Again it's all White!

We woke this morning to a white wonderland again. It had snowed through the night, and all the remaining tiny streaks of whiteness still seen after two days after the rainfall, were all again repainted in white again. I know for many who live or have lived in those areas seeing regular snowfall, it may be a bit tiring to be lost in the white, but I have lived so few times in the snow that it still transforms me to a running crazy kid every time I see that stuff falling. As an adult, I know the complexities of snow and its origin, but still, it's better just to not think and just enjoy snow as one of Life's simple pleasures.

Yesterday we went searching once again for the Snowy Owl, but it wasn't around. We saw instead a few Bald Eagles and hawks, but no owls.

This immature Bald Eagle flew right over us!!

Then we saw what seemed to be a Merlin (falcon) perching on a tree branch holding with one claw a caught prey. Poor bird but it will make that Merlin very happy!

This female Merlin waits for dinner to be served
while hanging out with its guest

Still Looking back(wards)

Working on cleaning out my inbox of thousands of emails as I have been for many months now, I keep running into those sent emails with images! It's so thought-provoking to see these past moments of my Life now, and makes me sad yet proud of what I have seen and photographed. 

These are from 2015 and in San Francisco ~ where I was at the time ~ where "we" were to be one of the "lucky" areas of the USA to be able to see the Blood Moon eclipse then. We actually were not believing all that stuff about luck, as San Francisco gets a lot of clouds and fog, which was forecast for that day....  

I went to the piers that afternoon to await the sunset, and saw many with tripods and cameras, all waiting to see the eclipse. There was a huge cloud front that blocked the moon and any color of the blue sky, plus a bit of fog was present too. 

After the sunset, I turned around to see if there was anything I might be missing, and immediately noticed the cloud front had slipped away but still visible, and the moon had just popped out!! It was an eerie sight seeing a bloody moon, and I immediately started running to get a snap, while many other photographers were running around too, trying to get away from the many other photogs to get their unique shot!!

A September Blood Moon becomes visible in cloudy San Francisco!

Did YOU also see that Blood Moon of 2015?

Seeing YOU while seeing Me

Just a side-note about two photographers, with two different brands of cameras, but one passion: getting that image!

That is US in a heartbeat!

In general, photographers are difficult to capture on film, mainly because they are behind the camera often. Usually others won't think to photograph a photographer while working simply because, they work in photography and they "probably" should have a few pixs of themselves already.

How farther from the truth that can be sometimes!!

I hate how I look in any picture, and have avoided being in images for as long as I have carried a camera, and my first camera was a SLR when I was in my mid-teens. I have managed to stay out of pictures till I left Spain in 2006, when I then wanted to share my "life" behind cameras in so many different places, with my Spanish amigos, so I sort of have given consent to have my image captured on virtual film, and sometimes with strikingly good results! 

HA!!

Now married to a photographer, I have been photographing her daily, especially since she is so lovely and unknowing of my intents! I love having snapped her in Spain, in San Francisco, along the Delaware coast, in rain and in fog, on frozen lake/river ice and freezing cold snowy areas, as I have seen my love with camera in hand, and love how intent she is in seeing the World through her lens.

It's a sight to behold!

Here are two images of us, as I snapped her, and unknowingly, she snapped me too. 

hahahahaaaa ~ enjoy!

First she gets me in a scene by the Upper Niagara River

I see her later and snap her as the sun drops lower
 as the golden hour arrives to surround her in liquid gold.
That's my Sheila!

After the snow storm

Well, we survived the worst of the big storm that blew up from the SW and dropped snow on our western Michigan location. Granted, we were inside for the most part babysitting kids, but we could see the grand amount of snow falling all night Monday, and practically all day Tuesday. That called for me to get busy again shoveling the snow from the driveway and sidewalks. Using the edge of the snow shovel, I cracked several frozen parts of ice that was over an inch thick and more!!vehicles just get in the way

We cranked the car and moved it onto the cement overflow off the driveway. In such snowy areas such as Michigan, vehicles are not allowed to be parked on the street since plow and salt trucks need 
to move freely around neighborhoods and main roadways quickly, and for that to happen smoothly, cars are not to be parked on the streets. Sounds like a good idea to me, but unlike New York state, there are NO signs posted about this here; I guess they expect everyone to know, but what if you aren't from the area?

Our poor but bright red minivan resting in the chilly street

Yes, that is about 4-inches of white stuff!

Monday we took a short walk around the neighborhood, and on a snow-covered trail, we heard birds and later saw the birds too!! Of the three types of birds seen, one was a bird we haven't seen ever, being a Northern Flicker (Yellow-Shafted) which makes it a tiny bit different from any of the other usual Northern Flickers! If anyone is interested, I'll put up a picture! 

In the meanwhile, here is a picture snapped at just about the spot we saw that bird! I love Winter and its stark landscapes and scenes of overlying whites. It's so tranquil and abstract in its own way, but Nature does that!

Unretouched S5 image of the trail

Post-Holiday Thoughts

It's Monday after the long holiday weekend, and it has been snowing almost all night. It's the third substantial snowfall, and by 8am today, probably has surpassed the total of the other previous snowfalls, and it is still lightly snowing!

We completed our holiday escape Sunday late afternoon, stopping at an area east of the lakeside community Muskegon. This was our third visit to the area in search of the elusive Snowy Owl. Last winter was our most successful year when we saw Snowy Owls before we departed to Spain, and saw Snowys again after returning to western New York (WNY) in late February 2018. We DID see a Snowy Owl yesterday, and it was relaxing in a cornfield waiting for a model shoot!

While we haven't been successful in previous visits, we were able to find the white owl on this visit! It's always exciting to see these birds, and any chance to see Snowy Owls are always special!

During our weekend retreat, we also stayed at the Inn of Ludington which turned out to be a lesson in history! Plus the following day's breakfast was a heavenly treat, consisting of cooked eggs atop home fries (delicious!), a quiche of egg and spinach, fried bacon, and several baked desserts among the favorite treats! It was so tasty that I didn't even take a moment to snap any pixs as I was too occupied eating!!

Though we originally planned to go further north to the Mackinac Bridge for a few pixs, it was so bitterly cold with blowing winds that we ditched that idea quickly. 

The white stuff is still falling as I finish this up, and soon we'll go out to shovel the sidewalks outside, and see exactly how deep the snow is. My most recent record of snow depth is Norway, where I was up to higher than my knees while taking walks after a long snowfall. Enjoy!!

A nearby park with reflecting clouds

Yes
It looks BETTER in Black and White  ;)

A recent moonlight scene snapped with my getting-old S5

On the road again

Looking across the water at some nice houses

The lovely quiet Riverwalk in Manistee, MI

The Manistee, MI Riverwalk where
they proudly call themselves the Victorian City!

Victorian homes in Ludington, MI

Victorian homes in Ludington, MI

Victorian building in Ludington, MI

Lovely details of the street in
Ludington, MI

Finally saw our first Snowy Owl of the 2018/19 winter season!