There May Yet be Hope
weather
All posts tagged weather
Out for a Walk
For hours and hours the TV weather guys droned on about “Blizzard 2012” and how awful the storm was; that was despite the fact that it wasn’t a blizzard. Nor was it a “snowpocalypse” as some liked to call it. We had a heavy snowstorm and we in Northeastern Ohio are used to dealing with those. It wasn’t a picnic, either as the weather slowed us down and stopped some, but most of us got through it just fine. My drive home Wednesday evening was tricky but beautiful and today dawned cloudy over clear streets and revealed vistas of fresh snow. Though it made me a few minutes late, I simply had to stop and look around a bit in East River Park, Olmsted Falls.
Snow drifts around breakwall stones as waves crash ashore
Today was the winter solstice. In Northeastern Ohio the season arrived with howling predawn winds and snow. Around midday I took a little trip to the Lake Erie shore to see what those winds had stirred up. Unabated, the wind fiercely drove across the lake from the northwest at about 32 MPH picking up the waters and piling them on to the beach. Sand-tinted whitecaps rolled ashore and crashed on breakwalls. Whisps of snow snaked across the beach sand while spray was blown off the wave tops offshore. As I stood, freezing, icy bits of snow stung my face, my hands hurt from the cold. I watched and wondered at the awe-inspiring and frightening maelstrom and worked to capture the scene. After 15 minutes I fled to the shelter of my car. Yes, it was winter’s first day here and there was no doubt about it.
Waves crash ashore on the day of winter solstice.
Arms of the Angel
Water spills over the Baldwin Lake dam in Berea, Ohio this dark, misty, December morning. The title? I was listening to the song, Angel, by Sarah McLachlan as I edited this image using GIMP.
I had the morning off from remodeling house-sitting and the day began with beautiful fog hanging over the landscape. I thought one of the Cleveland Metroparks areas might be beautiful draped in fog but as I descended into the valley, the fog thinned! What remained of the fog, however, contributed to wonderfully soft light and the pervasive moisture deepened the colors of plants and earth. Along the way I came across a tree of unusual bark: patches of bark were scaling off, leaving smooth areas of variegated color behind. I have seen trees of this species many times before and the scaling bark appears to be normal and healthy; the day, however, made the appearance all the lovelier. I gathered a number of nice images from areas near the tree and a drive to the south produced some great stuff that I’ll share later. This tree of unusual bark and beauty, however, is my surprise favorite of the day.
A rainy Sunday afternoon.
It Was That Kind of a Day. Hard to tell where the sky ended and the ground began with the mist joining them. The geese know their worlds and have no trouble moving between on a rainy Sunday.
Sunlit streaks in the clouds over Portage County countryside.
I was driving through the Portage County (Ohio) countryside this afternoon enjoying the late-autumn scenery. The muted tones of black and brown remind me of the art of watercolorists as I gaze at woodlands and fields. The sun broke through nondescript clouds during the day but, as the afternoon progressed, heavier, more dramatic clouds rapidly moved in; their ragged edges surrounding and tearing at the blue openings to a deeper sky. Some of that change in the weather took place as I watched and photographed from the side of a country road and the final stages took place as I drove westward on the Ohio Turnpike at 70 MPH — camera protruding from an open window!
A dark shield of clouds moves to obscure the sun.
Cold water moves as though thick around rocks in this stream.
After painting the kitchen moulding I took off on a round of errands: Post Office, Cardboard Recycling, Office (to water plant). Then respite: a nice, unhurried visit to David Fortier River Park in Olmsted Falls followed by a quick stop at the Strongsville Wildlife Area. It was a cold, gray afternoon, well-suited to the time of year. Still, there was plenty to photograph especially in Olmsted Falls where I spotted many pictures. Even armed only with my little PowerShot G11 I was able to bring home a nice set of images; it was hard to choose which of them to show here. Suddenly things are happening with the kitchen as tomorrow marks arrival and installation of the sink. On Monday and Tuesday of next week, the plumbing gets connected (wish it was earlier!) and the moulding goes up. That should be the completion of our “kitchen project.” Yes, today’s respite was much-needed.
Thin ice is forming on the pond in the Strongsville Wildlife Area.
Goldfinches nab morsels from our bird feeder on a gray November day.
The pace of the kitchen/home remodeling project has slowed to a crawl. As we all await delivery of the Cambria solid surface cabinet tops, the contractor has dispatched his crew to other jobs. I get to paint many, many feet of trim and shoe moulding to replace the old stuff, torn out during re-flooring. The painting isn’t difficult, really, and the acrylic enamel paint isn’t even smelly; the difficulty comes in handling all those 15-foot lengths of millwork as I paint them, allow them to dry, then attempt to store until they are installed — hopefully later this week! In the mean time, I clean and paint the moulding and while it dries, I pursue other activities such as preparing a postal mailing for the annual bicycle events calendar. I also hope to assemble my annual photo-calendar which will be available for purchase beginning in December. Returning from today’s errand run, I spied birds on our feeder and hauled out the Canon G11 for a quick snapshot or two. The Cardinals and Blue Jays were camera-shy and took flight but the smaller Goldfinches stayed in the tree, eventually returning to grab morsels of seed. It’s a gray, chilly day out there, perfect for indoor projects.
Icy-snowy bits littered my car when I found it in the lot.
There’s S*** on My Car! Thanksgiving Day was very pleasant. Despite my misery from a head cold and the OTC med I took to stop the sniffles, we had an easy drive and a good visit with relatives. The day brought partly-cloudy skies and mild temperatures. Today started off damp but well enough. As the day progressed, however, clouds continued to thicken, the winds came up, the temperatures went down; when evening came it was prematurely dark and snowy-icy bits were falling from the sky. I walked from my office to the car and found it covered with a thin layer of s***. Tonight the wind is howling and, whereas we started the day with a temperature of 52 degrees (F), it is now 31 and feeling like winter. Suddenly the Christmas carols that some radio stations here have been playing don’t seem to be so premature!
PhotonStopper 