Scenes from Home, Road and a Last Blast of Winter

On Friday, Brian attended George's birthday party. The rest of us enjoyed a quiet evening at home. Scott has been re-arranging the garage - he wants to park the convertible in the single bay, thinking it won't get it's new paint job "dinged". So this is what the double bay looks like now:

I actually like this configuration - I simply back out straight out the garage and driveway - no turning, no driving on the grass by accident. I didn't take a picture of the single bay because it is a complete mess right now. But I know Scott will get it organized by the time Cappy gets back.

Saturday morning - I went for a run in the light misty rain. I can handle the rain and the cool temperatures, but the wind from the north was a killer. I felt like one of those birds trying to fly into the wind, getting no where fast. I guess it makes you stronger.....

That was early in the morning, because we had to be close to campus by 10:30 to catch the last home basketball game of the season. The Illini blew out the Hoosiers!

After the game, I took Erica to the Farm and Fleet. Yup, it's a Farm store and so much more! We bought horse supplies - a harness, lead rope, lunge line, some brushes, a crop and a whip. Oh, and some horse treats.

Saturday night - I took Erica and her friends to the movies. They saw Beastly and the Justin Bieber movie. Erica definitely has a crush on the Biebster (it's kind of cute because she's not the teeny-bopper type).

Here's the road coming home from the movies -


And a little later, we have THIS -


The snow remained on the ground until Sunday afternoon. Then it melted away. I hope that is it for this season.....

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Day 335 - Blue Skies and Snow

We saw the sun for the first time in like, five days. A welcome break from the gray skies.

I took a different route into work this morning, having to stop off at the auto shop with Scott to pick up the convertible. With the blue skies, I enjoyed the different scenery driving in.


But the clear skies were short lived, as a storm system rolled in and the snow started to fall. After dinner, we drove to the hospital to visit a friend who is recovering from recent back surgery (she's doing well) - one of the trees in the elevator lobby caught my eye, so I did what any normal person does - I took a picture of it.


The snow was falling at a good pace after we left and I think we'll receive more than the forecast 1-2":

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332/365 - Birds on the Wire

I have been meaning to get a picture of birds on the electrical wires ever since I saw a ton of them coming out of the Red Lobster back in September or October. I got my chance while stopped on a country road today, on my way to violin lessons.

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275/365 - Drive Home

The view from the back seat, on the way home from dinner. We dropped off the Tahoe to be serviced and went out to dinner at the Red Lobster. Because the kids like the cheesy biscuits. Really, in the land locked mid-west, Red Lobster is half decent.

And I didn't have to wash dishes!

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274/365 - Perfect Autumn Day

Crisp breezes, ample sun, puffy clouds.

OK, maybe it was a little more than "breezy". Here on the prairie, "breezy" equates to "windy", and that north wind can really put a chill into your bones. Brian and I weathered that wind on our neighborhood bike ride. OK, we only rode about one mile before heading back, but we enjoyed the time outside.

I captured the road on the way to picking Erica up from horse riding. I love the sky this time of year.

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268/365 - Autumn Sunset

I love days like today - sunny and crisp with just enough clouds in the sky to make things interesting.

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186/365 - Road Entertainment

On the road again, and the days of reading in the car, playing card games, or "I Spy" games are over. The electronic gadgets we can't do without (me included).



Brian is playing pac-man on my iPhone. I had to pry it out of his hands so I could continue reading my e-book. Which was a favorable experience (reading the e-book, not prying the phone out of my son's hands...).

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177/365 - Train Crossing

Seen this morning, after I dropped off Erica at Jen's house. A fitting symbol of this country, as we get closer to Independence Day.

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139/365 - Road Construction

It's that time of year again. For those striped barrels to be rolled out and traffic narrowed down to a single lane on the way to work.



Fortunately, the delays have been minimal on the way to work.

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76/365 - Along the Highway

A bit of my morning commute this morning. Fog seems standard when our daytime temperatures tip over 60 and the nighttime lows dip into the 30s. With Daylight Savings time in effect, I head down the highway as the sun starts to rise above the fields.



The sun burned off most of the fog quickly, but left a soft, misty film that allowed the morning sun to cast its golden hue along the highway.



What did you see driving around today? If you look for beauty, you will find it, even along the road.

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Mosaic Monday - Out At Night

With the gray, foggy days, I decided to take pictures at night instead. I love how the mysterious aura the fog creates, especially at night.



