12-of-12: August 2009

It's that time again... time for the August 2009 12-of-12. Created by Chad Darnell, the 12-of-12 is a photo project where participants post 12 photos from their day on the 12th day of each month.

I was a little worried that I wouldn't find anything fun to shoot today since today was a work-day. SO... I got a little creative in my routing and took a few minor detours to get some shots from the more interesting parts of the Finger Lakes (in Central New York). I'm posting the pix within the blog this time, so there's no separate link to get to them (and I can add more stuff about each shot).

BTW, I ended up with 54 pictures from today. I didn't realize I took that many. Paring it down to 12 was tough.

I started the day in Geneva, NY. This town sits at the "top" of Seneca Lake and is considered to be in the heart of the Finger Lakes region.
- A friend of mine who grew up in Geneva describes it as the "middle finger" because if you look at the hand print-like layout of the lakes, Seneca is exactly where your middle finger would be.

NOON:
At lunch, I visited two parks that provide views and access to the Lake. It was a bit overcast, so the pictures aren't as dramatic as I would usually hope to achieve.

The weather was warm, hovering around 80-degrees, and humid. (The weather has been rather volatile this summer - a number of intense thunder storms and rain on almost a daily basis).

A woman at the park was sharing her lunch with the seagulls - I interrupted their meal on my way back to the car and couldn't help snap this shot with everything lining up so perfectly. Catching one in flight made it even better.

Before my lunchtime was over, I made a quick stop at the Geneva Farm Market & Fruit Outlet. I could have spent A LOT more time here, but limited myself to the essentials... apricots and plums (oh, and apples and honey). I will be making jam in this week out of these little sweeties. Apricot is, hands down, my favorite jam with red plum coming in close behind... great fruit flavor, tart but sweet. YUMMMMMM!







2:30-ish:

On to Canandaigua! This town is just "down the road" from Geneva on Rts 5&20 and sits at the top of Canandaigua Lake. The picture above was taken during a short break I had before heading on to the next town. You wouldn't know it from the photo, but we didn't have a whole lot of blue sky today.

To get to my next stop, in Honeoye (giving you lots of practice with Native American Names today, aren't I?) I traveled up Main Street in historic Canandaigua. These are just two of the amazing, well manicured homes I passed along the way.
























I wasn't expecting to stop in Bristol... but I just HAD to when I saw this view. Pretty amazing having such expansive farming areas just outside of this quaint little town.


4PM:
I thought I was going to get rained on in Honeoye, NY. The clouds were thick and the sky was much darker than it was just a few miles ago.

This is a shot of, what else? Honeoye Lake.

I drove half-way down the road that follows the lake to find a place that wasn't marked "Private Property - No Trespassing" where I could get a picture of this lake. I was almost ready to give up when I saw the "Sandy Bottom Park & Nature Trail." This is where I was able to catch this view of the northeast corner of the Lake.

My last stop of the day was in Lakeville/Livonia, NY. Here, there is a great little park called Vitale Park (named for the donors who made the park possible), you can picnic, swim, park your boat and just enjoy being near the water. I took a number of pictures here, but whittled them down to two to stay within the 12-of-12 guidelines.

These two gulls were just begging to have their picture taken.


Looming above Lakeville were some pretty puffy clouds. Not sure if they'll bring rain today or just make some amazing designs in the sky.

If it wasn't getting late (almost 5pm), I would have stayed to make cloud animals out of what I saw.

What does this cloud look like to you?









Almost 6pm:


So, finally, I'm in the "home stretch"... within an hour from home and passing by one of my favorite places... an area where I am always amazed - The Weathersfield Wind Farms!

The pictures don't do these incredible machines any justice. They are IMMENSE - 265 feet tall with three 120-foot blades. Each of the 1.5 megawatt turbines can generate about 4.3 million kilowatt-hours a year — enough clean energy for about 500 homes.

I can't help but get all Sci-Fi when I drive through this area. It's simultaneously a little 'War of the Worlds' creepy and walking on the moon amazing.

So, that's my day... a lot more FUN than I expected it would be. Glad I challenged myself to make a 12-of-12 set on this Wednesday work-day.

See ya next month!