Seasonal mix

This was last week.  Today we've had almost 1 1/2" of rain, and it's still raining hard--might see 1 3/4" or more.  All the lovely snow is just about gone; there are only the plow/shoveling piles left, and they are melting down as you watch, washed away by the rain.  It's so easy to love snow here, because it rarely lasts more than a week at the most.  If I want more, I drive 20 minutes up to the Pass.

I'm so glad I got out on the sunny day we had to get some winter photos!  I love the mixture of the seasons.

 This is just pure winter.  I don't think there's anything quite as striking as snow-covered pines and firs against a blue sky....especially the blue sky!

Morning Moonlight

We had a clear morning a few days ago, and this was the sight out my window early that day.  During the night the moon was shining so brightly that, reflected off the snow, it was nearly as light as day.  I used a tele-extender on my Sony P&S to get these out the window, and I'm pretty pleased with the resulting detail.

Snow Day

It's raining now, and our snow is melting like butter in a warm pan.  I'm so glad that I went out the other day on the icy roads to get some shots!

Seasonal Color

A few shots of orange to counteract all the snow around.  Happy Thanksgiving!

A Little Taste of Winter

Snow!  We ended up getting 14" out here, with ice underneath.  Love the way everything look covered in fresh snow, and I LOVE going for a walk in it, even though it is really cold--it's been in the 20s, which is bitterly cold for Seattle.

                                                         The view out the door to the deck...

                                                       The deck and the back yard

                                                     The light at the end of the driveway

 And, trying a new telephoto lens adapter for my P&S---this is the "wart" on the top of Mt. Si, from the bedroom window...

If you don't like the weather, just wait....

That's the story in Seattle, especially this time of year.  This was the view through my garage windows about 2 1/2 weeks ago....

 Then the rains hit, and we get more rain out here than they do elsewhere.  You can almost count on it being rainy at home, even if "down the hill"--about 20 miles--the sun is out.  That happened last week--ran errands down in Bellevue and Issy in the sun, and halfway home the rain started--just miserable.  But, as compensation I saw this as I made the turn off the freeway for home...

 And then, 2 days later, this was the view out my bedroom window.  Snow up high, but nothing down here.

 But yesterday it started snowing, and it's still going today.  The roads are icy and we have about 4" or so...evidently "down the hill" there are bare roads and just a dusting of snow.  That's what happens when you live in the foothills.  I get to enjoy winter, knowing that it will be gone in a few days when the rain fronts head back in and the cold air goes back to Canada.  In the meantime, some of the trees around here are really confused.  This is a sweet gum, and the leaves turn really late.  This year all that color got a winter coat to set it off!

 This is the view heading down the road to my place.  Most days there is a mountain visible at the end of the road--the one iin the photo above.  Not today--snow everywhere!

 I'm dying to put some red ornaments on my neighbor's tree.  Wouldn't that be perfect??

Maple Brilliance

Fern edge

Bird's nest fern, catching the light just right...

Season's end

This is what SHOULD be blooming in my garden, if it weren't for the grazing wildlife.  I just have to get my fix at the garden center.

At the edge

Just some pansy edges that sang out to me at the nursery.  I just can't resist these.

Dew-ing the garden center

Is there any better dew/raindrop catcher than euphorbia?  I don't think so.  I love the way the water beads up on the leaves.  I like saying "euphorbia", too.  It's another one of those words that just trip off the tongue.

Grain

I find the grain patterns on the stumps fascinating--the lines and swirls and curves that have been hidden beneath rough bark, now exposed to the elements and weathered and smooth.

                                      Of course, I have to see how this one looks in B&W...

 The lines on this one became strata, or furrows in a plowed field as viewed from overhead.  It's almost as much fun as a Rorschach test!  And, this IS in color---the weathered cedar is predominately grey.

Nature's Windows

One of the best things about the low water, and the accessibility of the stumps, is the chance to get inside the big ones, where the roots have twisted and made fortresses, abutments, and magic-cave openings.  Perfect for little boys--castles waiting to be defended--but wonderful, too, for what the widow opens up to view.  Sometimes the most mundane things, framed, take on a whole new look.

Stumped

I love late fall out at Rattlesnake Lake, when the lake is so low that all the stumps are uncovered.  I love the reflections in the water, and the architecture of the cedar stumps.

                                Sometimes they are just a lonely sentinel on the edge of the water...

...and other times there are a troop of them, lined up in order of height, each stretching out its reflection.

Halloween Castle

This is the Clark Tower, in Winterset, Iowa.  It was built in 1926 to commemorate the Clark family, early settlers of Madison County.  Doesn't it look like the perfect place for little princesses to play?  Can't you just see them in their dresses and tiaras?