skies – Page 31 – red paper boat

Trains & Belt of Venus

October 18, 2006October 26, 2015 Shelly

You can’t see them in this photo, but just beyond the tree line there are railroad tracks. I’m actually really happy about that. The tracks are close enough that I can hear the trains, but far enough that the sound isn’t overpowering. It’s not that I’m nuts about trains (I have a couple of coworkers who are, so I now know what train fanaticism looks like), but I find their presence comforting. It’s like when I was young, and I’d have bad dreams, and I’d wake up and wait for a car to drive by. Somehow, knowing that there were people awake and going about their business was comforting. Trains are sort of like that for me, now.

Crankypantsing, Photography

Milton

September 21, 2006October 26, 2015 Shelly

No, not the blind zealot who wrote Paradise Lost. I’m talking about the guy who had an unhealthy relationship with his red Swingline stapler. Milton is my new upstairs neighbor. He’s also known as Ravin’ Disco Aerobics Man and TeeVee Man. For the first two weeks, I heard him but never saw him. Finally, a couple of nights ago, I ran into him in the entryway to my building. I’m sure Milton is a wonderful person, but I do wish he would throttle down on the ravin’ step aerobics at 3am.

Anyway… I’m not completely moved yet. I had been planning on being out by the first of the month, but I’ve still got a couple of carloads of junk and a whole lotta cleaning to do at the old place. C’est la vie, eh? I also haven’t even begun unpacking. I have boxes and piles and stacks and heaps of crap everywhere, and no place to put any of it, because most of it involves books or other assorted things that go on shelves, and I have not yet solved my shelving dilemma. So the new place looks kinda like the old place, only with more furniture.

Miss Brown is settling in nicely, as is Pandora. There are lots of groundhogs, bunnies, birds, and one damned cheeky chipmunk to watch. The sliding window is large, and provides hours of entertainment for the girls.

The night we moved in, there was a nasty storm that passed through. It was actually quite enjoyable to sit inside the big window and watch the clouds and lightning.

Morning mist rising.

This is the field just off the patio. It’s large and lined with trees on three sides, so while it’s big and open, it’s also sort of secluded. The complex I’m in is also in a good neighborhood for dog walking.

Bunny

Grass Spider

Some of the local “wildlife.” There are bunnies galore, living under the ginormous, sprawling thicket in the back field. There is also a Grass Spider (a variety of funnel weaver) living in my kitchen window. Kitchen windows just wouldn’t be the same without spiders living in them, I guess. He’s kind of big and hairy and juicy, but Grass Spiders are docile and eat bugs, so I’m happy to have him. They’re supposed to be shy, but this guy spends a lot of time out of his hidey hole and doesn’t seem at all bothered when I open the blinds and watch him. It’s kind of like having a pet tarantula in a terrarium.

That’s pretty much it, I think. Hopefully I’ll get the studio unpacked sooner, rather than later, so I can get to work on some actual arting. In the meantime, I finally got the DSL hooked up (praise be!) and the cable has been installed. The cable is probably sucking more of my time than it should, considering that I really ought to be at least pretending to be productive. Those home improvement shows are mesmerizing, though, and with cable, they’re on pretty much round the clock.

Photography

Monday Sunset

September 20, 2006October 26, 2015 Shelly

Monday was pretty grim, with cold rain and drizzle all day long. The clouds started to clear a bit in the evening, but I was so distracted with packing and loading the car that I nearly missed what was going on in the sky. As I took the last load out, I noticed the western horizon had cleared enough that the setting sun was reflecting off the tops of the trees in the east. The rich, warm sunlight on the green leaves, against the still grey eastern sky, was gorgeous. Then, I turned around and saw that the western horizon was luminescent. I didn’t think there’d be much of a sunset, but I stayed outside to see if I could catch some crepuscular rays. There weren’t any, but the sky began to shift toward the gold, then orange, so I thought maybe there would be a pretty sunset after all. While I was waiting for the colors to shift some more, I turned around to check the progress of the sunlight on the eastern trees. Rainbow! I shot photos of it until it faded, then turned around to check on the sunset again. It had shifted to an even brighter gold, then peachy tones started to creep in as the sky above faded to dark blue. The colors shifted so rapidly that you could almost watch them change. The show continued long past the point where I was able to get decent photos. Even when the sky was nearly black, there was a sliver of red above the western horizon.

Oh, and did I mention the chill in the air? I was standing out in the wet grass, barefoot, and was able to see my breath. My feet were like blocks of ice when I finally went back indoors. Fall is here, folks! The trees are beginning to change color, it’s been down in the low 40s at night, and the early morning stars, when the sky isn’t overcast, are brilliant.

Photography

Low Clouds Over Soybean Field

September 5, 2006October 26, 2015 Shelly

Low Clouds Over Soybean Field
Intersection of Ratliff Road and Starnes Road, Monroe County, Indiana

I took the above photo (photos, actually) on my way home from work on Saturday. Heading west, the sky was cloudy, but not all that interesting. When I turned the corner from Ratliff onto Starnes, though, I looked back to the east and saw a huge mass of dark clouds hanging low in the sky. I had to stop, of course.

It’s always interesting to watch people’s reactions when I stop at that particular intersection. There’s a soybean/corn (depending on the year) field there, surrounded by a border of grass. The grass border is wide and well maintained–perfect for pulling off the road. Almost every time I do, at least one person stops to ask if I need help. I always thank them, and explain that I’m just taking pictures. Invariably, this puzzles them. “Oh…oh” they say, uncertainly. Clearly, only weird people take pictures at Ratliff and Starnes.

