HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - AROUND AND ABOUT FOR MONDAY, 9/21/26 AND TUESDAY, 9/21/26

Today I am sharing a few photos from rainy days throughout the years. The first one is an elk we saw at Benezette in Pennsylvania more years back than I can remember. The rest are just around and about. 

“And who art thou?” said I to the soft-falling shower. “I am the Poem of Earth,” said the voice of the rain. 

~The Voice of the Rain by Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass"~

Monday, September 21st, 2026 (last Monday ): I went to my usual place and had my hair shaped and trimmed. The lady I go to always does a great job and makes me look presentable. I have been going to her for several years. I made another appointment for two months from now. I forgot the last appointment and felt really bad about it, but she was very nice. 

Lady was very proud to tell me they had had the place redecorated, and I said how lovely it was, and how bright. Truthfully, my eyesight was particularly sensitive. I thought it would be a little gauche to shield my eyes or put my sunglasses on. I kept my eyes closed for most of my appointment, which I do anyway when my head is lowered as she works around me. No big deal, I couldn’t help be happy for her as she was obviously very proud of the new look. She and the rest of those who work there were happily chatting to their customers.  It is a very friendly place. There was a darling little boy getting his haircut and he was being showered with smiles. He was having a good time with all the attention.

As for me, I was in and out in 15 minutes. I go in with my hair wet as I have my mother’s problem and get dizzy when hanging my head low over the sink, doesn't matter if it's forward or backward. I stopped that several hair appointments ago. It takes a lot of time off the process, and I was in and out in 15 minutes. Gregg was surprised when I texted him to say I had finished. Sometimes she gets a phone call from a potential customer in the middle and stops to answer. This gives me a chance to have a nosy and see who is in the other chairs. She had no phone calls this time. I am always happy to see my nice, tidy hair. 

This afternoon it started raining. Fortunately we were home before we had a torrential downpour. This is what our skies looked like on our way out. It was trash pick-up today.

At 6.51 p.m. the temperature is a low of 65 F/18 C, and the low on Friday will be the 51 F./11 C. Mother Nature has flipped her switch. 

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026: I had a weird dream last night. I dreamt I stuck my head into the garage from the laundry room door, and a lynx was sitting on an old chest of draws we keep out there. He poked his head around the corner and stared at me. It’s my habit at night to make sure we put down the garage door. We had but I closed the door into the house pretty darned fast, in my dream. Then I went to bed. I know it was a dream because I wouldn’t have just gone to bed. I would have been on the phone to animal control. As it was, I was very careful opening up the laundry room door this morning, just to check, and then I laughed at myself. It was such a vivid dream. No lynx staring back at me. I don’t usually remember my dreams unless they are to do with animals. Go figure that one out - or maybe not!

It sent me on one of my curiosity searches and I looked up where their native habitat was. It is limited to the dense, snow-heavy northern forests of Canada, Alaska and the northernmost tier of the United States. We do get Bobcats, however, but I knew this was a Lynx. The Bobcat is the only wild feline found in our state. They are common in the Dismal Swamp and the mountains of Virginia, rarely seen in other areas.

Reading on, I found that there were two captive 10-month old Siberian Lynx stolen from an animal park in Winchester, Virginia in December 2016. They were eventually found safe in January 2017, after being dumped on the roadside in West Virginia. There is an article here. A lady, who knew of their disappearance, lured them into her garage and called animal control. They were extremely tame and inseparable. Apparently they were very thin and ran right over to their keeper when he turned up. He said they were ready to go home. 

Whoever stole them were never found but they were thought to have also taken a spider monkey and a lemur from the same park. Those animals were  found in Glen Daniel, W.Va. after they had been sold to an unsuspecting buyer???

What a strange story, poor animals! And who knows, maybe I read about this years ago, had totally forgotten about it, or maybe saw a nature show a while back and forgotten about that. Why a Lynx suddenly popped into my brain last night, who knows? Winchester is the town we go to for the Museum of the Shenandoah. 

Gregg was happy I remembered enough to tell him about it and always tells me about his. He remembers all of his dreams. Is that a Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus thing, or is that an age thing, and yes I am smiling, and also blathering?  How about you, care to share? 

Well, that’s two days from last week.  I didn’t remember to jot down the others. Just as well!

Below is a frog that separated from a rain gauge I bought years ago  I decided to turn him into today’s signature sign-off to fit in with this rainy-day theme.  

I hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for dropping in. I hope you are having sunny but not too hot a day where you are. 

Hugs from…

 

AN EXCITING DAY IN YELLOWSTONE - SEVERAL YEARS AGO

 It is fun to go back on our old road trips, especially now as we get towards the end of 2020.  Just to add that information I mention could be out of date by now. Many of you may remember this from a previous blog post on my old blog which went back to April 2008 (no longer available) but if you have, I hope you will once again indulge me as I go armchair traveling.  It has a more detailed account of what I mentioned in my other post here.  

And now to continue with one of my daily journal entries that I write while on holiday.

