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This is the grand finale in my series of milkweed pods. (If you open that link, please be sure to scroll down to see all three phases.) The dried, crackly pods have finally burst open, setting free thousands of fluffy down seed parachutes to insure that next year the cycle will begin again.
Every La Crosse local is familiar with the prominent "pink frosting" house, located at the intersection of Losey Blvd. and King St., just beneath Granddad's Bluff. It resides in a lovely old neighborhood, but because Losey is the main drag through the city, it has become a land mark of sorts.
A decade or so ago, one owner painted the stucco house a more benign terra cotta color. Gasp! There must have been objections, because shortly thereafter, it was once again re-painted pink.
I recently found out that one of our friends from high school purchased the place a few years ago. Apparently, her grandfather was the electrician when it was built in 1927. It's built in the Moroccan style of architecture by Otto Merman. There is a rumor that the home was a speakeasy during prohibition with a bar in the basement and a secret hiding place under the stairway. You can read more history about it here. [Select the April 2009 newsletter .PDF.]
I visited some family members in La Crosse, WI, this past weekend. Granddad's Bluff, which towers 580 feet above the city, is one of the area's main natural attractions. The photo above shows the point from the city below. Bliss Road, which winds all the way to the top of Granddad's, was shut down several years ago due to structural flaws and crumbling of the rocks under the road. After lots of political debate, it was eventually repaired and reopened this year. I was excited to finally go back up to the top during my visit.
The view below shows a retaining fence, which supposedly keeps people from getting too close to the edge. The bluffs are made of sandstone and chert, which are soft and unstable rocks. But, naturally, there are always those daring souls who walk around it and try to get to the look-out area below. Sadly, a young high school girl recently slipped to her death from here, hence all the flowers and memorials tied to the fence.
Still, it is a beautiful view. The houses in the lower left are part of the city of La Crosse. The forested area and the marsh beyond is Myrick Park (where I took these eagle shots last spring.) The expanse moves into north La Crosse and neighboring Onalaska. The bluffs in the distance are on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi. I hope to post a few more photos of the area in the days ahead.
...and heading east into Brookfield down Capitol Drive. I took this recent shot on my way into work one cloudy morning. You can see the giant water tower straight ahead up on the corner of Capitol and Calhoun Roads.
...or at least that's part of the message someone left on this graffiti-laden box car. I'm not sure what the main message is supposed to be, either. One of many train cars passing by the Duplainville Road crossing in the city of Pewaukee.
With the recent time change, it's dark by the time I get home after work during the week - so I can only take late afternoon walks on the weekends. This is a view of the early evening sky behind the tall ash, aspen, and maple trees at Balmer Park.You can see all SkyWatch Friday entries here.
Ever get the feeling that someone is watching you? Actaea pachypoda, more commonly known as White Baneberries or "Doll's Eyes," grow wild in our area. The medium sized shrub produces tiny white berries which grow on the ends of pretty hot pink or red stalks. They do brighten the woods on a dark & stormy autumn day, but the berries (and the entire plant) are highly poisonous to humans.
The berries really do look like little eyeballs (see close-up above.) However, they contain cardiogenic toxins which can have an immediate sedative affect on human cardiac muscle tissue, and are the most poisonous part of the plant. Ingestion of the berries can lead to cardiac arrest and death. The berries are harmless to birds, the plant's primary seed dispersers.
During our walk on Sunday afternoon, Nik and I passed by George's barn on the corner of Swan & Lindsay roads. His little miniature horse called "Patches" was out, and Nik was more than a little curious, as they had never met before. Nik is familiar with regular horses that we meet on the Ryan Road trails, and gives them a wide path. She's also met George's goats and shows no real interest in them. Patches, however, is very friendly and and more her size. They sniffed noses and Nik's tail wagged happily. As we left to continue on our walk, Nik looked back and did her "Woo-Roo" bark, as if to say good-bye.
The best costume dropping by our door on Halloween eve was one of the Klement's Racing Sausages - a unique feature at County Stadium's Miller Park during the Milwaukee Brewers games. This young fan is "Stash," the Polish Sausage. You can see all of the racing links here!
The City Daily Photo theme for this month is "doorways." I don't have an image of one to post here today, but this view down a lonely nearby road, flanked with golden maples, seems to represent the "doorway to November."
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.
