Tag: weather

Pets, Photography

The Rain Came

Shelly

Saturday night, a weird storm system moved in. I got photos of the beginning of it, while the sky was patchy and there was still some cloud definition. At one point, there were puffy clouds to the south and crepuscular rays streaming from behind a stand of trees to the west, all while it was gently raining.

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The contrast between the hyper-saturated greens of the grass and trees in the rain and the grey skies above was striking. Hopefully, the long dry spell hasn’t killed my little walnut trees. They were starting to get pretty bedraggled and unhappy looking.

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I also got some pictures of a Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly and of a Pearl Crescent. Every time I changed position, the swallowtail would flitter off until I’d settled down again.

The little Pearl Crescent barely landed before flying away, so I only got one half-way decent photo of her.

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Pearl Crescent

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Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus)

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Female (left) and Male (right) Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

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Spicebush Swallowtail (black) and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (center) which seem to be mating (!), with Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (right)

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Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

And, now, the obligatory dogblogging. Harriet Brown, Queen of Bones, has been enjoying the fact that there is no one else to covet her hoard. She has taken to gathering up all her chewies, making a pile of them on the couch, then lying on them while she naps and chews.

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Journals, Photography

Sunset and Journaling

Shelly

Last night’s sunset was spectacularly vivid. The sky was an intense cerulean and the clouds were neon pink. I managed to get some pictures before it had faded too much.

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The weather did, indeed, turn lovely, just as our trusty weatherdude promised. With lows in the crispy upper 50sF, it was perfect for sleeping. I was so comfortable when my alarm went off this morning that I didn’t want to get out of bed. Sleeping all day was, alas, not on my To Do list, though.

Now, on to journaling. I belong to a few art journaling mail lists. I enjoy discussing materials, motivation, inspiration, etc., and these lists are a good place to do that. Probably the most frequent topic of discussion is “journaler’s block.” Folks post, asking for help with visual how-to guides and idea prompts, because they’re drawing a blank or, worse, they are intimidated by their journals. I think everyone who expresses themselves creatively has experienced the former. In my experience, there is an ebb and flow to creativity. Some days the muse dogs your every move, bullying you until you pay attention to her and other days she can’t be coaxed into coming to the party. As an artist, you learn to deal with her fickleness in your own way.

The latter problem is a whole ‘nother kettle of fishes. I really feel for people who are intimidated by their own journals. I don’t know how you help someone in that position. To me a journal is just an extension of my own mental space; a sort of back-up drive for my brain, where I can dump the stuff that swirls around in my head. Otherwise, it will drive me to distraction. And, we don’t want that, do we?

Hemp Bound Journal: Spine
Hemp Bound Journal: Spine

I think this is why it’s difficult for me to understand or offer advice to someone who is intimidated by their journal. To me, that means that what they really fear is the stuff that swirls around in their heads. Or, perhaps they just don’t have the skills to access the swirly stuff? I’m not sure it matters either way, as all the encouragement and journaling tips in the world are unlikely to help the person because the real problem isn’t just your garden variety Mental Block.

Maybe what the intimidated person needs to do is offer a formal invitation to her muse. Ask her over for a cocktail or a cup of coffee and have a little chat with her. Maybe the two of you can come to a mutually beneficial agreement?

Now, if I can just stay connected long enough to upload this. I swear, if the digital divide were any larger, I’d be back in the Stone Age. Apparently, us rural folks don’t merit either a stable dial-up connection, much less any kind of broadband option. I’d be happy with a 14.4kbs transfer rate. I just want to be able to get on-line.

Pets, Photography

Fog and Dogs

Shelly

I took these about a month ago, when we were having a spate of drizzly, misty weather. After it cleared up, we had nearly a month without useful precipitation. Hurricane Dennis came to Indiana this week, breaking the dry spell. It’s been a lovely, soaking rain over several days–exactly what we needed. It’s not been as picturesque as the pictures below, though, so I’m using them instead.

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Elliott is our dog-in-fog model. The grass was too wet for Princess Harriet to put her delicate little feetses in.

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And, because I can, here’s the obligatory dogblogging. Have I mentioned that Harriet is not (not!) a fan of air conditioning? Well, if I didn’t, she’s not a fan of AC. When it cools down in the living room, she scrunches up into a little ball and moans and groans and sighs until I take pity on her sad little self and cover her up with a binkey. If I’m a meanypants and ignore her, she goes to the bedroom, where there’s no AC, and roots around on the bed until she’s got the bedding wadded to perfection. I use it as an excuse not to make my bed in the mornings, because she’s only going to mess it up. I just pull the covers up and wait until bedtime to make the bed. A) I’m lazy and B) I choose my battles.

It’s a good thing she’s cute.

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Burritodog

Pets, Photography

Another Brief Respite

Shelly

I’ve been out mowing and got a couple of shots of Elliott while I was taking a break. This one–he’s hunting moles–was framed particularly nicely, so I thought I’d upload it. The photo on the right was taken a week ago. Even though it was hot and yucky out, the shade from the tangled tree branches looked cool and inviting. I wasn’t able to get a picture of him, but there was a male cardinal cheeking up a storm in the sassafras tree. Every time I’d get the camera focused on him, he’d hop to a different branch.

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I know it’s cooler out today than it has been in ages, but it’s still too bloody hot for yard work. Yuck! Frequent breaks are, I think, the ticket.

Photography

A Brief Reprieve

Shelly

We (along with folks all over the northern hemisphere, it seems) have been in the midst of a heat wave. It’s been hot and humid and generally too disgusting to do much of anything. Last night, though, a cold front moved through. Right before the accompanying storm hit us, the temperature started to drop and the dogs decided–at long last!–that it was cool enough to play. I was too transfixed by watching them to get any pictures, but there was lots of biteyface and Olympic level zooming.

