Trick or Treat at the Barn

They'll do anything for apples!

Tag, the mythical unicorn

The  magical wizard, Jazz

Rocky, the Wood Sprite

(He is NOT a fairy!)

A Fall Trail Ride

Some friends came over for a trail ride.

Ride along with us.

 Heading out

Riding by the big oak tree.

Riding to the treehouse

Jasper & I 

The horses quench their thirst in the creek

Little Things, Up Close & Personal

 

 

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Garden of the Gods

Shawnee National Forest

We took a trip to Missouri and stayed in the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois on our way.

I had always heard about the Garden of the Gods,

so we checked it out.

These are some of the rocks we saw as we entered the area.

Pretty, but not spectacular.

 

Walking the Observation Trail, we followed a nice stone walkway.

 The pathway squeezed between huge boulders.

And we were rewarded with views like this.

OK, now its getting interesting.

I thought one of the rocks resembled a duck's head.

The sedimentary rock in this area has been sculpted by wind & rain

for millions of years, exposing these sights.

 Look closely to see the people on the rocks.

They are standing near Monkey Face.

 This is Camel Rock, which will be featured on the 2016 Illinois quarter.

This is Anvil Rock, one of the first named rocks.

 This is Mushroom Rock.

The iron in the rocks resists the weathering, forming strange features in the rocks.

The sun sets on a beautiful and unique place

Kissed by Frost

We had our first hard frost last night.

Everything is glistening with the frosty crystals.

Frosty Blackberry leaves.

Frosty Goldenrod

Frosty Sassafras leaf

Frosty Thistle

Frosty ground ivy

Frosty blade of grass

Haunted Trails

Take a walk in the woods near dark and prepare to be scared.

There are some naturally spooky things out there.

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The crow, being all black, is associated with bad luck and the powers of darkness.

 

The vulture, a carrion eater, is a spooky repulsive bird. 

Bats are associated with vampires.

The nocturnal owl is a silent hunter of the darkness.

Owls are also associated with sorcery & witches.

No one wants to get tangled up in this.

Or have this crawling on you.

Its one big bone yard out there.

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Of course, some creatures get into the spirit wearing masks.

And I've even heard there is a troll living in our woods....

Seven Whitetails

Just sharing the view I had over my morning coffee today.

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