OoooH We have been busy!

 Yes, I and WE are still alive - just barely - and now moving too. Not too far, just a few blocks away BUT into a seemingly bigger place. It's been hell. A few problems thanks to the sellers BUT we are in general: HaPPy. Not exactly really content with the mess we were left with but in due time we WiLL be happy with the place, and have a lot of plans in our near future to spruce up the place! Everyone deserves a decent place to live and grow to love, and WE are hoping we are finished searching for that dream.

So, I'm still using my new phone, the Bison GT2 manufactured by UMIDIGI and it IS marvelous! As long as I don't zoom in, the image is fabulous at any of the phone cameras' six resolutions, of which the highest at 64mp gives me a filesize of 9280x6944 while the lowest resolution of 9mp is 4096x2304 is still sharp also, as long as there's NO zooming of course!

The total resolutions are the two mentioned above, along with 10mp/4800x2160, 16mp/4608x3456, 48mp/9216x5184 and 48mp/8000x6000. Very impressive and I am very pleased with the results!

Here's a cropped version of a pix of tonight and still as nice as can be expected. The below image was snapped in the highest 64mp mode, and cropped about 40%. Just click/tap to see this image in its entirety!

Clouds over the upper Niagara River of WNY

Not recent BUT am just STiLL looking back over the 10000s of image files I've been looking through lately, and it never ends. But one great thing about looking through these hard drives: reLiving the fabulous scenes, clouds, Nature and journeys, and it just never stops!

Road Trip Snowscapes Memories

This isn't recent but I can imagine this would be a good example of how some roads of the area would appear right about now. Just returned from testing a [yet again] new camera at the Falls, and will post a few later. A surprisingly nice sunny day with rainbows at the Falls and warm sunlight! No worries; I hear later during the week it'll be high winds again and cold. Tell me something new....

Icy but Populated Upper Niagara River

Yesterday we were blessed with a fairly decent day with even visible splashes of blue sky! BUT the clouds were gooorgeous! How were the clouds in your area? Just mouse-over with your cursor over the image to see which image was snapped with my phone or the camera!

Today the upper Niagara River of western New York was still whitish with a lot of ice passing through, along with those ice donuts I enjoy seeing! Lots of Canada Geese in the area above and below, along with Common Mergansers and more in the river during these cold winter months!

It was a Dark and Stormy Sky

... and it was also very cold with strong winds blowing right off the upper Niagara River. But to see the clouds and the little of the setting sun that was visible, was well worth it. 

Unedited and uncropped and straight from my A50 and to your eyes!!

On the Road (aGain)

We are on the road, traveling west to Michigan again and have we seen some gorgeous clouds!! I am almost always in the passenger seat these days, and using my handy but broken S5 to snap these untouched, unedited and uncropped pictures from within a speeding vehicle on the various roads, snapping quickly between road signs, microwave towers, billboards, trees and huge trucks zipping by. 

The stormy skies have been very veeery picturesque lately, even before we departed western New York (WNY). 

Have you looked UP recently to admire the sky? Let me know!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that (again)

Though this winter started late in western New York (WNY), I am thinking Mother Nature has fooled a lot of people who thought we'd get a little bit of snow this winter, and not anything like that big mess that fell back in 2014/15 or even the six months of winter snow back in 2017/18 when winter stuck it out till Spring! Even worst was the Buffalo snowstorm of 1977, when this whole area was paralyzed and cars were buried under the snow! Here's an article about that 1977 blizzard 
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/blizzard-of-1977-meteorological-analysis-canada-niagara/78699

Glass of a frozen front screen door!
I love the trees in the frozen "tundra"

Since I last posted, it's snowed three times more, but the in-between times were the warmest yet to date, getting up to the mid- and higher 40s. Those higher temps and a little rain melted all but the biggest piles of plowed snow in parking lots and roadside. 

As I write, it's snowed a few hours and everything is again white, but now it appears to be freezing rain. How fun!! As I have reported previously, WE aren't scared of weather extremes, and this winter we've been out in -17 temps and with gusting howling winds!

This tiny waterfall is cute in summer
BUT in winter, it is truly gorgeous!!!
This is the first time I've ever seen it completely frozen!

The last time we had to clear off the vehicle, it took over an hour after an evening and all-night session of freezing rain. It left about an quarter of an inch to - in some spots - a half-inch of frozen hard clear ice on the windshield and most parts of the vehicle! I haven't had to deal with ice like this since the mid-90s when I lived in Norfolk, Virginia! 

I know...  YOU can't even find your car.
Our car was luckily sheltered from the snow/wind

Just an example to show the depth.
This is probably about four inches or sooo

Not cracked windshield but cracked frozen ice, as I attempt
removing the ice and not crack the windshield in the process!!

Icicles hanging off the backside of our camping minivan 

Icicles everywhere, including from the front end!!

Thank goodness the windshield didn't crack!!

Frozen ice on passenger side of the car. Some of the
ice covering the rear view mirror was removed already

On the other hand, the amazingly gorgeous ice sculptures and abstract snowy drifts that look like someone's hairdo, always takes my breath away! 

Snapped through the window, these icicles were fabulous!

Even the trash can lid sprouted icicles!!

If you live in a icy cold area, have you been outside to admire what Nature has given us? Share your experiences, BUT be careful driving or walking around in the white stuff!!!

Are you seeing and hearing the strong winds too? It started yesterday and will continue all day till tonight Wednesday, but we have been experiencing strong winds about once a week for some time. Last night the winds were howling all night, and was louder than a steam train! Several times its direction shifted, but it still howled, just from a different direction!

Remember you can click on any image to see it bigger. Most of these pictures were snapped with my Samsung S5, which now needs to have its cache cleared about four times daily. The apps don't function correctly and often freeze or just close unexpectedly. Same with the bluetooth, and it's just being a pain. If you buy a samsung phone, be sure its update will continue or else you too will end up with a very annoying and non-functioning dumb phone, like I have right now!

Down on the river named Niagara, there's LESS ice than last year
at this same period of February. BUT, that's a lot of ice cubes!!!

Looking north to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada 

UPDATE 4:35pm Wednesday: Almost whiteout conditions with over 25mph winds blowing snow 

If you can't see and you need to use your wipers, your lights
 should be ON to improve visibility. Be careful while outside!

Not to forget all those little piggies enjoying a
birthday during this year's Chinese New Year,
Happy Chinese New Year! 

Simple Pleasures of Life (Don't Forget to Look UP)

Still rereading pieces of my past as I continue cleaning out my virtual mailboxes.

This is extracted from an email dated November 2014 shared with a friend, and it was snapped with a Samsung SSG S4 I had then.

Isn't it amazing, but Nature has all these gorgeous sights for us to enjoy, if only we would look UP.

Just a reminder (for me too) to look at your surroundings, and to enjoy the simple pleasures of Life

"Almost straight from my Samsung Galaxy S4 is this wondrous colorful image I snapped by some side of the road while lost somewhere in Sonoma County, as I stopped each and everytime I saw autumn colors. I am always amazed by what my S4 sees and captures so well"