For more mosaics, head over to Mary's at Little Red House.

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Mosaic Monday - Foggy Days

A compilation of the foggy shots taken this weekend.



Whew, this was my 2nd week in a row completing a mosaic. I created the 5x7 template from scratch, but really, it was quite easy.

For more mosaics, visit Mary at Little Red House.

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365/365 - Sudden Chill

Woke up this morning to single digit temperatures! But, as a result of the sudden cold temperatures, a beautiful, glistening frost covered everything left outside. Driving to work was like driving through a crystalline world.

I tried to capture some of that on the road - can you see the mist rising from the water in the retention ditches?


I should have stopped by the large pond off my normal exit to work. But I took another exit today due to road conditions. Next time, I will stop!

Wow, and today marks the 365th day of my daily photos. I don't think I'll stop just yet - I need to finish out the year at least!

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353/365 - Early Morning

The week before we leave for a holiday vacation is invariably chock full of "stuff". Tuesday night, Scott and I attended our church staff party. Last night, Erica had a late horse riding lesson. I've been wrapping presents, finishing Christmas cards and preparing for Grandma's arrival tonight.
And I had an early morning at work today, which meant that I got to see the sun rise.
A bit of serenity in my busy day!

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308/365 - Afternoon Sun on the Prairie

Say what you want about the end of Daylight Savings Time. I love that (for now) I don't have to get up in the pitch dark. I love that I got an extra hour yesterday, that I promptly used by sleeping! I don't mind that darkness falls at 5:00.

I love that I got to see something different on my way to and from work.

What's different? Why, the light - an hour makes a big difference in the angle and quality of the light. This morning, with the sun higher in the sky, I experienced a light rain shower. The afternoon sun was lower as I drove home, and the clouds formed a magnificent curtain along the flat prairie.



I got extremely lucky with the above capture - sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

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304/365 - Short Lived Blue Skies

I loved the look of the sky and clouds on the way to work. I felt optimistic that the rest of the day would full of sunshine. But the clouds and rains came. Luckily, I have a capture of the morning's sky.



And the picture is a blended composite of two exposures - my first! Read more about how I did it on my Photography Blog.

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289/365 - Harvest

Another gloomy day here in the fields of beans and corn. I took this picture near the horse barn, along the rows of harvested corn. The light rain and mist created a foggy landscape.



Tonight's plans - some warm soup, hot grilled sandwiches and GLEE!

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255/365 - Morning Fog

Because of the morning fog, I made sure I put the camera in the car. I love how the fog gives the landscape that fuzzy, ethereal look. I only managed to snap a shot of the road - it looks rather ominous, not ethereal, but I like it just the same.

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244/365 - Convertible Weather

Sunny, cotton ball clouds, low 70s. Perfect for driving the convertible, which I did - to the grocery store.



I took the picture while stopped at a light by the County Market, blindly, with my iPhone.

Hoping for more days like this - the windows in the house are open, the cool breeze flowing through the rooms. Nothing better!

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224/365 - Kansas to Colorado

The West part of Kansas is flatter than the East part, more in line with what my mind had conjured up as "Kansas". We took the scenic route (the Santa Fe Trail) after Hays, leaving the Interstate HW behind in favor of the little highways that wind through all the little farm towns. Kansas' rich connection to agriculture became apparent as we came upon grain elevators in each town - each structure towering over the road, like a crown jewel. I decided to take a picture of all the grain silos on our route (OK, I do admit I missed one here or there - they all start to look the same). Of course, I won't post all of them here, but you get the idea:


We passed by a windfarm in Spearville, KS. I find these structures amazing and I was so busy snapping pictures of the wind mills that I didn't get a shot of Spearville's grain elevator:


Finally, we crossed into Colorado, but it looks just like Kansas, except more desolate. No crops and no grain elevators. We drove through the Comanche Grasslands where the terrain changed from flat plains to hilly plains:

The distance between towns stretched to 60 miles, with each town marked by a sign and an occasional shack. Not a place you want to break down or run out of gas.

We reached civilization at the town of Trinidad, about 30 miles from our final destination. Here the terrain turned hilly and then mountainous as the Spanish Peaks appeared along the way.


Passing the Stonewall gap, we reached the Bar NI Ranch, nestled between the Stonewall gap and the Culebra Peak. We spent the rest of the day exploring the grounds and the lodge.

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