pics of my town

[Miss Vicky]

Originally Posted by ryan8472

Vicky, for a minute, I thought it said "WOOT" on the side of the highschool, and I got excited.

Nice pics everyone!

Yeah I don't think that would go over real well with the principal if someone painted "Woot" on the side of gym.

[Miss Vicky]

I took my camera with me on a walk along the creek this morning, and I just thought I'd share a couple of photos I snapped:

I'm not familiar with the raptors in my area so I'm not sure what species these are exactly, but here's a vulture of some sort sunning itself in a eucalyptus tree. Literally dozens of them congregate in this particular stand of trees to roost. They also have a habit of circling my house, which is kind of eerie. They're beautiful, though.



And a hawk resting in a gnarled old oak tree.



Edit: Okay, so I did a little googling - the first one is a turkey vulture and the second is a red shouldered hawk.

[skcin]

Those pics are awesome! Even though large bird scare me a little.

Actually, there was some sort of hawk in my yard the other day. My neighborhood has developed a rat problem, and the fact that my idot next-door neighboors leave garbage bags out for days at a time just makes it worse. They now have rats living under their patio. I talked to them about it last summer, when I witnessed a rat carrying A WHOLE PIECE OF PIZZA across my yard from their garbage. But I guess they don't care. I hate them. But I digress.

The other morning, I opened my gate & heard a russling sound. A hawk-like bird took flight (scaring the hell out of me) and as it was flying away, I noticed a body with a long tail hanging from its talons. Yay hawk! At least he's trying to help with the rodent problem.

[Miss Vicky]

Originally Posted by skcin

Those pics are awesome! Even though large bird scare me a little.

I'm not bothered by large predatory birds, I just think they're beautiful. Large parrots, on the other hand, scare the crap out of me. I absolutely will NOT touch them and I try to stay as far away as possible when one comes into the office for treatment.

Being so close to the creek, we have a lot of problems with rodents as well (rats, mice, moles). The hawks and owls in the area help out some and so do the feral cats, but it's still a constant problem and my own cats are totally useless. They're more interested in trying to get at my pet rat than in controlling the wild population.

Thankfully, though, all of our neighbors seem pretty clean.

[Livia]

I'm cheating:

http://austinscenethebook.com/

[skcin]

^ Lazy bitch.

I keep meaning to take some pics, but I haven't. Tell you what. I'm going to Kohl's tomorrow, I'll get some generic suburban "this could be anywhere" pics for you guys.

[carrie721]

Originally Posted by skcin

^ Lazy bitch.

I keep meaning to take some pics, but I haven't. Tell you what. I'm going to Kohl's tomorrow, I'll get some generic suburban "this could be anywhere" pics for you guys.

i can't wait! i bet it looks nothing like our generic suburban kohl's!

[xdreamsunwindx]

Why did I miss this thread? I suck. I didn't take any of these, but here are a few pictures for starters...



Welcome to Sharpsburg, a slightly urbanized ****hole located just minutes away from scenic Downtown Pittsburgh, or slightly longer, depending on which bus you take, and how much of an asshole your driver is. On every block, you can find a bar, a pizza shop, and a surplus of drunk men with gold chains and mass amounts of body hair. There are churches every couple blocks. Everyone who lives here is either old or dead.





Nobody cares about anything from that sign up until this point. This is St. Mary's, a Roman Catholic church that has been around for at least 100 years, and is quite pretty, inside and out. My parents got married there. They no longer hold regular services - there is no heat in the winter, and there is no air conditioning in the summer.



If you go up the street for a few blocks, you'll find this dude - Guyasuta. He liked to chill and smoke up here. Not much has changed.



Some bars. Two out of about thirty.



Part of our playground, which is safely located along the main street.



We really dig Guyasuta.



Fort Pitt Brewery. We also dig booze.

I'll go out and take some of my own tomorrow, if it's nice out. These are just a few of the more interesting parts of my ~haunts~.

[skcin]

^I love Catholic churches. I don't love church, mind you. Like, I don't want to go to church. Mostly because I'm not Catholic. But Catholic churches are stunningly beautiful, they can literally bring me to tears. Not modern cold boring contemporary churches - gimme the 150 year old gothic style or basilicas. Yup. Love 'em. Do I dare start a church thread? Perhaps an architecture thread? F*ck it, here's some pics (not mine) of local churches.

If you're at all interested in this stuff, please click the link. This is one of the largest & most important churches in the Buffalo area. It's actually in Lackawanna, which is a small city outside of Buffalo - my mom grew up there. Also, I worked for 9 years at the agency affiliated with this church, which was right next door to it; one of my best friends got married here (longest walk down a church aisle ever.) The man who built the church (and also founded the agency I used to work at), Father Nelson Baker, is being considered for sainthood right now. Like I said, I'm not Catholic, but things have happened that have convinced me that he should be beatified.
http://www.ourladyofvictory.org/Basilica/tour.html

Here's another one. Much smaller, much older. Just as beautiful. I was there last Srping with my mom to have the Easter basket blessed (even though I'm not Catholic, my mom is - but she's a Christer, lol.)
http://ah.bfn.org/a/cable/160/facade/index.html