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Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Wayfaring stranger

The prodigal blogger has returned.  He who was lost hath been restored to the ninety and nine.  So if you happen to be a shepherd, you should probably be rejoicing about now.  And if you're a father who has a son in his late thirties who's been missing for a few weeks, then by all means make a feast and kiss me.  On second thought, the feast will do just fine.

I sorely miss writing.  And hope to return to it on a much more frequent basis soon.  In the meantime, I have pictures!

October afforded me one more trip to the beach, where I kissed summer good-bye.  At least, I think that was her name. 



Isn't she beautiful?

Then this past weekend, we ventured over to the Little River Canyon area in northeast Alabama.  There we visited Little River Falls: 



The above picture is not Little River Falls.  Had it been, I probably would have been more than a bit disappointed after making that trek.  Also, if you look closely, I'm holding a cell phone in my hand as a point of reference, lest you think me a Philistine.

Fortunately, we did manage to locate Little River Falls a bit later.  I decided not to get as close to the edge of this one:


The afternoon consisted of lots of driving and a bit of hiking.  The trees, near the height of their autumn brilliance, combined with the waterfalls and sheer drops of the cliff walls provided a perfect backdrop for both.  Even though quite a few people were out, there were a couple of times when I could hear nothing but the rushing of the river below.  Absolute peace.

There was one sign which dubbed the area the Grand Canyon of the South.  And to think I'd never been there before, even though it's only a couple hours away.  Sometimes I think we tend to overlook the tourist attractions nearest to us.

I was hopeful of happening upon the remains of an old, abandoned theme park I'd read about which resided in the area many years ago, called Canyon Land.  You know my fascination with defunct theme parks.  It's even greater than my fascination with defunct relationships.  Unfortunately, Google can only get you so far -- in either endeavor --and I was unable to find it.  If I can get a bit more information on its exact location, it would definitely be worth another trip someday.

For now, it's just good to be back in the fold.

"Farewell, my summer love, farewell.  Girl, I won't forget you..."

21 comments:

  1. Welcome back, Bone. Your writing is always crisp and the photos are a real treat! I've never been to that "Little Grand Canyon" but been to "Little Grand Canyons" in PA and MI.

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  2. Bone, it's great to "see" you again...I have missed your writing. I agree with you that we often miss the tourist areas closest to us - I live near D.C. and rarely go because of the traffic. Your photos are gorgeous - the beach one took my breath away. Beautiful! Have a great day~~ Sherri (formerly Sweetest in the Gale)

    P.S. I've started a new blog and my poetry blog is private for now...my muse has a new focus and I'm happy to follow her lead!

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  3. If you like defunct theme parks, you'll love this:

    http://www.kuriositas.com/2011/10/mangyongdae-last-funfair-in-north-korea.html

    Except apparently it's not technically defunct. Still scary though.

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  4. ah! you've returned...let me kill the fatted calf. ;o)

    Nice trip.

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  5. It's beautiful. Truly yesterday. I think we all tend not to do what every tourist does. As an adult, I've never actually been in The Statue of Liberty--been on the Island, walked around it, but never in it.
    I loved your pictures
    Welcome back to blogging. Wait I blogged yesterday for the first time in over a month. Why didn't you welcome me back? :)

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  6. I am so happy you are back. What wonderful pictures. I so like pictures of nature that other people take. Mine are never as pretty.

    I agree we don't always take in what is nearest to us. I have been to the real Grand Canyon and it is breath taking. If you ever go pay to stay-on-the-rim. It is so worth it. Our boys still remember it and they were going into 2nd and 6th grade.

    Again welcome back.

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  7. Sage - Thanks. I appreciate that. Do any of those also have defunct amusement parks? :)

    Sherri B - Thank you. I was using my Blackberry, so I'm kinda surprised the photos turned out as well as they did.

    Thanks for the info. I'll have to update my links.

    Susan - Wow, yeah. That was more than a little creepy.

    Cami - I think you mean "baller."

    Renee - Thou sayest well. Now let us all make merry.

    Pia - I think you have to make a big deal out of your own return to ensure you get welcomed back. Sort of a little shameless self-promotion :)

    PennyCandy - Thanks. The last time I commented on your blog, I was thinking to myself, "PennyCandy just came back to blogging and now I've disappeared." :)

    My dad went to the real Grand Canyon last year. I definitely want to go someday.

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  8. thank you for leaving the comment you did. I have had the hardest year of my life since last september. quotes and writing help me. i think. i appreciate you coming by. Mair.

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  9. Bone it is wonderful to be missed and your writing is missed when you are not around.

    I have my first Saturday school of the year so I'm sure I will have something to say after that.

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  10. Sometimes living life takes precedent. That or work. ;)

    I'm always glad to see you back - pen in hand...or...ya know.

    Great photos Bone.

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  11. It looks beautiful. That is a glorious sunset.

    What's happening to blogging, do you think? You and I aren't the only ones who are struggling to keep our hands in. Is it just co-incidence that so many people seem to be struggling at the same time?

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  12. You kissed summer goodbye in Oct? I kissed it goodbye in August.

    Sorry about AL on Saturday night. I was really cheering for them!!!

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  13. Bone,
    Near where I live there is a 40 ft fresh water fall that is in the middle of a field. We sometimes take something to dig into the walls and find shark teeth. It is wierd to think that at one time the whole area might have been the ocean or brackish to support sea life. thanks for sharing the pics.

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  14. So beautiful, nice, and important the site is.Perfect arrangement.Well done carry on.

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  15. Auntiem4cabs - You're welcome. Thanks for stopping by here.

    PennyCandy - Saturday school? Those two words just don't go together in my mind :)

    Cooper - Thanks, Miss Cooper. It's always good to see you around, if only occasionally for now.

    J Adamthwaite - My #1 theory would be to blame Facebook for a lot of it. But I'm rarely on Facebook, so that excuse doesn't really work for me :o) I'm going to try really hard to get back into it. Blogging, that is.

    OK Chick - Yeah, I like to hold on as long as possible.

    Looks like it wasn't meant for our two teams to meet in the national championship game this year :-/

    Daily Panic - Sounds very cool. Take a picture sometime!

    Sujay - Thank you. I like to consider my site important. Although Google Page Rank would disagree.

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