Here we are, plunging into a new year and a new decade. I'm heading into the third year of this blog (!!) and somehow I feel that I'm in rotation mode with a lot of this stuff. Of course, that's pretty much how life goes (mine in any event), but just in case some of you have been around for a while and think I'm covering the same ground in different ways, you're right. Sorry. I just want you to know that I*have* noticed this myself. On the other hand, it's a pretty pleasant lifestyle and it keeps me entertained, so don't hold your breath waiting for dramatic changes. As per usual, our little part of the family (husband Jim, grandson Mark and I, plus various dogs) saw the New Year in quietly. Neither Jim nor I even tried for midnight, but Mark did manage it. Not sure about the dogs. I'm not a "resolutions" person (this goes along with my general "no goals" mindset), so for me it's just a matter of carrying on with the things I enjoy (art, horses, photography, in no particular order) and trying to tread water ahead of the tide of household chaos that always seems about to overtake me.
One of the things I undertake at each year's end is the sorting, editing and burning to CD of the vast multitude of family photos amassed in the previous twelve months. I started with the grand-dogs, and shot one today is of Arrow, taken during a backyard play at her place late last winter. I love her intensity, sense of drama, and athletic ability.
Shot two is another one from the shoot of the previous weekend. This was taken as the sun was rising, which produces a very warm light. I had stopped by the small old observatory on the university campus for some shots, and as I got out of the van this flock of pigeons exploded from the roof of an old part of the university medical complex. I thought I had missed them until I downloaded these shots, as they were moving pretty quickly.
Shot three is of the "blue moon" of New Year's eve. Not only not blue, but actually a very rosy red colour as it appeared in the eastern sky. I haven't been able to ride since before Christmas due to a thrown horseshoe and a missing farrier, but I go out to the stables daily to check on Alpac and get my barn fix. Mark came with me on New Year's eve, and we planned our trip to coincide with moonrise so we could get these shots. No tripod, and too darn cold anyway to mess around with equipment, but I did the best I could. I couldn't get over how very large the moon was when it was low in the sky. Well worth the cold hands to witness this.
New Year's day was when I opted (not a good idea as it turned out) to head down to the river weir to get some shots of the geese that overnight on the ice shelf on the water's edge. It was thirty-four below with a wind chill warning that made it feel like the low forties, and in retrospect it was one of those "what was I thinking?" experiences. I can't even claim to have taken great photos as the light wasn't good, the sunrise being only of the "so-so" nature. Shot four is one from that outing. You can see the water dropping over the edge of the weir in the lower right quadrant, and the dark line of the sleeping Canada geese and a few ducks in the middle distance, outlining the meeting point between ice and water. The large buildings on the far bank are part of the ever-expanding and seemingly never finished complex of hospital buildings on the university campus.
Shot five shows one of the faithful little nuthatches that frequent our nut feeder. This has been an odd year for birds, with numbers of individuals and of species not what we have seen in other years. Other friends who feed birds report the same thing, so it's not just us. We have two or three nuthatches that are "regulars" and they are relatively easy to photograph as they are quite bold and not bothered by people unless we get very close.
I wish I could show you the spectacular shot that didn't happen earlier today. Since it was very grey and snowing lightly (and since I almost never see anything of interest on this daily drive), I opted not to take the camera with me to the barn. Bad move, since I missed the all-time best coyote photo op that has ever presented itself to me. Lesson learned, at least until next time!!