I have no idea how many days we've been on the road, but I have decided to share today because it was a very special one.   

11.27 a.m. and Gregg is filling up the car with gas, and buying a can of bear spray from their store.  He had heard their advertisement this morning.  It is recommended at all the Visitor Centers in bear country.  As we have been listening to what we should take on our walks, this was one we were told we should purchase. 

Bear attacks may be rare but we have heard how one couple was recently charged at another park up north, and they said their bear spray saved them from serious injury.  I read that 80 percent of attacks are from bears who are protecting cubs, something that all mothers across the species can understand.  

The further north we go we thought we ought to have some with us just in case.  

11.40 p.m. we stopped by a pretty river setting.   We watched as a fisherman tossed his line out several times, and then we left him in peace. We also said goodbye to our grasshopper who has been traveling with us for two days.  Darned if we could find him even with all the racket he was making, but he finally jumped out the door when we left them open at the river, so that it would do just that.  We were near desperate to get rid of him, even if we found it amusing.  Thankfully a dozen others didn't fly in to join him.  Then we would have been desperate to get rid of all of them.  I am wondering if these were actually grasshoppers, they seem to fly rather than jump.  They sure looked like grasshoppers, and made a similar noise. 

12.32 p.m. Sitting on a log near another beautiful river setting....

and giving the camera a well deserved rest.  Gregg and I have been giving her quite a work-out.

1.41 p.m. Just stopped at Canyon Village.  We shared a trout dinner with a salad.  I met two ladies in the bathroom, one from Nebraska, the other from South Carolina.  Yes there are even friendly people who even talk to you in the ladies loo, and I seem to be writing everything down!  No recollection of the conversation but it was something to do with places we should see.

Not far from Canyon Village we stopped at the north rim of the Grand Canyon overlook at the top of the hill.  Walking on the trail to one of the overlooks I spotted this little chipmunk.  Really cute!  There was also an osprey nest sign but before I saw the sign a lady came up to me and said she had noticed the long lens of my camera and would I mind looking at this nest on top of the pinnacle to try and identify the bird for her.

She heard the birds before she saw the nest but wasn't able to make out what was making the noise.  I was very grateful as I had no idea there was a nest there and would probably have missed it.  I took several photos and loaned her my camera to take a look.  I asked her if she would like me to send her a copy if my photos came out okay.  She said yes and we exchanged e-mails.   They are a bit fuzzy but yes they are ospreys.

The sign I saw later said: "Ospreys sometimes build nests in the cliffs opposite this overlook.  Though the nests may be five feet in diameter, they are difficult to spot against the vast cliff-scape.  Watch for osprey riding updrafts throughout the canyon from May to September."

We enjoyed taking our photos near here.

This is one of the tour vehicles from Yellowstone Lodge.

The river below was of the brightest blue color which doesn't really show in the photos.

A reasonably comfortable bench carved out of the rock where we sat for a few minutes.

Dark clouds were moving in and we saw some lightning strikes in the distance.

It started to sprinkle but by this time we were in the car and ready to move on.  We have been very lucky with the weather.  There have been showers but we seem to move through those dark clouds quickly.

So, we have stopped  at Grand View and later Inspiration Point, all beautiful places. We are stopping a lot today and getting out to stretch more often.  

2.58 p.m. We just saw the biggest bull elk we have ever seen.  We watched as it ambled along in the woods until it eventually made its way into a clearing.  We heard its bellow, a surreal sound, first at high pitch and then in deep, gutteral low tones.  We had seen its mate also in the wood, a fleeting glimpse. And that's why I love Yellowstone, you just never know what the day will bring.  

We have a fellow traveler and his family to thank for this wondrous experience.  If we hadn't seen their car pulled off the road not too far in front of us, we would probably have driven by.  I rolled my window down and asked what they were all looking at.  They pointed into the trees and told us they had spotted a bull elk, a really big one.  We pulled in just ahead of them and strained our eyes.  There was definitely a big animal in there but the trees were thick and it was hard to see. 

Our two cars turned into a dozen, and it wasn't long before we were joined by many, and we were totally blocked in as people had stopped in the road.  You could say that parked cars at Yellowstone are like a siren song.  A car drove up alongside us and as I had my camera taking photos, I was patiently waiting for him to move so that I could resume taking my photos.  By this time we could not move backwards or forwards but in the end, on this narrow one-way road, with woods on either side, we saw a huge elk approach the clearing.  Those cars actually did us a big favor by blocking us in, as when they moved to get away from the oncoming animal, we had front row seats to nature at its best.  

I was in complete and total awe of this magnificent bull.  Impatient to get a better view around the car that had parked at the side of us, before the driver decided it would be wise to get the heck out of there, I was halfway out of the passenger side wanting to get that better look.  At the time the elk seemed a very long and safe distance away.  But all of a sudden that car suddenly got out of there and we saw why.  That beautiful beast was heading straight towards us at a fast trot that turned into a gallop.  I was shocked at how fast he covered the distance in such a short space of time, and quickly jumped back into the car, slamming the door.  Many others were running across the street  back to their cars.  We were still blocked from moving forward or back.

