Tuesday, December 13, 2016

A Special Leaf

Throughout history the mighty oak tree was revered and oak leaves were used as awards, even signs of rank. Oak leaves have always had special significance, but this one is of special meaning to me.

Signs of Fall

Some three decades ago on a pack packing trip in the Cohutta Wilderness in northern Georgia I picked up a shiny, large acorn lying in the trail. I brought it home with me and proudly showed of my little memento from the trip. Not wanting to waste it , I stuck it into a clay pot with some soil and placed it among the growth at the end of my driveway.

To my surprise and great delight the next spring it sprouted and looked healthy. So I found a sunny spot alongside my driveway where I thought it might grow. And grow it did. It must have found the location to its liking. Years passed and it had matured into a fine specimen of a chestnut oak tree, a quercus montana, here at the southern edge of its natural range.

It started to produce acorns and some got away from the squirrels and fell on my driveway. I once again picked up shiny, beautiful acorns. This time I made some small holes with a stick in my back yard and dropped in the acorns, closing the soil around them.

These too sprouted and now we have the beginnings of a chestnut oak grove in our back yard. The tallest one of these second generation oaks is about ten feet tall. The photo above is of one of the leaves on these small oaks.

Signs of Fall

The “memento” oak now towers well above twice the height of our house.  Easily the largest keepsake I ever brought home from a trip to the mountains!

Signs of Fall

.:.

© 2016 Ludwig Keck

Monday, December 12, 2016

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

This was the first Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. Here is a small collection of pictures of this event.

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

 

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

 

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

 

Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016Holiday Glow in the Corners Parade - 2016

.:.

© 2016 Ludwig Keck

Friday, October 28, 2016

Rediscover this Day

Google Photos has a cute feature called "Rediscover this day". On the Photos page, in the upper left area there is a link, "Assistant". On that page there are some tool links, "Create new ... Album - Shared album - Collage - Animation" and below those a number of "Rediscover this day" "albumettes".
Today's albumette contains photos uploaded 3 years ago yesterday, October 27, 2013. I really can't remember if I shared any of those photos. I can't find any blog post with these images. Maybe I shared them in some other manner. It may be fun to share them here.

That "Collage" tool looked interesting. I had not tried it before. Here is a collage of some of the photos in yesterday's albumette. Here is the sad result. That tool is pathetic, not even worthy the name "toy". If Google wants to know how do do a real collage they should try their orphaned Picasa.
Here is the first image in is original aspect ratio.

This post was set up in the Blogger online editor - another gruesome tool. Let's see how it looks.

© 2016 Ludwig Keck

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Festival

Gateway International Food and Music Festival 2016

Once again Lillian Webb Park in Norcross was transformed into an international venue of food and music. We will skip over the food – it would only make you hungry – and head right to the colorful performers.

LK8-7714-X1O-1200

LK8-7715-X1O-1200

Click on any photo to go to online album.

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway FestivalGateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

Gateway Festival

.:.

© 2016 Ludwig Keck