The next selections are from the Anne Springs Close Greenway’s Lake Haigler Entrance which we visited on the same day as the Gastonia Municipal Airport.
Camera: iPhone 14 Pro Max and Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens.
Locations: 1,2) Gastonia Municipal Airport; Gastonia, North Carolina, USA 3-6) Lake Haigler Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Hope you enjoy the visit. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts. I appreciate y’all very much.
What or who makes me laugh? The answer to that is easy to answer. It is hands down, my grandson, Coleman. He has been my joy and inspiration since he came into my world four years ago. I have had the privilege of watching him grow and develop into an awesome little boy. Yes, at times he annoys and frustrates me when he doesn’t listen or follow given instructions, but then he’ll want a hug and says, “I love you”! You have to listen carefully; he talks with a lisp, so it is sometimes difficult to understand what he is saying. Even though some people have a difficult time, most of the time I can understand him and when he tells me he loves me; it brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart.
Coleman makes me Smile 😊
The joys and laughter Coleman brings throughout his life …
One of Coleman’s favorite things to do is watch for airplanes ✈️ flying overhead. It’s thrilling for him to see the airplanes ✈️ and even more so to watch two airplanes ✈️ passing each other in the beautiful blue sky above us as we gaze off into the distance.
After a day hiking in the Greenway, Coleman’s mom surprised in by stopping at the local airport, Gastonia Municipal Airport. She was curious to see if it would be possible for him to tour the airplanes. Upon asking a couple of people she found out that not only was it possible, but that one of the pilots took us out and allowed him to sit in one of the airplanes. He was so thrilled, he grinned from ear to ear. He didn’t say much, lately he’s been getting shy around people. However, you could tell it by his facial expressions how happy and excited he was to be able to see the airplanes, to Pull Up a Seat in an airplane, and to watch an airplane take off.
Our first stop, always, when we arrive at the Greenway is to make a track to the restrooms. When we get hiking it could be an hour or more before we reach one again, therefore we want to be prepared.
The Ramp to the Gibson House porch and restrooms.
Next we gaze out upon the pond to the right of the Gibson House. Horses are often in view as are various birds at times. The beauty of the reflections in the lake are always amazing to see. The walkway around the pond is new and still under construction.
The Pond Horse Road Entrance Anne Springs Close Greenway
After that short period, we venture towards one of several hiking trails. On this particular day we chose to hike the Dogwood Trail. Coleman is leading the way. In case you were wondering, he usually always leads the way as we hike along the trails.
Coleman leading the way to the Dogwood Trail
On this day and almost any day in the Fall, the trails are covered with leaves 🍁🍃🍁 of varying shades. Coleman pauses to wait for me to catch up. He goes a but fast for my pace.
Coleman standing on Dogwood Trail
Hiking Trail signs are posted at regular intervals along the Trail. This is one of the many signs hikers will encounter as they hike along the trail. It designates directions for you to decide which way you’d prefer to hike. It informs you of which trail you are hiking so you do not get lost or sidetracked from your desired route. If you scan the QR code, it will bring up an online map and other pertinent information about the trail.
While hiking at the Anne Springs Close Greenway, we stopped by to visit with the horses. I took plenty of photos during our hike, most of the horses we’re approachable and really do not mind the many visitors to the Greenway looking at them or petting them. Then sometimes you see a horse that really wants to get a Close-Up view of you or let you get an extremely Close-Up view of him.
Is this Close Enough? Okay, I’ll Cooperate. Is this Better?
Decorations on Doors can be interesting and insightful this time of the year. Some choose to keep it simple; others minimalistic, and still others go all out in their decorations for Halloween. Whether you choose to decorate for Autumn or for Halloween is entirely up to you. Not everyone chooses to decorate their doors or their yards to coincide with the holidays/seasons. That is perfectly okay. Me, myself, I choose not to decorate the outside of our apartment for Halloween. It is a holiday I celebrated as a child, but as an adult I no longer do. These are a few doors I seen lately displaying Autumn/Halloween decorations.
I’m fairly new to adding just a splash of colour to a photo, hence, I’m not too sure about the quality of these choices. I hope you enjoy them regardless.
