Into the Mist

Before I get any further, let me warn you: this was a THREE-picture day! Yes, it was! So get ready to smile. . . .

I awoke in the morning to another fantastic show of fog and mist. I had an early work meeting, so I absolutely could not dawdle, but I managed to  pull off onto a misty lane briefly - just as the sunlight was breaking through - to snag a few shots just like the featured one. Pretty cool, huh? Looks like one could simply disappear by walking into the mist.

This week's weather has been just gorgeous, like something out of a happy dream of how September ought to be. Chilly mornings; warm, sunny afternoons. The best of both summer AND fall, all wrapped into one. Have I mentioned how much I love September?

My husband went backpacking in Sproul State Forest without me earlier in the week. I couldn't go because I had work meetings. He felt badly for me, and so he suggested, when he got back, that I take Thursday afternoon off and go out for an adventure with him. My calendar was open. Of course I said yes!

I worked in the morning, and then stopped and brought us a pair of C.C. Pepper's Philly cheesesteaks as our lunch treat, which we snarfed down like wild creatures. Then we tossed our folding chairs and water shoes and bathing suits and daysacks and a cooler into the car, and off we went! Seize the day!

My husband purposefully had not told me exactly where we would be going, as he intended to surprise me. But with his instructions having included taking a bathing suit and water shoes, I knew there'd be water!

We drove through Black Moshannon and on to a swimming hole on a nearby backroad that we have been visiting pretty much since the very beginning of our time together. But somehow, we just haven't gotten there much lately. Isn't it funny how that goes . . .

So we put on our suits and our water shoes, and into that chilly water we went. You can see a shot of my husband wading in the swimming hole in the extra photos area. (And as you may remember from a prior story, it always tickles my heart to see my husband well and happy.)

Shortly after I took this photo, I put down the camera and leaped into the water, and actually SWAM. Yes, the water was 52 degrees, which in technical terms is "pretty darn cold!" But you know how I adore cold water. It comforts me somehow, clears my brain, cures what ails me, brings me back to myself.

And so I swam. Or rather, I flailed around screeching loudly, as one does at such temperatures. It is possible that this was my LAST swim of the year; one never knows these things. One can only hope for more chances but of course it all depends on the weather. In prior years, we have gone swimming even into late October.

From there, we started heading home, but not before stopping for one more small adventure along Bald Eagle Creek. There are amazing stands of goldenrod and asters and all manner of friendly weeds that butterflies adore. (And a creek, of course, with a wonderful, leaf-covered frog swimming hole nearby.)

And here it was that I found all of the butterflies who have been hiding lately. They are NOT missing in action; in fact, they are hanging out along Bald Eagle Creek! I snapped some photos, of course, as I am simply crazy for butterflies, and so grateful every time I see one.

I've included a photo of a viceroy butterfly in the extra photos area because I so seldom get to see them! The viceroy is much smaller than the monarch, and it has a black line that crosses the veins.

Now, wasn't this just a peach of a day!? Unbelievable fog, what just might be the last swim, good times and good company, and butterflies galore! So on this picture-perfect, three-blip-photo day, picture just ONE more thing. Picture me . . . happy. :-) The song to accompany these images is Martina McBride, with Happy Girl.