The old Monocacy Valley Canning Company building is being renovated for use as office and retail space. It looks like this work is proceeding from the top down. I posted views of the building last July and work is scheduled to be completed later this year.
Raindrop on cherry bud - March 29, 2010 
Raindrop on cherry bud closeup - March 29, 2010
Raindrops on sedum - March 29, 2010
Raindrops on weeping maple - March 29, 2010
Geometric shapes are everywhere. This one is one a post in our to provide light at night.
There is a lot of no till farming in this area, but I spotted this freshly plowed field Friday in my travels.
The sky on Wednesday was a brilliant blue and in my travels I spotted these white objects reaching skyward.
I have previously posted shots of the Frederick County Public Schools new office building. The construction is moving along and today when I passed by, they were working on windows. Much of the glass is installed, but not all; and siding and brick work is also near completion. 
This shot was taken about 4 hours after the vernal equinox (1732 UTC March 20). The shadows are pointing directly east. The crocus were photographed last Tuesday and the daffodils on Saturday. The lilac buds and sedum were taken on Monday. We had a few warm days in the 70's, but now it is cool and cloudy.
This week, I bring you the well-known octagon - almost hidden behind the snow on February 9. 
These three buds will not burst into full pink color for another three or four weeks, but they are a sign that Spring is really here.
As I headed home with our carry-out dinner, the sun was dropping low in the sky. I stopped for a few shots along the way. The church steeples in downtown Frederick are silhouetted against the darkening sky. (Second shot is 6 minutes later than the first). 
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
We had another storm come slowly up the coast this weekend, dropping a couple of inches of water on the ground saturated by the melting snow. Saturday night 45 roads were reported closed due to high water and a video clip (first seen on NBC4) made NBC Nightly News Saturday. The creek behind us floods regularly and years ago closed the road that can be seen. The state built a new bridge and raised the road and it has not been closed since. 
Carroll Creek in the City of Frederick is the top of its banks, but the flood control project takes the excess water through underground culverts through downtown. The entrance to the culverts is to the right in this view.
Above is Carroll Creek flooding farmland down stream from the city, near where it empties into the Monocacy River. The poles in the water are the fences that line the private road to the farm on the far hill. Below is the Monocacy. The river is normally not visible here as its course is beyond the line of trees.
This shot of parallel lines on a white plane (slightly uneven) was take February 7 after two days of snow. Did you see the Google's header Sunday with geometric shapes and formulas spelling "Google"?
This spral is part of a wind spinner that hangs in our backyard (now that the snow has stopped). As it spins the spiral gives the illusion that the ball is moving up. To see the top of the spinner, check out Marianne's post.
Here are a few images taken shortly after sunset last Monday. The hill in the distance is Catoctin Mountain. I just like the shapes of the trees against the evening sky. Have you ever wondered what dusk looks like from above? Here is a twilight shot taken from the International Space Station in 2005.
I posted views of Ecclectibles windows last year in September and November, but this shop just keeps on creating great displays. These shots were taken during the snow-delayed First Saturday celebration in Frederick. Ecclectibles sponsored the cardinal ice sculpture I posted for My World. The window behind the cardinal is full of birdcages and feeders. The other window has toys.
Of all the large, soaring birds around here, I see more turkey vultures than hawks. As I dropped off some bags of leaves at the compost site, I spotted two vultures over the barn. So I walked closer to them and took a few shots. They flew over to the house and perched on the chimneys. Then they took flight again, soaring overhead. As they left, I spotted another bunch off to the east taking to the skies.
Here is a cylinder that supports a pedestrian bridge over Carroll Creek in Frederick. To see the topside of the cylinder look here.
In October 1972 a colleague and I were working at the satellite ground station in Raisting, Germany. One Sunday we took the ferry across the Ammersee to Herrsching, got a bite to eat and then followed the crowd up the hill from the harbor. A good number of people followed a path along the ridge out of town. We had walked a mile or more when we spotted this church in the distance. Eventually, we reached the Benedictine Abbey of Andechs where a band was playing, the Abbey's brewery was serving great beer along, with bread and wurst. This Baroque church was built in 1712, though the site goes back to the 10-th century. We looked around, enjoyed the beer and music; and then our two-mile walk back to the ferry. All in all, it was a delightful, sunny, warm day in this foreign land for two Americans. (Photos scanned from slides.)
