The Lonely Buck

I have been fairly busy lately with the Christmas rush, so I thought I would make a few posts about interesting sights that I somehow didn't have time to post earlier.  One day in mid November, I looked out the kitchen window and a single buck was passing by close to the house, enjoying the view.  I raced to grab a camera and find an angle through a window that wasn't already too far away.  The camera had a long lens on it, so I couldn't get pictures of the whole deer until he walked away.  I wish he had turned to face me, but maybe he would have run then.  I grabbed a few quick photos of him, before he wandered off.  I rarely see a buck that close, except at dusk when they are hard to see.  

Checking out the View!

St Cecilia Catholic Church Gardens

I drove into the parking lot of St. Cecilia Catholic Church looking for a few trees with Autumn leaves still attached in late November.  I was surprised to find quite a few flowers blooming and a beautiful red maple.

Autumn Azalea

eriocapitella hupehensis, related to the buttercup

Holiday Flower Bouquet

I played with some pretty flowers I got from the grocery store called Pretty in Pink.  I used a technique called focus stacking to make it sharper.

Mayo Beach Park Edgewater, MD

We went to Annapolis for the day, so to make it more interesting, we stopped at Mayo Beach Park in Edgewater to check it out.  It was cold, windy and fairly miserable, but the weather didn't stop a couple of determined young men from getting in their time windsurfing and/or kiteboarding wearing wetsuits or drysuits.  The white sail was inflated and the kite boarder with the black kite had a foil on the bottom of the board.  I wasn't quite sure of the proper word for the sports.  

I wandered the beach briefly and took a walk during our lunch time stop.  I expect the park is fairly crowded in the summertime, but was almost deserted out of season.

USS Tulip Memorial in honor of November 11, 1864

The USS Tulip Memorial in St. Inigoes commemorates the event of November 11, 1864.  The USS Tulip owned by the U.S. Navy for about a year as part of the Potomac Flotilla had been ordered to go to the Washington Navy Yard for boiler repair.  Master William H. Smith decided to use the defective boiler anyway (probably because their slow pace made them a target for cannon), even though he was told only to use the port side boiler.  The boiler exploded near Ragged Point and sank the ship on the Potomac River, killing most of the officers and crew.  Only 8 of the crew of fifty seven survived. Eight people were buried near the site in a locust grove.  The memorial states 

"In memory of those who perished in the explosion of the U.S.S. Tulip" and "A sacrifice of lives in discharge of duty and in the interest of achieving peace and scientific Advance.(reverse side)"

The memorial monument was placed in 1940 as a memorial to all the sailors killed that day.

(For any of you locals who took the ghost tours at Point Lookout over the years, this is the real story used during the tours)

The fence marks the edge behind the property.  The memorial is always open by walking in front of the fence at the end of the road, although there is no real parking, so don't visit after a rain.

Nearby Farm

Also of interest to me, was that my friend and former swing dance instructor visited and photographed the site on November 23, 2011.  He was one of the first in our County to die from Covid-19 in 2020.  He was interested in military history.  RIP Allen.

Halloween 2

 Just a few more Halloween photos from last week!

Pumpkins Galore!

 Some fun photos of interesting pumpkins and gourds in the spirit of upcoming Halloween!  I loved the variety of colors.  (Photographed at Zimmerman's Greenhouse and Produce in Leonardtown. )

Striped pumpkins

Newtowne Neck State Park

 After a long wait, I had the time to visit Newtowne Neck State Park and St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in St. Mary's County, MD.  It was bad timing on my part, even though it was a beautiful day.  The tide was high, so I couldn't visit all of the many coves without walking in the water, and the biting flies were nasty.  Please check out my post from 2023 to see more beaches.

I did a focus stack of 3 photos for the first beach photo to add in the white bush on the left.

For once, I actually went inside the church.  The door was open and someone had used incense in there.  It is the oldest Catholic Church in the 13 colonies and was renovated in 1967.  See their website for more information.

Newtowne Neck Beach

St Francis Xavier Catholic Church

Sunflowers in Vases

 I photographed a few flowers in vases using a technique called Focus Stacking, creating multiple shots at with different focus points combined to make a sharper image.  It is easier with certain cameras that have a special feature.  Nikon calls it focus shifting instead.  I still need to learn more about light placement to make the photos prettier.  I do prefer vases that aren't shiny or reflective.  I tried to play with my collection of vases to make nice color combinations.

I liked red, yellow, and green even though they aren't contrasting or analogous colors.  It looked like Autumn.

 

Yellow and purple are contrasting colors

All red shades and green is the opposite of red.

St Marys County Fair

 Just a few fun shots from the Fair on Sep 22nd.

Painted Lady Butterfly