my crystal ball or lens ball to capture the colors as the sun faded into the darkness.

Photography can be trying at times. For me, the troubles aren't just limited to the camera I carry. The trail camera that had been taking snapshots for years at the neighbors' pond finally decided to call it quits. 

While age and wear may have had something to do with its demise, Kennedy might have had more to do with it. He insists on biting or butting the camera.  He gets scolded when I catch him, but I'm usually too far away to make an immediate save. 

Despite my best efforts, Kennedy insisted on terrorizing the trail camera. However, he held no prejudice against just the pond camera. He has attacked all the game cameras. 

However, some of the resulting photos can be entertaining after my anger has subsided. Most are up close and personal photos of Kennedy with me in the background wearing a disgusted look.

Meanwhile, I get to view what shenanigans happen in the background while I'm distracted doing something. 

A new camera for the pond site was purchased so I could keep an eye on things.

​However, it didn't seem to be making many captures and there were no nighttime shots. Then there were no photos at all. Dead batteries seemed to be the culprit this time.

Then the camera reset to factory settings.

I checked it the next day and the display said the memory card was full. This seemed suspicious. There were over 1,000 photos on it. After checking the card, it had been a windy day and the swaying fall grasses had tripped the camera.

​Someday I will have to read the instruction booklet and figure out how to change the settings and fix the date so it isn't 2021. 

Meanwhile, the camera in my parents' backyard also was taking hundreds of photos in a week. I suspected that weeds or leaves in the wind had triggered that device as well. However, that was not the case. My parents' field was a hotbed of deer activity. 

There was a series of 15 photos of two young bucks that were up to shenanigans.

As the rut was in full swing, the camera snapped photo after photo of bucks pursuing does. 

Some of the photos suggested that the bucks' attention was unwanted. One day while walking we spooked a buck that was stalking a doe. The doe was used to our presence and seemed to use our appearance as a deterrent against the horny buck. After we moved out of the area, the buck came in and doe ran off. 

The rut has since wound down. However, the deer are still on the move as deer rifle season opened Saturday. 

Meanwhile, everyone in my posse is sporting orange vests for visibility during hunting season. It was a good thing that the vests were wash and wear as Sadie and Clem decided to wear them into the pond to "fish" for some ice chunks.

​That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

​Kyle, “The Goat,” Applegate, 10, of Sawtown, passed peacefully from this world Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, at a veterinary office in Seneca from possible urinary stone complications. 

​Kyle was born March 5, 2012, on the Fox family farm on Pinegrove School Road in Venus. He was the son of Hailey, the Alpine goat.
He then made his home with the Applegates in late spring 2012.

​He enjoyed the companionship of Brently, the Nubian goat, until Brently’s passing three years later from a urinary stone. 

​In 2015, he was joined by his half-brother Kennedy, who he leaves behind to mourn his loss.

​Kyle enjoyed freedom from employment all his life. He worked very hard at bullying his fellow pasture-mates and family dogs. He was also the unwilling star of a children’s book published in August 2015. It was titled, “Kyle: The Goat Who Ate Christmas.”

​He was preceded in death by a brother, Stan, in early childhood.
Additional survivors include his caretakers, Shane and Anna Applegate, and several canine and feline fur family members.
There will be no viewing or services.
Memorials can be made to Precious Paws, the Venango County Humane Society or to a charity of one’s choice. 

I never thought I would miss such a cranky caprine so much. I couldn’t count how many times I would say to Kyle, “I will be happy when you are gone.”
Those words said in anger and frustration could not have been further from the truth. I had to make “The Dreadful Decision” on Wednesday, Nov. 16, to release Kyle from his recent suffering. 

​He was a difficult goat to live with. He was incredibly strong-willed and stubborn. I tried several times to explain to him that other goats were not as spoiled as he was, but still he wanted things his way. 

​When Kyle and his first pasture-mate Brently came to live with us, they were very vocal. I immediately began to regret the whole “getting goats” idea. However, eventually, they settled in. Then I had the great idea to try to walk the goats. The first few times were very trying. At first, the little ones didn’t want to enter the “dark woods” because it was different from the open fields they were used to. Then they discovered that there was food or good browse in the woods, and they quickly changed their attitudes.
​The next obstacle was several creeks we had to cross. They had a phobia of water but eventually learned how to jump across.
Brently and Kyle enjoyed several adventures as youngsters until Brently succumbed to a urinary stone at the young age of 3.
I would like to believe that Kyle cared, but he didn’t. He was too self-centered to even really know. 

​While Kyle may not have had anyone to share his pen with at the time, he had a very young Sherman to chase him around. 

​Many years later, Gus would take up Sherman’s goat chasing mantle. 

​Meanwhile in 2015, his half-brother Kennedy was introduced to him. Kyle was not excited to share his pen, but was somewhat delighted to have someone else to bully and push around. 

​He and Kennedy butted heads many times.
​
Kyle also butted heads with me on several occasions, but in a more figurative kind of way.
There were several times when he decided he didn’t want to go on his walk at the time when the rest of us were going. He was then locked in the pen while everyone else went. He quickly vocalized his opinion and could be heard for several acres as the rest of us continued our trek. 

​He continually kept butting the door of the shed while I tried to get his food ready. He had no patience.
Kyle also seemed to be able to detect which flowers I didn’t want him to eat. This spring I never saw the new tulips I had planted because he picked them off as soon as the buds formed.
The same thing happened to my peace rose bush.

​For more than 10 years, Kyle’s ornery attitude just became something we delt with on a daily basis.
As my husband and I discussed this void in violence at our home, he recalled some other memories. 

​He said his favorite was Kyle having a verbal disagreement with an impact wrench from afar.

We kept hearing Kyle snorting and were a little concerned there was something in the yard that was a threat.
​
Upon going outside, every time an impact wrench sounded in the distance, Kyle would snort in a haughty reply. 

​He also was very irritated by the leaf blower and voiced his opinion at that piece of equipment as well. 

Other memories surfaced as well as I searched through old photos of the black and white alpine.
​
There were photos of a little Kyle too small for his collar. That stage didn't seem to last very long. 
Other pictures showed the aftermath of Kyle’s tendency to unhook things from his pen.

There were several times he got his head stuck in the hay bag or his feed bucket. I used to just chalk up the incidences to karma. 

​There were other shots that seemingly showed tender moments with Kennedy. They were most likely taken moments before Kyle then headbutted his half-brother.

 Several images of Kyle modeling a Santa hat additionally appeared. A torture he will miss this year.
​
I still can’t fathom my feelings of loss for such a big bad bully. 

​However, I still have a lot of memories and many, many photos of the cranky caprine.
Nonetheless if Kyle could come back from the afterlife and haunt us, he totally would.
​
That’s just the nature of things ‘round here. 

Sunsets and sunrises would definitely be photos that could be attributed to divine intervention and inspiration. A rainbow on my birthday also fell into this category. 

Additionally, this year’s fall foliage display was unquestionably divinely inspired. I am personally addicted to the brilliant leaves and must take a photo of just about every one. ​

I believed this season’s eruption of color to be one of the best I have tried to photograph over the years. The early trees were striking and appeared to maintain their colors before dropping their leaves.

​Even after the earlier trees were finished, the oaks were truly grand this year. Driving to and from work, the hills around the Allegheny in Oil City and Franklin appeared to be on fire with an array of hues.

The oaks simply lit up the areas with lovely October golds and fine red burgundy colors. In previous falls, the oak leaves were usually just brown and then down.  

This year the maple in our front yard did not disappoint either. It was its bright gold color. With a little experimenting with the lens ball, I was able to fit the whole tree into a photo without crossing the road. 

“People talk about perfect timing, but I think everything is perfect in its moment; you just want to capture that,” said American author, chef, restaurateur, food personality, producer, and former attorney, Eddie Huang. 

This made me ponder that everything is perfect in its moment and photography is surely important in capturing that moment in time. Sherman usually comes along at the right time too for many photos.
Other quotes echoed that waiting for the right timing, may in fact be a waste of time. 

“If you keep waiting for the right time, it may never happen. Sometimes you have to make the most of the time you have,” said author Priya Ardis, in her book “Ever My Merlin.”

That seemed like an awesome goal to me to make the most of the time I have, especially when duties like work and chores often take a lot of that time. 

Lastly, a quote from one of my favorite authors to quote, Mark Twain pretty much summed it all up.
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right,” said a quote attributed to Twain.

"So, is timing everything?" I wondered. It is as long as we make it the right time. ​

​That is just the nature of things ‘round here. ​

Tails of terror ripped through the Applegate homestead as the rustling of the Halloween hats bag was heard. 

The canines were the only victims this year. Unfortunately, the tricks were on them, because no treats were offered.  

Sadie was tragically humiliated and refused to model the cowgirl hat. 

However, she made a very sweet devil dog. 

Clem, ever the pro at modeling Halloween hats, demonstrated the various faces of Satan .... snarling Satan, annoyed Satan, hungry Satan and sad Satan. 

Clem additionally seemed unfazed by the straw hat and alpaca headpiece. 

Sherman, the expert poser, looked like an elder statesman in the straw hat.  This is fitting because he is the oldest canine at over 9 years old. 