Crankypantsing, Photography

Instant Review: Ragweed Part Deux

August 20, 2006October 26, 2015 Shelly

Sunset

The only thing worse than being allergic to ragweed is mowing during ragweed season. I think I may stop sneezing by Friday, but I’m not sure my eyeballs will ever deflate.

Hopefully, I’ll get my act together enough to move in 3-4 weeks. I will not miss mowing or ragweed, not one itty bitty teeny weeny tiny little bit. Nope, not at all.

Teh enb.

Crankypantsing, Photography

Friday Report

August 18, 2006October 26, 2015 Shelly

We had a glorious sunset Wednesday evening. The sky was deep aquamarine with pinky-orange clouds. It was absolutely stunning. It didn’t last long, though. In the half minute it took me to run indoors and grab my camera, the colors were already fading.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Weather Report: It looks like it’s going to start raining any minute. O ick.

Road Report: They are finally starting to pave 17^th street. Yesterday morning, as I went to work, the street zamboni was out. Only, instead of cleaning the street, it was parked right smack dab in the center of the Walnut & 17^th intersection, with no one in it. I realize it was ass-early in the morning, and that things are pretty quiet with the students on break, but still, that’s no reason to park maintenance equipment in the middle of the freaking intersection. For added entertainment value, the Pepsi bottling company is on that intersection, and their trucks were having trouble pulling out and around the zamboni. Wheee!

Asshole Driver Report: I was behind an articulated logging truck this ayem. Good, good fun, that was. I was careful to stay well clear of him, which, of course, meant that the asswagon behind me was attached to my bumper. I just love it when people tailgate so closely that I can’t even see their headlights. Grrr. Also, too, additionally, as well, I have noticed that, since plastering the back of my car with all manner of pinko leftiness, folks slow down and crane their necks to look at the crazy person whenever I make a turn. Who knew that driving could be a form of performance art?

Big Brother Report: What is wrong with those people? They haven’t got a brain between the lot of them, and there isn’t a sympathetic one in the bunch. I can usually find someone I can talk myself into supporting, but this season, they all suck. I found it amusing last week, when Janelle nominated Erika for eviction, ostensibly on the grounds that she “despised” Erika’s “under the radar” style of game play. Well, they are all, with the possible exception of James (who is loathsome for other reasons) playing safe games. So far, none of them have been forced to do anything to rock the boat or to exceed their comfort zones. But, I’ll give George credit. He put James up for eviction. I didn’t think he’d have the guts, or, frankly, the brains, to do that.

Virgin Mary Report: The Blessed Mother’s visage has turned up in a lump of chocolate (via CBS).

Sky Report: Nothing of note locally, because it’s too cloudy to matter, but if you live relatively northish or southish, keep an eye (or two!) out for aurorae. There is a coronal mass ejection headed toward Earth, which could result in aurora-producing geomagnetic storms either tonight or tomorrow. We don’t usually get aurorae this far south, but it can and does, occasionally, happen. More info is available at SpaceWeather.com. Be sure to check out the sunspot gallery, while you’re there.

Photography

Perseids

August 8, 2006October 21, 2015 Shelly

Mammatus clouds

The annual Perseid meteor shower will be at its peak this weekend. Because of the full moon, it’s not expected to be as stunning as it could be, but it’s still worth checking out. The moon rises at about 10pm, so the time between sunset and 10:00 is probably your best shot. I recommend slathering on some bug repellant and heading out to the back yard with either a reclining beach chair or a pool floaty. Being horizontal is definitely best, so you won’t strain your neck.

The weather here has been the pits for sky watching. It stormed on and off all day yesterday, and is supposed to do the same today. It ought to clear up tomorrow, though, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to see some meteors.

For more information on the Perseid shower, check out SpaceWeather.com.

Photography

Panorama

July 28, 2006October 21, 2015 Shelly

It wouldn’t be Friday without some photoblogging. It rained all morning, but the sky cleared up and a whole army of puffy white clouds popped up. This was created from four photos I took on my way home from work. I love the greeness of the soybeans against the blue of the sky and the play of shadows along the rolling field.

Corner of Starnes Road and Ratliff Road, Monroe County Indiana, looking northeast

Photography

Sunset

July 25, 2006December 23, 2015 Shelly

Pylon at Sunset

Crankypantsing, Meta, Photography

We Have Normality

July 19, 2006January 16, 2016 Shelly

The migration is finished and I think most everything is working. I had a weird problem uploading photos this morning, but I’m hoping it was just a fluke. I was able to upload a bunch of files with no problem, but the second batch had to be uploaded one at a time. Hrmf. The email kinks seem to have finally been sorted out, as well, but I’ve lost a bunch of messages somewhere, and I fear they’re permanently AWOL.

On top of all that, my hard drive decided to crash and die last weekend. I’ve been pretty good about backing up files, so it wasn’t as tragic as it could have been. It was still a headache I didn’t need, though, considering that I’ve misplaced some of the programs I use all the time. Re-downloading them on my crappy connection was not fun. The good news is that I remembered to set the new hard drive’s jumpers before installing it, installation went smoothly, and everything is working perfectly. I even seem to have magically fixed a weird, non-critical error I was getting from Photoshop.

And then, as if life weren’t exciting enough, one of my air conditioners decided to die last night. Luckily, it happened while I was home and not during the day. Otherwise, it would have gotten dangerously hot in here for an elderly cat and a brachycephalic dog. It was too late to go buy a replacement last night, so I ended up going in to work early, then leaving when the stores opened. I picked up a new AC on the way home. It was a pain in the arse to install, though, because it’s so shallow that it’s not properly weighted for drainage. All the weight is on the interior half of the unit. Hrmf.

So, while I was experiencing my imposed computer and blogging hiatus, I was busy taking lots and lots of pitchurs. These are the highlights.

Crepuscular Rays