Hello Friends,
I’ve been missing here for a bit, but we are back! It is the beautiful autumn season here in Western New York, and I have some pictures to share.
Last week my parents made a visit to the splendor of Letchworth State Park and captured some glimpses of its colorful display.
Won’t you come along and see the falls with us?
We will head down this road to see what awaits….
These historic stone walls add such a loveliness to the view. Here is a grand old oak tree that has lived here for ages, overlooking these hillsides blanketed with color. I wonder what stories he could tell? Long ago this area belonged to the Seneca Indians. This park has a fascinating tribute to Mary Jemison who was captured by the Senecas when she was 12, and she chose to stay and adopt the Indian way of life, marry an Indian husband and raise her children here. This was her view back then.
This is often referred to as the “Grand Canyon of the East” with the Genesee River flowing down the 17 miles of its length.
Come this way and we will see the Middle Falls, one of three major waterfalls nearby.
Here at the Middle Falls is a lovely picnic spot and close to the edge is where the water flows over. See below, there on your left is the cliff drop.
The water drops over 100 feet from here into the gorge below.
This Middle Falls is the widest of the falls, at nearly 300 feet wide.
This shot gives you a view of the picnic area we were just looking at. Zoom in on this next picture and you will see my dad still sitting there on his bench. 🙂
Notice the misty air that keeps these stones damp by the falls.
After soaking in the beauty here, let us hike up and see the Upper Falls.
Spanning the Upper Falls is a newly built arched trestle bridge. It replaces the previous bridges for the trains to cross over. This bridge is a total length of 963 feet across, and rests 235 feet above the River.
Let’s take a closer look.
These Upper Falls are so beautiful, its hard to guess that the drop here is only 70 feet.
These stone steps lead higher to the top of the Falls.
And here is where the water goes over. This Falls has such an interesting “S” shape, where you can see the top and the front of the falling water all at the same time.
And now for a close up view of the Trestle Bridge itself. And lest you think that is not very big, look close to see the “tiny” rail along the top.
As a farewell to the Letchworth Falls, here is one of the lovely little side falls, one among many that line this huge gorge.
“Someday when I grow up, I want to be a mighty waterfall too!!” says he.
Maybe this one is Penny’s favorite.
Here at home, Penny has a few autumn pictures of her own to share with you. The yellow leaves of our locust tree add a bit of bright beauty to this pile of dried leaves in our yard.
We have been busy with harvesting grapes and apples, raspberries and potatoes here on our farm.
Below she is riding the breezes in the branches of the tulip poplar tree, clinging to the seed pods left by the summer “tulip” blossoms. It was a windy day, I’m gad this shot is in clear focus. The cold winds are coming! Farewell to the glorious sunny autumn days, we have enjoyed you immensely!
On a rainy day, the dogs enjoyed a hike to the back fields. Just look at those happy smiles.
Ooo, running water to splash in! We love mud!!
Back indoors, we welcome this damp, chilly season with a steaming cup of hot tea. Here Penny is stirring sweet and creamy chocolate peppermint tea, yum, yum! Always surrounded by apples in this season. I love it!
Autumn days are celebrated with this autumn rag quilt I made years ago, so soft and warm, and my brand new pumpkin socks.
The cover photo of this post is of Penny on a big white pumpkin that I grew in our vegetable garden. Isn’t it beautiful?
Autumn is a season of abundance and gratitude. As Thanksgiving is just around the corner, lets get our “thanks – givers” warmed up. This is a great time to start a gratitude list, and keep adding snippets of things in your life that make it beautiful, and speak of God’s love to you in a thousand little ways.
