It's fall, and it's pretty out there

Yes, this month's been a bit rough for me. But you know that going for rides and taking pictures always makes me feel better. Michigan has a nice diversity of trees that makes for lots of gorgeous colors.

These pictures come from two different days rides, the second one includes a local park.















I know this picture is blurry, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of an emu.






















If you click on this one and choose All Sizes, then large, you'll see that it was raining at that time.


Check out the reflection on this one.




I did not climb this path. :)




There are a few more pictures on Flickr that I didn't put in here. It'll be hard enough for those of you with dial-up as it is. :-)

One more of these, then I promise no more

I know that I usually try to put upbeat posts here. I never mind when other people need to get something out, or plunge to the depths of their souls. It's just that I want people to smile when they come to Squirl's Nest.

Well, let me get one more downer post out of the way and I'll try to be happy and put up cute pictures after that.

Everybody who comes here knows that my mom died a couple of weeks ago. All of you have been so wonderful and supportive. But tomorrow also marks the third anniversary of our brother's death.

I think I'll just leave it at that for the moment. I'm sure there are many good things about October. Just a couple of them suck for me and my family. :-)

Love you guys.

For a change of pace, I think I'll moon you guys

Taking pictures always makes me feel good. So when I saw that huge harvest moon out Friday night I couldn't resist.



Then, on Saturday, Ichabod and I took a little walk. I got fairly close to a blue heron. I would've kicked myself if I'd forgotten my camera.





Here's a shot of the channel. The sky was so blue and I love the way it reflected on the water.



I know this isn't Bucky's site but I couldn't resist adding this picture. It's a bunch of box elder bugs swarming on a bit of bird shit on the railroad track.



I only meant to take a picture of the cat. But I love the rainbow effect that came through.



Thanks again, everyone, for all the prayers and nice words. It was very much appreciated.

Not really the end

Today was the funeral. After the funeral Ichabod and I had family over at the house. There was laughter, there were lots of stories, and there was music. Our mother would've been happy.

I would be lying if I said it had been easy. I'm waiting to see how I do over the next year. All of the holidays and special times need to be dealt with, one at a time.

But, we had lots of support. All of our wonderful friends we've met here online were no small part of it. We might not have been commenting, but rest assured we read every one. They've been a very precious part of this time.

We can't thank you enough. You've helped us keep our strength. Soon we should be back to our regular reading and commenting. We're so grateful that you're all here.

Thank you.