Whipple Dam: Autumn's Gold Fades to Rust

There was a Penn State game in town, and here is a thing you might not know. Before and after the game, the traffic on all of the roads around here is just terrible. But during the game, you can go anywhere you want!

So just after the game started, my husband and I took my new car out for a spin, starting with a nice, hot lunch at Couch's in McAlevy's Fort. The overnight low at our house had been in the teens, and we've been craving comfort food. So it was a meatloaf dinner for him, and a hot roast beef sandwich with curly fries and gravy and cole slaw for me.

Then we stopped at Whipple Dam, where we walked around for a while, and sat on our chairs near the spillway in the sun. The water is higher than it had been. Swimming season is clearly done for the year, for there is ice growing on the lake.

There is still color in the trees, but it is more rust than gold now, and quite a few of the leaves are down. This was the very last picture I snapped of Whipple Dam before we took our leave of it; we may not be back again until spring. In this shot, you may see some of the remaining colors around the lake, reflected in the water and on the ice.

The song to accompany this image is from Neil Young's album Rust Never Sleeps. Here is a tune I think fitting for a water scene, though watch out for that ice! Neil Young, with Sail Away.