Night Moves...

We had waves of storms come through after over the weekend. The hail storm sounded absolutely wicked and put holes in the leaves in my remaining flowers around my porch. 

The sky cleared up, the temperatures rose quickly and then another wave came in, thankfully without any hail.

I caught this sky looking southwest late in the afternoon. They are called Crepuscular Rays. I used to call them just Rays. Grandma called them God's Rays. All cool names.

It was a good afternoon to do a deep cleaning of the little house. That was pretty boring, but necessary since I really hadn't made an effort while I was sick.

Between storms I had a chance to take Charlie out for a nice walk and let him inspect the forest floor and scents. When we came out of the woods, the sun was shining, but I could hear what sounded like a Herd of Trucks in the distance. To the northwest was another storm front heading in.

Just before I went to bed I stepped out on the porch to watch Charlie do his night time thing and saw lightening in the distance along with stars.

What was even more amazing was the fact I could see the Milky Way. By October the Milky Way will 'set' and I won't be able to see it again until late February or later. In the shots below, it is faint, but still can be seen despite the light in the clouds. I was pretty excited to catch so much action.

Lucky for me, we have dark skies here. Only one neighbor who is 1/2 mile off uses a yard light. My immediate neighbor shuts off their outdoor light at night so they can enjoy the stars.

The next morning was fresh and wonderful. I put Little Richard out for his last few days of fresh grass on the hillsides were it is difficult to mow.

He has been with us for 26 year and has had a job doing yard work each summer. He is probably the most handled animal I have on our land. At least twice a day I am leading him either to a new spot or over to the hydrant for some water.

He is a good boy who is getting quite grey in the face. However, the way he still acts, you'd never know he was 30 years old.

December Colors?

What colors does December offer in

the dullest of all the months

of the year?

December is known for being the most overcast and dark month of the year. Well, at least for those of us in this part of the world.

The days are cold, dull, overcast...and the days get shorter and shorter. What beauty can be found outdoors in this month? Last month I challenged myself with November. Now? Maybe I'll challenge myself with December.

At least that will be easy for moment. There have been some great morning and evening skies to admire.

A long time friend that used to be a neighbor and I went with her son on Thursday evening just after sunset for a night hike along old 131 trail in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

When we dropped from the ridge to the valley, the temperatures dropped at least 10 degrees. My friends commented on that and I suggested we walk up and out of the valley. We did. As we walked, we were able to catch glimpses of meteors streaking across the sky. This was at 6PM when the meteor shower was not supposed to be at its peak. 

We were able to find the Milky Way and searched for any other stars or constellations we could recognize. I'm not very good at that at all. We found the Big Dipper on the northern horizon and the Milky Way stretched overhead from East to West.  I wanted to take a couple of shots, but that takes time to do.

I asked Briar who will be turning 12 next week to be my model. He was cold but he agreed to stand still and look up into the sky with a headlamp on.

This was a one shot deal and thankfully, I got it!

Those guys were chilled, so we hiked back to the car and drove to their house where we visited for a while before I left.

I got up early the next morning to continue my early morning walks with Charlie. I normally hike across the fields so I can watch the sun come up and enjoy the quiet sounds of the rest of the world waking up.

I was not disappointed at all. The skies lit up like fire. 

I set the camera in the cornfield and put it on a timer. I trotted out a little distance so I could capture myself enjoying the show.

It sure was incredible. And it seemed as if it were never ending.

Charlie and I walked back towards home and noticed that the only sounds we heard were a few birds and some dogs barking off in the distance.

We had the whole world to ourselves.

Tonight we are supposed to have patchy fog and rain. Sunrise on the ridge tomorrow morning might be worth looking into. Fog always makes things much more interesting.

The colors aren't just in the sky for December. I hope to find something exciting in the forest also.

Looking for colors in December.

A good challenge.

Mother Nature's July 4th Show

I think just a few shots should explain it all.

Our day was hot, humid, and quiet. I took Charlie to visit the Nursing home and then most of the day was spent avoiding the heat. I sat on the porch and read a book with Charlie overseeing the yard.

Just before sunset and amazing storm front came through.

Mother Nature was prepping for a real show.

Later on my porch....I watched her Fireworks or Sky Show.

And that was our not so exciting 4th of July.

Charlie figured out he could have a new perch in which to watch over his domain....

I'd set his rug on the bench when I washed the porch...

Patchy Smoke and then Patchy Fog

For real, that is what the LaCrosse NOAA service sight said last night.

I was wondering what Patchy Smoke would look like. Last weekend there was Canadian Wildfire smoke obscuring the night horizon while we were watching for the Perseid Meteor showers.

Just before I went to sleep last night, I went out with Charlie and noticed the crescent moon was a deep orange.
Ahhh. Smoke.

Charlie woke me up right at 5 am. I looked out the window and had my first surprise of the day. Little Richard was outside my bedroom window grazing. He was loose.
I walked out in bare feet and a t-shirt and walked him to the 3 electric line pen. He went like a Prince.
I'd been asked if I'd sell him recently and I said no. He could be a pain in the butt, but he does a good job at grazing areas I have a hard time mowing by hand.

There was a faint light in the sky while I watched Charlie do his business and we wandered back to the house to have coffee.

The sky was very dull and at first I attributed it to the fog. I gathered my camera bag stuff and keys. Charlie wasn't letting me out the door without him.
He even tried to help me with my socks and boots...

I plopped him into the 'car seat' and we set off to the ridge. The sky and fog had an unusual dullness to it.

Generally if it is foggy and the sun has risen, the fog has a brilliant color...this morning?

It was as if someone had wiped all the colors from the sky.

Yet the sun was already up....

So this must be what partly smokey and partly foggy means.

I felt the sun looked rather strange, almost like a red full moon rising.
Except I knew that it was the sun.