Just as the sun was rising, clouds were moving into the area. I was treated to a gorgeous orange sunrise accented with a sun pillar, for good measure! Great way to start the day!
ice
All posts tagged ice
The way an antenna should be installed: displayed proudly under clear blue skies.
So far the “cut the cable” experiment has gone pretty well. Special thanks go to the digital television conversion — local broadcasters now transmit HD content but have taken advantage of digital technologies (and new regulations) to add channels.
On the “up” side: we don’t pay high cable fees for gobs of content we never watch. And HD content looks better when it comes straight to your antenna rather than through anyone’s cable system.
On the “down” side: we live in a condominium and reception sucks! We’re only a few miles from the primary TV broadcast towers for this region. Since the condo association forbids exterior antennas, our modern signal-catcher is mounted in the attic. The attic wasn’t too awful except that now the roof over it is carrying about a foot of ice and snow which, it turns out, is pretty effective in blocking TV signals. Formerly sufficient reception is now unreliable and signals that once were strong are now only adequate. {sigh}
Now I’m told FCC regulations say condo associations may not forbid installation of TV antennas outdoors. But the FCC doesn’t live here and they don’t have to deal with the formidable (being polite) woman who rules the board. So we’ll wait for the thaw to return our signal strength. (And wish we had our own single-family house.)
In the mean time we’ve a new favorite program in the wonderful 1960s series Mr. Ed being shown on one of those “secondary” channels. We also enjoy a number of new shows on the big commercial networks and are rediscovering the joys of PBS. Fortunately or not “Downton Abbey” on Masterpiece Classic has us watching every week. Yeah, it’s a high-class soap opera but engrosses us with its characters, acting, story, and amazing sets all shown in glorious HD.
We haven’t yet felt the need to attach a computer to the TV to view content from the Web. She Who Must Be Obeyed does regularly watch some of her favorite shows on her big notebook especially when the TV signal is too weak.
A recent ice storm-related power outage made for an interesting experience. The electricity went out for about two hours one evening. We lit candles, used flashlights, and when the house began to cool we pressed the wood-burning stove into its ultimately practical use. So in our cozy living room by candlelight, She and I fired up our respective notebook computers –She with on online TV show, me with my Web and Twitter activities– and spent an enjoyable evening. Er, computers and Internet when the power’s out? Easy… the notebooks ran on their own high-capacity internal batteries and our wireless Internet router was running on its big external “UPS” battery.
What an odd thing… sitting there in our living room in a darkened neighborhood using technologies colonial settlers would recognize and use –candles for light and wood stove for heat– alongside our 21st century wireless Internet with its movies, email, and global instant messages! Yeah, they’d have burned us at the stake!
It's a beautiful day at Hinckley Lake though the partial ice covering says its waters are very cold. This Sunny January 2, 2011 was a good day to be out but not a good day to remain out.
Yeah, we got s*** last night! You heard me… snow! There, I said it! Two inches of heavy, icy, crap all over everything. It's supposed to be sunny today and the temps are over freezing now. I'm expecting to not have to deal with the frozen stuff –much– when we take Tasha to the vet late this morning. It's a followup visit and an expected second antibiotic injection. (She continues to improve, by the way.) In the mean time, as I've said before, it's a good thing those "delicate" spring flowers are really quite tough; look what happened to one in our patio garden.
These could easily be scenes from the arctic, achingly bright, marked with long shadows colored blue by the shockingly clear skies. Front yard snowdrift moguls could be glacier-draped mountains. A passing dog's paw-prints become those of the mighty wolf. The late-day sun reveals the mysterious world that lies just outside our door.
The day dawned overcast but soon cleared to an amazing, dazzling intensely blue sky. We spent most of the day around the house: She, cooking, I finishing the publishing project. I ventured outdoors with camera in hand to enjoy the sunlight, shadows, textured snow, and fresh 45-degree (F) air.
Next to the door sits a planter, until recently covered in more than three feet of piled snow. The now-icy white stuff retreated gradually all day exposing a hopeful sign of spring… tiny green shoots poking out of the wet ground and out from under the miniature glacier.
We knew in our hearts those tough little plants would be waking up, even under the deep drifts; after all, they do it every spring. Still, it was good to see on this excellent, sunny day.
My "vacation" week ended today. I'd taken time off to complete my annual publishing project. It didn't get done. A mixed bag this week with good days and bad:
- Got called to work on an emergency when a primary server began malfunctioning.
- Didn't need to commute in bad weather but…
- Shoveled lots of snow.
- Installed updated publishing software (Adobe InDesign) which works great.
- Still struggling with publication layout due to lack of inspiration.
- Had nice days out with She Who Must Be Obeyed yesterday and today including a stop in Olmsted Falls and their shopping area full of restored/rehabbed historic buildings.
- Wrote my first DVD video review for posting on Amazon.com: National Geographic's Five Years on Mars.
- Tasha's skin disorder –severe itchiness about the head and neck– we thought resolved has relapsed. Depressing.
So back to the paying job tomorrow. The ice house photo came out well also further proving the new Canon "L" lens is of excellent quality.
Auguries of Innocence*
by William Blake
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
*An excerpt.
I couldn't help myself. I just had to try a few more shots.
This will be the last of this sort I post… today… I hope!
I couldn't help it. I simply had to try and improve on the icicle photos I'd made a few minutes earlier. So I hauled out my best camera and shot a few more photos of icicles dripping lit by the day's unexpected brilliance against a shockingly blue sky. I checked my first "second" batch and found the lens had been spattered by drops of water striking the window frame. I blotted the offending drops off the expensive glass and tried again. I guess this was more like a third try. As I write, I hear occasional crashes as the stalactites lose their grip and fall to shatter against the ground. We photograph to preserve the ephemeral; we do it to stop time.
PhotonStopper 