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.

view from our broad prairie

 Not a breath of air stirred over the free and open prairie; the clouds were like light piles of cotton; and where the blue sky was visible, it wore a hazy and languid aspect.

Francis Parkman

These were the sky views over the prairie I saw on Sunday from the motorcycle. The sky was really that blue. More skies @ Skywatch Friday.

quilting with John Muir

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  John Muir

Like quilt pieces, the blue sky fits neatly in with the leaf patterns. Beautiful autumn days stick around well into November. Look up into more skies at Skywatch Friday.

slow days of autumn

I saw these amazing reflections on Sucker Lake this week. The trees of  many colors stand guard over the lake where loon eggs were hatched, swans stayed on the secluded part of the lake, pelicans and cormorants clustered on a sand bar, herons and egrets fished the banks. We've had bright autumn days with plenty of time to remember summer.

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Skywatch Friday from the North Woods

These are sky views along the upper north shore of Lake Superior between Grand Rapids and the Canadian border taken in September. The shoreline is so impressive with rocky outcroppings and pine trees but no beaches. Its easy to imagine how this rugged shore could be dangerous for ships.

I've included this view of the lake because if you enlarge it and look toward the bottom of the photo you can catch a glimpse of lake rocks because the water was crystal clear and an incredible blue that day.

More incredible skies here.

the sky's the limit

Blue skies I'll remember from bike trips in September as we slide into October.

a contemporary art gallery called 'Swan Song'
Maiden rock, Wisconsin

orthodox onion spires
Thunder Bay, Ontario

Visit more skies from unlikely places all over the globe @ Skywatch Friday.

from the land of sky blue water

More blue skies, from Wisconsin this time. We visited Crex Meadows in Grantsburg where we saw fields full of feasting Sand Hill Cranes as well as ducks sailing around the wild rice paddies, above.

This level prairie terrain was once a glacial lake bed. The water that was once diverted for settlers and industry has been reclaimed here making it a perfect wild place with big, open skies.

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Johnny Depp meets Skywatch

Sunday the motorcycle took us to WineHaven Winery in Chisago City for a wine tasting. O.K., so the first state that comes to mind when you think wine isn't usually Minnesota, but this winery only imports grapes for their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and the rest come from this beautiful little valley.

 

Below is the sky view across a corn field leaving the winery. All in all a perfect day for a ride, a sip or two of rhubarb wine or honey mead, a jazz trio backed by incredibly blue skies and lakes.

See more skies from all over our dear planet @ Skywatch Friday. 

Wino Forever

Johnny Depp's tattoo once read 'Winona Forever'
 

Skywatch Friday from the Land of Sky Blue Waters

Another photo of the highway running through the Chippewa [Ojibwa*] National Forest from a motorcycle trip a couple of weeks ago. This forest is unique because it has both a mix of northern hardwood forest between the western Minnesota prairies and northern boreal [coniferous] forest to the north and east toward Duluth and Lake Superior. And the sky is always huge here.

*The Ojibwa people call themselves Anishinabe in their own language, which means 'original person.'

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its a surprise, no peeking!

Lots 'o' sun for Minnesota this week and at this posting, most trees have leafed out. Its been a week full of blue skies and puffy clouds. Above is my favorite tree in the area where I walk--not yet dressed for summer it seems. Below is another part of my walk where I usually see wood ducks and turtles and hear golfers. Peaceful and busy, full of life.

See more idyllic skies from all over our lovely here.

Poor, dear, silly Spring, preparing her annual surprise!
Wallace Stevens

Patience! she cried.

On the second day of the only two sunny days we've had this week I braved the early spring chill to capture a luscious sky over Como Lake. The water was both choppy and dark from the wind but the sun through the clouds and contrails was warm and promising. Big contrast here. . .so there you have it, blue sky from the Twin Cities! See skies from everywhere else here.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Factoid: Spring makes people nuts!

Late spring weather can be mercurial, and nowhere is that more evident than when Minnesota tries to leave winter behind. Yesterday it snowed several inches but by late afternoon this was the sky I saw near my house when I walked to the lake. The birds were hysterical and a hoodie was warm enough. By the time I got back up the hill to my house the sky had yet another big bank of clouds moving through. Then they morphed into an ice storm after dinner. Really keeps us on our toes! More skies from just about everywhere, here.

"April is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot wrote, by which I think he meant (among other things) that springtime makes people crazy. We expect too much, the world burgeons with promises it can't keep, all passion is really a setup, and we're doomed to get our hearts broken yet again. I agree, and would further add: Who cares? Every spring I go out there anyway, around the bend, unconditionally. ... Come the end of the dark days, I am more than joyful. I'm nuts. "
— Barbara Kingsolver

Welcome sunshine in the Twin Cities has produced some lovely skies this week, especially in the early, daylight-savings-time mornings. I captured these contrails blazing in the sun above the plant where Dave works as I was walking along the mighty Mississippi Riverside park. This was the blue-est of blue skies I saw this morning. Our snow is beginning to melt as we've enjoyed a heat wave this week in the 40 to nearly 50 degrees range. I've also seen my first Blue Heron lumbering along the River's edge and heard the call of returning Red Wing Blackbirds this morning. Winter seems to be headed for retirement. And I, in turn, feel the life returning to my old bones.

I found this quote this morning, referring to women's urge to prevent the signs of aging on their face, which seemed to parallel this winter's swan song and the stirrings of a new spring:

'Most of the time, age feels like a mask--something that I wear, not something I am--and when I gaze fondly at the faces of my old friends I can see them as they were when we were young.'

[Judith Thurman/The New Yorker]

More skies to enjoy at Skywatch Friday.

Headline: spring comes in February from now on

Its official: I'm sick of winter. So, I rummaged through my favorite sky photos from last summer when we rode the motorcycle to Iowa and back along the Mississippi River. The corn was high, hay was already cut once or twice and that big, blue Midwestern sky was incredibly full of clouds. Behold my dreamy contributions to this week's Skywatch Friday.

Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved. — Søren Kierkegaard