RECENT MAGICAL sunset

A RECENT SUNSET.

MAGICAL.

MOUNTAIN LOOKS NICE HERE, BUT IT'S GETTING VERY POPULATED.
I'LL HAVE TO SHOW YOU A
BEFORE (WHEN I STARTED)  vs
THE SCULPTED MOUNTAIN FORESTS of TODAY.

friday the 13th full moon

My 1st post after a long pause is of a moon I saw early this morning. 

       FULL MOON 

(I believe specifically it's the day after, but what a beauty!)

and it's on FRIDAY THE 13TH!

Wilkes-Barre area looking west toward the Back Mountain, NEPA, where the local highway cuts through the mountains.

MY mountain ;-)

There's also a female cardinal photo pecking at seeds after a recent snowfall below. 

Weather drama

After missing most of the snow and stormy weather this winter season, we're getting some snow now that is actually sticking to the ground, here in NE PA, USA.

BEAUTIFUL!

Stay safe out there! The photo is a different day,, still as exhilarating as any beautiful wonder of nature!

Sunshine is delicious, 

rain is refreshing, 

wind braces us up, 

snow is exhilarating; 

there is really no such thing as bad weather, 

only different kinds of good weather.

John Ruskin

PUMPKIN FLOWERS

PUMPKIN FLOWER BLOSSOMS,

growing, unfurling their petals late Summer

... and a little spider, trying to get away from my camera

squeezing through the narrow gorge,

to the safety beneath the broad leaves.

 Imagine- tiny corkscrews,,,   PRETTY!
First the bud opening up, then it's almost open, with tendrils curling all around.

JOY - LIFT THE CLOUDS

Before you think it, or say it, Stop.

Open up to the peace inside you.

Help lift the clouds, ease the darkness.

Many people I know are facing difficulties lately.

seems like more than before.

dark clouds.

And many others seem to react more often with anger or fear.

more dark clouds.

I've been able to learn to pause,

block out all the noise, 

feel some peace and quiet.

happiness ~ JOY ~ sunshine

I said a prayer that each of us can can feel that same joy.

bright skies.

And share it with those we love, and with those we don't.

more bright skies.

This photo is a recent sunset. the clouds were beautiful... 

how they were lightening & brightening after a dark rainstorm,

letting the sun shine through before it lowered down behind my mountain.

Inspiring.

SNOW TREE Reflection

Today the Northeast got lots of snow.

We expected 1-3"

We got 4-6"

Heavy wet snow to shovel, so I took a break and tried out my new camera.

Here's my 1st  photo with "reflection" setting.

(hard to believe the tree's really surrounded by houses, cars...)

A VERY TALL TREE with treeline in the background... and a telephone pole to the right.

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.

sunset last night

A lovely #sunset last night.

8-15pm, shortly before a thunderstorm, bringing in a coldfront.

Very humid. 

There are thunderstorm warnings for all surrounding counties.

LOVE those rays.

the sun is disappearing.

This is a few minutes later. 

mountain and sky

BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS

in my backyard

On the Wilkes-Barre area side of the Susquehanna River looking west to the mountain range beyond the river and Kingston/Forty Fort, towards the back mountain (Dallas, Shavertown, Trucksville). The deep dip in the mountain range is where the CrossValley (Rt 309) cuts up and through on its way "North".
map of the area

a few days ago

and a few days before that

a beautiful after-storm sky 

and the day before that...

LOVELY!!! Have a great day! TGIF!!

winter snow

 ** Beautiful snow (even if we've had TOO MUCH of it this year) **

3rd photo below is the mountain range view,

but from the other end of town, at a higher elevation.

Here's the mountain range. 

The arrow below, indicates that dip in the range we've seen often in my mountain photos. It's where the Cross Valley Expressway (Rte 309) cuts through, connecting the "Back Mountain" (Dallas, Trucksville, etc.) with Kingston (parts seen below) on the far side of the Susquehanna River. Can't see the river here.

You  see  a bit of the corner of the city of Wilkes-Barre, close to us.

(((I posted a map in an earlier post)))

A couple of winter snow shots.

PRETTY nice if I say so myself.

This is on the turnpike. I-476 

A typical scene, where the highways (and many other roads) cut through the rocky mountains,

creating interesting patterns, and lovely contrast when there's snow.

I'm putting together a portfolio project of fog lifting one cold day in January 2014.

There's one view at Market St. Bridge looking  towards Wilkes-Barre that I'm not settled on yet.

WHICH DO YOU LIKE BETTER?

here's the link:

Choose which photo is better.   

Here's part of another photo that may be in that photo-documentary of that surprisingly beautiful day.

Ducks at Market St Bridge

Mid January - a frigid cold snap

I was photographing the fog lifting, looking toward Wilkes-Barre

from Nesbitt Park on the Kingston side of the Susquehanna river.

They happened to fly overhead

(the birds, not the words ;-)

I'm putting together a collection of photos from that morning:

"Fog Lifting"

They will be posted one of these days at

www.behance.net/christina-v

and a few will be chosed for: http://christina-verdgeline.artistwebsites.com/ 

FRIGID FLOW

We've had some frigid weather, 

and some ice in the river as a result.

AWESOME!

December sky & Christmas tree

below, the Christmas tree on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre looks like 

it's been celebrating already - a "tipsy tree"

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

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) 

Spring blossoms

Here are some of the blossoms that I picked in the area this past Spring, very early June. The yellow are forsythia flowers. Typical in this part of the country - so vibrant! There are also some apple and pear tree branches. They are bunched together in front of a blue bench for contrast.

*in the "Still-life" & "Floral and Foliage" Galleries  at http://christina-verdgeline.artistwebsites.com/ .

FOG LIFTING one early morning

Here are a few shots of fog lifting... the clouds slowly disperse before the sun actually came out. They are lifting up from the Susquehanna River in the Wyoming Valley here, in NEPA. These photos catch some of the ethereal quality I find spectacular in the fog and mist. (ok, sorry, the 1st one's a little blurry, but I like to see the fogginess between the mountains as well as in front.)

The next shows a bird that has a front-row seat to the view. (This view is off to the right of the view above.)

A version of the bird photo is available in the "My Mountain" Gallery at  http://christina-verdgeline.artistwebsites.com/?tab=artworkgalleries .

A wider view.

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.