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Although it is near the end of October, some of our re-blooming iris are now putting on a show. Our Hemstitched iris is in full bloom in our front flower bed.

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I had to use my telephoto lens to get this picture of this bull elk in the Cataloochee Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But those antlers were just begging to be photographed.

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Last Tuesday Betsy and I interrupted our trip to Maggie Valley, North Carolina, in order to take a hike to an overlook on Balsam Mountain. Before reaching the overlook I looked up and discovered gold.

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This past Tuesday Betsy and I drove Newfound Gap Road through the Smokies from Tennessee to North Carolina. This picture was taken at an overlook near Chimney Tops.

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I have been trying to learn to use the manual settings on my camera, which means I have to stop and think instead of simply pressing the shutter.

As a result I've found myself looking up through the colorful autumn leaves rather than simply looking at them. This is what my camera and I saw Sunday at Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee.

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Okay, this is really the golf course that is behind our house, but I was standing in our back yard when I took the picture.

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Although this picture was taken last year, we are starting to see autumn color here on the Plateau. We don't have anything quite this vibrant yet, but we're hopeful.

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Bewitched is a bright pink rose that we enjoy in our large rose bed.  It has a delightful fragrance to go along with its pleasing color and form.

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Monday afternoon Betsy and I went out to take some pictures in the afternoon light.  This Burning Bush is next to our neighbor's house.

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Meigs Falls is the only waterfall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that can be seen from the road.  The picture above was taken from a pullout on Little River Road between Townsend and Gatlinburg.  It's good that the pullout provides good views, since no trail to the waterfall exists.

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We could really use some rain here on the Plateau in Tennessee, but none is predicted for the next few days.  However, we've had some brilliant (but cloudless) blue skies.  The picture above, straight out of the camera, was taken in our yard.

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Many beach communities have learned that dunes can provide some protection in case of a hurricane.  The sea oats in this picture are protecting the dunes at Sunset Beach, North Carolina.  The access path to the beach gave a nice view over the dunes out to sea.

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We've had this rose, Aromatherapy, for about three years.  It's a very fragrant rose, although it also has a very pleasing color and form.

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If you've visited this site very often, you know that I thoroughly enjoyed my visits to the Great Wall. This picture was taken near Beijing when I first visited the wall in 1987.

The picture above was scanned from a slide.

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Our hot, humid weather finally ended about three weeks ago. In addition to cooler temperatures we also got some brilliant blue skies. This picture was taken in our back yard a little over two weeks ago.

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Another of our re-blooming daylilies has started putting on an autumn show. I took this picture of South Sea Daylily on Saturday. It bloomed in the Spring and looks just as lovely in October.

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Little River Road in the Smokies is one of our favorite drives. There are many pullouts that allow us to get out of the car and enjoy the view of the water rushing over and around rocks and boulders. The water is usually very clear and often, as in this picture, has an amazing color.