Toy CAT truck A splash of Green on the trees Splash of PinkA Hint of Autumn Color Pop of Coleman
I’m a little late in posting this blog post due to dealing with the aftermath of our sewage catastrophe. Wake up at daylight as per my grandson’s habit and went downstairs. Upon entering the downstairs bathroom, we (my grandson and I) noticed the toilet was backed up and had overflowed onto the flow making it impossible to use that particular bathroom facilities. Upon our discovering I tried getting the water (sludge) to drain to no avail. We then proceeded to go back upstairs to try to use the main bathroom upstairs. Come to find out that in flushing the upstairs toilet the downstairs toilet backed up and overflowed even more. So, we were in a quandary of what to do considering we could not go all day without having working bathroom facilities. We were not sure if the problem was in our apartment alone or if it was a major complex issue. In the meantime, we decided to go to the store pick up a container of RID-X and we figured we might as well pick up a few groceries while we were out. The photos below depict a small portion of our aftermath issues. I did not think you would actually want to look at the gross sewage backup catastrophe.
Aftermath of Sewage Backup
Upon arriving home from the store, we happened to see the complex maintenance workers and proceeded to inquire about the problematic situation. They informed us that the complex water would be turned off for approximately one hour and that they were waiting on a plumber to come and remedy the situation. Therefore, with no water and the problem as yet unresolved, we went back out to a different store to pick up a few more grocery items that were not available at the previous location.
Finally, back home again and the water back on much to our delight we could relax a little before working on the clean-up. Also, Coleman, my grandson, needed to have food prepared for him to eat. (He is almost always hungry, but then again, he is four.)
I trust your day and week went better than ours. Hopefully, the rest of our work will be without any complications or unforeseen problems. Have a Blessed week. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
We see shapes of every kind everywhere we walk/hike. Shapes are all around us if we just stop and take notice. Shapes are in everyday items, around playgrounds, in toys children play with, in decorations & even in various sculptures around our neighborhood a, our cities, states, and around the globe. Take time to notice the world around us and see what shapes you might notice.
Circles, Cylindrical Circle ⭕️ & Square 🟨Circles ⭕️ Triangles 🔻🔺🔻& Rectangular Shapes Coleman playing with Foam Shapes Little Explorers The Schiele Museum of Natural History
Take a Ride with Us on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina
After a scenic drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, it is nice to take a stroll or a crawl down the Scarecrow Pathway in Millstone Park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Bonus for October: Any Halloween themed Which Way Photo:
Includes Water, Blue, Green, Yellow, Trail, Landscape, Space.
Photos 1-9 are all of the Pond at The Schiele Museum of Natural History in Gastonia, North Carolina. Photo 10 is of the North Carolina Mountains displaying both Autumn 🍂 Colours & Winter ❄️ 🥶 ❄️Snow.
While taking a long walk through the neighborhood; we noticed several houses that were decorated with fall decorations. Some of the houses were decorated with Autumn decorations while others were already decorated with Halloween decorations. These are a few of the decorations we saw on our walk.
October 14th was the day for the annual Solar Eclipse. In my area we were only able to see a partial eclipse. We had rain previous to the eclipse and a tremendous amount of cloud cover. These photos are from my iPhone 14 Pro Max. They do not, I’m sorry to say, do justice to portraying the spectacular view I saw watching the eclipse unfold.
Solar Eclipse 2023 October 14 as seen from Gastonia, North Carolina, USA.
I know they all feature my grandson, Coleman. I never tire of looking at his pictures on my iPhone or on my laptop. I also never tire of spending time with him out in nature. He makes me smile, makes me laugh, and amazes me in how much he is growing and learning.
I decided to go ahead and do a part two to my CWWC – Any Which Way with People Challenge post. These photos are all taken at Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The hikers you see pictured here are all members of the Anne Springs Close Greenway Hiking Club. Coleman and I participate in hikes with the hiking club whenever feasible. When it is not possible to join the hiking club for a hike Coleman and I go to the Greenway or various other hiking trails to hike. (Just an FYI, Coleman has been hiking the Greenway trails since he was approximately one and a half years old (1 1/2).
Yesterday, October 11, I thought I was going to take photos with my Canon, however, that was not possible. Why? I goofed and forgot to change out the battery for a fully charged one and somehow the camera got put away in the on position. Therefore, the battery was dead and I was unable to use my Canon for my photography. Lesson learned, always check battery before leaving the house.
Luckily I always have my iPhone on me and sometimes use both while out and about around town or on a hiking trail. Instead of just using the normal mode I switched the iPhone settings to monochrome and proceeded to snap shots at the Schiele Museum’s Block Party, Dinosaur Theatre, And The Farm.
For this Cee’s CMMC this week I thought I would show you some of the Plum (purple) Coleman and I have seen this week on our hiking adventures at The Schiele Museum of Natural History and along trails at the Warlick Family YMCA. They range from purple colored wood on the maze to purple canoes and plenty of purplish flowers. Hope y’all will enjoy the slideshow.
Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography 