They are all gorgeous Margie!!

Margie,

Very nice. There is very little color here yet, hasen’t been cold enough yet. By the way gas $2.59 today

And Janoce

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanks Deb and Don. I’m so glad I had a chance to get out for a drive Saturday. Right here in Cumberland, there’s only spotty color, but the further west you go the higher the elevation and the more color you see. As you head west up the mountains there’s a sign at the top of one of the mountains that says “Eastern Continental Divide.” I can’t remember which mountain that was but the elevation around there is 2600-2800 feet. Garrett County is the westernmost county in Maryland. Cumberland is in the western part of Allegany County, maybe about 10 miles from Garrett County.

I love trying to explain where Cumberland is to out-of-state folks. When Sara Renner came to sing at my church back in April, she about summed it up: “You’re out in the middle of nowhere!” We’re about 2 to 2 1/2 hours west of Baltimore and Washington and about 3 hours southeast of Pittsburgh. So I guess that would definitely quality for being out in the middle of nowhere! It sure is beautiful, however. I’m glad I can share a little bit of home with all my blogging friends.

Margie

Hey Janice,

I forgot to thank you for posting my pictures so quickly! I appreciate you for giving us a place to show off our pictures. Thank you!

Margie

Oh, Margie’s pictures make me so envious!

Whenever you see photos of my adopted home, Los Angeles, they usually look beautiful, lush, and green. But what you rarely see in photos of this area is how brown lawns, shrubs, and trees really are — unless property owners spend a forture on their water bills to keep everything green. A few do, but most do not. It simply costs too much.

As you probably know, there is a forest fire in Los Angeles Forest today, about 20 miles from L.A. proper. October is the season for forest fires here, but they break out whenever things become too brown.

Nothing is scarier than seeing a forest fire raging toward you. I experienced the horrible forest fire in Santa Barbara at the end of June 1990. It scared the hell out of me. About four o’clock that afternoon, I packed a few clothes, placed my cat in her pet carrier, and drove to my uncle’s home in Santa Barbara proper. My aunt, with whom I was staying, refused to leave her home, which was in the path of the forest fire as it came down the foothills.

“If my house goes, I’m going with it!” she insisted. Her husband died four years earlier. They had lived in that house since 1958 and bought it when it was new.

I ended up placing my cat in a cat kennel because my uncle’s dog didn’t like cats. The two women who ran the kennel said they would be happy to take care of my 18-year-old female tabby cat, Patches. I knew she would be in good hands.

My aunt followed me to her brother’s house after he sent his son-in-law to get her.

Fortunately for her, the fire bypassed her subdivision along San Marcos Pass near Highway 101 but then leaped over 101 and burned down many expensive homes in Hope Ranch. I think more than 500 homes were destroyed in the foothills and in Hope Ranch that day.

My Uncle Bob drove up San Marcos Pass as soon as heard about the fire to get his two horses at the ranch where he kept them. He took them to Earl Warren Showgrounds, which opened its empty stables to anyone who needed to use then.

About eight o’clock that night, Uncle Bob and I drove to the Showground to see if we could help out, but we couldn’t get near it. People from Hope Ranch were still pouring out, most walking and carrying whatever possessions they could manage, a few riding on horses, and all looking dazed and confused like refugees in newsreels or films about World War Two.

I drove up with my uncle the next day to return his horses. The devastation was horrendous! It was as if the fire leapfrogged over homes, burning one, sparing another. It skipped over a new Greek Orthodox Church but destroyed adjacent homes.

The lady who owned the ranch where Uncle Bob kept his horses lost her barn but her home was spared. Uncle Bob’s horse always stayed outside in a large fenced-in area.

When I went to get Patches, I was really glad to see her, and I could tell she was glad to see me. The two young women who ran the kennel said Patches had been a delight and was welcome back anytime.

My Aunt Ruth and I were glad to see her house was OK, but we could smell a burning aroma for days after the fire. Hope Ranch had been hit especially hard.

I hope I never have to go through that again. It was very scary, as if Dooms Day had arrived.

George Spink
Los Angeles

Margie – Are you sure you don’t work for the state tourism board?? LOL Too bad you don’t work for the state parks dept here in WA state as they desperately need someone to tell them to put better pictures on the website … Oh heck, they need better maps on the site too (Maps that don’t look like they were drawn by a 5yo) … Apparently, they can find good pix for the yearly calendar that they sell, but when it comes to put those good pix on the website, they’re lost and have pix that are from the early 80s taken with Fuji film …

Hey Tiamat!

I’ll come out to Washington to take some pictures for you! Actually, I was there in 1999 and got some great pictures of Mt. Rainier and other places. Those were with my 35 mm camera though. I’d love to go back out there sometime, especially with my digital camera.

When my pictures won in the State of Maryland photo contest (I think in 1989), my first place picture of a white water kayaker wound up in the state telephone directory the following year. The kayak picture was taken when they had the national whitewater kayaking tournament on the Savage River, which is where I was on Saturday. The funny thing is that normally the Savage River is a quiet, tranquil river, but for the races, they released a whole lot of water at the dam so it turned the quiet river into raging rapids. With our lack of rain, there wasn’t a whole lot of water in the Savage River on Saturday. It was hard to picture rapids going through there!

Washington is such a pretty state so I hope those folks that run the web site get their act together!

