The Goodyear Blimp Buzzes Over Mentor Ohio

The Goodyear Blimp is no stranger to Northeast Ohio, seeing that Akron Ohio serves as a base for one of the airships. But it is unusual to see them circle so low over my own home. One of the blimps visited Mentor Ohio today, its unmistakable droning sound resonating through the neighborhood. It flew around the area for a good half hour, allowing me to get some nice photos and some video. Enjoy!

All Content © Chris A. Zimmer and chriszimmer.blogspot.com


Check out my blog home page for the latest information, chriszimmer.blogspot.com, here.

A Male Downy Woodpecker Poses For The Camera

Over the last week, a very industrious male downy woodpecker has been hanging around our bird feeder and a lower branch of one of our oak trees. He was kind enough to pose for a few photos, and here they are!

All Content © Chris A. Zimmer and chriszimmer.blogspot.com

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, chriszimmer.blogspot.com, here.

A Nice Day at the Beach – Or Was It?

It’s getting close to 70 degrees here in Northeast Ohio today, and considering it’s early March, the warmth is welcome. On a day like today, what better thing to do than head to the local beach? Despite the wind – which always makes things interesting at Mentor Headlands State Park – I packed up the camera and took a short drive to the beach. Lake Erie did not freeze over this winter and we got very little snow, which is unusual here in the “snow belt.” There was only a handful of people walking in the park, and the beach itself was deserted, so I felt as if I had the place to myself.

The sky was mostly blue with some scattered light cirrus clouds, and the winds were brisk, just enough to get the sand going and make me feel like I was being sandblasted. I took some photos and didn’t stick around too long.

But, when I got home and looked at the photos, I was surprised to find that somehow I switched the camera over to manual and almost all of the photos were overexposed! With a little help from my friendly photo editing software, I brought the photos back to life. I was surprised to find that the photos looked better when converted to black and white, although they do look somewhat ominous.  Here are a few photos, some in color and some black and white, of Mentor Headlands State Park on this unusually warm early March day.

All Content © Chris A. Zimmer and chriszimmer.blogspot.com

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, chriszimmer.blogspot.com, here.

Train at Railroad Crossing Mentor Ohio (Video)

While stopped at a railroad crossing yesterday, I thought I would pass the time by recording the train as it traveled by. The location is Station Street (westbound) in Mentor Ohio.

This location was the scene of a huge train derailment in 1905 (the 20th Century Limited). I recall another train derailment in more recent history – sometime around the 1980s or 1990s (I can't find the exact date). There was also another large derailment about 2 miles east of this location in 2007.  Needless to say, when I get stopped anywhere near one of the  railroad crossings in Mentor, I always try to keep my distance...



All Content © Chris A. Zimmer and chriszimmer.blogspot.com

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, chriszimmer.blogspot.com, here.