Sky Watch - On March 19 - 20

Eastern sky

 

Afternoon clouds

 

Sunset through the trees

 

Dogwood reaches for the sky



Header Challenge - Fool the eye

I was taking some photos near the Post Office when I notice a house across the street with blazing windows. Was there a fire or just bright yellow-orange lights in side? My idea for this week's header challenge was images that are not what they seem - something that fools the eye.

Fountain by Carroll Creek

When the City of Frederick began planning a flood control project for Carroll Creek, they decided to create a linear park along the path of the creek. One of the key elements of the project was the Carroll Street bridge. It was proposed to make the bridge a work of art. William Cochran was the lead inspiration and artist for the project. Many people contributed ideas for the bridge and it became a Community Bridge. The above fountain was one of the features.
 

But it is not real. No! The scenes are painted on the concrete walls and the bridge structure The technique used to create the art work on the concrete bridge is "trompe l'oeil" (fool the eye). Seen from the edge, the fountain is flat.

Which duck is real? One is a painting by Cochran and his artists. The other is a real live duck photographed by me.

In fact my header was just a reflection of the setting sun. The stark contrast fooled the sensor in my camera, making the result look like night with a blazing fire inside. With some adjustments with PhotoShop, the image below is what  I actually saw. The sitting duck is the painting and the standing duck was heading to the creek and swam to the other side. Images of the park and bridge have appeared on my blogs in the past. These bridge images, appropriately, were taken April first!
 

Additional images: Bridge,  Flood control,  Live duck

Our World - Blooming soon

 Rhododendron

 

Cherry tree

 

Forsythia

 

Lilac

Sky Watch - Three views

X marks the spot

 



Horse in the clouds

Moon through the clouds

Header Challenge - A Christmas verse

 

The lighting is poor
 and our eyes aren’t what they were.
So Brian will be here the 19-th at one
 to talk to us about what can be done!

The above poem (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore) was my Christmas  present to Marianne in December 2011. We had talked about remodeling the kitchen before, but never reached decisions on what we wanted. This got the ball rolling and by the end of May we were using our new kitchen. Here in verse is the rest of the story.

 

Now Brian came and was precise;
 so off we went to get Maggie's advice.
The web revealed many choices to our chagrin,
 and decisions were made before we began.

 

Marianne searched the web far and wide,
 and I checked out local sources beside.
Choices were made on cabinets, on colors and floor,
 on lighting, on granite, on faucets and more.

 

Maggie laid out the cabinet design and it was precise.
We said okay and Brian sent us the price.
As Brian went off with check in hand,
We cleared the cabinets of every pot and pan.

 

Soon Brian and his crew tore out the old,
and the room was bare, a sight to behold.
The electricians put in new outlets and lights
Soon came the counter tops, much to our delight.

 

And as Brian the others drove out of sight,
Marianne said "I love my new kitchen tonight".
A phrase still heard as she prepares a meal,
And I must say that's same way I feel.

 



 

Search "kitchen" to see some of the previous posts on work in progress.

Our World - First snow of spring

 Monday morning we got our first snow of spring, and hopefully our last! The storm that clobbered much of the US over the weekend did not have much left for us.

 

 

Below is the same field in late afternoon. Weather folks are predicting 60 degrees F by Easter. 

Sky Watch - Clouds at sunset

Storm clouds coming on March 13

and the moment after sunset on March 19