January 16, 2025

Ice Flows over Basalt Flows

Shenandoah National Park

Skywatch / Water H2O Thursday


Indian Run Overlook along Skyline Drive is a great place to view ice flowing over the rocks like waterfalls. I’ve been going there every winter for several years. This feature is only 11 miles from Front Royal.

I don’t see waterfalls at this spot in the summer. The rocks are simply wet with water from springs, and a drainage ditch carries the water away.

A geology page  describes the rock formation here: “The basal basalt flow of the Catoctin Formation is exposed in the roadcut by the overlook.”

January 15, 2025

American Goldfinch, January

Although our goldfinches are small, they don’t seem to mind winter weather, and will stay out to feed during a snowstorm.

 


Now we still have snow on the ground, but it has melted off the trees and large shrubs. Our temperatures remain cold though, seldom rising above freezing even on sunny afternoons. It is unusual for snow to remain on the ground for this long in Virginia. I’ve been replenishing the seed in my birdfeeders.


January 13, 2025

We’re Getting Cabin Fever


Charlie and I are getting “cabin fever.” That’s the restlessness you get when you spend too much time indoors.  Between the snow and my sore knee, we’ve been deprived of outdoor adventures. 

The snow has been very pretty though.
 


My other complaint is that my car is still not fixed. It’s been at the dealership since before Christmas, and I can’t take Charlie for rides in the loaner car because they specifically said “No pets.” I understand their policy, but it means we couldn’t go to the dog park even before the snow.

Texts, Last Week and Today.

By the way, I did go to the doctor for the knee pain that I’ve had for several weeks. She said that it’s from a "Sprain of lateral collateral ligament of knee." It should be better in a few more weeks.

Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to spring. Here are some supermarket flowers.

Mosaic Monday / Garden Affair

January 12, 2025

Snowy Search for Linkup Photos

Do you give yourself photography assignments? I've been blogging for over 19 years, and I find myself looking for particular subjects when I'm out running errands, or sometimes even just for a reason to go somewhere. Of course, it doesn't always work out, especially if the weather interferes.


After being pretty much snowed-in last Monday, I drove to Harrisonburg on Tuesday with the idea of doing some grocery shopping and taking some pictures. I headed for the library downtown because I had read there was a new mural there. Unfortunately, the library was closed due to the weather. One thing to understand about living in a mountain/valley region is that the roads might be clear in town, but workers who live in the nearby hills can’t get there because the roads are icy or still covered in snow. (Oh, the confusion this causes to parents of school-age children! “Why are the schools still closed? My street is fine.”)

I took a picture of Asbury Church across the street, and also a street scene. There were no pedestrians to be seen.


Not far away, I spotted a new mural on Liberty Street. I parked the car and walked to the side of the building to take pictures. 


It wasn’t until I enlarged this picture today that I saw that there was a reflection on the window. That must be a plastic storm window because the reflected dumpster is distorted.


The mural continues along the front of the building. 



As I composed this post, I searched for the name of the artist and found it is Tyler Kauffman, who completed this last month. He also painted other murals that I’ve shared: a bicycle scene and Space Cowboy

January 11, 2025

Snowy Farms Plus Charlie’s Report

Today I took recycling items to the transfer point on Moose Road. (We don't have curbside recycling here.) The afternoon light was pretty so I drove down the road a little farther to get some pictures of farms in the snow. After I show you those, I’ll let Charlie tell you a little about his week.


Cows were gathered together. These were the only animals I saw other than a few birds.

By the way, my cell phone tends to make snow look too dark. I lightened all the snow pictures at least 10% in the Photos app because the automatic exposure is programmed to make the overall lightness a medium gray, which is not natural for snow. Often 50% lighter is needed, but beyond that is tricky in this app. If I were using Photoshop, I could make layers and selections and lighten only the snow. But this is quicker, which is important because my eyes are still getting strained easily.




Okay, let’s hear from Charlie the beagle.

Saturday Critters / Caturday

“Mom says snow is pretty, but it is too cold and it covers up interesting smells. I haven’t been walking far and usually I just want to get back in the house.”


After we walk past a few houses, there’s a place where the sidewalk has not been cleared and there’s too much snow. 


Last night, a little more snow came down and covered our clean sidewalk. There were some interesting tracks, which might have been from a bunny. I made tracks too.



The week has been kind of boring. We can’t go to the park because it’s cold, and also Mom still has a loaner car, which I am not supposed to ride in. She says her car will be fixed soon. I don’t like the car and that’s why I chewed the seatbelts, but I do like going to the park.

Sometimes we look at birds, but I only like to watch them when they’re moving. 




I’ve been taking extra naps and it’s time for another one.


January 10, 2025

Dripping Ice

A shrub sits outside my garage, bare of leaves because it's winter. Its plain stems and branches have been coated with ice from frigid waterdrops that escaped the frozen gutter and then refroze on the way down. 

Black and White Weekend / Water H2O



I felt that the final shot looked best in color. 


Fire and Ice

“Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”

- Robert Frost (1923)

January 9, 2025

More Snow is Coming

The weather forecast says we're going to get another winter storm. I could do without it. We had one decent snowfall and that's enough for me. Snow is pretty, but I don't like being cold, and I don’t like having to worry about falling on the ice.

I can’t resist taking pictures in the snow because it makes everything look different. Here are three more photos from Tuesday.


The first two pictures are from a park in Harrisonburg. For some reason, the snow plow made two rows of dumped snow instead of one.



This rest stop along I-81 near New Market has a view of the Massanutten Range. 

By the time I got close to home, the sun was going down. I pulled off in a parking lot to take a sunset picture.


January 8, 2025

Tufty and the King

This is another series of screenshots from my birdfeeder camera. It has a wide-angle lens which distorts shapes, sometimes with amusing effects.

Here a tufted titmouse lands on the edge of the seed tray, interrupting the meal of a northern cardinal. The male cardinal can look quite majestic, but this lens makes him look like a big head on a round neck.




Tufty reconsidered his position and moved to the back perch.




Personal Note #1: It was cold today, well below freezing. My feeder camera stopped working, so I cleared a path through the snow to reach it. I tried to adjust the solar panel and cracked a piece of plastic. At that point, I decided it was too cold to troubleshoot, so I added birdseed to the feeder and went back in the house to get warm.

Personal Note #2: My younger daughter Marie, is back in Burbank. Wildfires are causing catastrophic damage in Southern California, but her town is safe at this time. If you have seen images of the fires, I know you are concerned for all the people and animals in that area. If you happen to live there, please be ready to evacuate if the time comes. Be safe!

January 7, 2025

Sunday Monday Snow

We finally got some real snow, not like last year when we had a few inches and they melted away pretty quickly. By real snow, I mean enough that it needed to be cleared off the driveways and roads.

It snowed Sunday night and I woke up to about 5 inches of snow. There was more snow on Monday, maybe an inch more. I’ve seen much deeper snows here in Virginia, but this was enough to make driving risky.

Female Cardinal

I stayed home on Monday, except for walking short distances in my neighborhood. Charlie needed his walks, although he did not like the snow or the cold weather. Temperatures were below freezing.



Lawrence, my lawncare guy, cleared my driveway on Monday afternoon. Today I felt comfortable in going out to shop. Of course, I took a few pictures of snow scenes.