Posts Tagged ‘images’
Two Views
Winter here comes with a variety of looks. I captured two recently that reveal the dramatic difference possible from one day to the next. Not surprisingly, the temperature swings can be just as dramatic.
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Cold Balance
While we were up at the lake last weekend, I captured this interesting scene. On warm winter days, the copper tops on the posts heat up just enough in the sunlight to melt the snow that rests upon them. The resulting moisture creates a slippery junction that allows the snow cap to slide toward the direction each post cover leans. As the sun descends in the afternoon, the copper cools and the junction re-freezes, leaving the sculptures teetering in place at unlikely balances, like this one:
We didn’t get to see if this snow cap eventually fell off on its own, because the temperatures never made it back up out of the deep freeze again prior to our departure for home. I expect they are locked in place for a few days more as we are now headed into what is predicted to be historic levels of cold temperatures for the next few days.
Oddly, we awoke this morning to temperatures above freezing (33°F) even though our predicted high for today is 24°. If it makes it down all the way to the low forecast for tonight, that will be a 50° drop in a day! Since we haven’t seen temperatures go this low in almost a decade, this could be the coldest weather that two of our horses, Hunter and Cayenne, will have experienced in their lifetime.
The barn is prepped and ready for the herd to spend extended hours under shelter of a roof and out of the wind. We have buckets with electric heat in the base to keep their water from freezing. We are hoping no pipes freeze and no more windows shatter around the house. This will be the kind of cold that tests everything: people, animals, trees/plants and machines. I haven’t heard how deep the frost has reached into the ground this year, but I expect it is getting deeper than it has been for a long while.
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Sledding Fun
Julian created some fun gif images showing our sledding adventures up at the lake place. Here are a couple with he and Jose taking some runs down the hill onto the lake. Just click on them to see the motion!
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Sounds like our guests got out of here in the nick of time. The days ahead are predicted to be colder than it was last week. It has been a long time since we had a winter as cold and snowy as this one has been thus far.
It has me thinking maybe I should have lobbied harder to be allowed to hide in one of their suitcases on their trip home.
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Marco’s Pictures
I can’t say enough about what a wonderful fit our two families are, the Morales family from Guatemala and Cyndie and me. We are having a blast together. Also, I am particularly pleased to have access to pictures Marco has been taking. He zoomed in close on Legacy’s eye and captured a reflection of himself, and Dunia and me.
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We are up at the lake place this morning, after driving up yesterday. When we arrived and pulled into the driveway, Cyndie and I decided to give them a tour of the community property before pulling up to our home. As we arrived near the tennis court, I was about to point out the huge pine tree towering over the court where the eagle nest has been in years past. I was cut short by my own exclamation, “There’s an eagle!”
The sun had just set and the light was low, but Marco hopped out of the truck with his camera and attempted to get a picture. Later, as we were reviewing his shots on the computer, we learned the eagle wasn’t facing away from us like we had all 
believed. Though almost out of range, and behind some branches that claimed the actual focus, there was a surprising reflection of two eyes and a hint of the color of his beak.
He had been staring at us the whole time, when all the while we thought he was looking the other way.
Thank you to Marco Morales for sharing these fun images with me for use in the blog!
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Snow Fun
‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house… (speaking in my silly vernacular) we is sleeping in and recovering from the hardships of non-stop eating, visiting, and all the frivolity of holiday celebrations with friends and extended family. We had plenty of Christmas snowfall, which gave me an opportunity to go out and play with the Griz. While my camera has been out for repair, I have been blessed to have others supplying me with pictures to post here.
With that, I want to give credit for yesterday’s picture, because I failed to note that I did not take it. That beautiful image of our horses was taken by our friend from Guatemala, Marco Morales. He has a good skill of capturing images. While we were out clearing snow, I asked if he if he would take a picture of me plowing.
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Doesn’t it look like fun?!
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Beautiful Fail
There is something about the pattern of that broken window that evokes a sense of a bird in the abstract. As if the window was trying to make something that didn’t quite turn out. Maybe I see it that way because it reflects a lot of my experience. I like finding art in unexpected things, and I’m finding the window is tugging at two different parts of me as a result. 
On the one hand, it is a failure that must be remedied. In that regard, it frustrates me because it is just out of my reach. I cannot just fix it here and now, on my own. It looms overhead with the ever-present threat of crashing down in a shower of glass.
On the other hand, it looks interesting. I like the spontaneous pattern that appeared, unaided. Part of me is wishing we could keep it. Of course, I am all about balance and symmetry, so I would need the window on the other side to somehow fracture, as well. Picture me trying to initiate that happening. Epic fail.
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Just This
I am short time to write for today. Why am I short time? I have returned to putting in hours at the day-job. I have been unsuccessful in finding something closer to home, so I have returned to what I know and do best. Unfortunately it is an hour’s drive away from home. Fortunately, my return has been warmly and gratefully received.
In place of any words of wisdom, or descriptions of my follies, I will share another image from the batch I took at dusk just the other day. Here is Cayenne…
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Relative Something 