Good morning - I have been on a motorcycle trip up to North Carolina and Tennessee to ride the infamous Tail of the Dragon. Just got home yesterday after riding in the rain for most of the trip back. I won't bore you with motorcycle photos, but here are a few other photos I took. The lobby of the local McDonald's where I had breakfast (no other place to eat there in Robbinsville, N.C.), a collapsed barn with the old See Rock City painted on the top (used to see a lot of these back in the day), and finally some red berries that caught my eye. Only took my Lumix with me, not any DSLR cameras. Just didn't have room on the bike.
"A moment in time
Immortalized forever
With silver and light"
Welcome home, Don. Your trips sounds exciting except for the riding in the rain part.
I really like the B&W barn shot, super nostalgic capture. And I really like the artistic composition you created at the McDonald’s diner. It is a super interesting crop with great lighting, perspective and color. I am being sincere here, that is really a cool shot.
I got some berries that I can share. Be back after I get out of bed and locate them on my laptop in “hobby room”. Speaking of hobbies, how are you enjoying your new guitar?
Here ya go.
I remember walking through some alleys as a kid and finding BIG ROUND purple grapes with a white type coating on them growing on the fences. After you spit out the tart covering, the inside was sweet and juicy, except for the big seeds, which were bitter.
These look like MINI ones but I do not think they are grapes.
10-14-2023, 11:16 AM (This post was last modified: 10-14-2023, 11:29 AM by Man From Ironbark.)
Looks like a grape to me. There are a lot of grapes. There are American grapes too. Mostly not worth eating but they are natives to North America. Native Grapes. When the first Europeans visited North America they found grapes growing so abundantly that they named the new land “vineland”. Grape species native to North America include V. labrusca, V. aestivalis, V. riparia, V.berlandieri. Native species are known for their cold hardiness and disease resistance. Unfortunately, their fruits have lower sugar content, higher acid content (a poor combination for making good wine) and are “slip skin”. The latter term refers to the tendency of the skin to separate from the remainder of the berry when eaten fresh. ‘Concord’, a cultivar with V. labrusca parentage, arguably is the most popular American-derived grape. Fanciers of ‘Norton’ (‘Cynthiana’) could make a formidable argument for their cultivar.
Early settlers often described native grapes as having an “animal den” aroma. Hence, throughout the history of our nation native grapes often were referred to as “fox grapes”. Science has revealed that V. labrusca and cultivars derived from that native species contain methyl anthranilate, an earthy, musky smelling compound that (to most) imparts a disagreeable after-taste. Interestingly, science also demonstrated recently that methyl anthranilate is contained by secretions of the musk glands of foxes and dogs. Evidently, our fore-father had a very acute sense of smell.
Because I couldn't remember the name of the lady who the island where American grapes were first seen was named after.. and that kept me going around and around in the introduction of vitis vinifera to the Americas and the resulting wine industry.
If you know her name and the name of the place, you will get the history of American grapes from the beginning.
Greetings All!
Quite a trip Don! Too bad about the rain! We had over 3 inches the last two days.
Neat Mickey D's shot. As Lorell said, very abstract.
Liking the barn roof a lot!
Wouldn't have a clue what the berries are but great shot!
Lorell, good composition on this. No clue if they are grapes or not.
Looks like Halloween has arrived in my town. Grey rainy day yesterday when I took this shot. Will try for a night shot when the clouds part and rain quits.
Thanks, Peter. That was very interesting. I know that grape vines can be quite invasive.I pull a tin of them out in my daughter’s back yard, especially the ones growing inn from the neighbor’s yard.
Rich, I see so many front yards like that in our neighborhoods. Unlike Christmas lights that you can just wind up and store them in bins, where do people store all of their skeletons, coffins, graveyard headstones , witches, and more. No thanks, I have enough junk in my basement.
" I remember walking through some alleys as a kid and finding BIG ROUND purple grapes with a white type coating on them growing on the fences. After you spit out the tart covering, the inside was sweet and juicy, except for the big seeds, which were bitter. "
That sounds like a Muscadine grape to me, Lorell. Pretty common here in the south. Muscadine wine is easy to find... a little too sweet for me although I will drink it sometime. DW likes a sweeter wine so she likes it fine. As kids we would find them in the wild and eat some. I also remember eating some wild grapes we called Fox Grapes. Might not have been the proper name and as I recall were a bit smaller than a Muscadine. That was many years ago.
Someone is going all out for Halloween there Rich. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Halloween myself, but DW likes to give out candy to the trick or treaters. I worry more about what mischief someone might be up to.
I think I left North Carolina just in time as the night time temps are forecast to be in the lower 40's and upper 30's. A little cold for motorcycle riding, at least to me.
Here are a few more shots of the trip, taken along the Cherohala Skyway. A little bit of color starting to show.
"A moment in time
Immortalized forever
With silver and light"
10-15-2023, 11:49 AM (This post was last modified: 10-15-2023, 11:51 AM by Dave.)
Thanks for starting the weekender Daily, Don. Two impressive sets of photos. In the first my favorites are the top two (for reasons others have already covered). And in the second I really like the shot with calm water.
Neat photo, Lorell. I agree with our expert that they sure look like grapes. It's very nice that the one purple grape stand out so well.
MFI – fascinating information, as always. Thank you.
Rich, that's a rather elaborate Halloween display – well photographed/ I'm looking forward to seeing some night shots.
On my usual Sunday morning walk I noticed the low sun illuminating these tiny blossoms. The version below is 85% - 90% SOOTC; just my usual minor adjustments in Camera Raw, cropping for composition, and slight sharpening to try to establish a COI. No tweaks to values, exposure, or contrast.
Don't blame me - I didn't vote for him!
Nikon D7500 with Nikkor 18-300 mm; PSE2021, PSCS5 Ny Flickr Albums
Don, Lake scene is gorgeous!
Good colors. I like the bike sitting there.
I am going to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee next week. Might be too late for the colors.