Margie

Margie

For every 1000′ you climb the temp drops 3 degrees. Guess at that elevation there was a freeze and nature painted the scenery

Nicely done Margie. Beautiful!! America is so pretty, really. lol

Great pics they are just starting to change here in Northern IL wait till it gets about 60 as they are predicting tomorrow

Ms. Margie,

Nice pics. Down here in the southern outback everything is still pretty green. Looking at temps in the 80’s for the next 2 days.

Sorry about the Skins. Not surprising though considering the 2 weeks prior were so hard fought with very physical teams. No worries, the Eagles have fallen apart, Dallas is floundering, I think the Skin’s have a good shot now after a revise of my original prediction. Much of that due directly to Coach Zorn.

Sorry I’m not around more, but I am trying to catch up more on research on the writings of Jefferson. It’s 22 books and I’m only of vol 3. Between that and the blog, (which I just updated), I seem to run out of daylight before I run out of task.

But isn’t that all of us?

Stay well my friends.

chas

Great pics, thanks for sharing, Margie.

Life is returning to normal after another busy weekend of giving lectures and signing books
at Colonial Williamsburg. A marvelous time of year to be outside (though I was stuck inside
most of the weekend and even missed all the wine-tasting at the Italian Festival though we
did get a chance to dine out with several friends and go to the horsetrack near – not in -
Richmond )

Tomorrow will present a new opportunity to sit outside reading for my new book and enjoying
the fall breezes, autumn sunshine, and yellowing leaves. Ahhhh.

Thanks again for the photos! Book coming soon!
Tony

Hey chas,

I was frustrated after the Redskins lost but I felt a whole lot better after the Cardinals beat the Cowboys! Now all we have to do is have the Giants start losing and we’ll be fine.

It sounds like you have your work cut out for you with all that reading! I’m sure Jefferson is not light reading so I’m sure it’s a challenge for you. If you’re only up to vol. 3 out of 22, you certainly have your work cut out for you. I wish you well! We’ll look forward to hearing from you whenever you have time. Don’t forget about us, though!

Take care,
Margie

Thanks to everyone for all the nice comments about my pictures. I’m glad I could share them with you!

Hey Tony,

I’m glad you enjoyed my pictures, especially since you were stuck inside most of the weekend. At least you’ll get some fresh air tomorrow. It was hard for me to be stuck inside today after being on vacation during such a beautiful stretch of weather. If the weather is nice this coming weekend I’ll take a drive through parts of Allegany County for pictures. The long range forecast is for sun but highs only in the 50’s. That actually is closer to average October weather than the warm temperatures we’ve had the past week. Allegany County has some great dirt roads that go through the mountains so I’ll find some great picture taking spots. I stay off the really steep roads since I don’t have 4-wheel drive on my car. Those steep ones are a little more remote anyway, and I try to stay away from those. One time I started up one road and I heard what sounded like a party, so I turned around. I do take care of myself when I’m out alone so I don’t get myself into dangerous situations. So stay tuned next week for the next installment of my fall photo expeditions.

I hope you have a great week.

Margie

Janice, you’re obviously a romantic, so you’ll enjoy this video clip of two TV anchors getting engage live on their morning show in Lubbock, TX. For some reason, the clip is on the website of KCCI in Des Moines.

http://www.kcci.com/video/17685852/index.html

Your pictures are beautiful Margie!
And yes Tiamat is right, you should work for the state tourism board cause those landscapes surely gave me the desire to come to visit Maryland!

Dawn, it’s great to hear from you and to know you’re having a good time!
If you go to Chattanooga tomorrow, it means you’re going to taste….the legendary Kobe Burger. I want to hear everything about it

I finally got to see you Janice on AN this morning, at the end!
And it was super nice for I admit I was really starting to miss you!!

Love when you said….”We Love You Nana”
We sure do.

Guillaume

For Janice, Margie, Deb and all of the other sweethearts who visit this blog, please remember that Saturday, Oct. 18th is Sweetest Day.

My Dad always gave my Mom a two-pound box of assorted chocolates from Fannie May on Sweetest Day. You can still do the same by following this Tiny Link: http://tiny.cc/WN1S3

Better order by tomorrow to receive your candy by or on Saturday!

And, there’s no reason not to buy a box for yourself! Try their Pixies, too!

George Spink
Los Angeles

Great Guillaume, now I want a good burger (especially after the treadmill & weight bench!)!

For those in, around, or near Richmond, I’ll be signing books on Friday night at the Barnes & Noble
at Libbie Place. See directions at bn.com if you need them. I would love to meet you guys in
person and sign your books. By the way, if anyone of my fans out there would like to post
a review on Amazon, I would encourage you to do so. I would offer you a free copy of the book,
but most of you have it already!

Thanks and good night – off to read an interesting history book about the age of Enlightenment -
(too bad it probably won’t work on me!!!). Nice October breeze blowing through the window (and
all those allergens!), and a beautiful and bright full moon that I walked the dog by this evening.
Not quite like midday but not all that far away. La luna is radiant and bright this gentle eve.

Signing off,
Tony

Just happened across your blog this afternoon and was very excited to see pictures of my hometown. We definitely have had a beautiful fall. The colors outside my office at Ridgeview Valley at Deep Creek Lake have been exquisite. My favorite colors are the bright reds and pinks provided by the mighty Maple tree. Thanks for showing off our color and they really are great pics!