Posts from the ‘Photos’ category

It’s cold

I snowshoed, Karl walked and ran – twice – early today. The temperature was dropping so fast that I knew it would be too cold (for me!) to do a long walk before long. In the interest of staying alive and keeping my nose and all my fingers and toes, I don’t do even the short loop walk when it is below zero… it has a few steep ups and downs – more risk of twisting an ankle or something and at the very cold temps and wind chills things can go from a funny accident to an ordeal or worse quickly. I will follow Karl’s “perimeter” walk on flat land very near the house for the next several days. Soccer and stick games will work also. Poor Karl! I believe he is feeling comfortable for the first time since his winter coat came in!

Karl will have snow on his nose until Spring….

It is apparently cold enough to use the dog bed on the front porch. But not yet cold enough to move the tail in front of the nose – maybe tomorrow.

I drove just down my road a bit, to the ridge that overlooks the valley to the west and the mountains behind and north of my house.

It’s cold.

Twilight View

Last evening, I looked up from working just in time to notice the rising moon was large and visible over the mountains. I dashed out without gloves, hat or boots to the edge of my woods. The rising moon – not quite full – was brighter than bright and both it and the setting sun made the mountain tops glow a pure white.

I do hope I get another chance at a rising moon/alpenglow duel. The reflected light off the moon and the mountain top snow contrasted against a clear blue sky was magic. A winter storm is forecast for this weekend – blizzard warnings until 5 p.m. Saturday at the moment. If it storms and if it clears for Saturday night, the full moon view could be spectacular…

Sun on the Lake

I took a long lunch break to go for groceries. Karl was with me and we always walk on a path in Somers on the way. The road skirts the northern end of Flathead Lake – separated from the lake by hay and wheat fields. It was a gray, overcast day with very few cloud breaks…

…except one dramatic hole in the clouds across the lake…a hole that let wide bands of sunshine through. I have a fondness for rays of sun through the clouds – it feels like God’s particular show for me. Today, in addition to the rays through the clouds, the lake seemed to glow just to the green side of turquoise, despite the overcast sky. The contrast was surprising and beautiful.

Sun on the Lake.

This does not count

Every morning, I turn on the outside spotlight hoping to see snow on the ground…

…not exactly what I had in mind. I think it started with a bit of snow, but then changed to sleet and freezing rain.

Not a day to go driving about if you don’t have to and I didn’t have to.

I filled the wood stove and planned a day mostly indoors. Mid-morning, I split a bit of firewood just to do something outside. Karl was with me and started letting me know that he thought a walk was in order.

In addition to the slippery footing, it was misty-foggy – I almost didn’t take a camera, but grabbed my smaller S3 at the last minute and then had some fun trying to get macro ice photos…

Ice on weeds. A bit of operator error still – this little camera is capable of better. Maybe another day.

And then the mist and fog enshrouded mountains, with a bit of blue to add some color, showed themselves on the return.

It might not count for the first snow day, but it was still a beautiful day – in its own way.

Once in a blue moon


F5.6 1/10

….or a red one

F5.6 1/13


F5.6 1/8

This one looks “right”, but I can’t helping liking the blue and the red also. All of the photos were taken within minutes of each other, all at ISO 100, aperture and shutter speed noted above. Some refraction of light and difference in exposure made for the red, white and blue!

Earlier, as the sun was setting, in what looked like pink and magenta through the trees to the west, the mountains had a bit of pink alpenglow and the early moon in the clouds was bright.

but later…

Once in a blue moon.