PhotoHunt - Metal wire statues

Marianne spotted these metal wire statues at IKEA several years ago and they have graced the shelf near our front door ever since.

Sky Watch Friday - Wednesday sunset

The view to the west from our yard is through the neighbors' backyards. Now that the leaves are mostly gone, we get a glimpse of the sunset through the trees.

Looking to the southwest over the corn field was a band of color under the clouds. And to the west above the trees was a patch of blue. These were taken a few minutes apart on during sunset on Wednesday.

My World Tuesday - Community Bridge

The city of Frederick was originally laid out along Carroll Creek. Over the years this creek flooded and after severe flooding in the 1970's, the city began planning for a flood control project and redevelopment of the damaged areas along the creek. The flood control project consisted of large underground conduits for excess floodwater and a park along the creek. One highlight of the plan was a community bridge to replace the old Carroll Street Bridge over the creek. The view above is the east side of the bridge. Below is a shot of the bridge where it meets an old building, now the Delaplaine arts center.

The bridge is concrete with a painted mural looking like a stone bridge with various elements of community life painted on the stone blocks. Below are some of the symbols included in the mural. For more information on the bridge see its web site. I have previously posted other photos on my blogs here Bridges Between, a view from the bridge and the fountain.

PhotoHunt - Three reflections

Monocacy River, November 1

Tree and me, November 8

Our house, tree and me, November 13

Sky Watch Friday - Frederick skies

Saturday noon - storm watch

Sunday afternoon - clearing skies

Sunday late - view from my window

Tuesday afternoon - snow flurries on the mountain

Tuesday afternoon - wide open skies

More experiments with Photoshop

I posted the original of this photo on my daily blog. Then I decided it would be an interesting scene to experiment with. Above is the Filter => Artistic => Palette knife effect. Below I did some free hand distortion with the Filter => Distort => Liquify effect. The third picture is Filter => Sketch => Bas Relief effect. PhotoShop Elements has almost 100 different filter effects, with variable parameters for many of them. The trick will be to learn which effects work best with various subjects.

My World Tuesday - Late 1800's housing

The original plan for the town contained 340 lots. Most of this area is now designated as a Historic District and in addition to regular government zoning and permitting, a historic review is required when a building is renovated or repaired. The object is to preserve the architectural and archeological heritage of the site. Last week I posted a photo of a 1756 house. These today were built in the late 1800's. Originally the buildings were residences, but now some are businesses. The architectural style of these houses was prevalent throughout other US cities during 1870 - 1900.

Interesting details on the front of this 1895 building with two residences

An appropriate use for an old building

The Trail Mansion is now a funeral home

PhotoHunt - Ruined tree

This old tree near the Frederick airport came down recently, probably felled by age, winds, disease and trimming all the branches on the one side of the tree.

Sky Watch Friday - From our yard

Sunrise, December 2006

A few recent shots of the sky from our yard. The sunrise is from December 2006; the others are this past week. For another view of the sunrise see my PhotoHunt post of August 2.

Moon and clouds over roof

Blue hole in the clouds

Late afternoon black on gray

My World Tuesday - German heritage

Although there were settlers in this part of Maryland in the early 1700's, the founding of Frederick City was by a German immigrant group led by Johann Thomas Schley in 1745. They also established a German Reformed Church (now the Evangelical Lutheran Church) and public school. In the late 1700's Pennsylvania Dutch (also originally from Germany) migrated south through Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley to Virginia and North Carolina. Many settled in the Frederick area. German was the language in those years and English did not become the major language until the Irish immigration after the potato famine. This German heritage is evident with street names and an official sister city connection with Morzheim and Schifferstadt.

Evangelical Luthern Church

The Schifferstadt house is the oldest house still standing in Frederick. It was built by Joseph Brunner in 1756 and named after his childhood home. It is now a museum.

PhotoHunt - Squirrel watch together

Our two cats don't spend as much time together as they did in their younger years, but when the birds or squirrels are out and about, the cats watch with interest. And here is the object of their interest.

Sky Watch Friday - Blue, dusk and sunset

Oct 31 - Blue sky and pine cones

Nov 2 - Light clouds at dusk

Nov 2 - Moon and clouds at dusk

Nov 5 - Sunset, wide view
Nov 5 - Sunset, zooming in close

Nov 5 - Sunset, fire in the clouds

My World Tuesday - Expanding business

Last week I showed you a few scenes of the more bucolic part of Frederick County. This week I bring you a few shots of the business environment in and near Frederick City. The first 3 photos are of new buildings in an industrial park just east of the city. The first appears to be a manufacturing facility; the others are office/warehouse type buildings. When I took these pictures in July the buildings looked like they were ready for occupancy, but not yet in use.

This is a photo of part of the satellite facility at Fort Detrick. Fort Detrick is expanding due to the ongoing realignment of US military bases. The base is primarily a medical research facility and is home to the Army Medical Research and Material Command and the National Cancer Research Institute. In the 1970's the Russia-US hot line was located here.

Bridges Between - Wilson Bridge

Interstate 95 is a major east coast highway crossing the Potomac River near Washington, DC. The new Woodrow Wilson Bridge is nearing completion of a ten-year project to replace a bridge built in 1961. The old bridge was built to carry 75,000 vehicles a day and was carrying nearly 200,00 per day. It had become one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the US, carrying both long haul travelers and local commuters across the Potomac. The new bridge, like the old one, is a drawbridge, but has a higher clearance (70 feet) reducing the number of openings. The new bridge is a twin span in essentially the same location as the old bridge. One span opened in 2006 and all traffic was switched to it. The old bridge was demolished and the second span is essentially complete. Four major interchanges near the bridge are being rebuilt as part of the bridge project. All photos were taken from the Virginia side of the Potomac.

Looking up between the spans from below the Virginia end of the bridge.