After the dogs had taken the edge on their pent up energy, I went in to get my camera. A hole had opened up in the thick cloud cover, with the setting sun reflecting off a small crescent of cloud tops at the edge of the opening.

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I had no sooner come inside from taking the above photos than I noticed that the sky to the east had turned dark blue, the sky above had turned dirty dark grey, and the sky to the west had turned a glowing brown color. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I wish I’d gotten photos, but we were getting so many lightning strikes that I decided going outside would be tempting fate. Storms scare the living hell out of me, but I’m also fascinated by them. I stood in the front door and watched the lightning repeatedly strike the ridge across from me.

Thankfully, the storm moved through quickly. The lightning, while nerve wracking, cleaned the air. The smell was heavenly. We got a little bit of M&M sized hail, but nothing too worrisome. Unfortunately, we also didn’t get much rain out of it. It poured for about 15 minutes, but then it slacked off and soon quit entirely. We need a slow, soaking rain, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to get one anytime soon.

The cooler weather should last through the weekend, so as soon as the grass dries I can actually get some yard work done. Um, yay?

Photography

More Clouds

Shelly

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I took this a couple of weeks ago. We’d been having crappy weather, but toward the end of the day, the clouds started to break up. I was hoping they’d clear enough in the west for a good sunset, but they didn’t. The consolation prize was this view to the southeast. Not quite the picture postcard I’d been hoping for, but sometimes you get what you get.

Crankypantsing

A Wee Break

Shelly

I love my little mower. It’s a wimpy corded electric with only an 18″ blade, so it takes for-freaking-ever to mow my, um, “lawn,” but it’s quiet and, best of all, it doesn’t stink. I can actually smell the grass when I mow instead of yucky gas fumes. I can also smell the wild garlic and mint, which is quite nice. Tossed salad, anyone?

I’m about 2/3 finished with the dog yard. While I was mowing, it occurred to me that They ought to develop a type of grass that doesn’t need mowing. Instead of creating Frank-N-Veggies that I’d rather not eat, why can’t They do something useful? I could get excited about grass that never needed mowing. Fish genes in my tomatoes, not so much.

Oh, and that perfect mowing weather I was hoping to enjoy went bye-bye. The clouds blew out and the wind died down, so now it’s hot and sunny and not breezy enough to do anyone any good. Damn!

Art, Music

Instant Reviews (Weather, Music, Reading Material)

Shelly

Instant Review: The Bloody Weather

Once again, I got to work to find that the network is down. My guess is that last night’s storms knocked out power and no one reset the servers. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened. Considering how much it’s costing the university to pay for us to sit and twiddle our thumbs, you’d think they’d try to keep this sort of thing from happening. Hrmph. That’ll teach me to haul ass to get to work on time when it’s storming.

And, speaking of the bloody weather, it was so hot on Tuesday that I had to dig out the window ACs and install them. Talk about a pain in the behindermost parts. I’d been looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing when I got home, so physical labor was not on my To Do List. I’m glad I got that out of the way, though. It was even hotter yesterday, so being able to turn on the AC was a godsend. While cars and computers and telephones are wonderful inventions, I think AC trumps them all.

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Instant Review: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds B-Sides & Rarities

Anyway, I got the Nick Cave B-Sides & Rarities box set and have been listening to it non-stop, at work and at home. If I had a tape or CD player in my car (ha!) I’d be listening to it there, too. It’s absolutely wonderful. Most of the material was previously released as B sides, some of which I already had, but I figured it would be worth the price (US$20) just for the unreleased material. I wasn’t wrong.

And for those who like Nick Cave but are looking for something a little different, I recommend checking out The Earl Brothers. It’s gothic bluegrass at it’s very finest. No, really! It’s funny and a little menacing and, I’ve found, makes damnfine music to clean by. Mary Poppins, eat your heart out.

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Instant Review: Stuff I’ve Been Reading

I’ve been enjoying Bitch PhD and Echidne of the Snakes. Angie Reed Gardner’s art blog, where there’s good art and some good, thought-provoking conversation. Check out the discussion of Fernando Botero’s Abu Ghraib paintings. I also recommend the Velveteen Rabbi blog. I’m not particularly religious, but I’ve always been fascinated by religion, by religious philosophy, and by linguistics. The Velveteen Rabbi caters nicely to my interests.

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It looks like the network is back up. Yay! It only took them 1:30 this time. Now to upload this and get to work.

Pets, Photography

Spring

Shelly

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The weather has been almost unbearably pretty the past few days. The birds and bugs are back with a vengeance and the trees have a green halo of freshly opened leaves. I took some time yesterday to get a few photos of the new growth, as things change so quickly.I’m also still figuring out this new camera. I love the camera itself and am happy with the pictures, but I’m not so happy with the software that came with it. I ended up uninstalling it, which might have been a mistake. It appears that, if I do not use Kodak’s software to do the initial cropping, Hello will upload the uncropped image as the thumbnail. The thumbnails above do point to the correct, cropped images, though, so it’s not as bad as it could be.I thought I’d get around it by uploading this set of photos to Flickr, instead, but Flickr seems to be cranky today.

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The new grass is tender, and must be especially sweet and tasty. The dogs spend hours grazing. They’re quite businesslike about it: rip, chewchewchew, rip, chewchewchew. I love watching them grab the blades in their tiny front teeth and the sound as they pluck the grass from the ground.