The Spirit Takes Flight And Touches The Canopy Of Life (5)

...And I avoided the Rapture because I channel the spirit of Otis Oracle* in my body, thus being immune to those tortured souls who suffer from such low self esteem and low self worth that they had to follow that crackpot Harold Camping. Because I am destined to become one of the multitude of the sane and the damned, I can bring you the final chapter of the one thing that the people who feverishly believe in the Rapture will probably never experience in their lifetime.

This is another shot taken from the same ledge as the one you saw last week, only this time, I pointed the camera bit more northwest, and thus got another example of Father Nature's abstract painting.

Water tower, if I remember correctly, located just off the beaten path and diagonally across from the Hartford Regional Center. You can actually see this monstrosity from most points in Newington. And yes, it is fenced off, and yes, there is razor festooned along the top of the fence. The hike down from this point was actually quite treacherous, in that I really had no trees to hang on to if I'd somehow lost my balance on the way down, which due to the plethora of leaves and loose jagged rocks made it a very distinct possibility. And yes, this ends the hiking portion of our post as the road that you see behind the tower lead down to the underpass and Mountain Road.

Another example of not remember what street I was walking down when I took this shot. But you can probably guess as to why I took this shot to begin with.

And yes, here is another shot of one of my favorite scenic areas to shoot. The picture kind gives one a bit of sad feeling if you think about it. The trees standing bare and forlorn, windswept leaves, sky a bit cloudy, and just a general overall feeling of 'bleah'.

And the gratuitous shot of Jenelle's trophy and medal case, which has since been moved up to her bedroom. This my friends, is why dear old dad is always broke 95% of the time because dear old dad drops about $1200 a year for both dancing and figure skating. And yes, about 33% of that total goes towards her annual visit to a regional dance competition. I think its in Massachusetts this year.

*Otis Oracle was a fundamentalist who often railed about penguin lust and family values in the cartoon "Bloom County"

The Spirit Takes Flight And Touches The Canopy Of Life (4)

And thus, we continue with our hike up Cedar Mountain.

This was typical of the type of terrain that I'd faced on that abnormally warm late November day. Lots of dead leaves, bare trees and a bright sun. This was taken probably facing south on one of the small landings I came across that day.

Another good example of what I was up against while hiking. Dead trees on the ground, sharp and jagged rocks as far as the eye could see, and a wicked incline that I eventually hiked to that ridge you see at the top of the photo.

I believe that I took this shot from that very same ridge you saw in the previous photo. This was actually a part of the mountain I'd never explored or seen before, so it was pretty cool little valley to hike in.

A very nice example of the mini valley contained within Cedar Mountain. The ribbon that you see is actually a marker that a development had peppered the area with. Last year, Toll Brothers Development Corporation wanted to develop part of the ridge for condos, which would've been in addition to the retail plaza that they were looking to develop. The condo plan was shot down at the local zoning board. In addition to the ribbons that were laid out, they also cleaned up the closed section of Mountain Road in preparation for the potential development of the mountain. As of today, the mountain is slowly and surely reclaiming that cleaned up section of the road.

Another shot of the mini-valley aread. Off to the right and out of view of the picture, was a wickedly steep ridge that took me forever and a day to hike up. Viewing that particular ridge that I climbed from the front side gave me absolutely no hint on how steep it really was. But it was all worth it..

Because I wound up on a medium sized flat outcrop that the locals usually hung out on, which allowed me to take this very cool panaromic shot of southwest Newington looking towards New Britain. And no, you can't see my street from this pic, as it's off to the lower extreme right and out of view.

The Spirit Takes Flight And Touches The Canopy Of Life (3)

Quiet! Quiet! Quiet on the set please, okay, here we go ONCE AGAIN! Take 123!

holy freakin' cow this guy is such idiot. four million dollars and my pet gerbil can act better than him

Nest in tree.

more detail you thundering idiot! people expect more! how many times do I have to tell you this?!

An abandoned and empty nest sits in a tired and lonely tree. The buffets the tree and the tree, tired beyond all expectations, just wants the nest to go away as it's irritating a bad wart on the particular branch its resting on.

what?? are you serious with that caption? hold on...okay, apparently they like it up in the control booth.

Witchy Poo's back-up broom, masquerading as a tired broken down vacuum cleaner. Or, someone is getting ready to vacuum the lawn.

director sadly shakes his head and disgustedly waves his hand

director suddenly perks up, goes to the microphone and pushes the talent out of the way

During the 2010 Thanksgiving furlough, I decided to kill part of the afternoon by going on a hike in the mountain. This shot was taken about twenty yards or so in from the entrance directly across from the end of my street. What you're about to see with this post and the next, is a good hike ruined by a guy with a disposable camera. Seriously, I did have a good hike that day. I started from my house and in a zig zag pattern hiked about a couple of miles the stupid way, which I'll elaborate the further we go along. In the meantime, enjoy.

When I usually do these hikes, I go straight up about a quarter mile until the gradual incline I'm hiking hits about 15% (great for sledding, lousy for walking). At that point, I take a breather until I can catch my breath and get my heart back to a semi-normal beat, then I start climbing upwards in a gradual sideways linear pattern. Hiking during the fall presents an interesting challenge (and you know how I love challenges) and the above photo is representative of the terrain I like to hike in. What kind of terrain? During the fall, I have to battle dead leaves, dry trees, dead branches, decaying trees, sharp stones and rocks the size of a softball, dead trees and other assorted obstacles that are designed to create as much havoc as humanly possible.

Judging from the angle of this particular photo, I think what I did this day, was once after I entered the mountain, I made the proverbial left turn and started my hike by heading towards the local quarry. Sometimes when I go on a hike, I'll go left across the mountain for a short spell, then turn around and finish it by hiking towards the center of town. Seriously long hike I know, but it keeps me occupied and allows my mind to truly empty itself and become satisfyingly vacant for a while. Auto pilot one might say.