When that car had the sense to get away, it gave us a full view of the elk heading our way, and he was next to us in moments.

As Gregg was taking his own photos, he suddenly realized how fast the elk was coming.....

and literally thought he was going to stick his head in the window, which he wound up fast but the back window was still open. I had been trying to get a better look by straining my neck trying to see beyond the car previously blocking our view, and I kept saying, "Back window's still open, back window's still open!"  When good sense returned I realized a sheet of glass would not have been much protection, but brain was not engaged at the time and there lies the rub.  I thought that elk was going to stick his head right in.....

antlers and all.

At one point the elk's head was so close that I couldn't see anything beyond him, but thankfully he suddenly veered to our left as though turning on a dime, and went behind our car, filling up the whole rear window with his bulk.  He actually brushed up against our rear bumper.  

Other people who had stopped to get out of their cars for a better look, scattered in all directions as the bull approached.  Gregg handed me the camera to take pictures from my side, but by that time he was retreating into the woods and the camera's memory started flashing "full"!!!   Ah well, I am used to the retreat of animal derrières on this trip, and at least Gregg got these great photos of him coming towards us, but no, not one photo of his retreating behind.  It was an amazing experience.   When those big guys want to cross the road they are going to cross the road.   You can stay 100, 200, 300 yards away and we found with this experience, that doesn't make one wit of difference if that animal wants to get where he wants to go.

We wondered afterwards what we might have done differently as the situation was precarious.  We stayed in our car which is always recommended, apart from that one foot on the ground moment, and we were at the recommended distance from the animal but it came towards us at a full gallop, we didn't go towards him.  

I'm glad we didn't see any bears today, that would have been too much excitement.  This was enough of a close encounter, and one we never expected.  You just never know what is going to happen in Yellowstone.  It's always best to be aware that the unexpected can happen, and try to follow those advised guidelines, and think beyond them if you can.

Heart-stopping excitement over with, we happily chatted about what had just happened until we stopped at Virginia Cascades.  Again, real pretty down by the water.

Not too far from where we exit the park we came across another elk standing in the middle of the river.  If you see a line of cars with people pointing cameras, it's a sure bet that there is another treat in store, but there weren't too many cars in line this time. The elk was a younger one but he was giving everyone a show, turning his head around to scratch an itch on its back , but also being very aware of the people staring back at him.  

He looked very comfortable in the water, and kept company with several Canada Geese who were swimming nearby.

Today we got to look at a waterfall, a river, a glacial rock, the Yellowstone Canyon, ospreys on a nest, a tiny chipmunk and a huge bull elk, and another smaller one cooling itself in a river.

This is our last night in West Yellowstone.  We are heading for the Grand Tetons tomorrow.

And that was the end of my post.  We have been to Yellowstone three times, and hope to go for a forth when things settle down. 

I hope you have enjoyed this account of our day at one of my most all time favorite National Parks.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

ANOTHER DAY IN YELLOWSTONE FROM AUGUST 2007 to be published later

 These are more memories from our trip into Yellowstone back in August of 2007.  Information I have added, could well be outdated now but as recently as October 2020, I read that "Yellowstone provides summer range for an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 elk (Cervus canadensis) from six to seven herds, most of which winter at lower elevations outside the park."

We didn't get to see any bears on this trip, but I found this lovely old postcard in a display case at the museum in West Yellowstone.

In Mammoth right in the middle of town there was a large grassy area where we found an elk herd. The Ranger told us they don't really encourage them to come into town but they are attracted to the greenest grass and here was a very large patch for them to munch on. I can still remember the sound the bull made when he bellowed, it was an awesome sound.  He looked formidable and we did not want to get too close while taking any of these photos, using our zoom lens.

Not too far out of Mammoth there were three elk at the side of the road. I got a pretty good shot of one of them out of the window of our car as we passed by. 

It's true, every time we saw cars backed up we knew we were in for an experience.  We found a spot on the side of the road and parked.

And here they were, a large herd.

Another magnificent bull elk.

It wasn't long before we were joined by a Park Ranger. They are always there to make sure animals and people stay a good distance away from each other. 

Case in point there were two photographers with very long lens' on their cameras but he still told them to move back up the hill. 

We could see the herd was moving closer to them and the ranger knew the bull would charge them. He told us to watch him. 

We learned that if any of his herd wandered a little too far away, as this young elk did, daddy would round them up to keep them close. 

The Ranger also told us that the young males once they reached a certain age would be run off, to eventually start their own herd.

I read that elk are the same species as the 'red deer' in Europe.  Some Europeans use the term 'elk' for moose.  To avoid confusion, elk in North America are often referred to by the Shawnee name Wapiti.

More interesting facts about Elk can be found here.

For anyone who has a great love of wildlife and for nature in general, and I know those of you who have also visited can attest to, Yellowstone is an incredible place to visit.