RAINBOWS

We've been having a warmer than normal winter so  far.

This week is frigid.

Yesterday, Sunday January 10, 2016, it was warm - upper 40's to low 50's. YAY!!!

It was raining at times, and drizzling at times.

The sun started peeking out around 11am, with a drizzle. then...

RAINBOW!!!

As we traveled from Plains by the river, past Wilkes-Barre, 

there were some dramatic clouds in the clearing sky. 

 Early afternoon, here's the SECOND STUNNING RAINBOW!

Looking through the barren winter branches in the back yard.

Some Spring Summer blossoms

My, it's been a while! 

I've been busy... chasing butterflies, birds, clouds in the sky...

Hope you've enjoyed Spring.              Now it's summer.

1st 2 photos are of a tiny purple flower growing in the bushes. I never saw all that detail before!! COOL!
((There's a link below to a flowers page where my photography is included  & for sale))

You see part of my thumbnail in the next photo. 

May rhododendron blossoms opening. PRETTY! 

this bee is too busy eating pollen to enjoy the beauty of the blossoms. 

http://fineartamerica.com/art/photographs/flowers

I used a dramatic setting on my camera to achieve this interesting effect.

Some Spring Summer blossoms

My, it's been a while! 

I've been busy... chasing butterflies, birds, clouds in the sky...

Hope you've enjoyed Spring.              Now it's summer.

1st 2 photos are of a tiny purple flower growing in the bushes. I never saw all that detail before!! COOL!

You see part of my thumbnail in the next photo. 

May rhododendron blossoms opening. PRETTY! 

this bee is too busy eating pollen to enjoy the beauty of the blossoms. 

http://fineartamerica.com/art/photographs/flowers

I used a dramatic setting on my camera to achieve this interesting effect.

RAINBOWS!

A few days ago we had warmer than normal temps, with rain.

just before a cold front moved in.

I saw TWO BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS, one late morning:

 Then we got back on the road. Dramatic clearing clouds in the sky while passing Wilkes-Barre.

 Early afternoon, here's ANOTHER rainbow!

Views from our backyard. 

The entire arch touches down in front of the mountains on the west side of the Susquehanna River.

Thanksgiving - first snow

THANKSGIVING DAY

 - a day everyone I know in the US celebrates - 

Full of gratitude for all I have and wish the same for others. 

This year we had below normal temps, and our first snow the day before.

My sister's photo.

BEAUTIFUL!

The snowflakes were huge, 

like fluffy pancakes 

flopping down all around us.

(... don't quite taste the same, though) ;-)

"Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand." 

~Henry David Thoreau

Inspirational Autumn 11-11-2014

Autumn in NE PA is spectacular.

This view is of the Susquehanna River, looking Pittston towards Exeter and West Pittston. 

Have a great 11-11 day!

There's more info and a photo with the quote at this link 

(one of my online portfolios)

Autumn scene and Medjugorje quote

I haven't been on here recently, being busy with too many other things, 

but a good thing is participating in  Art on Main gallery in Pittston, PA,

exhibiting work in other regional art shows...

Here are a couple more photos of our local color.

                                      

 I love the patterns and textures together!!

early autumn canopy

amazing - the enjoyment from standing under a tree along the street - 

experiencing the early Autumn colors on a crisp morning...
then getting out ofthe way of a passing car.

and love the smell of the leaves 

as the morning dew 

is evaporating in the sunshine.

This is how much the leaves have changed down in "The Valley", along the river.

baby robin 1st day out of nest

Spring is here - kind of!

YESTERDAY WAS THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

Winter is still holding on, but we just had a warm up:

a few days of average normal temps. 

We'll still have below-freezing temps BUT signs of Spring have started!

The geese have been flying, circling, landing near the river, then moving on,

The mourning doves that had a nest with baby birds last year... ARE BACK!! 

Here is a video of the baby birds last year:

Baby mourning doves - leaving the nest

NO FLOWERS OR BUDS YET THIS YEAR,

but looking forward to seeing the beauty growing all around us. 

HAPPY SPRINGTIME!!!

HAVE A GOOD DAY!

FRIGID FLOW

We've had some frigid weather, 

and some ice in the river as a result.

AWESOME!

Winter in NEPA

Late November is when we started to get seasonal snow. Here are a few shots, all 3 a little North of the My Mountain location in Wilkes-Barre area.

First, here's a view I shared in an earlier post. Same viewpoint, different time of year.

Still beautiful. Here, its quiet calm serene, with a light snow, late November.

 Energetic cheery red berries - kind of an abstract of color.

This is a tree that my father planted many many years ago.

We call it "The Dedo Tree"

(Dedo is 1 way of saying grandfather in Croatian.)

The cool visual cacophony of this composition would have been his style :o) 

late day cloud-gazing - animals in the sky?

I was taking a few shots of the evening sky. It got pretty dramatic - heated - active - impressive.

I remember as a child, 

how our dad would get us kids watching the skies, 

CLOUD-GAZING.

It was loads of fun - great memories!

Using my imagination I could see different scenes.
The first thing that came to mind is a baby elephant.
It's walking from right to left in profile, the head is the big vertical cloud in the center, the body is the right half of the photo.   Can you see it?

Then I saw it as 2 different figures - like they were confronting each other.

The vertical cloud could be like a bull, up on its hind lefgs like it's about to pound down on the head-and-shoulders of another animal. This one looks like it's got its head down, ready to charge, like a ram. hmmmm, wonder if there's a horn or antler down there.

IF YOU SEE ANYTHING ELSE LET ME KNOW.

The Plane! The Plane!

There is a smaller local airport on the other side of the river. On beautiful sunny days it’s very pleasurable to hear the distant drone of a plane gearing up to fly up into the air, then you see it climbing up into the air in front of  the mountain, and finally soaring across the sky as though it’s chasing the clouds. Sometimes it turns and flies overhead, other times it disappears in the distance behind the mt, becoming an increasingly smaller speck.  After a bit of time passes, there’s the distant drone…  

One day in mid-May, I was walking on the levee along the Susquehanna river near the airport. Had the opportunity to see one plane as it was preparing to land. It’s exhilarating to see one of those seemingly “tiny” aircraft at such a much closer proximity. 

Sunset Series

 These photos were taken one after the other, a few minutes apart, one evening in mid-May, 2013. I didn't change any settings on my camera, but I zoomed out in the last to see more along the mountains.

 This 3rd photograph feels inspirational to me... I love the plane streaking up higher and higher.