Sky Watch - Skies last weekend

Above is the sky filled with contrails at sunrise on November 23. The next three are around 3:45 in the afternoon. And the last is at dusk on the 24-th.

 

Header Challenge - Back to the future

Our two youngest grandsons were here for Thanksgiving (their parents also). And when I saw the header theme for this week, a simple but common practice that connects the past to the future came to mind. The young guy on the left carries my name for the present into the future and I got the name "Lewis" from an uncle who died as a young man before I was born. These two each carry into the future a name from the past that is very familiar to Imac, Montgomery and Winston. For a few more shots of them, go to Young Grandsons. The guys were outside chasing around the yard when I got these shots.

Our World - Young grandsons

These two brighten our Thanksgiving with their exuberance an antics. We spent a lot of time visiting and playing and only a little time with the camera. We also enjoyed the visit with their parents. They survived the encounter with Sandy, enduring some cold nights and no TV.

Sky Watch - Happy Thanksgiving

Above the moon at dusk last Saturday. And then a cool Sunday morning, followed by two late afternoon shots of the western sky! In case you missed it, I posted three links to the recent eclipse of the sun.

Header Challenge - Over the River

or in this case, over Carroll Creek. (Theme chosen by Kathy.) The creek empties into the Monocacy River about a quarter mile beyond the bridge. Workers are putting the finishing touches on this bridge and a new road that runs through the eastern side of the City of Frederick. You may wonder why a creek that is normally 10-12 feet wide and 2 feet deep needs such a large bridge. When heavy rains  come, the river overflows and so does the creek. Below is a view across the creek taken in August after Sandy drenched us. Those cows in my header woudl have been swimming. (The farmer keeps them on the hill during flooding).

Another interesting subject for "Over the River" is the Monocacy Aqueduct, built in 1833. It carried the C&O canal over the Monocacy River. The canal follows the Potomac River from Washington to Cumberland, MD. During the mid 1800's barges were "on", rather then "under" the bridge.

Our World - Sleeping cats

Recently both cats shared the bed near my computer.

    

Buster likes the afternoon sun.

 

And Zoey in pike position.



Sky Watch extra - Solar eclipse

For those who missed it, NASA has posted some images of the total solar eclipse as seen from Queensland, Australia. Posted on the November 15, 16 and 17 were these three images:

Solar Eclipse over Queensland

Moon Shadow Sequence

Like a Diamond in the Sky

I have followed the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for a number of years and thoroughly enjoyed the images and info. Each post contains a brief explanation and usually links to additional information. The photos range from the sights we can see above us to our galaxy and beyond. At times the posts are about early telescopes and the people who invented and used them. The skies of APOD most of the time are beyond the reach of my Nikon. My thanks to Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell for bringing us these views of our universe.

Sky Watch - Sunrise - sunset

 Sunrise November 10 a little before 7 AM (3 images)

Sunset (a little afer 5 PM)

Header challenge - Orange

Fall in this part of the world offers many choices for the color orange. Our maple trees make a progression from green to yellow to orange to red. In between storms, the colorful hot air balloons drift over head. Pumpkins and gourds offer shades of orange and so do the late afternoon clouds. But for my header I chose the fall arrangement Marianne created for our buffet.

Our World - Leaves and more leaves

October 26 - Yard raked, leaves ready to transport.

November 2 - Sandy has passed, most of our leaves are off the trees.

November 6  - Other neighborhood trees still have nice color (and will have raking to do later!)

November 7 - Took another van load (my second of the day) of leaves to the mulching site. The pile on the right is free mulch. The pile on the left is yard waste dropped off by residents. People are still bringing limbs and brush destroyed by storm Sandy. The worker who had just finished piling stuff higher said they would bring in the grinder from the other site soon to work this pile. He also said he still had trees down at his home and no electricity. I hope the power company is at his house today.

Sky Watch - November clouds

Clouds have been an almost continuous presence in our skies recently. These late afternoon shots are from November 2 and 3.

Our World - Yard critters

The squirrels have been very active this fall, collecting and eating acorns.

The ground hog usually stays in the farmer's field near the entrance to his under ground home. Found him checking out our yard two weeks ago.

While blowing leaves out of the jonquil bed, I spotted this whitish blob on the windblown leaves. Looking closer, I found it peering back at me. So I got my camera and here are the images. It was not much larger than a quarter.

 

Sky Watch - More clouds

Sandy has moved on to the north, but we still had clouds Wednesday and Thursday. The sun made a brief appearance Wednesday and tried today, but could not break through. In the picture below note the field is almost free of the flood water. Photo on Lew's pics.