Light show

I needed something ethereal to put things in perspective today....

Shadow shot

Sometimes the shadows cast on a wall catch my eye....

A shadow cannot ignore
the sun that all day creates  
and moves it.
~Rumi

Sunset glow

A thick blanket of snow on the foothills above the City of Trees.

Dreamtime

It's too cold out for any flowers to bloom right now, let alone Orchidaceae. But I needed to dream of lavender orchids today....

Rowdy weather

First it was warm, partly sunny, nearly 60 degrees. A storm front approached in the late afternoon and the sky grew thick and black. A loud crack of thunder, and lightning struck a hill nearby, popped our power for a few seconds. Ice pellets (graupel) rained down. Suddenly the wind picked up, blew the graupel and snow sideways. Blizzard. Whiteout. Dried leaves, garbage, tumbleweeds raced along the street with the snow and ice. 

After a half  hour, the wind calmed, the snow and ice stopped, and the sun popped out.  And when the sun blazed from the clouds, the sudden glare caught drivers on the business route off guard. Temporarily blinded (while driving too fast and too close), they careened into each other, chain reaction, causing two 20-car pileups, and two 3-car accidents. Fortunately no one seems to have serious injuries. (And, luckily, I was not in that part of town). 

Such rowdy weather we've all been having -- makes me wonder if the gods are competing in the "weather olympics"....

Happy hearts day

 

 May Cupid bring you love's blessings :)

In the Pink

As seen during a walk. Just the thing to chase away the gray winter doldrums.

Ancient Egyptians believed flamingos were the living incarnation of the god Ra. Do you have any pink flamingo stories or beliefs?  :)

Cat's eyes

Cats are so intent when looking out windows; heads darting back and forth, eyes wide, twitching tails, not missing a thing. I like how alive and in the moment they are. Active through and through.

Around sunset

We've actually had some sunny weather the last couple of days, which is a nice change. 

But I feel for those of you dealing with the monster snowstorm in the U.S., and the horrific cyclone that hit Australia. I've never experienced a cyclone, but, growing up in the Midwest, I remember many times of freezing rain, ice, high snow drifts, closed roads. 

When I was a teen, an ice/snow storm blew in. The next day I walked outside into a crystalline landscape. Ice coated the trees, bushes, building, fences, and glistened in the overcast daylight. Snow covered the ground. Every so often the sun popped out, and everything sparkled like jewels. The boughs of our giant pine tree had been shaped by the ice into a strange bird. Sadly, a couple of our fruit trees had split down the center of their trunks from the weight of the ice; like they had been "quartered".  I crunched through the frozen crust of the back yard and took photos of the ice and light patterns. I don't have the photos anymore, but I do remember how icicles glistened in the sun as they hung from the wire fence.