Our World - in bloom

 Zinnias at Catoctin Mountain Orchard

 Lilies in our yard

Water lilies in Carroll Creek, Frederick, MD

 

Sky Watch - Rainy evening, sunny morning

 Approaching storm

 

Storm here

Morning clouds

Blue sky west 

Header Challenge - NOW WHY R U TAKING THAT

Kathy choose "NOW WHY R U TAKING THAT" for this week's theme. Marianne asks me that question also. Usually my answer is "I find it interesting". Often, the result is not as interesting as I hoped when I pointed my camera and squeezed the shutter button. My header is one where the subject decided to exit frame right as I took the picture. The result was an almost full frame of grass as the bird escaped stage right.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed sparkles of light reflected by rain drops on the windshield of our van. Nice but not spectacular.

The next day, I found two small broken blue eggs in the driveway - tragic accident from the windy night or do we have a nest of baby robins in our tree?

I just liked the lines and colors of this scene under the Carroll Creek suspension bridge.

I thought of doing an exposure experiment with the sun lit water, but changed my mind.

Sidewalk to nowhere?

This one is for my grandson (he'll see it on Facebook)

Our World - Birds

The small birds, especially the finches, have been active at our feeders this month. At times there will be 5 or 6 vying for food at our two feeders. 

 

Caught this one walking across the street in Frederick.

 

 Goldfinch and his shadow

Choices, choices!

Sky Watch - Stormy weather

The storms that wrecked towns in the mid-west lose much of their power crossing the Appalachian Mountains. We had strong winds, lightning and rain yesterday. Today's version passed over just leaving us with nicely watered lawn and flowers.

 

Header Challenge - Underground

The topic this week was mine. What's underground plays an important role in our daily lives. In addition to minerals, coal and oil that are necessary for our modern society, there are the services that we  take for granted - that is until there is a problem underground. Underground in our neighborhood are water, power, sewer, phone, TV, and Internet. On February 15 some of those services were interrupted when the ground under the road sank. The water main sprung a leak and the sewer was broken by the collapsing road. Electricity was turned off while the workers investigated the problem. Water main repairs were quickly completed and the sewer line was pumped overland while the hole was investigated, stabilized, and repairs made. See more images of the sinkhole saga.

Underground there is also beauty, created by water interacting with the soil and rocks. Luray Caverns in the Virginia mountains is one such place. More images of the caverns here. 

Our World - Missing one

 

We lost one of our two cats last week. Buster stopped eating and was having trouble breathing, so I took him to the Vet for a checkup. Exam and X-rays showed a collapsed lung and a tumor. The prognosis was not good for an older cat with those problems, so he was euthanized. Here are some images from the past.. 

  Always curious

 Why are you outside and I'm stuck inside?

 Watching the world go by

Checking out the new cabinet

Liked a pillow, could sleep anywhere

Sky Watch - Mostly blue

Swirls

 

Crossing contrails

 

Carolina moon

 

Header Challenge - Sun

Christine chose the sun as the header challenge topic for this week. Here are my views of the sun as it has crossed our sky in recent weeks.

Hiding behind clouds

Spot lighting the iris

Warming Zoey

Without the sun, we would have a diet of mushrooms and other things that grow in the dark.

The sun filters through the pines in Carolina, lighting some branches and missing others (below are enlarged slices of the above image).

And then drops beyond the horizon leaving a beautiful afterglow!