This winter has been so lovely; I will hate to see it leave. Here are some of the really cool ice formations we saw at Alum Creek the other night! It was beautiful. It was muddy in spots, but no one lost a shoe. 😉
The clouds were exciting today, and Juni and I took a long adventure at Alum Creek. It was a bit chilly, the ice sounded like wind chimes in the waves. Juni was pulling here and there, and wanted to get leaves dancing across the ice. Silly dog would have had an icy bath had I ever let go. I think he likes his newfound adventures. He likes watching the birds fly around, too. After we left a huge owl flew past the car! I saw where it landed and took its picture. It was 40 minutes after sundown so the picture stinks, but wow! I don’t see owls very often. In fact it has been 2 years since I have seen any, and then it was really only a glimpse as the pair I startled in the woods flew away from me, no shot at all. All in all, a great evening with my pal.
These photos are from yesterday, and show a bit more of the story of the interesting clouds. They were enormous and spanned the sky. Maybe that is what the vultures were talking about, “The clouds are THIS big”? Ha ha. Anyway, if you are a cloud expert and know what these clouds might be, I would love to know. I am pretty sure they are Arcus clouds which can come in the form of roll clouds or shelf clouds. There also were a few cumulus clouds floating below the roll clouds. There could also be some cirrocumulus. Keep in mind, I am not expert and this is my best educated guess. If you can contribute any more information, I would LOVE it!!
Escape: All that is in my head is to the tune of, “If you like pina-coladas…” where we’ll plan our escape. That is almost as bad as having a “little ditty, ’bout Jack and Diane” stuck in your head. Or is it….?
For my “Escape” photos, I chose a fast flying friend, the swallow, so hard to capture…zoom, 2 photos of people fishing, and a person kayaking. All 4 were taken up at Alum Creek. My place to escape the rat race.
Last but not least, a photo with my kids down by the water. They love climbing down the giant, steep rock hill from the top of the dam. They are good at it, but I still worry like a mother hen. I know I would have loved it as a kid, way back when I was a lot more brave and daring than I am now. I used the “Colorstrokes” program to create the black and white with color part. It is extremely easy to use. I have a Mac, in case you want to try the Colorstrokes. I got it through their store, and it wasn’t expensive either, if I remember correctly. My daughter loves playing with it too.
This is the view from yesterday looking down from the bridge on the dam at Alum Creek. The swallows are flying and swooping and catching the insects. Good God, they are FAST! Â And so pretty. I also like the texture of the water and the sun shining though the grate openings in the bridge.
Finally I finished my year in review! And with not a moment to spare! I chose these photos with the following criteria in mind: New to the blog, nice variety, peaceful, sky/nature, & hopefully interesting. It was interesting to note that while most months my photos were many, February had almost nothing except indoor photos of pets and kids to choose from. So either the sky was totally boring or I was utterly depressed. I imagine it was a little of both, although an exciting sky gives me a shot of happiness like no medication could ever dream of!
Anyway, thanks for a great year! I will freely admit that the weekly challenges are a blast of fun and keep the creativity going.
Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a peaceful and happy 2013!!!!
This is from a beautiful sunrise the other day. Not often do I get up and hop in the car to go take photos, but I am so glad I did on this particular day.
ArtBea 