weather – Page 20 – red paper boat

Sunday Crankypantsing

February 25, 2007September 22, 2015 Shelly

gel pen and gel marker on 90lb Stonehenge paper
7 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches

Last night’s wintry mix didn’t end up amounting to anything, because the temperature rose enough for the ice and snow to turn to rain. A good thing, too, because when I got up this morning, the furnace was dead. Again. I had to hunt for my lease, to find the emergency maintenance number. I called, and someone masquerading as a repair person showed up. I say “masquerading as,” because all he was able to do was turn up the thermostat, wait for it to misbehave, and tell me, “Yep, it’s broken.” Pure genius!

I’m going to have to wait until tomorrow, when a real repair person can come fix it. In the meantime, he brought me a dinky little oil heater. Better than nothing, because it should keep one room reasonably warm, but not so very helpful for keeping the large, open-plan living-dining-kitchen area warm. But at least it’s not super cold out, right?

While I was waiting for the Unrepair guy to show up, I watched a show on Alexander the Great (I love the history channel!) and doodled. I have a feeling that the rest of the day is going to be spent on the couch, with a good book, a cup of hot chocolate, and a big, fat comforter.

Photography

Indoor Outdoor Photos

February 16, 2007October 29, 2015 Shelly

A few, final ice photos, taken this afternoon and evening:

The top two were taken from my patio, and the rest were taken from the 3^rd floor of the main campus library, overlooking the parking lot and Jordan Ave. I almost didn’t try to take any of the indoor-outdoor photos, thinking the window glass would muck them up. I’m glad I did, though, because I love the way the architecture frames the images.

Photography

Ice: Epilogue

February 14, 2007October 29, 2015 Shelly

We lost power yesterday afternoon at about 3:00. It was out for just over 24 hours.

Do you have any idea how cold it can get in 24 hours, with no heat? Yikes! Sleeping last night wasn’t so bad, because Harriet stayed tucked under the covers with me, and she’s a very good hot water bottle. Getting up this morning was kind of awful, though. I was actually looking forward to going to work, where it would be warm, but the university was closed until noon. Hrmf! Come to find out, the library was actually partially open, and I could have gone in and hung out in the cafeteria. Because in addition to no heat, there was no cooking.

Thankfully, power came back on at about 4pm, or Miss Brown and I would have had to stay in a hotel tonight. It’s still c-c-c-cold in here, even though the heat’s been on for a couple of hours. I’m not sure I’ll ever warm back up again.

This morning and afternoon, I decided to go out and take pictures. It was gorgeous outside, with all the trees and shrubs looking like crystal-encrusted chandeliers. I figured, since it was as cold outside as inside, I may as well have something to show for freezing my ever-loving butt off.

The Bosslady waiting for me to come back inside.

Photography

Ice Ice Bay-BEE

February 13, 2007October 28, 2015 Shelly

The weather folks were threatening snow, snow, and more snow, with a possibility of rain and ice. We got a little bit of snow, but it was mostly rain that froze and turned everything pretty and slippy-slidey. Obviously, I’m taking an ice day.

It could be worse. I just got off the phone with my mom, and up north it’s blizzarding. Ball State is actually closed. I can count on two fingers the number of times the university has closed in the past 25 years. On the first, it was just night classes that were cancelled. The second closing occurred during winter break, when the entire city was shut down for a blizzard-related state of emergency. Classes weren’t in session, so it wasn’t like a real school closing.

It sounds like it’s pretty awful up there, so I guess I should be glad we just got the dreaded wintry mix and not a full scale blizzard. Still, it’s bad enough. The temperature is supposed to drop tonight, and we’re supposed to get more snow on top of all the ice. O ick.

Photography

Snow!

January 21, 2007October 27, 2015 Shelly

The weather forecast called for snow, but I didn’t quite believe it. We’ve been lied to before, you see. Repeatedly. I was beginning to think real winter would never come. But, lo! It came, and with fluffy white snow as far as the eye can see. It really is beautiful. Even Miss Brown agrees.

Photography

Frozen

January 16, 2007October 27, 2015 Shelly

It rained so much the past week that the low lying section of the field behind my apartment flooded. Last night, it finally got cold enough for ice to form.

Photography

Sunset

January 11, 2007October 27, 2015 Shelly

Sunset Reflecting on Trees in the East

Yesterday was bright and sunny, a nice change after all the rain we’ve had. Right before the sun set, a bank of clouds rolled in from the northwest. There was a brief moment when the clouds opened, and the setting sun caught the stand of trees to the east, turning them a fiery, glowing orange color. And then, it was gone.

The sky cleared up again overnight. When Harriet and I went for our morning walk, the stars were shimmering. There was also a halo around the waning moon. Formed by hexagonal ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, such halos typically portend coming precipitation. And, what do you know? A check of the weather shows it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. And the next day, and the next day. If we’re lucky, we’ll even get a little snow on MLK day.

Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Fog

December 6, 2006November 15, 2015 Shelly

This is a pretty good approximation of how my brain feels this morning. Mr. Upstairs (Milton) has spent the last two nights rearranging furniture, so I haven’t been getting much sleep. How much furniture can one fit into a 700sq ft apartment?! And why can’t it be (re)arranged at a reasonable hour?

I still can’t figure out when Mr. Upstairs sleeps or when he goes to work, assuming he actually does either of those things. Whenever I pass him in the hallway or parking lot, he pretends I don’t exist. Even when I say hello, he stares straight ahead and ignores me. M’kaythen!

In other neighbor news, the Bumpass family have moved into the apartment I share a wall with. I was a little apprehensive at first, but they’re surprisingly quiet. I had to laugh when I saw them moving in. Their patio is cram-packed with filthy, broken-down old furniture, and they’ve erected a Monument to Tackiness that leaves me equal parts horrified and impressed. I’ll try to get a picture of it, but for the time being, you’ll have to make do with the knowledge that it contains a bunch of glass-ornamental-garden-tchotchkes-on-sticks, US flags, and porcelain bunny planters.

Also, they’ve got the requisite Bumpass Hound, in the form of a cuter-than-hell Catahoula Leopard Dog puppy. She seems pretty well behaved, though when she gets barking, it tends to go on and on and on. Miss Brown does not approve. Whenever Miss Catahoula starts roo-roo-rooing, Harriet gets agitated and starts pacing and hrumfing.

Photography

Trees in Spring

November 26, 2006October 26, 2015 Shelly

Apple Tree in Spring

Redbud Tree

We’ve had a week of gorgeous weather here in southern Indiana. It’s been so warm and sunny that it’s been hard to believe that it’s November–and the end of November, no less. It won’t be long before it the cold and snow start, so I thought I’d share a couple of springtime photos.

These are the redbud and 5-in-1 apple trees at my mom’s house, taken last April. It’s weird to see how big they’ve gotten. There was only one tree on the property when we moved there in 1985. It’s long since died, but we planted a bunch of others: peach, two apple, cherry, pear, redbud, oak, and maple. The peach was planted too close to the garage and had to be cut down, and the cherry was lost in an ice storm. The rest are huge, now, though. Proper trees instead of spindly saplings.

Photo note: These photos are a good illustration of just how super-saturated colors become when the sky is overcast. It might seem like bright sunlight would be better for outdoor photography, but it tends to wash out colors. The shadows and reflections created by strong sunlight can also be problematic. If I had my way, I’d much rather photograph artwork outdoors on a cloudy day.

Also, studio update: I’ve finally got most of the furniture arranged. I still have to set up half of the workbench (there are two 4′ long sections) and unpack my supplies, but it’s getting there. There are also a couple of utility shelving units that I’m trying to decide where to put. They’ll probably end up in the closet, for tool storage, which means the closet will have to be emptied and sorted/unpacked. I think I should be able to finish that up by the end of the day. I could actually have a working studio by tomorrow!

I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to unpack. Lordy! The problem is that I work 10 hour days, and I don’t have much time to work on stuff in the evenings. And, since moving, most of my weekends have been spent helping a friend pack and move (large house, crammed to the rafters with stuff), so I really haven’t had much in the way of free time. She’s nearly finished packing, though, and should be entirely moved by the end of the month. I’ll finally have some time to myself to do real, live arting.

Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Rain, rain, go away

November 3, 2006November 15, 2015 Shelly

Indiana has a rainy season. If you don’t live here, I bet you didn’t know that. Every fall, we seem to go through weeks-long spates of seemingly endless rain. It makes the baby Shelly cry, it does, all that unrelieved grey and cold and wet. Miss Brown does not like it, either. Nope, not one little bit.

Last week, it rained pretty much every day. Because Harriet will melt and freeze in the cold rain, she decided she’d rather not go outside to play. She spent one entire afternoon sitting on the couch, looking wistfully out the patio window at the constant drizzle. I was reminded of a bored and grumpy child, wishing the rain would end so she could go outside and play. After several loud, dramatic sighs from Harriet, I decided she needed to have her picture taken.

The subject of photography came up in another forum. I’m not any sort of photographer, but Harriet is an excellent subject, so it’s fairly easy to get decent pictures of her. Still, the majority of photos I take of her are not fit for public consumption. Sometimes, they’re just plain awful, and other times, the difference between a keeper and a junker is more subtle.

For example, I prefer the top photo over the second one. In the first photo, Harriet’s eyes are softer and more relaxed. Also, the photo was taken from a higher angle, so more of Harriet’s face is visible, giving her head more “weight” on the pillow.

This is an illustration of why flash sucks. Sure, Harriet’s butt is nice and shiny, but if you look carefully, you’ll see that the shadows between the different layers are stark and far too crisp. The result looks like a bunch of elements cut out of paper and stacked on top of each other. It’s a flat and ugly photo.

This one, too, was taken with flash, but the results are a little more pleasing than the above photo. Harriet still has Shiny Butt, but the shadows are less harsh.

So, in my world, only one of these images is a real keeper. Ain’t she the cutest thing EVAR?