Gus, the newest Halloween hats victim, took the horrifying humiliation in stride. 

Along with the colorful leaves of fall came cooler temperatures. This was welcomed by many of the Applegate household who sport furry parkas. 

The brisk temperatures seemed to ramp up the canines' energy levels. 

Also exciting the dogs was the fact that the wild animals were on the move preparing for winter. Calls of chipmunks echoed through the woodlands. It reminded me of the "Old McDonald Had a Farm" song. The chorus would have went "with a chip, chip here; a chip, chip there; here a chip; there a chip; everywhere a chip, chip." 

This very vocal chipping had dogs running here and there searching for the sources of the calls to no avail. 

Squirrels were preparing for the upcoming winter as well. Several trail camera photos showed a gray squirrel or two running through the frames. 

The deer were more active as well. "The girls" could almost be seen nightly in the field beside our house. 

However, their nighttime visits to the apple tree in our back yard were most likely the reason for what I have dubbed "Barktoberfest." Dry cool autumn nights with an accessible doggie door meant the Applegate canines would bark at whatever crossed within an acre of the house. 

The dogs weren't the only ones interested in the neighborhood girls. Several large bucks were seen on the trail cameras passing through as the rut is underway. 

Changes in the feather-friends population were also seen. Some spring migrants were passing back through on their trips south for the winter. 

Meanwhile, a new visitor appeared at the bird feeder. A female ring-necked pheasant was spotted looking a little lost. I surmised that she was probably one the game farm raised birds that were released ahead of pheasant season. However, she seemed to currently be sticking to the safety zones around the neighborhood houses. 

Nonetheless, despite the frenzied fall activity, the colorful backdrops provided for some stunning autumn photos. 

The brilliant backgrounds even made the goats Kennedy and Kyle look marvelous. 

 That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

I love to paint with all the colors. Favorite painting subjects include pleces where I get to utilize the entire palette of hues. During autumn, Mother Nature helps me incorporate all the colors into my photographs as well.  

The brilliance of all the fall hues reflected in the neighbor's pond always inspires. ​

The added ripple effects add an abstract quality to each photo even though the scenes may be similar. Waves are either created by the wind or from the wake of swimming canines. 

As I view these photos, it often invokes an interest in painting them. However, the camera is quicker and more efficient at capturing the scenes. There is also less clean up involved.

Leaves seemingly suspended on the pond's surface also provide additional color and textures. 

As the colors fade this season, my watercolor photos will come to an end. However, I can still paint these scenes. Paintings, while a little more effort than photographs, aren't necessarily as dependent on Mother Nature to provide the colors and lighting. That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

(Author's note: We interrupt the regular programming of The Nature of Things for a little piece on a trip to Benezette in Elk County earlier this month. I hope to return to finish "Moment in time: Part two" soon. However, I am an avowed practicing procrastinator.)

We received the most "piss-poor" reception on an early October trip to view the elk in Benezette. However, despite the wet welcome from both the animals and the weather, the trip was not a complete wash.

While Venango County didn't receive a whole lot of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ian, counties to the east were still dealing with the precipitation. 

Nonetheless, the fall foliage display in Elk County which was slightly ahead of our county, was still bright and delightful despite the weather. 

It seemed so odd to me to view elk in nearly almost the same type of woodland area as parts Venango County. An article by Joe Kosack for the Pennsylvania Game Commission stated that Eastern elk once ranged statewide. 

"Elk were exterminated in southeastern Pennsylvania and rare west of the Allegheny River and in the Blue Ridge and Cumberland mountains by the opening of the nineteenth century,"  Kosack wrote. "By the 1850s, what remained of Pennsylvania's once mighty elk population was limited to sections of northcentral Pennsylvania, predominantly in Cameron, Elk and McKean counties."

Kosack then went on to describe the reintroduction of elk into the state and the beginnings of the herd that folks can view today. Earlier reports on Facebook had reported that a couple of bull elk had been spotted as far north as Coudersport in Potter County. 

While the state's elk herd was alive and well, whitetails seemed to be abundant in the Benezette area as well. 
​
Nonetheless, I had pictured in my mind, photos of big, majestic bull elk sparing and bugling.

Instead I had to settle for a little bull making some water on the roadway and found abundant humor in the moment. 

​That's just the nature of things round here and there. 

​More than a few failed attempts at the “perfect” shot made me wonder - it's all about timing.
I can’t even count the multitude of times I have framed a shot perfectly only to have the execution live up to less than expectations.
However, on a few occasions the timing was right.

