Mindful Writing Day 2012 and Skywatch Friday

Beyond a sheet of onyx lake water, lit here and there by the moon, ducks muttered. Shearing wings above me as they settled their arguments.

Were ducks awake that early under the dock?

I think it was the drowsy moon laughing at my eavesdropping.

 What I heard on a new day over the lake linked to

Skywatch Friday

Mindful Writing Day

 



 

peace like October

You can only come to the morning through the shadows.  J.R.R. Tolkien

On misty Owasso Lake one morning geese could swim undisturbed by fishermen, only shot by a camera. More beauty at Skywatch Friday.

the sky was full of wings. . .

 

 

Laura Ingalls Wilder's observation of Midwest autumn beauty is a perfect frame for these sky shots I took this morning walking a wooded path, looking for deer again [visit yesterday's post]. Of course they had already eaten their fill and were napping somewhere else.

 

It seems the leaves have turned over night in our area or maybe it is that those that did are so vibrant against our clear blue autumn skies.The deer live among the red trees you see in the distance, below.

 

A contrast with the showy reds are the more shaded trees near the lake and their deliciously sherbet colored leaves. You'd tell me if I've  photographed poison ivy, wouldn't you?

See more world-wide skies at Skywatch Friday.

. . .nothing but blue skies

Here are Blue Ridge skies from our motorcycle trip last week. We spent 9 days on the bike riding to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee then rode the full 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped in Charlottesville to visit Monticello and two days later we were back in Minnesota. There's no place like home!

 These two captures are along the Parkway where those mountains were always blue.

Below is the sky seen from the hot pavement of the parking lot at Monticello.

See more summer skies @ Skywatch Friday.

summer storms

In all the heat we've been enduring it is magical to have thunder clouds roll in. They are always  illuminated from deep within and move swiftly from here to there.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. John Lubbock

I am linking these to Skywatch Friday where you'll see many more marvelous skies

life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

all in one day in Minnesota. Linking these random shots to Skywatch Friday.

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

John F. Kennedy

remembering Vincent

Yet another stunning sunrise this week in baby blanket colors of pink and blue.

I                                                                          I was thinking of Vincent's Blossoming Almond Tree painting when I chose this tree along Como Lake to shoot. 

                                                                                                                                                                     

More skies to enjoy can be found @ Skywatch Friday.

'Life is a great sunrise.'

The promise of a beautiful day captured from our deck as the sun came up last Sunday. I'm grateful that spring, though limping, is arriving day by day. Also, I'm glad to link this pic to Skywatch Friday.

quote from vladimir nabokov

only the brave need apply

I saw reluctant morning skies over White Bear Lake this week, Both the daylight and I were slow to awaken.

Eventually the grey clouds dissipated but not before a fisherman had shoved off into the water and cast his first line.

Spring is edging its way closer to us in spite of a couple of nights of frost. I've noticed two Blue Herons, four white egrets, a flock of cormorants, and a few wooducks out and about in the brisk air.

Factoid: one must be tough as leather to live in Minnesota. . .and like to fish! I'm linking these pics to Skywatch Friday.

rosy** colored dawn

Behold this morning's sky as the sun rose above the lake near us. Pink was the color today!

Rosy comes from the Latin 'roseus' meaning rosy or pink. Incidentally the poet Lucretius used rosy to describe the dawn in his six book epic On the Nature of Things [De Rerum Natura] written in the first century BC. 

I'm happy to include this Minnesota dawn with all the other skies posted at Skywatch Friday.

keep looking up

Given my inimitable skill in reporting the obvious, it has to be said:  Spring has sprung in Minnesota! Windy, brisk and sunny it still feels like late winter but trees and grass have greened nicely. The lakes have thawed, boats are out and Canada Geese continue to squabble over property rights. Best of all the weeping willows along with Goldfinches have been changing into their golden attire. Skies are clear blue, when they're not grey, and the clouds seem more to move with more abandon now.

Comparison is the thief of joy.  Theodore Roosevelt

Visit Skywatch Friday for more sky views.

Can I have extra sauce with that taco, please?

Yes, indeedy. . .that was me sitting in my car in the Taco Bell parking lot, waiting for the sun to come up over the lake yesterday. I subscribe to that old adage that all good things come to those who wait and.wait I did.  It was worth it to see this big sun emerge from those gray clouds.

And, as an added bonus, I received my first mosquito bite of the new season! It might just be a long, long summer...

I'm linking my Minnesota sky to Skywatch Friday where you can see many other sky views from all over the planet.

To the best of our knowledge, our Sun is the only star proven to grow vegetables.    

 Philip Scherrer

what a difference an hour makes up north

At 6:30 this morning I took this photo from my usual spot at Caribou Coffee as the sun was pouring in from the east. A lovely sight, warm and full of promise of a sunny day. What a contrast to the photo below taken in my front yard close to an hour later where big fluffy snowflakes are falling.

I had intended to wax poetic as I posted the first photo for Skywatch Friday all about how there is a definite sweetness in March, a little preview of spring and all that. Will save that for next time and link this contradiction to Skywatch Friday here.

♥

here we go again

Up north we had a bit of Leap day oddness in the form of several inches of fresh snow overnight. We've had buttermilk skies off and on all week so this photo is a pretty good example to be added to Skywatch Friday shots.

'you can't keep Minnesotans off the water'

Minnesotan ice fishermen are jumping for joy since we've finally been in the single digits this week, weather wise [I was meaning not I.Q.-wise, but then again, who in their right mind would sit on the ice waiting for a fish to come by?]. Now at least one or two ice houses can be spotted on the local lakes...usually many more like these on White Bear Lake. Driving by at night some lanterns can be seen shining on the ice, or is that a television screen?

More seasonal skies @ Skywatch Friday.