Posts Tagged ‘sun dog’
Like Winter
Even though it’s not officially winter yet, it feels a LOT like winter out there. The days are short; there is a lot of snow and freezing cold. The winter solstice occurs on Wednesday this week. It seems to me that the shortest day of the year should be the middle of winter.
I was so entertained by the sun dogs yesterday morning that I took a lot of pictures.
Beyond the awesome spectacle of the mystical rainbow circle around the sun, my eyes are drawn to the wonderful contrasting snowscape out in the hay field compared to inside the paddock.
I like being able to see evidence of where the horses are spending their time. The gates to both the hay field and the back pasture are open for them to wander out whenever they choose. Once the snow gets deep, they are more inclined to stay close to their hay, the waterer, and the shelter of the overhang.
I can’t say I blame them. I’d love to take a day off after wrestling for hours yesterday with the long handle of the snow rake to clear snow off the roof on the back side of our house. The extended length of the handle catches on deck railings and tree branches behind me while my attention is focused on moving the business end of the rake up on the roof. It’s a lot of work for my arm muscles, mostly reaching over my head.
There will be no rest for the weary today. I have yet to plow the area in front of the barn and around the hay shed. It won’t be simple because the depth of snow, including a significant drift, is approaching the limitations of the ATV and its plow blade. Since I prefer to not rely on the diesel tractor, for a variety of reasons, I will work slowly and methodically on the Yamaha Grizzly to at least get a lane open to the barn for the delivery of horse feed tomorrow.
Of course, more snow is expected to fall this week so a new round of plowing and shoveling will continue to dictate my activities in the foreseeable future.
It’s a good thing I like winter so much. No mosquitos and no snakes. However, sometimes there can be a lot of snow.
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Cold Images
I am thrilled to present a photo that Cyndie sent me, taken with her iPhone yesterday morning on her way up to the house from the barn, after feeding the horses:
That sun dog hung around for a long time after sunrise for us. On her way down to the barn, despite an excruciating headache from a sinus infection, she called me and told me to get my camera and take pictures of the sunrise. I was skeptical that I would be able to get a workable shot looking directly at the sun with my little pocket camera, but I gave it a try. This is my version from about a half-hour earlier than hers:
Just the night before, I had been trying to capture how the setting sun was illuminating all the icy branches of the trees. None of my attempts were able to match what I could see with my eyes, but I did end up with a sunset shot that I like a lot.
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While reviewing the sun dog shots from the morning, I realized I had captured the sun setting on our horizon the very evening before. I think they make a nice pair.
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Relative Something 