I was able to capture some oriole photos where they weren't perched on the grape jelly feeder. I felt that it was about time for them to cooperate. While I managed to capture them in the nick of time, they weren't on or near any garden flowers. They were perched on the garden fence itself. I believed they were juvenile orioles who may not have had the prejudice against the camera that their parents did.

Nonetheless, time flies and the orioles, juveniles and all, have left for the season. Author Gary Edwards wrote in his book “Birds of Venango County,” that the bird is a common migrant and abundant summer resident that arrives in late April and departs in mid-September. ​

​This past summer some good timing also allowed me to nab several nice shots of hummingbirds. Time is running out for the little zingers’ seasonal stay here in Venango County. They shall depart for warmer parts in a matter of weeks. 

 Meanwhile, residents are encouraged to try to keep their feeders out until the end of October in case any western hummingbirds might make a rare appearance.
Many other birds are on the move right now and folks can track migration forecasts at this site.

​Time is also winding down for our butterfly season. Timing for butterfly photos can be tricky. With that being said, the insects are not as fast as hummingbirds. That made pictures a little easier to achieve. 

I did have the perfect timing for a photo of a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar.  I first wasn’t sure if it was a spicebush caterpillar because it was not green. Experts on a butterflies and moths Facebook page explained that its orange color meant that it was ready to pupate. This was my first sighting of a spicebush caterpillar. I had always just viewed the adult butterflies. 

​Nonetheless, I believed that good timing could also be linked to good lighting.
Just the right moment could light up a photo subject in a new and interesting way.

​This happened with some ghost pipe plants. There was irony in the photo in that the plants don’t need sunlight and don’t contain chlorophyll.

​The right light at the right time can also make things visible that are not easily seen such as spiderwebs. Intricate designs and patterns lit up the forest on sunny days. 

However, when the sunlight wasn’t just right the webs remained unseen.  Many times, I have ended up wearing them and their builders on my face.
My experiences reminded me a Facebook post that said, “I love spiderwebs as long as I am the second one on the path.”
​While I’m not usually the first one on the path, my four-footed walking companions aren’t tall enough to net the spiderwebs before I get there. 

Spiders and webs weren’t the only thing drawing my attention.
I spotted a hornet’s nest with a unique design. I photographed it with a zoom lens and posted it on  the PA Insects Facebook page.
A commenter posted that if I waited until the first hard frost of the year, I could harvest the nest and sell it on eBay. I surmised that some folks use nests as décor.
I talked to a coworker about this, he said he knew of someone who took a nest down after the first frost.
However, that person didn’t get to sell it on eBay as the warmth in their basement brought the bees back out. 

​Nonetheless, there was case of bad timing. The nest was damaged about a week after I took the photo. Then it completely disappeared. A quick internet search found that skunks, raccoons and bears will brave the risks to consume the protein-rich larva inside. 

While the area hadn’t seen its first frost yet, I did find some colorful leaves. As the calendar moved past the first day of fall, the color change seemed a little early to me.
An article on posted on www.centredaily.com, by Bill Lamont provided one answer.

​The article title “Why are maple leaves turning yellow and dropping early? A Penn State forester explains” commented that the lack of rainfall this summer could be the cause.
“If there’s not enough water to keep all the leaves happy, shed some and send their products to those that remain. The reason the leaves often turn yellow before they drop is that the tree harvests many of the nutrients from the leaves before it sheds them, which is a simple measure of conservation of resources,” Lamont wrote.

Meanwhile fall forecasters at the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Bureau of Forestry, said that September's rains helped deter some of the leaf drop.
"After a long summer drought, Pennsylvania forests were quenched by some much-needed rainfall this month, arresting premature leaf drop," said the post on the DCNR's site.  ​

​The post continued by saying, "Fall seemed to arrive right on time, and seasonable to below-average temperatures should compel steady changes throughout commonwealth forests. Drier forests this summer meant fewer leaf fungi observed throughout the state, setting the stage for what could be a notably vivid fall season."
While some of the leaves in the area have turned, there was still quite a bit of green. 

​That green with the right light at the right time can create colorful reflections.
 I had posted a photo of Gus swimming in the neighbor’s pond on a St. Bernard Facebook fan page. 

​One user cautioned me about the green water and toxic algae. I kindly explained that the green was only reflection of the trees and that the water itself was not green.

While the still water at the pond was an awesome photo subject. I hedged my bets with some moving water. 

​I tried to figure out the timing of water droplets a water fountain in my garden.
I found it hard to get the drops in focus unlike when I had photographed dripping icicles in the winter. However, the sparkling water and colorful backdrop provided some interesting photos. 

​Whether it be water, webs or wary photo subjects, timing may indeed be everything or nothing. That’s just the nature of things ‘round here.