Posts Tagged ‘images’
Snow Shoeless
Happy February, 2012! Why don’t we celebrate a new month with at least a fraction of the energy we put into celebrations of the new year?
Yesterday being Tuesday, my friend Mike and I got together for our (mostly) weekly night out and embarked on a mini-adventure in the great outdoors. We took a hike in the Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area park in Eden Prairie. It was my hope that we might catch a glimpse of a colorful sunset, because the hour of our hike put us at prime time. Unfortunately, clouds settled in and draped our world in the classic monochrome of a winter dusk.
On the last day of January, a trek in the woods usually requires snow shoes in this part of the world, but that would have been overkill yesterday. It was clearly evident which slopes of the bluff area were exposed to the afternoon sun, and which were in shadow. There was no snow on most of the south-facing areas, just a blanket of leaves. Daytime temperatures have been well above freezing for a couple of days, which has spelled doom for the bulk of the inch or two of snow we had left from the last episode of precipitation. It’s not lookin’ like there’ll be any igloo building being done by me this year.
I took a few pictures, regardless the overcast conditions, just in case something interesting might turn up. I selected three.
After our little walk, we stopped off at Lion’s Tap for a burger and fries. Figured I would mention that just to make those of you who know about that landmark institution, a little bit jealous.
.
.
.
.
Up Down
I took a walk yesterday to pick up replacement bulbs for the headlights on my WRX. I had the car checked by a Subaru dealership last week and they informed me it wasn’t the head gasket that was leaking, it was a valve cover. A much more affordable repair. I also learned that my car shows none of the rust that is typically seen in the same year models found in Minnesota. He assumed the car was from out of state. Maybe it was, before I got it, but that was 6 years ago. I guess I’ll hang on to this gem, since I’m so fond of it. Worth the price of repair to patch up a leak.
So, they alerted me to a burned out headlight. I have no idea how I missed that, unless it just happened that morning. Since it was a beautiful day, and I am supposed to be doing more walking as therapy for my back, I decided to hoof it to the auto parts store. It’s so counter-culture to resort to doing errands on foot in the suburbs. I like being able to do something contrary that is also healthy for me, and for the planet.
I grabbed my camera and cut across a golf course and into an industrial park, becoming mesmerized by views both up and down…
.
.
.
.
.
Stone Work
I’ve found myself thinking about Nepal and the Himalayan mountains lately. What better way to honor that special place again than with a few shots of rocks? One is a cairn that existed long before I wandered up to take a picture. It is draped with prayer flags that weren’t catching much wind. The other is a rock I balanced during a session of play along the Dudh Kosi river while my friendly Sherpa, Lakpa, watched over me from above. There’s many a day I wish I could just step through a door and be on those trails in that region again.
.
.
.
.
.
Frozen Motion
This is a close up image of some old ice on the surface of a lake. It has melted and re-frozen multiple times. There is something both chaotic and serene emanating from it. A lot of motion locked in place. A juxtaposition of realities. Frozen motion.
Sky High
The crisp afternoon sky of that recent record-setting warm winter day in January provided a striking backdrop for the vapor trail of a jetliner crossing my view.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Underdog Triumphs
Something in my mind had me thinking I would have more time to accomplish things like writing, with no one in the house to distract me. I may have more time to myself, but more writing doesn’t seem to be happening.
I did have a rare mid-week opportunity to catch Cyndie on FaceTime last night, which proved to be a very pleasant distraction. Guess what. Work is really hard, she is working late into the evenings, felt like quitting on Monday, and had some good results to report by Thursday. I think that is the same description I got from her last week. At least her reports are ending on a positive note.
But mostly, I think the time for writing, lately, is getting lost in the total freedom I have to watch any and every sports broadcast on television in the evenings. Somehow, the Gopher men’s basketball team survived a strong comeback attempt by the Hoosiers last night to upset Indiana, in Indiana! Going into the game, Minnesota was winless in Big 10 conference competition and the Indiana team was ranked #7 or 8 in the entire country. Sometimes team competitions defy logic. I guess that’s why they play the games, and why people like me enjoy watching.
It’s kind of like the posts in Relative Something. They defy logic. You need to check it out each day in case there is some big upset and the underdog triumphs!
So far, so good. This underdog is winning a lot more often than he is losing, in this game of life. I even have pictures to show for it. Here is one that turned out just the way I hoped it would when I composed and shot it. Dueling points of perspective:
Snow Flake
There hasn’t been much in the way of snow around here yet this winter, but I found this prominent flake holding its own against the record-setting high temperature that showed up two days ago. Gonna need a lot more than this if I’m to accomplish any igloos this year!
Relative Something 