Alice's Grand Adventures: My 366-day photography project: week twelve

It's Monday! The day for the weekly update of my 366-day photography challenge. It is hard to believe that almost three months have passed since I began the challenge. I am nearly one-quarter of the way through this project. Summer has melted into autumn. My green world has exploded into warm colors and flying leaves.

Last week, on Tuesday, I had a gardening job. My task was to clean up flower beds and to prune two shrubs. Normally, I won't prune shrubs in October, but these shrubs really want to be trees, and they were blocking my customer's windows. The bridge and the river are the views that my customer has every day. It was fun to work there because I like having my hands in the ground and because I really enjoy that view.

On Wednesday, I went out to lunch with Jean and Lee. We went to The 577 in Niagara Falls and enjoyed delicious Lebanese food. The large jug above sits in Lee's garden. It was designed and made by Lee's son, Neil, who is a professional sculptor.

There is the delicious Lebanese food. It was a very enjoyable meal. We all left the restaurant, full and happy.

On Thursday, I went to a twice-monthly painting class at Stella Niagara in Lewiston, New York. Our theme for this class was autumn. This was my painting, celebrating autumn.

Lewiston is nicely decorated for autumn and for Halloween.

Lewiston is a very attractive and walker friendly village in Niagara County. It is located on the Niagara gorge. There are a great variety of shops and restaurants in Lewiston. There is also a state park, called "Artpark." During the summer, one can go to musical performances there. It is a popular destination.

This was a very attractive pumpkin display.

On Friday morning, I placed the bear in front of the two white pumpkins that I had purchased in Lewiston. Eventually, these pumpkins will become pumpkin bread, and I will toast the seeds.

Pear-apple sauce, peach-pear sauce, and applesauce, all made by me. Yummy for the tummy!!!

This tree belongs to the neighbor. It is a beautiful birch.

On Saturday, I went to Trinity United Methodist Church's annual fall festival. They served a variety of foods, including soup, German potato salad, macaroni and choose, Korean beef and chicken, and much more. There was a basket raffle and a quilt display. They also had activities for kids. One of the activities was called "trunk or treat." Cars were lined up, and there was candy inside the trunks for the kids. Each car's trunk was decorated in a different and creative way. They also had a craft room for kids. In addition, there was a "haunted corridor." I went through that. It was dark and most definitely haunted. It was fun and a good fright.

These are some of the things that were raffled off. There were also gift cards to a number of Grand Island businesses.

The church's new pastor, Sung Ho Lee, and his wife, Jung Lee, prepare Korean barbecue. Pastor Lee has been at Trinity United Methodist Church since July 1st. Being a minister is a second career for Pastor Lee. He has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and had previously worked in industry, developing catalysts to remove air pollutants.

"I am so blessed to be the pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church," Pastor Lee said. "The people here have a strong faith. They have wonderful gifts and talents and they are eager to serve the community with their faith. I have lots of fun in this church."

This is Sherry Miller with her granddaughters, Kinsey and Faith. Sherry is an evil minion, and the grand daughters are Princess Anna and Princess Elsa. In addition to being an evil minion, Sherry is in charge of "trunk or treat." She said that her favorite thing about the fall festival is that "it brings generations together." Kinsey, age six, said that she likes getting candy. Faith, age three, said, "I like grandma, and I like playing dress up."

Here is a haunted trunk. Be ware of the Zombie crossing. Be very wary.

As I started walking home, I noticed this nicely arranged leaf display. No, I did not rearrange the leaves!!! It rained off and on. Fortunately, I brought my umbrella so I had a roof over my head!

This is Woods Creek. Notice the shoreline. There could be some more native plantings along the shoreline. These would include black-eyed Susan, Joe Pye weed, coneflower, milkweed (which attracts monarch butterflies), and maybe some trees and shrubbery. These plants will help to protect the shoreline from erosion.

On Sunday, I went to Riverside-Salem Environmental Chapel. The day's presenter was Evelyn Brady, who facilitated discussion on her late husband's book. Hugh Brady had been a priest until he married. He wrote a book titled A Spirituality of Being Human. Our discussion centered on personal transformation. When we have a transformational moment, we grow in our humanity. We learn to see and to feel the value of people.

We talk about how people are able to change. We are not fixed in form but, instead, are always in the process of becoming. We create ourselves in our world. We learn to understand that we can just be ourselves with all of our limitations, weaknesses, and gifts. We also learn to understand that everything is sacred, including the trees, the river, the grass, the sky, and one another.

After our discussion, which will continue next week, we shared a delicious potluck dinner.

This morning, I took a walk in Buckhorn Island State Park. It is a wildlife sanctuary. This is the place where I began my photographic journey on August 1st. I came back today to take pictures of Buckhorn in the middle of autumn.

Here is the entrance to the walking trail at Buckhorn Island State Park.

Here are a few pictures from my little Buckhorn adventure.

The fall foliage glows in the clear sky.

There is so much marshland in Beaver Island State Park.

So many views. I really like this one because it looks as if the bridge is the frame of the "painting."

After leaving the park, I came across this furry friend. After several attempts, I managed to take this picture of the furry friend. It was very busily collecting nuts.